Chapter 12

Nina and Marty sat cross-legged on the beach towel, fist pumping and wolf whistling as Esther began to wade into the water, but she halted when the water hit her waist and froze on the spot as the soft sand beneath her feet squished between her toes.

Tucker turned to her, his lean hips now covered in the water. “Esther?”

And when he looked at her with that question on his face, she became a blubbering idiot.

“Okay, so look. Here’s the thing. I can’t swim. That’s how this all started. Well, no. I stand corrected. It didn’t start there. It started at a funeral. I just mean, that’s when I found out I was a mermaid. Anyway, when my tail finally decided to show its face…er, fin…I was at a Mommy and Me class taking swimming lessons with babies because I’m a thirty-two-year-old sissy who’s afraid of the water. I don’t know the first thing about swimming but the little I learned at my first class with Maurizio, which was blowing bubbles. So I’m going to sink like the proverbial rock right in front of you and there’s nothing I can do to stop—”

Tucker stopped her by pulling her close to him, their skin meeting for the first time, leaving her fighting a gasp as every nerve in her body caught fire. “I figured as much.”

She snorted against his chest. “Really? Was it the masterful way I floundered like the Titanic was going down at the beach the other day that gave me away?”

Now he snorted, his arm curving around her waist, warming her from head to toe. “Just a hunch,” he teased, tilting her chin up so he could see her eyes. “Listen, Esther, I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise on my very life, you’ll be okay. If anything at all goes wrong, I’ll be there.”

Jessica, now gloriously slick with water, the beads clinging to her supple skin, nodded her head. “I’ll be there, too, Esther. Promise.”

Chester, who’d remained quiet and patient, gave her a thumbs-up sign and winked.

She knew she could trust them. It wasn’t that at all. It was herself and her reactions to the water since…

But she nodded and smiled at Tucker. “Okay then, let’s do this. What do I do first?”

He grinned at her and pointed to the water. “You take my hand and we go under. It’s as simple as that. But one thing—don’t fight the water. Hold your breath until I tap you on the shoulder, and when I do, I promise you, you’ll be able to breathe. Your gills will allow you to breathe. Getting you to accept that is going to take an enormous amount of trust in your part, and I know that. But I need you to believe me. Just believe, Esther.

Yeah, yeah. Just believe, she told herself as they waded deeper into the water and she blindly held his hand, feeling like a lamb going to slaughter. Unlike a Disney movie, where the heroine gives the handsome prince her unwavering trust just because he says she should, she felt the exact opposite.

This was bananapants. Like, who in their right mind would believe any of this was real?

But, she reasoned, the girls were here, and they wouldn’t let her drown. She knew that without a shadow of a doubt. And they were real. She’d seen they were real. She’d seen her tail was real, for crap’s sake. Still, she wished she’d worked out some kind of SOS with them as a just in case.

A million thoughts ran through her mind at that point, but before she knew it, the lights of the houses above the lake were fading and she was under the water, forcing herself to think of nothing but the task at hand.

Be a mermaid.

And then stark panic set in and she did exactly what Tucker said not to do. She fought the notion that she would eventually breathe through her gills and she began to struggle, her limbs twisting, her chest so tight she thought it would burst.

But then Tucker was there, pulling her toward him with a strong hand as Jessica’s voice vibrated in her head, soothing and clear as a bell.

“Open your eyes, Esther. Look and see what’s around you. It’s beautiful. Open your eyes.”

When Tucker tapped her on the shoulder, she forced her eyes open—and all at once, the panic fled, seeping from her body as she stood on the bottom of this lake that had been turned into a watery paradise.

It was incredible, breathtaking, utterly magnificent, and as she looked around, clinging to Tucker’s hand, she took it all in.

The water was crystal clear, turquoise and green, just like the beaches she’d seen so many times on television. Small castles, almost like the ones you’d see in a fish tank, sprang up in the distance, their candy-colored peaks and arched windows serving as portals for the mermaids to swim in and out of, frolicking with one another as though they were at some sort of mermaid version of an ice cream social.

Seashells and conchs the size of living room furniture sat along the bottom, scattered about like one would chairs arranged in the lobby of a hotel. Coral reefs crafted in bright pink, green, orange and blue cropped up in the corner of her eye as Tucker pulled her to him and swirled her around. There was even a small sunken ship in all its wooden glory, where merchildren chased each other from one end to the other, the tattered sails wafting with the water’s movement.

