Chapter 31
Chapter Thirty-One
JULES
Golden sunbeams poured through my kitchen window, brightening the space and illuminating the specks of dust dancing in the air.
I sat at my dining table, a warm cup of coffee cradled in my hands.
It was creeping close to noon, but Sunday mornings were made for extra coffee and good books.
I picked up my well-loved copy of Around the World in Eighty Days, willing myself to get lost in Phileas Fogg’s grand adventure.
I’d had breakfast yesterday with Lacey at Sweet Dreams. The memory of her excited chatter about newly wedded happiness collided with my own hesitant confessions.
“So you and Eli are…?” Lacey had prompted, stirring her latte.
I’d shrugged, trying to keep my voice casual. “In limbo now, I guess. Sort of together but not. We’ve texted but haven’t really seen each other since he came over. He promised to talk to Helen, but…”
“But you’re not sure he will?” Lacey’s brow creased in concern.
“No, it’s not that.” I paused, searching for the right words. “I trust him, Lace. It’s just… I don’t see how this is going to work out. Helen has made her feelings crystal clear.”
Lacey gave me a sympathetic half smile. “Hey, if anyone can charm his way out of this mess, it’s Eli. That man could sweet-talk a shark out of its teeth.”
I laughed despite myself. “True. But this isn’t just some random obstacle. It’s his mother.”
“All the more reason for him to fight,” Lacey insisted.
Now, sitting alone at my dining table, I clung to that memory of hope. Eli had worked all day yesterday, then sent me an apologetic text saying he was beat and headed straight to sleep. Had he even had a chance to talk to Helen? Was he having second thoughts?
I set my mug down with a little too much force, sloshing coffee onto the pristine white tablecloth.
Great. Another mess to clean up. With a deep breath, I picked up Around the World in Eighty Days once more.
I’d lose myself in Fogg’s journey, I decided.
Let the familiar prose wash away my worries, if only for a little while.
When I lifted my coffee cup to my lips, I discovered it was cold, and I’d been reading the same page for five minutes.
I set the book down with a sigh. Who was I kidding?
My gaze drifted to my phone, silent and unhelpful.
I could text him, couldn’t I? Just a quick check-in. Nothing desperate or needy.
Before I could second-guess myself, I grabbed my phone and fired off a text to Eli.
Jules: Morning, Coleridge. You alive? The sea monsters haven’t dragged you down to their lair, have they?
I chewed my lip, waiting. The typing bubble appeared almost instantly, which made me smile.
Eli: Barely. Slaving away over dive class plans. Turns out teaching newbies how not to drown is more exhausting than it looks. Send coffee. And a massage. Maybe a naked massage?
Jules: You and your gutter mind. Don’t we have other pressing issues? Such as a certain discussion with your mom?
My heart skipped. I took a steadying breath, fingers hovering over the keys as I waited.
Eli: Patience, my dear Verne. Good things come to those who wait. And those who wear little red bikinis you might be hiding from me.
That made me laugh out loud.
Jules: You’ll have to earn a glimpse of that. Though after spending weeks pretending we hardly know each other, I might just rip your clothes off the next time I see you.
Eli: Challenge accepted.
“I don’t want to get too off track here. Focus.” Frowning, my thumbs flew over the screen.
Jules: Only if this on-again, off-again thing is settled.
Eli: I think you underestimate my powers of persuasion. And my appreciation for red bikinis. So… are we a couple again or what? It’s kind of important for future planning purposes. And bikini-related activities.
Jules: That depends entirely on your conversation with your mother.
Eli: Let’s just say you might have an answer to that sooner than you think. Some treasures are worth waiting for.
I huffed, frown deepening. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Jules: Then I guess I sit here and twiddle my thumbs.
Eli: I can think of much better uses for those thumbs. And your fingers. And my God, your tongue!
“Oh, Eli. You are priceless.” I typed my next two words and sent them with hardly a thought.
Jules: Love you
For a moment, my stomach twisted. Should I have said that?
Eli: Wow. We did say that, didn’t we? No going back now. Love you too, boo. Talk to you soon.
Laughing and much more relieved than I wanted to admit to myself, I set my phone down.
I felt lighter, yet incredibly curious as to what might be brewing beneath Eli’s teasing words.
With a sigh, I returned to my book, attempting to immerse myself in another world.
But just as I settled into the rhythm of Verne’s prose, the doorbell rang, jolting me from my thoughts.
