He sat on the padded mat at the bow, keeping one foot on the deck of the boat and the other bent at an angle on the seat. The position let him pull Claire into his arms so her back rested along his chest and she could relax against him. Hale took off, cruising across the remnants of the crater that made the cove, and Luke braced his hand on the railing. Unlike the yachts he’d been on with friends or when he was being courted by business acquaintances, Hale’s boat was tiny and not nearly as smooth a ride. But it also sat close enough to the water for them to catch glimpses of the reef below.
He couldn’t see Claire’s eyes behind her sunglasses, and it was hard to talk over the rush of the wind, but he could tell by the way she straightened that she’d seen something. He felt her gasp and her arm shot out, pointing to something ahead and to the right of them. Hale must have seen it too because he slowed the boat to a crawl, approaching carefully.
“Sea turtles,” he said just loud enough for Luke to hear him.
Claire scrambled to her knees and leaned over the railing to get a closer look. Luke grabbed her hips to steady her and keep her from toppling into the water. Overkill turned into prudence when the giant turtle surfaced in front of them and Claire gasped, hanging over the front of the boat in her excitement.
“Look at him!” She glanced over her shoulder at Luke, her eyes so lit up and happy that he shifted his gaze from the turtle to her, determined to do whatever it took to put that look on her face as often as possible.
“Keep watching,” said Hale. “Where there’s one, there are usually several.”
Obviously unamused by the strangers in the boat, the turtle lifted its head one more time before it slid under the surface and disappeared from sight. Luke scanned the water, searching for any ripple or a disturbance that might signal another turtle. His gaze caught on the sunlight as it glinted off the surface and then he saw it: a dark knot bigger than the palm of his hand.
“There!” He pointed to the spot and Hale steered the boat in that direction.
In a few moments, a pair of turtles appeared just under the surface of the water, each of their oblong green shells over three feet long. They were odd-looking creatures, but magic even to a mostly jaded guy like him. He glanced from the creatures to Claire, and he could see the wonder in her face. Seeing her reaction tugged at his heart. She made it possible for him to feel things he hadn’t been able to feel before she loved him. They watched, mesmerized, as the turtles moved under the water as if they were dancing. When they swam away, Luke pulled his wife into his arms and kissed her, letting the magic of what he was feeling slip from his lips to hers.
“That was amazing,” she said after she caught her breath.
“Yes, it was,” he said not sure if she meant the kiss or the turtles and not caring because he knew he’d never forget either one.
CLAIRE FINISHED THE last bit of her fish taco, washing it down with a swallow of cold beer. The crisp bite of the pale ale was the perfect complement to the spicy ahi. Between the baby stuff and being so tired she could barely keep her eyes open, it had been a long time since she’d had a beer or even a glass of wine. It was nice to relax in the sand with the sun on her face and a drink in her hand.
After their adventure with the turtles—she still couldn’t believe how close they’d gotten to the surprisingly majestic creatures—Hale had pulled the boat into a quiet cove with a sandy beach for their picnic. Growing up, she’d heard dozens of times about Hawaii being a paradise, but until they’d cut across the water shadowed by the vegetation-covered cliffs, she hadn’t understood what it meant. Sitting on the empty beach with Luke beside her, she got it.
The natural beauty was staggering. Everything was green and she’d never seen so many real flowers in her life. They grew everywhere: alongside the road, in crevices, anywhere their roots could grab hold. But it was the people who put it over the top. Everyone she’d met had been genuine and open and so welcoming. Their friendliness added to the magic of the place. She couldn’t imagine Luke’s project as anything other than a huge success. Who wouldn’t want to spend time on the island? Pushing aside the niggling feeling she got when she thought about work, she tucked her bottle in the sand, shimmied out of her shorts and stretched out on the blanket. She reached for Luke’s hand, twining her fingers with his, and let the sun beat down on her.
She must have dozed off, because before she realized what was happening, she found herself being hoisted into the air and turned unceremoniously over Luke’s shoulder.
“Neanderthal,” she squeezed out when she managed to catch her breath. She straightened her arms so she could smack the hard ass upside-down in front of her. It stung her hands and made a satisfying thwacking sound, but it didn’t slow her husband at all. “What are you doing?”
She didn’t have to wait for an answer. In two long strides, he was in the ocean and in two more, he’d taken them deep enough to dump her in the water. The cold shocked her sun-toasted skin and she let out a girlie squeal, the kind she’d tried to avoid making growing up around construction sites.
“What was that for?” she said between splutters.
“I thought you might be getting sunburned,” he said, appearing completely unrepentant.