Fish in every color of the rainbow and every variety swam by in schools, their fins gracefully swatting the water, propelling themselves forward, and this time she heard Tucker in her head.

“Look, Esther. Look down,” he said, pointing to the sandy bottom of the lake with a grin.

Esther did as she was told and, without any warning, and no tingle to suggest otherwise, her limbs were gone and her yellow and aqua tail was suddenly there, resplendent as the water washed over them. It glimmered against the backdrop of the water, fascinating her.

Instantly, her hands went to her breasts to cover them, but as promised by Jessica, her bikini top had been replaced by scales, and just like Jessica said, when she skimmed her hands over them, they were as soft as silk.

And then she realized something else—her chest was no longer tight. Her lungs didn’t feel as though they were going to explode.

She was breathing through her gills, just like Tucker said.

She experienced a moment of pride—a deep sense of satisfaction that she wasn’t freaking out, but listening and following directions, trusting her body.

“You’re beautiful!” Jessica whispered. “Now, listen to me. Your tail can be used for many things, Esther. Not just for swimming. But let’s learn the basics for now. At first, this will feel cumbersome, heavy, but once you learn how to maneuver, you’ll be magnificent and you’ll swim faster than any dolphin. Watch me and do what I do.”

Jessica’s tail and fins were as beautiful as she was, in gold and deep hues of pink and crimson, and as she shot out in front of them, her hair making an auburn cloud around her gorgeous face, there was still a surreal feel to all of this.

So, Esther blinked. This was really happening.

She was really underwater, in a lake, with a hot merdude from Australia and his sister, learning how to be a mermaid.

But she didn’t have time to ponder for long, as Jessica, with Chester by her side, summoned her, holding her hands out and beckoning Esther to take them. But she didn’t know how to get lift off. Using her fins to propel her upward wasn’t like using her feet.

A small thread of panic threatened to wend its way through her, but Tucker swam under her and gave her a nudge with his head, propelling her upward and forward until she was in front of Jessica. Reaching out, she grabbed Jessica’s hand, clinging to it for all she was worth.

Chester swam past her, his stunning tail in green and gold swishing, his muscles bulging and flexing.

“Roll, Esther. Follow Chester, and roll your torso like me.”

As Jessica dragged her forward, Esther watched, attempting to mimic the grace with which Tuck’s sister glided through the water, her body rocking with the flow of the waves, but she rather felt like one of those memes on Facebook.

This is what you think you look like when you’re trying to be a mermaid—sexy, seductive, capable. But this is what you really look like—awkward, lumbering, half woman, half fish, plodding through the water with a ton o’ hair in your eyes like some big clumsy manatee.

Tucker grabbed her tail and began to move it up and down, almost like the heavy rope she used at the gym for strengthening her arms.

And suddenly, it clicked.

She got it…she felt it…she was living it.

With a shot forward, she lost hold of Jessica’s hand as she forced herself to adopt the motion Tucker had used. The harder she rocked her tail, the faster she went, until everything became a blur of motion she didn’t know how to stop.

Where were the brakes on this damn tail?

“Hey, mermaid! Wait for me!” Tucker shouted in her head, followed by a hearty laugh.

He swam up beside her, grabbing her hand to slow her until they were side by side—and that was the moment she got a true look at him in merman form.

She hadn’t even imagined what a merman looked like, but she should have known, even Tucker could make some shiny scales and a tail look rugged and edgy.

His scales were sapphire blue and faded to iridescent silver, his tail long, wide, and gleaming under the water like a beacon of light. The scales around his wrists matched his tail, but the most amazing sight of all were his fins. They were enormous, deep purple blending into black, gracefully swatting at the water as he swam next to her.

And okay, his chest, covered in muscles, wasn’t exactly a blight on the entire package either, but whatever. Now, her focus had to be on swimming like a mermaid, not a sexy merman.

That’s when it hit her.

She was swimming—for the first time since she was a child, she was swimming. And in a silent, mindful moment, she hoped her dad and her grandfather could somehow see she was giving this her all.

Esther let Tucker lead her, the water zooming past them, making bubbles with their speed. He pulled up short near what looked like a series of caves that left her wondering exactly how deep this manmade lake went.

