The Turning Tides

CHAPTER Eleven

FRUSTRATION



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I woke up in my studio, yawning and looking around sleepily. My thoughts went to the man watching me surf. It felt the same as it had in San Francisco, and I could only surmise that I felt myself being watched in the same way the mermaids could sense each other’s presence. My hybrid DNA was expressing itself in increasingly strange ways.

I hoped that Lorelei would take my warnings to heart as she promised, and spread the word to all the other mermaids. My plan would make my sisters safe for good, and give them a concrete set of rules that would serve to reinforce their age-old taboos.

I wanted to keep them as far away from humans as possible, but a disturbing thought kept slinking into the back of my mind. If I could manage to stop all mermaid-human contact, I would essentially be eliminating my own kind. Would I be doing a disservice to mankind by preventing any more muses from being born?

I thought of Edwards’ greed and Evie’s altruism. How much of man’s progress over the centuries– both good and bad– had been helped along by a hybrid’s magical intervention? And then there was Nixie to consider. If Nerissa hadn’t been forced onto land, she wouldn’t exist. Clearly, human and mermaid destinies were linked, but for the better or worse I couldn’t decide; maybe it wasn’t my place to make that call.

As Evie would say, it was a riddle wrapped in an enigma, wrapped in a mystery.

At least I could look out for Lorelei, Nerissa and Nixie, and do my best to keep them safe. They were my family, and I was determined find a way to protect them. My eyes filled with tears when I realized that might mean avoiding them. I sat up straight, wiping my cheeks aggressively. I had Ethan now, and that was enough for me. As long as we were together it was all I needed.

I left my studio that afternoon to go to his house. I pulled up to the harbor to see a pair of long legs sticking out from the open door of Ethan’s blue truck. I parked and stealthily snuck up on him. He was bent over backwards, lying across the bench seat, hard at work on something under the dashboard. His shirt was riding up, exposing his lean and muscled stomach, and my breath caught in my throat. I stood watching him silently, biting my lip. I was torn between the desire to either tickle his bellybutton or shower it with kisses.

I took a step closer, and he must have heard me, because he craned his neck to see who it was. “Hey,” he beamed up at me, swinging around to sit up behind the wheel.

“What happened?” I asked.

He scooted over and snaked his arm around my waist, drawing me closer, “She wouldn’t start this morning, so I’ve been working on her all day.”

“Her, huh?”

He smiled slyly, “She must be female. She’s kinda temperamental sometimes…”

“So,” I asked, looking the truck over with a frown. “Are you in love with her?”

“Why? Are you jealous?”

I cocked an eyebrow at him, “She is kinda… old.”

He laughed at me, going in for a kiss.

“So what’s your mother doing?” I finally asked.

He shrugged, “She’s watching some soap opera she likes. She wanted to go out for lunch but the old girl here was acting up,” He patted the door, “I told her you were coming over and we could all do something later on today.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“I have absolutely no clue… Any ideas?”

“How about we go surfing?”

“I don’t know if I should leave her alone…” he looked up the stairs to the apartment.

I smiled, “She could come with us and work on her tan.”

“Nice try,” he laughed. “But I don’t think she’s the beachy type.”

“Not the type?” I asked, with mock incredulity, “And I am?”

He looked at me reproachfully, “You know what I mean… She’s all excited about going shopping with you tomorrow.”

“It’s beautiful weather today…” I added hopefully.

“Yeah,” he sighed, looking out to the water, “It is a perfect day.”

He turned his attention back to the truck, turning the key. It sputtered for a few seconds, and finally roared to life, “Ta Da,” he said with a grin. He revved the engine a little, turned it off and climbed out to stretch his shoulders.

The sun was high in the sky, and the sea was sparkling, winking flirtatiously at me. I looked out across the harbor as Ethan gathered up his tools, wondering out loud, “Have you ever thought about getting a boat like your dad?”

He closed the toolbox, putting it in the back of the truck, “Nope. Never.”

“Why not?” I asked, curious.

“Because it’s not my thing,” he said, returning to me.

“What is your thing?” I asked.

He wrapped his arms around me, “You are.”

“No, seriously,” I said, twisting away from his puckered lips.

He kissed my cheek instead, pausing for a moment before speaking into my ear, “I like to plant things, and watch them grow. I like to see how they change, get stronger… develop character. I like to come back months… years later, and see something I did, still there, still growing… becoming part of a place… I like to see things put down roots.”

He had spoken so lyrically, and painted such a beautiful picture that I was rendered speechless. All I could do was turn my face and kiss him for all I was worth, pressing him back up against the truck.

