Diving into Love Read online

Bree stopped mid-step. “What are you doing here?” she asked in surprise, realizing too late how rude that must have sounded. “I mean—” She didn’t know what to say that would make it any better, so she clamped her lips shut.

  Rather than appear offended, Caleb smirked and looked at Adeline. “I should have known she’d be just like you.”

  Adeline flashed him a grin and plopped down onto the blanket. “You mean, beautiful? Intelligent? Witty?”

  “And blunt,” Caleb said, though it didn’t seem to be an insult. More like he found it amusing. He turned back to Bree. “To answer your question, I was invited.”

  He must be the friend Adeline had said was picking up their food from the diner. A fact that Adeline had conveniently forgotten to mention.

  Bree felt her cheeks flush, and, not knowing what to say, she followed Adeline’s example and dropped onto the blanket. Caleb looked good in a hat, a T-shirt, and board shorts. Probably merchandise from his own shop. She tried not to stare and instead leaned back on her elbows and looked out over the ocean. A few seagulls scuttled around the sand, seemingly waiting for the right moment to move in on their picnic.

  “Bree’s been helping me out this morning,” Adeline said, breaking the silence.

  Bree glanced over as Caleb took the lid off one of the baskets and pulled out a bag.

  “Oh?” he said as he took out several sandwiches and placed one on each of the plates. “I hope Addie at least paid you in chocolate.”

  Bree turned back to the rolling waves and smiled. “Only the ones that I messed up so bad that they were unsalvageable.”

  “Which were a lot,” Adeline added. She’d been nice enough to bag them up for Bree.

  “So, you’re a natural,” Caleb said, his tone teasing.

  Bree pushed herself up and swung her legs around so she sat cross-legged. “Basically. Adeline needs to be careful or I might take over her shop one day.”

  Adeline snort-laughed. “Yeah, I’m not worried.” She reached into the basket closest to her and pulled out a soda, extending it toward Bree. “Want one?”

  It was already chilled, and Bree had to set it down quickly, her skin prickling from the cold can. “So, becoming a chocolatier probably isn’t in my future. Maybe I’ll be a professional beach bum instead.” She stretched her arms over her head and breathed in the salty air. “I could get used to this.”

  “What exactly would be in your job description?” Adeline asked, pulling a bag of grapes from the basket nearest her.

  Bree’s gaze scanned the sand around them. “I don’t know. Whatever that guy does, I guess.” She nodded toward a dark-skinned guy in the distance. He was lounging in a seat that towered over the rest of the beach, his shirt off, like he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Both Adeline and Caleb burst out laughing, and Bree couldn’t figure out what was so funny.

  “That’s Isaac,” Adeline explained, once she’d caught her breath. “And he’s the lifeguard.”

  Bree squinted her eyes and tilted her head as she studied him. The guy was just sitting there. “Really? Shouldn’t he be doing something like… I don’t know…saving lives or something?”

  “If there was anyone to save, yeah,” Caleb said, still wearing a grin. “But if you hadn’t noticed, there’s not much action at the moment.”

  True. No one was in the water, and only a couple of people lounged on the sand. But still, it looked like the guy was sleeping and would never know if someone decided to go for a swim.

  “Okay, then I’ll be a lifeguard,” Bree said. “That way, I can get paid to be a beach bum.”

  That set off another round of laughter.

  Bree tried to smile, but if this was how the lifeguards were in Starlight Ridge, she’d never be able to get into the ocean—not if they didn’t take their job seriously.

  What if this Isaac guy had been on duty when she’d nearly drowned as a teenager? She’d had a near-reverent admiration for lifeguards ever since. But this guy didn’t realize how important he was—how everyone was depending on him. She took a frustrated bite out of her sandwich.

  It hit her taste buds like an explosion of rancid awfulness. “Oh my gosh.” That taste. Oh, man. Bree forced herself to keep the food in her mouth and not spit it back out. The taste of fish overwhelmed her senses, and tears sprung to her eyes. “I’ll be right back,” she said around the bite of sandwich. “Beautiful day for a walk.”