Diving down toward the mouth of the cave, he pulled her with him until they were inside the craggy walls, the dull sounds of the water clearing as he pulled her to what, as she looked upward, looked like a sparkling-wet ledge made of rock. He surfaced and hoisted himself up, his muscles gleaming and slick with the beads of water, then put his hands back in the water at her waist and pulled her up to sit next to him.

The moment she rose above the surface, she gasped for breath. It happened automatically, making her frown. She gave him a confused look as she took in the small, almost cove-like setting, where warm water bubbled in a small turquoise pool to their left and the air was temperate enough that she didn’t feel cold.

She spread her arms wide. “How is this possible?”

“The cave’s like an air pocket. I figured you’re not quite ready to graduate to learning our ways of underwater communication, and I wanted to check and be sure you’re faring well.”

She almost didn’t know what to say. The experience had left her almost speechless. “I… I’m not…sure… I don’t know if I can articulate it. It’s amazing. I can’t believe I’m actually swimming in a big fish tank for adults. It’s…”

He drove his hands through his hair, slicking it back, revealing his rugged features. “Crazy, right? I know this all seems unreal, but you’re taking it like a champ, Esther. I’m really impressed.”

She shouldn’t be so giddy that he was impressed, and she did all she could to tamp down her excitement, but she was giddy—stupidly so. Looking down at her fins, swishing with the movement of the water, she muttered, “Thank you. It hasn’t caught up with me yet, I think. It’s like I’m wandering around in some fairytale. How can this have existed without anyone ever knowing?”

He chuckled. “We’re very careful, that’s how. We have to be. To everyone on the outside, it looks like we’re a highly sought-after gated community that no one can get into without homeowner-association approval. We’ve cultivated that notion since the beginning.”

She cocked her head, wiping residual water from her eyes. “But you chose not to live here. Why?”

“Because I don’t have a family that can fill a four-bedroom house. I don’t need that kind of room. I have two cats and me. An apartment suits me just fine.”

It was interesting to learn something private about him. “You have cats?”

He chucked her playfully under the chin. “You make it sound as though a monster like me couldn’t possibly have pets,” he teased on a chuckle, his chest rising with the effort.

She poked him in the ribs with a light nudge. “I said no such thing. I’m just surprised a big, rough merman like you has pets.”

“Aye. I do. I told you that already. Freckle and Fran have me wrapped around their paws—both rescues, and the real monsters in this story.”

Twisting her body toward him, she gave him a thoughtful glance. “So, no girlfriend, no wife, just you and a couple of cats?”

“So, no boyfriend, no husband, just you and a cat and a dog?”

Esther laughed out loud, the sound pinging the walls of the cave. “Yep. And a cottage I love. Some good friends I see a couple of times a week if my schedule’s not too packed, and that’s pretty much all there is to Esther Williams Sanchez.”

“I think there’s a lot more. For instance, you’re a divorce mediator? Any reason you chose a profession that has two people duking it out over linen napkins?”

Esther grinned at him. “To be honest, I used to mediate all sorts of things. But divorces are where the money’s at because there are so many of them. Far more than corporate mediations.”

He patted the place on his chest where his heart beat and mocked a frown. “That’s so damn depressing. I’d think you’d agree, coming from a family as close as yours.”

“Ah, well, my parents—my grandparents were rarities in a sea of overwhelming stats in favor of divorce. Marriage doesn’t mean what it used to anymore. There are all manner of loopholes nowadays.”

His eyebrow rose. “Loopholes? Meaning?”

“Meaning, the ‘I wasn’t cheating on you. I was just having an emotional affair online with some woman in Tucson. Never touched her,’ theory. Or the ever popular, ‘We’re just friends, and friends share dick pics all the time, don’t they?’ Then there’s ‘We’ve just grown apart. We have nothing to talk about anymore.’ Yet, somehow, the cheater is always able to find plenty to talk about with his sexy secretary. And don’t think I’m gender biased. Women do it, too. Also, it’s too damned easy to get a divorce these days. It’s the answer to anyone who doesn’t want to do the work, see a therapist, find a solution. I see it everyday, and it’s so ugly that by the time they get to me, by the time they need an intervention with someone like me, they hate the sight of one another, and they’re willing to pay good money to just find a resolution so it can all be over.”

She shook her head, unclenching her fists and stopped her rant, giving him a sheepish glance. “Sorry. I get a little preachy when it comes to something I’ve never even done, don’t I?”