“I love you!” I finally gasped, taking his face in my hands, “I love you, I love you, I love you…”

“Well, aren’t you two cute,” Ruby’s voice grated in my ear. I pulled away with a sigh.

“Hello Ruby,” I said politely.

“Playing tonsil hockey out here?” she said with her hands on her hips. She rolled her eyes at Ethan, “Did I hear you get that thing started?”

“Uh… Up and running,” he answered, still reeling from my assault on him.

She frowned at Ethan’s old truck, “I don’t know if I trust it… Maybe Marina can drive us somewhere,” she said sweetly.

I looked over at her, channeling my inner Evie, “How would you like to come and see what a great surfer your son is?”

She didn’t stand a chance. Before she could think of a reason not to, I had Ethan’s board loaded in the Rover and we were off.

“Nice ride,” Ruby looked around inside the Rover, “The rich Aunt, right?” I had to admit she was right, and it had never bothered me as much before. I pulled into the convenience store lot, running in to get some drinks and tabloids to keep Ruby occupied. When we got down to the beach by the cement ship, the familiar crowd of surfers and girls were gathered there to enjoy the beautiful afternoon.

“Maybe I shouldn’t go out…” I told Ethan, hanging back.

“It doesn’t matter,” he gave my hand a squeeze, whispering in my ear, “You’re already famous around here.”

I had to admit he was right, and it didn’t have much to do with my surfing. The whole incident with Shayla and the movie star in Hawaii was common knowledge among the Aptos crowd, and I could already feel the curious eyes focusing on me.

We spread out a blanket for Ruby to sit on, and I looked over to see a gaggle of girls watching the three of us closely. Ethan and I quickly slipped on our wetsuits, promising Ruby we’d be back soon. I noticed that Ruby’s scanty attire fit right in with the crowd.

I paddled out alongside Ethan, feeling the familiar rush of elation that the cold clean water always brought me. We made our way out to the lineup, where Ethan’s surfing buddies greeted him enthusiastically. I hung back a little.

“Dude! Long time,” a couple of leathery sunbaked guys swam up to greet Ethan with backslaps and fist bumps, telling him tales of the epic waves they’d dominated.

“Hey Marina!” it was Mike, followed by Long, and they paddled their boards over to me.

“Hi,” I nodded, uneasy. Aside from Ethan, Mike was one of the first surfer dudes to be nice to me, and Long had finally overcome his wariness to accept me. Now Long seemed to have adopted his grandfather’s view, seeing me as something supernatural, and treating me with reverence instead of fear.

I couldn’t decide which was worse.

“Are you gonna shred for us today?” Mike asked, elbowing me good-naturedly.

“Hey!” Ethan maneuvered between us, looking down on Mike.

“Chill!” Mike was offended, “I was just wondering which Marina we’re gonna surf with today.”

Ethan smiled and conceded the point, making me squirm a little.

The guys took turns on some good sized waves, but I held back, still uncomfortable. Finally, I felt a big one building and could no longer contain myself. I got ahead of the wave, and stood up on the best one since we’d come out, whipping back and forth across the face, getting the most I could possibly could get out of it. I paddled back, confronted by Mike’s triumphant smile.

“Boo-yah!” cried Mike, snapping his dreadlocks around, “Now there’s the girl who was tearin’ it up with Kimo! That’s more like it.”

I shrugged modestly, but I had to laugh. I started surfing freely, relaxing into it, searching out and connecting with Ethan after every wave. I didn’t even care about the attention I was getting from the other surfers. They clustered around Long and Mike, and I could hear Mike singing my praises to them.

“Check it!” he said as I passed by them to get to Ethan. “Told ya she rips.”

“This never gets old,” Ethan chuckled, with a broad, happy grin.

“Yeah… I miss surfing with you,” I agreed. “We should go out more often.”

“No,” he leaned over to kiss me, speaking in my ear “I mean seeing you blow everyone away.”

“It’s better to be underestimated,” I paused, looking at the other surfers, “Than overestimated.”

We ended up having a wonderful time, and I was glad to see Ethan looking so relaxed and happy. I pulled him aside a few times to point out which waves were going to be good, and I was never wrong. Mike kept teasing me about getting my “mojo” back, but he was clearly happy I’d gotten over my reluctance to surf with the group. I kept noticing Long watching us when he thought we weren’t paying attention.

“I hate the way Long looks at me like I’m some kinda… I don’t know… museum exhibit,” I complained to Ethan.

