Chapter Sixteen Tula
Chapter Sixteen
Tula
Nathan’s gaze lingered on me over our empty plates. Kaitlin was at the bar, talking to a bartender with blond hair that skimmed broad shoulders and an “Arthur’s” T-shirt.
“You really should dive again,” he said. “Maybe not the Oceanus, but the Atlantic.”
“Why? I’ll watch your videos of the wreck when you bring them back.”
“Not quite enough, though, right?”
“That’s a tad harsh.” Why hadn’t my therapist texted and told me how proud he was of my progress?
He shrugged. “It’s true.”
“My mother drowned in the Atlantic, and its waters also swallowed me whole.”
“There’s no safer person to dive with than me.”
If I had any common sense, I’d give him the manuscript and rush back toward solid ground. There were plenty of landlocked jobs I could get. I didn’t need the roar of the ocean. “No such thing as safe in the ocean.”
He shook his head. “You always were stubborn.”
My willfulness that had kept me going after Mom’s death had been transformed into a very heavy set of armor. “Yeah, back at you.”
“It’s not easy being back here for me either.”
“Why is it so hard for you?”
“You’re not the only one who lost when your mom died. I thought the world of her. I should’ve been on the dive boat that day. I wonder how different the world would be if I had been there.”
In all these years, I’d never thought about Nathan’s loss. Only mine. Nathan and Mom had gotten along so well, as if they’d always known each other. “Many times, when you and Mom talked about a dive, I kind of resented you because I felt like the third wheel.”
“That was never the intention.”
Mom had trusted Nathan almost instantly when they’d met in Greece, and he’d joined our motley duo for several months.
She’d never second-guessed him, and she listened to his opinions about currents and winds.
Mom had had lovers over the years, some a little bit older than Nathan, and when they started day trips to Athens, I’d thought Mom and Nathan might have started sleeping together. “Were you and Mom lovers?”
The question caught him off guard. “Jesus, no.”
“Mom confided in you.”
He drew in a breath as if drawing back a secret. “I thought of her like a big sister. She was a great friend.”
“You treated me like a kid sister.”
He shrugged. “You were a kid. What else was I to do?”
I should’ve pressed him about those times my mother had been speaking to him, only to grow silent when I arrived. I should have pressed, but I didn’t. “You never talked about your family.”
“There wasn’t much to tell. I never knew them. Both my parents drowned in a boating accident. I was raised by an uncle and the ocean.”
I’d never known that. “So, you know what we face.”
He shrugged. “I was nearly taken out by a car on land. Anything can kill you.”
Kaitlin returned to the table, a bag of leftovers in hand. “Okay, you two. Back to your own corners.”
I realized his frown mirrored the same expression tightening my face. “We’re fine. Just having a chat.”
“Yeah,” Nathan said. “We were catching up.”
“Right.” The three of us left the restaurant and stood in the parking lot by Kaitlin’s van. “Are you staying with me or headed to Southern Shores, Tula?”
“Going back to Southern Shores. It’s been a long day.”
“Right.” She grimaced at Nathan. “Don’t look so glum, pal. Life will pick up.”
“My life is fine,” he said.
Kaitlin laughed. “Okay, whatever you say.”
He shoved hands in his pockets and shook his head. “See you in the morning, Tula.”
Shit. “I’ll be ready.”