Blazing Bedtime Stories, Volume VI Read online

  “Me, too.”

  She didn’t realize her mother had stopped the car until the engine was completely off.

  Cecelia had pulled off onto an overlook, as traffic continued to flow on the highway behind them.

  “Okay, what’s wrong?”

  “What? Nothing. Everything’s fine.” She tried for a smile again and failed miserably. “This is the day I’ve been looking forward to all my life.”

  “Yes…”

  “The sea is all I’ve ever wanted. To confirm my love for it today is nothing short of amazing.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “If I’m feeling a little emotional about it all, that’s only natural, right?”

  “Yes.”

  She bit hard on her bottom lip, feeling ridiculously near tears. And joy had nothing to do with them.

  “Now that you’ve told me what you’re trying to convince yourself of, I think it’s time you shared the truth.”

  The truth…

  What was that?

  She wasn’t even sure.

  “What if I wanted to become a mer…person? A merman?” Kieran’s words burned her ear.

  They’d been sitting on the deck of the schooner, the sun bright, the breeze warm, his declaration of love filling her inside and out.

  Had that really only been last week? It seemed years ago. Yet just like yesterday.

  In response to his question, she’d merely smiled.

  One wasn’t made a mermaid…she was born one. So Kieran’s becoming a merman wasn’t an option.

  “And even if you could, would you want to?” she’d asked.

  Not many would. Most born with the option chose not to follow the sea path. And while she’d never had the conversation with a human, she imagined that most would find the idea ludicrous.

  But the expression on Kieran’s face had been so earnest, so enchanting, she’d fallen a little deeper in love with him.

  “Yes,” he’d answered unequivocally.

  She’d believed him.

  His openness had allowed her to also believe that perhaps she should consider the option Magda had offered.

  So she had.

  And he’d snapped shut on her tighter than a clam on feeding day.

  “I can’t…”

  There they were again. Those two words. The ones that had haunted her ever since.

  She’d experienced such an overwhelming sense of embarrassment, of shame, she’d just wanted to slink back into the water and drown.

  Of course he couldn’t marry her; he didn’t even know her.

  And she didn’t know him.

  It had been ridiculous to even, for the briefest of moments, entertain thoughts otherwise.

  But he’d said he loved her.

  “Daphne?”

  Her mother’s voice slowly drew her back to the here and now.

  “The truth,” she reminded her.

  And, with a cloud of emotion choking her, Daphne shared it.

  9

  IT MADE NO SENSE. Then again, little about his life seemed to make sense right now.

  Kieran sat with his parents on the patio back at his house, thinking of his conversation with Mike. His partner wanted Kieran to return to work at least part time. Oh, the company was doing fine, but it would do infinitely better if he returned to a more hands-on position, Mike argued, seeing as he had always been the eyes and ears, watching for opportunities and picking up on trends and information others missed.

  Kieran hadn’t promised anything, but his friend’s offer and the way he’d gone about making it did capture his attention.

  But perhaps not solely in the way Mike likely intended.

  Then again, he was going to need something to occupy his time. After last week, well, he didn’t expect to be spending much time on his boat. Even if he did, he knew he’d forever be looking for Daphne. And he’d forever be left trying to fill the gaping hole in his chest that salt water would only exacerbate.

  He knew he’d never find her again. Not after what he’d said. What he’d done. In the moment, he’d been so fixated on his knee-jerk reaction to her proposal, he hadn’t really noticed her response. Now, well, now thorns pierced his stomach, remembering the pain on her beautiful face.

  Her expression had gone from one of pure bliss to heartbreak within a span of a few minutes.

  The truth was, while he hadn’t planned on falling in love with anyone, he had.

  So why had he shut her down when she’d made her proposal?

  All he could remember thinking, on the heels of receiving those legal documents from Mike, was how could he possibly trust anyone? He’d already been betrayed by the two closest people in his life.

  That thought had springboarded into doubt about himself. If he couldn’t trust his wife or best friend, how could he possibly trust himself? Trust that what he was feeling was real?

  Trust that she was real?

  He absently rubbed the pearl in his pocket, thinking of the papers he received yesterday making his divorce final.

  “So I do hope you’re planning to spend some time with us today, seeing as our flight leaves later this evening,” he heard his mother say.

  She’d actually been saying a lot, but he had his antenna tuned in on only those parts of her monologue that concerned him. Oh, he heard her opinions about the gaudiness of Hollywood, the place they’d gone yesterday and how everything translated so much better on film than in real life.

  But it was her take on smells that had nearly pulled him into a conversation he wasn’t really interested in having.

  “Urine. It’s everywhere. I don’t know how you stand it,” she’d insisted. It had been one of her more interesting comments.

  Now, he rubbed his forehead and answered her.

  “What’s on the agenda?” he asked, glancing around once again.

  He couldn’t see the sea from here on the patio. Instead, lush greenery surrounded them, providing a natural wall between them and the world.

