Total pages in book: 191
Estimated words: 188966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 945(@200wpm)___ 756(@250wpm)___ 630(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 188966 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 945(@200wpm)___ 756(@250wpm)___ 630(@300wpm)
“What are you thinking about?” Margot asked with a huff. “It looks like something delicious, and you’re not sharing.”
I chuckled and relaxed against the pillows. “Oh, it was delicious alright.”
“No fair.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll share the rest.” I glanced at Dylan, and the light in my heart dimmed. “I’ll share everything but...” I struggled to find the right thing to say. “What I’m about to share won’t be easy to hear.”
Margot froze. “What? Why?”
Dylan understood, giving me a terse nod. “We’re entering the territory of bad things.”
“We are. I understand if you’ll eventually edit out what I’m about to tell you, but I promised I’d tell you the truth, and this is a part of it.”
Dylan reached for the microphone. “Do you want me to turn it off? I can just take notes.”
I deliberated for a second before shaking my head. “To be honest, if you can’t handle the next part, then you definitely won’t be able to handle the rest, so it’s probably best to keep recording. That way you can make the choice if you want to stay and hear the end or leave and finish early.”
“You have my word that we will stay and listen...for all of it.” Dylan gave me a sad smile. For the first time, I wondered what grief he had in his life to commiserate with the very mentioning of mine.
A connection grew between us that wasn’t there before, and I smiled. “Thank you, Dylan.”
Pulling out a fresh notepad from his satchel, he clicked a pen and quirked an eyebrow. “Ready whenever you are, Nerida.”
“I suppose I’ll begin by saying, please see me as I am now. See the successes I’ve had with Lunamare. See me sitting here, old and weathered with so many blessed memories. And take comfort that I survived, I thrived, I triumphed.”
“Oh, God...my heart is already hurting,” Margot whispered.
And that was the last thing I heard as I gave myself over to the past and prepared to survive all over again...
Chapter Thirty-Six
*
Nerida
*
AGE: 17 YRS OLD
*
(Sea in Vietnamese: Biển)
“WHAT’S THE WORD FOR SEA AGAIN?” I glanced at Aslan behind my sunglasses, bubbling with joy to be on the water with him and not in a stuffy classroom.
Four months.
Four long, frustrating months of his hands and his mouth but nothing else.
School was almost over.
I’d already applied and been accepted to the James Cook University for my Bachelor of Marine Science. I didn’t let myself think that it was almost six hours away and would require me to stay in Townsville for three years.
I’d miss my home, my reef, my dolphins, and my parents.
But most of all, I’d miss Aslan.
Unless he comes with me.
I couldn’t see him not coming with me.
We’d get a place together, just like he said. We’d use the money he’d saved from working for my parents, and I’d get a part-time job between studies. If and when he ran out of funds, then...?
Who knows...perhaps he can get a job where they don’t ask questions and pay under the table.
I hated that the deeper I fell into Aslan and daydreamed of our future together, the more scared I became as my eyes opened to adult things. We needed somewhere to live, a career to sustain ourselves, healthcare if we got sick, and documentation to get married.
We were so lucky that Aslan very rarely got sick. I had a sneaking suspicion it was from all the vitamin D and sunlight we received as a family on the open water. Apart from a couple of colds during the rainy season and a bout of stomach flu, he’d been healthy and happy for years.
But it just takes that one time...
A broken bone.
A serious illness.
And then he’d end up in the hospital, not able to provide a name, a Medicare number, or give any explanation on how he came to be here or where he’d been staying.
Stop thinking about what can go wrong and focus on what’s right.
I shook myself out of my funk and blinked at the stunning day before me. The ocean glittered turquoise. The sun beamed gold. The scent of salt and squawk of seagulls made my heart overflow as Aslan caught my gaze and murmured, “Deniz.”
“And because no one asked me, the word for sea is mare in Latin, hǎi in Chinese, laut in Indonesian, and meer in German.” Mum finished yanking up her wetsuit, kissing my dad on his cheek as he came over and zipped her up.
“Show-off,” he muttered, slapping her neoprene-covered butt.
“Give me another one.” Mum laughed.
Aslan chuckled where he sat at the table beneath the shade sail, tapping in whatever data the sonar pinged from where my father had placed it below. “You’re going to run out of languages soon, Anna.”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m still getting the hang of yours.”
“You’re almost fluent.” Aslan gave her a genuine smile, and my heart burst. “I’m beyond impressed.”