  She grabbed her soda and leaped to her feet. With what she hoped was a nonchalant swagger, Bree walked along the water’s edge. When she thought she’d probably gone far enough, she bent down like she was going to look at a seashell or pebble, and then spit the food out into the seawater.

  “I don’t think I’m ever going to recover from that,” Bree muttered before gulping down her soda. At first it made the taste worse—like grape-flavored fish oil or something. But by the time the can was empty, she felt like survival was now possible.

  “I’ve never seen anyone have that reaction to the diner’s fish sandwiches,” someone said from behind her.

  Bree turned to find that Caleb had followed her. And had probably watched her spit up her food. That must have been attractive. “Um…” She could have feigned an upset stomach or something, but from the way he was looking at her—Caleb knew her secret.

  Bree self-consciously wiped the back of her hand across her mouth, hoping she didn’t have spit or little bits of fish stuck to her lips. “Let me guess, the diner is famous for them.” It seemed everyone was famous for the seafood here. And she was the only one in town who couldn’t appreciate it.

  “Sure is,” Caleb said, his eyes teasing her. “But I wish Addie had told me you don’t like fish.”

  Yeah, too bad Bree had sworn Adeline to secrecy. Looked like her friend was right and Bree would have to tell people—it was too dangerous not to. “Is there anything in Starlight Ridge that isn’t world famous?”

  “No, we pretty much have the best of everything here.” Caleb gave her one of his world-famous grins as he nodded toward their picnic. “Let’s get you something edible, shall we?”

  “I don’t think I could stomach much of anything at the moment,” Bree said, her tone apologetic, even as she began to walk back toward their picnic blanket. “Although Jessie’s tarts are sounding pretty good right about now.”

  Caleb walked slowly with his hands shoved in his pockets, almost like he was delaying their return to their picnic. “How about lemon meringue pie instead? That is, if Adeline hasn’t eaten it all by now.”

  “Now, that I could go for.” Bree’s gaze landed on her friend, who was currently eating alone on their blanket and didn’t seem to mind one bit. She wondered why it had been Caleb who had come to check on her and not Adeline. She was tempted to ask but was interrupted by a jolt of loud music coming from her pocket. Bree scrambled to pull her phone out of her pocket. She turned away and glanced at the screen. It was her boss. Couldn’t he handle things without her for a couple of weeks? He knew she was on vacation. The music stopped but then started right up again.

  “Sorry,” Bree mouthed to Caleb and then stepped away to answer the call. She sucked in a deep breath and moved toward the water before pressing the green icon. “Hello?” Like she didn’t already know who it was. Bree stopped on the wet sand and watched as the water washed over her feet.

  “Hey, Bree. How’s California treating you?”

  Uh-oh. Eric was using small talk. This wasn’t good.

  “Only been here a day. On my vacation. But so far, so good.”

  A beat of silence.

  “What’s going on, Eric?”

  Her boss cleared his throat. “I’m going to give it to you straight. You know how there has been talk of downsizing for the past few months?”

  “Yes,” Bree said slowly, her mind whirling. “You said our department is safe. That they can’t design airplanes without us. The engineers are what keep the company in business.”

  Another beat of silence.


  “Yeah, that’s what I said.” Eric cleared his throat again. “And it’s true. But it turns out that they don’t need quite as many engineers as they got.”

  Bree’s heart dropped. There was no good way for this conversation to end. “How long have you known?”

  “Not long.”

  She didn’t believe that for a second. The timing was way too convenient. “How long, Eric?”

  “A week.”

  “And you waited until you knew I’d be out of the office to tell me?”

  Eric grunted. “You’re not the only one to be laid off, you know.”

  “Were you?”

  From the prolonged silence, Bree knew he hadn’t.

  “Just those of us designing things like the cup holders and dinner trays, huh?” She squished her toes in the sand as tight as she could, forcing her anger out into the ocean. “I didn’t ask to be put on that assignment. I’m capable of more.”