A courier stood on my doorstep, package in hand. “Delivery for Julianne Verne?”
“That’s me,” I said, puzzled. I wasn’t expecting anything.
I signed for the package and retreated inside, turning the small, brown-paper-wrapped parcel over in my hands. No return address, and my name and address were typed on a generic label.
I tore open the wrapping and opened the cardboard box.
My breath caught as I recognized the contents immediately—Eli’s magnetic dive slate. It was battered and framed in blue plastic, an integral part of him. And I glimpsed a scrawled hand forming an okay signal with the thumb and first finger. “What the…?”
I lifted the slate out, my eyes widening as I read the message written next to the cartoon hand.
Mom gave me the official okay signal. I’m not kidding. Smooth seas ahead! To find out how, head to where I first helped you jump into the unknown. Also where you learned walls are better underwater than in offices.
My heart raced. What did this mean? And where was I supposed to go?
Without wasting another moment, I set the slate down and picked up my phone, grinning widely. My fingers flew across my phone screen as I fired off a text to Eli.
Jules: Care to explain the mysterious package that just arrived at my door?
His reply came moments later.
Eli: Package? What package?
I snorted.
Jules: Nice try, beach boy. I know your handwriting. And your dive slate.
Eli: Ooh, intriguing! Maybe you should follow the instructions and see where they lead.
I could practically hear the playful lilt in his voice.
Jules: You’re really going to play dumb?
Eli: Who, me? Never. But if strange packages containing puzzles are arriving at your doorstep, it might be worth investigating, don’t you think?
My smile widened.
Jules: You’re impossible.
Eli: Impossibly charming, you mean. Now go on, Ms. Verne. Sounds like an adventure awaits!
I shook my head, intrigued. It was clear what he was up to. Eli was sending me on a scavenger hunt. And the first clue indicated he had already talked to his mother and secured her blessing for us. But what now?
I read the clue again. “…where I first helped you jump into the unknown.”
It hit me suddenly—it had to be Sunset Diver, where I’d jumped into the ocean, and we’d done our wall dive.
I grabbed my keys and the slate, then bolted out the door. As I drove to the resort, possibilities collided in my head. What did Eli mean about his mom giving the okay? How could that possibly be true?
I parked haphazardly and jogged toward the pier, the dive slate clutched tightly in my hand. I scanned the area, searching for any sign of Eli. Sunset Diver bobbed gently in its slip, but he was nowhere to be seen. The whole area looked deserted, guests and employees off to other things now.
Stepping aboard, my gaze landed on a wooden tray on the fiberglass bench across from me.
A fabric-covered square box sat on top of the tray.
The fabric was abstract swirls of blue and lovely.
Picking it up, the box was warm, velvety against my hands.
I opened it and spied a clear glass bottle with a rolled-up piece of paper inside the neck.
Biting my lip to keep my smile from reaching ridiculous proportions, I lifted the bottle and extracted a rolled parchment of beautiful quality from the bottle’s neck. When I unrolled it, Eli’s familiar handwriting greeted me.
“Put two ships in the open sea, without wind or tide, and, at last, they will come together.”
A gasp escaped my lips and my smile turned tender. The quote from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea hit me like a wave. “Oh, Eli.”
Then I noticed something else on the tray, a folded piece of resort stationery. After opening it, another message awaited.
I asked you to have faith in me. You helped me see that we could navigate the rough seas and find our way back to each other. Our journey is just beginning, but I promise you, I’m not letting go. Your next clue awaits where our passion first exploded (Don’t get overheated!).
A laugh burst from my lungs, and I had to blink several times to clear my blurred vision. “I can’t believe you did this.”
As I traced his words with my fingertip, the realization of what he’d done, this elaborate scavenger hunt, overwhelmed me. Each clue was proof of our connection, as well as the depth of his feelings. I held the bottle to my chest, overcome by emotion.
“You ridiculous, wonderful man,” I said with a mingled sob and laugh. “You actually understand me.”
My mind raced, piecing together the fragments of our story. The obstacles we’d faced, the doubts we’d harbored… all of it faded away in the face of this gesture. Eli wasn’t just reassuring me. He was laying his heart bare, proclaiming his commitment in a way that spoke directly to my soul.
I took a deep breath, composing myself. “Okay. Where did our passion first explode?”
Then I laughed out loud as my head turned of its own volition to the black-and-white sand beach.
And the dive shack.