His laughter was light and soft. “No. I agree with everything you said. Total commitment. I don’t always love the way my father handles things, but he and my mother are devoted to one another. They’re as crazy in love as they always were, and he dotes on her. Believe me, my parents have been married for centuries—”

“Centuries?” she almost shrieked, startling a school of puffy fish weaving in and out of the cave.

He wrinkled his nose. “Right. I forgot to mention. We’re immortal,” he responded, as if living forever were the new normal.

Esther held up her hands in shock. “Whoa. Gimme a sec to absorb. You mean, I’ll never die? That’s what that means, right? Like forever-forever?”

He winced, his handsome face going apprehensive. “Yes?”

“And how old are you?”

“Old?”

Esther couldn’t help but giggle and give him a playful shove. “But I thought you were in your thirties?”

“Well, with the age of the Internet, that’s what we put out there. Immortality aside, I feel the same way you do. There are too many distractions these days. No one makes a promise and keeps it—which is why I’ve never married. But when I do, when I fall in love, it’ll literally be for an eternity.”

His words hummed in her ears, followed by a Celine Dion song about falling in love forever. She shook her head, jamming a finger in her ear to rid herself of the earworm. “Interesting.”

His face went all disbelief and shock. “That’s all you have to say to a guy with old-fashioned values?”

She patted him on the back, gulping at the warmth of his skin stretched tightly over all that muscle. “That’s nice.”

And it was. Very nice. But likely as empty as all the promises people made to one another before it all goes sideways. Finding out she was going to live forever could make “I’m never getting married” a real-life challenge. Yet, she found herself wanting to believe Tucker. Wanting to believe that there were still men out there like her father and her grandfather.

Maybe it was just because he was so good-looking, and he could have any woman he wanted at any time, that she struggled to believe he’d live for eternity with just one woman. Especially seeing as he apparently didn’t age.

Which meant she didn’t either. Gah! This portion of being a mermaid was all too much right now. Too much information to process. It would have to wait until she sorted everything else out.

Grabbing her hand, Tucker stared into her eyes, concern riddling his. “Hey, let’s talk about something more serious.”

“More serious than living for an eternity and a centuries-old marriage? What else ya got up your tail, Pearson? Oh my God—can I fly? Do I have X-ray vision? Will I see dead people?”

Tucker laughed and shook his head, but then his eyes grew somber. “When will you be ready to tell me about your fear of water?”

Pushing the hair from her eyes, Esther looked down at the water, blue as a cloudless summer day, and bit her lip. “I’m not—”

“Tucker!”

Someone roared his name so loud, it bounced off the cave’s walls and echoed throughout the cavern.

“Father, no! Let him be!” Esther heard Jessica plead from a muffled distance.

The water in the cave swelled then, rushing up over her tail and splashing her in the face as the single most intimidating hulk of a man blew into the small space, his flowing white hair streaming behind his bulky body.

“Who is this?” the man shouted as he rose up out of the water and filled the cave like some whirling dervish to confront Tucker, his broad chest expanding as he huffed the question.

But Tucker, who looked suspiciously like the new merman, didn’t back down at all. In fact, he sat taller and puffed his chest out, too. And then he grinned wide, purposefully, almost in direct opposition to this man’s ire.

“Father. As always, I’m as giddy as Great-Aunt Gilda to see you.”

Ooo, shit. Tucker’s father—that meant they were in trouble. And she’d like to avoid trouble with this guy because he wasn’t just big, he was scary. Maybe scarier than Nina, with his handsomely lined face, light blue eyes, long white beard, and daunting expression.

“Who. Is. This?” he bellowed again, his breath so strong, so fierce, he almost blew Esther’s hair dry.

Tucker, totally unaffected but for the clench of his jaw, very calmly said, “This is Esther, Father. I turned her into a mermaid. Quite by accident, of course, but nonetheless, she’s a mermaid.”

She didn’t like the tone Tucker used when he spoke. It sounded a lot like a neener, neener, neener. Sort of like, “Hey, Dad. This is my meth-head friend, Esther, and we’re going to make crack together. Cool, right?”

Esther’s finger shot up before anyone could say anything else, the mediator in her instantly aware and standing at attention. “Mr. Pearson!” she shouted without meaning to, then lowered her voice. “My name is Esther Williams Sanchez, and this was all an accident I can explain, if you’ll be kind enough to let me.”