  Trouble was he didn’t want to be separated from it.

  “Your father and I are planning to do some shopping at that new mall…”

  He grimaced. Shopping was one of the trigger words that made him zone out.

  Yes, he understood he saw his parents only a few times a year.

  Yes, he understood they’d come all this way to see him and they wanted to spend time with him.

  Yes, he understood he was being a real heel for avoiding their company.

  But all he could think about was the fact that today was the day Daphne would rededicate herself to the sea.

  When she’d choose to become a mermaid forever.

  “Kieran, are you even listening to me?”

  He heard his father sigh. “Leave the boy be, Elizabeth. Can’t you see he’s got something on his mind?”

  “Yes, well, if he shared it, maybe it wouldn’t be such a burden.”

  “Well, I suppose if he’d wanted to, he would have already.”

  While his parents’ conversation played out around him, it was Mike’s words that trailed through his mind.

  “So, you love her.”

  It was a statement rather than a question.

  And it was truer than any statement he’d ever uttered.

  “I know…after what Clarissa did, I swore I’d never let another woman in. Never fall in love again.”

  Until he met Daphne…

  It should have struck him as odd that he was discussing his life with a mermaid with his best friend, but it didn’t. He and Mike went back to the tooth fairy and Santa Claus days. And they’d certainly shared more than their share of bizarre stories over the years.

  Granted, none had been as unique as this one…

  Hell, he wouldn’t have blamed Mike if he’d gotten him certified and taken over control of the company.

  “So what’s the problem, then?” he’d asked. “Beyond the obvious? You know, like how exactly you go about having sex with a woman who is half fish…”

&n
bsp; What was the problem, indeed…

  Silence.

  In that one moment, no one spoke—not even his mother—and no other sounds could be heard.

  Only the question resonated in his mind.

  Yeah, what was the problem?

  * * *

  DAPHNE AND HER MOM sat in silence. At some point, they’d left the car and moved to a bench overlooking the sea that had played such a significant role in both of their lives.

  “So,” her mother said softly.

  Daphne looked down at her legs left bare by the short skirt she’d chosen. She’d never really appreciated them. They’d always just been there when she was in human form. But when Kieran had touched her, run his fingers over her calves, then upward toward her inner thighs…

  She shivered in remembrance. When he’d touched her, she hadn’t felt like a mermaid or human, she’d merely…felt.

  Felt beautiful…

  Felt wanted…

  Felt loved…

  “The man we’re talking about. Is he the one from the party? Kieran Morrison?” her mother asked.

  Daphne nodded without hesitation. The time for secrets had long since come and gone.

  “Do you love him?”

  Daphne looked at her.

  What could she say? They’d known each other one night.

  Still, she knew with her every molecule that she did.

  She nodded again, the light wind adding to the tears in her eyes.

  “He’s all I think about, all I want…”

  “Over and above the sea?”

  Daphne looked out at the rolling waves, watching gulls dive and dolphins arc.

  She nodded again. “Over and above everything.”

  They drifted back into silence again as Daphne tried to consider the life that was stretched out before her. But she was incapable of looking beyond the painful beating of her heart.

  She glanced at her mother to find her watching her…and smiling.

  “What?”

  Cecelia shook her head and reached out to tuck a strand of blowing hair behind her ear. “Nothing. Seeing you like this, it reminds me of when I fell in love with your father.”

  “Yes, but Dad loved you back.”

  She expected to see pity on her mother’s face. Rather, her smile never wavered. “When’s the last time you saw him?”

  The question surprised her. “Right after he said he couldn’t marry me.”

  “Couldn’t. Not wouldn’t.”

  Daphne raised a hand. “What does it matter?”

  “Oh, darling girl, it matters more than anything…”

  * * *

  “WHERE ARE YOU going now?” Kieran’s mother asked.

  “To correct the biggest mistake of my life.”

  Kieran didn’t wait to hear her response. Not that it mattered. He was through the house and into his car before he even finished the sentence.

  What had he been thinking?

  Why had he pushed away the only thing that had made sense in his life in a long, long time?

  Denied the best thing that had ever happened to him?

  He had to force himself not to drive too recklessly as he headed the three miles to the marina and the schooner. He didn’t how he was going to find her, only knew that he had to. Any way he could.

  He didn’t care what he had to do. Or how long it took.

  He only hoped it wasn’t too late…

  What time was it? Had she said what time her confirmation was?

  Where would it be?

  He double-parked the car in the marina lot. Let them tow him, he didn’t care. Then he rushed up the docks, climbed onto the Come Sail Away without removing his shoes and immediately began freeing her from her moorings.

  Daphne…

  Her name was like a song in his ears. So sweet… So irresitible…

  If he couldn’t have her, couldn’t see her again, he didn’t know what he’d do…

  Within minutes, he was steering his way through the no wake zone, then fired up the engines the instant he hit open water. His destination was the place he’d seen her that first time.

