The Sky Beneath Her(97)

The next couple of weeks were hectic. I coordinated with the auction house about the picking up and selling of the furniture. I duplicated the manuscript and gave one copy to Nathan and kept one for myself. I donated the original to the historical center.

The movers came yesterday and cleared out the furniture, leaving me with a mattress and bedding. The auction was on Saturday, and I instructed the Morrisons to send the final check to Mr. Brooks in Norfolk.

I’d dived with Nathan as often as I could and had become a kind of assistant on his dives. The nervous first-timers and I got along great. When Kaitlin’s summer help texted and said they’d be a few weeks late, I also kept cleaning houses with her. She was a long way from paying me back, but her surf camps were filling up, and she’d sent me a few small Venmo payments.

I also did some internet research with the history center’s help. I’d been curious about Alfred Gruber’s fate. It took a few days, but the librarian had reported back that she’d found an Alfred Gruber, born in Vienna in 1910. He’d died in April 1942, when a boat he’d been traveling on the Danube River had unexpectedly sunk. He’d drowned. Still no word on the mystery woman pictured with Dr. Brooks.

Though Mr. Brooks had said I didn’t need to send him updates, I had sent weekly reports. Seven years at the firm had left me with a begrudging respect for documentation. He’d never responded to my reports until last night. He’d emailed back that he’d be at the house sometime today.

So, I’d awoken early and mopped the floors and wiped down the kitchen and bathrooms again. I wanted the Southern Shores house to be spotless. Seemed fitting that I give Dr. Brooks’s home the best send-off I could. Once the house sold, Kaitlin had said I could sleep in her spare room again. Nathan had offered me the spare room in his condo. I’d already decided I wasn’t staying here. Like my mother, I loved the beauty, but I was dreaming of far-off places I’d never seen.

Nathan had told me last night he was leaving the Outer Banks in early August. He was going to Florida to head up a diving expedition. He didn’t ask me to come, and I hadn’t offered. I really liked him, but I still feared I would let his life become mine.

The front doorbell rang, and as I crossed the center room, my footsteps echoed. I opened the door to find Nathan on my doorstep. His hair was damp, and he wore the same gray T-shirt, board shorts, and flip-flops I’d seen him in so many times. I was beginning to wonder if he owned any other clothes.

“Hey, what are you doing here? I thought you had a lesson.”

“He canceled. Rescheduled for tomorrow.”

“So, a rare morning off.”

He ran long fingers through his hair. The morning light caught hints of silver that made him look even more attractive. “It almost never happens.”

I stepped into a hug. He wrapped his arms around me. He felt so good. Too good.

“I finished the manuscript,” he said.

“Kind of a big loose end, isn’t it? Baby born on the high seas, and then nothing.”

“Did you find out more about your great-grandmother, Margaret?”

“No pictures. Nothing in the newspaper databases, not even an obit. The only time she’s mentioned is in Kevin Riggs’s death notice. She’s referred to as ‘his late wife, Margaret.’”

“I’d like to know where everyone ended up.”

“The history center has no leads so far, but they promised to keep digging.”

He stepped inside and looked around the empty room that smelled faintly of pine and window cleaner. “This place is something. I got to hand it to Dr. Brooks. He picked a great location.”

“He’d lived close to Margaret and Kevin in Norfolk. Do you think the proximity of this house to the Oceanus was an accident? It was his vacation house, but what are the chances?”

“I think he knew exactly what he was doing.” He drew in a breath. “I wanted to let you know, I’m leaving for Florida sooner than expected,” Nathan said.

We hadn’t slept together since the first time. I’d worried about muddying the waters, and he’d been patient about my reservations. But we dove often, ate dinner at Arthur’s, and took long walks on the beach. I’d enjoyed getting to know him and hearing stories of his life. The idea of not seeing him again was more deflating than I’d imagined. I didn’t need him to stay, but I would miss him terribly. “When?”

“Two weeks.”

“So soon.”

“Yeah. I need to be down there before hurricane season kicks up. They made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“I get it. You got to go where the money is.”

He laid his hands on my shoulders. He hadn’t said the l-word, but I could see it churning in his eyes when he looked at me over burgers or across the dive boat. Maybe he was afraid the words would send me running. Maybe they would.

He brushed a hair strand off my forehead. “I know you well enough now to realize you’re never going to ask for anything. But I’m doing the asking, okay?”

“Okay?” The underlying question couldn’t be hard to guess.

“Will you come with me? You’re an excellent diver, and you have enough skills to get a job anywhere. So, if you came with me to Florida, you could still be doing your own thing. It’s not like we’d be inseparable.” And before I could answer: “I am not your anchor. You’re unbound and free-floating.”