But Tucker’s father clearly wasn’t in the mood for pleasantries. In fact, he scowled with such ferocity, Esther literally fought a violent shiver.

“Sanchez?” he repeated none too quietly.

Oh, damn, damn, damn. She’d forgotten all about the H2O-Yo business. But Daddy Dearest had not.

Jessica rushed in then, her face a mask of worry as she looked at Tucker and Esther, an apology in her eyes. Putting a hand on her father’s arm, she tugged, her face angry. “Father! Please! Stop bellowing. You’re disturbing everyone and frightening Esther!”

Mr. Pearson saw red at his daughter’s warning, his light blue eyes swimming with outrage. “Don’t you tell me what to do, young lady! Did you allow this? Did you let him bring this woman here? To our pod?”

Tucker slipped off the ledge, cool as a cucumber, taking Esther’s hand as he did and pulling her back into the water. “Jessica had no idea I was coming here tonight, Father, and now, it’s late and we have to go. Good night,” he said, before he dove into the water, dragging her with him and propelling them out of the cave.

As he held her hand in a tight grip, a swell of water pushed at her tail, forcing her body to jerk, making her lose Tucker’s hand.

In that moment, when she should have relied on her tail to help, she floundered, and then the water turned murky as something stirred the sand up from the bottom of the lake. Esther twisted around helplessly, trying to remember to roll her upper body, but her control was gone, and her tail began to feel like it had before—less like a part of her, more like an anchor.

And suddenly, she was sinking as fast as if she had concrete blocks on her feet. She couldn’t breathe and she couldn’t get liftoff. All she could hear was the muted sound of someone howling, the thunderous roar sending her into a frantic panic. She couldn’t see Tucker anymore for the haze of swirling sand, and her fight to keep from sinking to the floor of the lake was lost.

While she sank, she remembered she’d sunk like this once before. Frozen as surely as if someone had tied her hands and legs and dropped her to the bottom of the ocean like a sack of rocks.

Fear gripped her so tight, so hard, she flailed, angry with herself. Yet, those visions of when she was just a child, alone, afraid, assaulted her mind’s eye, playing in her head like a movie in repeat.

“Esther!” someone yelled with urgency, but she couldn’t move for the weight of her tail. No matter how hard she tried, her big ass wouldn’t get off the damned floor of the lake.

And that was when a pair of hands reached around her throat and gripped—gripped hard.

Her heart crashed as she struggled, her hair swirling around her face, preventing her from seeing anything. And just as she was about to reach up and pull the hands away, they were gone.

But then more hands grabbed at her, different hands, bigger hands, reassuring hands, and, without pause, she was thrust upward and rushing to the surface. Just when she thought her lungs would burst, she felt cold air on her face, the chilly sting of a fall night clashed with her wet body.

There was splashing and commotion, and then she heard Nina yell, “Little Fish!” as she was scooped up by the strong vampire and carried to the shore, where she placed her on a blanket, pushing the longs strands of Esther’s hair from her face. Cupping her cheeks with both cold hands, Nina stared down at her, coal eyes frantic. “What the fuck, kiddo?”

As she fought for breath, Marty lunged at them, throwing a towel around Esther as her teeth chattered and she shivered violently. “Sweetie!” Marty cried, hauling her upward to smack her back. “Cough, Esther, cough it up!”

Esther sputtered and coughed as she was told, water flying from her mouth while she wheezed for air, clinging to Nina’s wrists.

While she was trying to catch her breath, there was more commotion coming from the water in the way of more loud splashes and voices, rising up in the air, frenzied and frightened.

“Back the fuck up, you vultures!” Nina shouted angrily, her eyes and fangs flashing in sync when a crowd of surprised people began to gather around Esther. “Tucker? Where the fuck are you?”

“And who are you?” Tucker’s father asked, staring down at them, his barrel chest rising and falling as someone handed him a towel to wrap around his waist.

Nina unceremoniously handed her off to Marty and was up on her feet in a shot. “I’m the bitch who’s gonna fuck you up, that’s who I am! So how do ya like your shit fucked up? Over easy or scrambled?” she shouted in his face, actually making him pause as they eyeballed each other, their nostrils flaring.

Well, that is, until Tucker’s father snapped his fingers and a wall of sparkling water rose up from the lake in slow motion, and just as slowly smashed down over their heads.