  He hoped it wasn’t too late….

  10

  AS HER MOTHER pulled up into the marina parking lot, Daphne spotted the schooner, sailing off.

  “Kieran!” she called, only half out of the car.

  She hadn’t planned to do it. Hadn’t even been sold on her mother’s idea to look him up, learn the nature of his true emotions.

  She was forced to admit there was no way for him to contact her, even if he wanted to, outside of taking Come Sail Away out to sea.

  Which is exactly what he was doing now… .

  She ran past where his double-parked car was being considered by marina employees and off onto the dock. Only, he hadn’t heard her and she watched as he switched into high gear, the engines churning out sea water behind it.

  “Is that him?” her mother asked, catching up with her.

  “Yes…”

  “Do you think he’s going after you?”

  Daphne looked at her. She knew he was.

  She spotted a small skiff nearby that someone had just pulled into a slip.

  Daphne didn’t think twice. She made a beeline for the boat, untying it and starting the motor before the older, slower moving owner could do much more than shout after her as she made her apologies.

  She waved at her mother who stood looking after her in concern.

  As soon as she was out of the no-wake zone, she hit the engine, going in the same direction Kieran had. But rather than continuing the boat chase, she killed the motor and jumped overboard, knowing she could beat any engine.

  Fully immersed, she dove and began kicking her legs… .

  Only, there was no change.

  She kicked harder.

  Still, nothing.

  She came to a dead stop under water, staring at where her legs were still legs.

  How was that possible?

  She concentrated, and experienced the pain of transformation she’d been feeling more and more lately…

  She looked down. Still, nothing.

  Not only that, but her lungs were protesting the lack of air.

  A pang of panic shot through her.

  She kicked up toward the surface, breaking it and gasping for air.

  What was happening? Why hadn’t she changed? Magda had told her she was essentially a mermaid for life, with or without the confirmation ceremony, unless she married.

  So why was she still human?

  She glanced in the direction Kieran’s boat had gone. How could she go after him now?

  She glanced at where the skiff rolled on the waves a short distance away and made her way toward it. The exercise was harder than she would have anticipated and it took her a good five minutes before she was safely in the boat.

  Finally, she was once again speeding in the direction Kieran had gone.

  There!

  She shouldn’t have been surprised to find him in the same spot he’d first seen her. The schooner was at a standstill and he was on the deck, his back to her.

  She knew a moment of panic.

  “No!” she called out.

  Like her shout at the marina, this one went unheard. She didn’t stand a chance against the boat motor and distance.

  Twenty yards… Eighteen… Fifteen…

  She watched in horror as he leaped off the deck of the boat, disappearing into the waves on the other side.

  Her heart felt as if it were trapped inside the skiff’s propellers.

  Now what did she do?

  * * *

  KIERAN SANK LOWER and lower, avidly searching the depths of the sea around him for signs of Daphne. He didn’t know how, but he sensed she knew of his presence.

  Lower and lower…

  The water began getting darker and his clothes no longer felt light but heavy against his skin.

  No Daphne.

  He’d been a competitive swimmer in school and knew how to
conserve his energy and his breath. But it had been a long time since he’d swum in any capacity, much less competitively.

  He looked up at the water’s surface. It seemed suddenly so far away.

  Another glance around, nothing. Daphne was nowhere to be found.

  He began kicking toward the surface, reminding himself panic was his worst enemy right now. Setting a nice, even pace would win the day.

  The only problem was, he hadn’t thought this all the way through.

  His clothes clung to him like heavy chains, his shoes leaden weights.

  He knew it was too late to try to take off anything. He needed to keep making for the surface.

  He stretched up his arms, reaching…

  Too far…

  Too deep…

  He wasn’t going to make it…

  A sound filled his ears. He looked to see someone else had jumped into the water near him, some twenty feet up and sinking fast.

  Daphne.

  He smiled and swam faster, taking in the long line of her legs, the cloud of her long hair.

  Long legs…

  He tried to make sense out of the words.

  Where were her fins?

  She reached him and they clutched each other, him pulling her close. Love filled him inside and out.

  She pulled away and nodded toward the surface.

  He shook his head. He wasn’t going to make it.

  Still, he couldn’t help the feeling of calm that had taken hold of him. It might be his end, but it didn’t have to be hers.

  He motioned for her to go.

  She wildly shook her head.

  Together.

  He made out the word she mouthed easily enough.

  But he knew that only one of them was going to get out of this alive. And he’d prefer that it be her.

  Go.

  He mouthed his own word.

  She shook her head again and grasped his arms, kicking strongly. But she couldn’t be that close and be effective.

  He shoved her away.

  Go!

  She held on to him tighter.

  Their gazes locked.

  He knew, in that one moment, that if he didn’t try, she would drown right there with him.

  They both began swimming toward the surface.

  Only, it was truly too late.

  Blackness flickered across the screen of his mind, before going completely blank….

  * * *

  NO!