  “I know,” Eric said. “But someone had to do it. Besides, when you’re designing an airplane, there are no small jobs, just—”

  “—small people,” Bree finished. “Yeah, yeah.” She dropped to the ground and pulled her knees into her chest, not caring that her clothes were getting wet. “How much severance pay do I get?”

  “The thing is…well…there’s a reason they’re downsizing. Their funds aren’t what they led the public to believe and—”

  “Will I even get my paid vacation time?” Bree interrupted. Eric’s excuses were just as unpalatable as the fish sandwich she’d spit out.

  Eric answered quickly this time. “Yes, of course. That had been approved before all of this started.”

  Well, she supposed that was a silver lining.

  But still.

  Bree didn’t even bother to end the call. She just cocked her arm back and let her phone fly, straight into the ocean.

  5

  Caleb moved quickly toward Bree. He’d tried to give her some space while she had been on her phone call, but he’d overheard enough to know something was wrong. “Are you all right?” he asked. She still sat in the water, her chin resting on her knees, staring into the distance.

  “I just threw my phone into the water.”

  He took that as no, I’m not okay and tried to ignore the fact that he’d have to put on his gear to see if he could find the phone later, preferably before a turtle decided to use it as a midday snack. If he got lucky, it would wash up on shore.

  He sat down next to Bree, and his skin erupted with goose bumps covering his arms from the shock of the cold water. He forced himself not to squirm. “Want to talk about it?”

  Bree turned to him, a curious look spread across her features. He thought it adorable how her lips scrunched to one side at the same time as her eyebrows furrowed in obvious frustration. Her gaze flitted across the sand to their picnic, but Adeline had disappeared. Caleb assumed that had been her plan all along—to disappear. He should have realized what Adeline was doing when she’d said she was swamped with work and wondered if he’d pick up some food from the diner. No one was ever swamped with work this time of year.

  But Bree seemed disappointed that Adeline had left her. And now the only one to confide in—to comfort her—was a random guy she’d only met the day before. She turned back to the ocean and released a long sigh. “That was my boss calling to tell me that I no longer have a job. Mandatory cutbacks to try to save money, and all that ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ kind of stuff. They didn’t get rid of all their engineers, just the ones they didn’t deem necessary. Like me.” Her voice caught on the last part, and she fell silent.

  Caleb wished Adeline hadn’t left. He never knew what to do in situations like this, especially with a woman he didn’t even know. He hadn’t realized Bree was an engineer. That was awesome, but it also meant she was super smart and would be able to see right through any of his lame attempts to make her feel better. “That sucks.”

  Bree gave a surprised laugh. “Yup, it does.”

  “So…why did you destroy your phone?” As soon as Caleb said it, he knew it had been the wrong question to ask. She was already dealing with a major problem, and he’d redirected her attention to another one.

  She was silent for a long time, and he scrambled to find something else to say, something that would help smooth things over and not make him look like the colossal jerk he was turning out to be. But then she finally spoke. “Because I didn’t want to talk to my boss and hear how sorry he is, even though he still has his job. I don’t want to have to talk to my mom or dad and tell them of my failure when they call and ask how things are going. Now that I say it out loud, I think my arm knew what my brain is just figuring out. I don’t want to talk to anyone at all.” She took a shuddered breath.

  “So, you’re just going to sit in the ocean for a while instead?” He hoped Bree could hear that he was trying to lighten the magnitude of the situation. It was the only way he knew how to help people. He’d never been very good with actual solutions.

  Bree’s gaze whipped to him and then traveled down to where he sat in the water. “You must be freezing,” she said, standing up. “I’m so sorry. You must think I’m crazy, sitting in the water like that, and then destroying my phone just because I was mad.” She gave a quick shake of her head, then held out a hand to Caleb to help him stand.

  He only hesitated a moment before taking it and getting to his feet.

  “I promise, I’m not usually like this.”

  “It would be okay if you were,” Caleb said with a smile. He immediately clamped his lips shut, cursing himself for openly flirting with Bree. That was the last thing he needed. Unfortunately, Isaac approached them at that moment and implemented his own brand of awkward flirtations.