He pulled his board close to mine, sneaking over to steal kisses between swells. “Lately, he’s been telling me I should be careful not to let you get away. He keeps warning me not to blow it with you.”

“What?” I asked, surprised, “Why?”

“He says that you’re good luck, and that if we ever break up, I’ll be cursed.”

“Whoa!” I reeled back, “That’s kind of harsh! What did you say?”

“That he’s right.” He pulled me close for a salty kiss with his dark blue eyes wide open, “I know.”

We paddled back to shore to find that Ruby had migrated over to join the group of surfer groupies I recognized from high school. There was Heather, along with her friend Jamie, and several others I recognized as girls that used to hang out with Shayla. They all looked at me indignantly, with hostile eyes and knowing smirks, and I wondered exactly what Ruby had been telling them about me. Obviously, it wasn’t very nice.

“He-ey E-than,” Heather called out in a singsong voice, “Your mom is really cool.”

I skirted around the group, and went to my bag to change with my back to them. Ethan changed alongside me, leaving to go gather Ruby. I was glad that he was perceptive enough to hustle us both off the beach. I much preferred the creatures of the sea to the ones that populated the sand.

“I’m starved!” Ruby proclaimed. “Let’s go somewhere to eat.”

Ethan looked at me hopefully, and I agreed. We drove past the little Mexican restaurant where Ethan and I had one of our first dates, and he gave my knee a squeeze.

“Let’s go here,” he said.

Just as before, Ruby could not be pleased. Everything she ordered was either too spicy, or not spicy enough, too hot or too cold. I listened politely, basking in the afterglow of a great day of surfing, and I twined my fingers through Ethan’s, remembering how good it felt.

“Those girls were sure nice.” Ruby looked at me with an artificial smile, “And they had so much to say about you!”

“I can imagine,” I said dryly.

“Watch out Marina… They all think that Ethan’s hot,” she giggled, batting her false lashes at him.

Ethan called for the check, and mercifully, dinner was over. I drove back to the harbor in silence.

Ethan asked me to come upstairs, but I’d had just about enough of Ruby for the time being. I begged off, explaining I should go and get some sleep.

“Are you sure?” Ethan asked with a little whine in his voice.

“Can’t you see she’s tired?” Ruby chimed in from the back seat. She reached up and patted me on the shoulder, “She needs to get some rest for our big shopping day tomorrow.”

“Would you mind going on ahead?” Ethan asked her, handing over his keys.

She took them with another saccharine smile, “Sure honey, but don’t take too long, okay? I get the creeps being alone at night.”

“I’ll be right up,” he reassured her. He watched her totter up the stairs with a dejected sigh, leaning over to rest his chin on my shoulder, “Please stay… I’ll make you breakfast in the morning…”

It was tempting, but I wanted to get as far away from Ruby’s creepy, judgmental stare as I could.

“Ethan… You know I don’t feel comf–” He started to kiss my neck, sending shock waves through my body that made me writhe in my seat.

“Cmon, I miss you…”

I turned to face him, struck by how much I loved him this way. Fresh from the sea, his tousled hair textured as only saltwater could, his eyes full of longing.

“You know I miss you too,” I told him. “More than anything. It’s just that…”

He kissed the objection off my lips, his hands twining in my hair.

If I was going to let Ethan know about being spied on, now was the time… I almost blurted it out, but something stopped me. I knew it would upset him, and he’d insist that I stay. I wanted to get back to my studio, and away from Ruby for the night. Now that I had a gun, I felt confident about being alone, and there would be plenty for Ethan to worry about after she was gone. I’d tell him later– he had enough on his plate at the moment.

I pulled away, “I can’t.”

He frowned, “It’s okay! She doesn’t care.”

“I do. It’s only for a few more days… right?”

He groaned with aggravation, “I guess so.”

Ethan slumped out of the Rover, unloading his surfboard and wetsuit bag with disappointment in his every motion. I watched him in the rear view mirror with a wry smile. I wasn’t going to be manipulated that easily; Evie was much better at subtlety laying on the guilt than he was.

I leaned my head out the window, “I’ll be by first thing tomorrow… Tell Stumpy I miss him.” He smiled at that, and watched me as I drove away.

I let myself into my studio, carefully locking up and laying out my weapons within easy reach. Before I knew it I was painting frantically, pouring out all of my loneliness and irritation onto the blank white canvas. Waves crested and crashed, and saltwater thundered loudly in my mind as I painted. When I finally stopped and stood back to look at what I’d done, it struck me.

The waves I’d painted were the exact shade of blue I saw when I looked into Ethan’s eyes.





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