  “I thought I knew all of the lovely ladies in Starlight Ridge,” the lifeguard said, his sunglasses perched on top of his head. He must have finally noticed he wasn’t alone. “Guess I missed one.”

  “Isaac, this is Adeline’s friend, Bree.” Caleb nodded to his friend. “Bree, this is Isaac, the local lifeguard and surfer extraordinaire.”

  “Charmed.” Isaac stuck out his hand to shake Bree’s, but rather than releasing her hand, he brought it up to his lips and kissed it. “I foresee many moonlit strolls in your future.”

  Bree laughed, a hint of pink sweeping her cheeks, and a bubble of jealousy formed in Caleb’s stomach. She had just lost her job, and it had been Isaac who had been able to make her smile.

  Better nip this thing in the bud before Isaac got any ideas. Caleb broke through their hands and with a pointed look told Isaac, “She’s too old for you, and she’s just visiting.”

  “Perfect, just how I like it,” Isaac said with an over-the-top grin, which just made Bree laugh again.

  Although after another moment, she cocked an eyebrow and eyed Caleb. “Did you just say that I’m too old?”

  And there Caleb went, shoving his smaller-than-average foot into his mouth, where it always fit so perfectly. “I only meant that Isaac is a baby compared to your wisdom and life experience,” he said, hoping that would be enough to get him out of trouble.

  “Hey,” Isaac protested.

  Bree only smiled and started back toward their picnic. Her lips dipped into a frown, and she paused. “Where do you think she went?”

  “Probably had to get back to the shop,” Caleb said. No need to worry Bree about her friend’s ulterior motives.

  Bree began walking again, but her pace seemed quicker this time. “I’ll help pack the food back up and then I think I’ll head back to Adeline’s house.”

  “You’re done helping her for the day?”

  Bree’s steps slowed as she seemed to think about his question. “I think her shop needs a break from me.”

  “Not the other way around?” Caleb asked.

  She tossed a smile over her shoulder. “I never need a break from chocolate.”

  Caleb felt his heart lift, knowing that he too could make Bree smile, even when she was having
a terrible day.

  To his annoyance, Isaac followed them over to their picnic blanket. “Why are you guys all wet, anyway?” he asked Bree. “Did I mess up? Did Caleb have to rescue you?” His forehead was scrunched up in concern. Isaac had apparently missed the fact that their top halves were completely dry.

  “No one was drowning,” Bree said. “We just needed to cool off a little.”

  Isaac’s forehead smoothed out in relief. “I don’t know much about needing to cool off, but if you ever need to warm up, I can definitely help you out with that.”

  Caleb grabbed the grapes and shoved them into one of the baskets with more force than was necessary. He shouldn’t be upset with his friend; he hadn’t done anything wrong. Isaac was only being his usual self, and Caleb couldn’t fault him for that. But that didn’t mean he had to like that his friend was interrupting the moment he and Bree had been having…or could have been having. Had they had a moment? Should Caleb even want that? Maybe he should be thanking Isaac for keeping him from doing something stupid—from going down a path that he knew wasn’t good for him.

  Bree gave Isaac an easy laugh. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

  He grimaced and placed a hand over his heart. “Ow, that hurts.”

  To Caleb’s relief, she didn’t give in to Isaac’s boyish charms. “Sorry,” she said, not looking it. “I’m in Starlight Ridge for a reason, and it’s not to find a new boyfriend.”

  That one statement relieved Caleb of the remaining tension he’d been holding on to. He wouldn’t need to worry about how he acted around Bree, because she wasn’t interested in dating. That meant he could be her friend and act like she was anyone else in town, and then she’d leave in two weeks. No feelings involved. “And on that note,” he said with a smile, “let’s get this picnic packed away so we can get you something to eat.”

  Isaac’s expression was one of obvious confusion as he glanced between the two of them. “You know that made absolutely no sense, right?”

  Caleb was about to explain Bree’s aversion to seafood, something he shared, much to the chagrin of most of the town, but her gaze had snapped to his, and she gave a subtle shake of her head. “I…didn’t order enough at the diner,” he said, even as he packed away several fish sandwiches.