wrath of the Sea Queen (19 page)

"
So, where have you been, Max?
"
 

That was all the prompting the boy needed.  Max moved around to her seat and
boldly
plopped himself into C
a
eli's lap.  He commenced a wordy tale about his trip to
a big amusement park
wher
e he rode lots of rides, ate tons
of food, and played
fun
games with his Papa.  Each of these things he described in lengthy and vivid detail. 
Well, a
t least, as vivid
ly
as a child can describe them.  C
a
eli pulled one of her energy bars out of her bag to nibble on while she listened, offering the boy a bite
.  H
e d
eclined
.  After maybe
fifte
en minutes, Max's adventure story was interrupted by another masculine voice.

"
Max, I think you
ha
ve taken up enough of this nice lady's time.
"

"
Pretty
C
a
eli;
h
er name is
pretty
C
a
eli, Papa.
  You have to use her name if you want to talk to her,
"
Max repeated the instructions that he
ha
d been given.
 

"Leave Ms. C
a
eli alone then
.  C
ome over
here
to your own seat
and
color for a while.
"
  The man produced a
sketch
book and
box of
crayons and placed them on the tray for Max to use.  Max reluctantly climbed down
from
C
a
eli
's lap
.

"
Can I have a picture of you, pretty C
a
eli?  Did you bring one
with you
?
"
  Max asked her
before leaving
.

"
You want a photo o
f me?  I
think I
have one in my
bag
.  Why do you want it?
"
 

C
a
eli tugged her
bag
out from under the seat in front of her and rummaged through it until she found her
small coin purse that also held some photos in a side compartment
.  She removed one of her swim team p
ictures
. 
In it, e
veryone was wearing their white school jackets adorned with the school's mascot swimming across a large letter W for Washington. 
C
a
eli was seated in the center of the front row, a place she
had
not want
ed
to be.  She would have much preferred to hide anonymously in t
he back, but the coach
insisted that his star swimmer needed to be the center of the photo. 
Her protests
had
not change
d
his mind. 

She stared at the image and smiled.  It
had
turned out to be
one of her favorites.  Not because of the swim team, but because it
always
reminded her of the incident that first introduced her to Vin.  She
had
stayed after school to practice
that Friday
, which she often did.  Typically,
C
a
eli would have
the pool to herself for about an hour. 
She
was climbing out of the water when Vin came rushing
by
on an errand of his own.  H
is
nose
was
buried in the pages of a notebook
as
he cut through the pool area.  Someone called out
to him
from behind
. 
Vin
turned suddenly to respond
at the exact moment that
C
a
eli stepp
ed
onto the edge of the concrete.  Neither was aware of the proximity of the other.  His elbow knocked her off balance and sent her flailing toward the
water
.
Vin's quick reflexes allowed him to catch her around the waist and pull her
to
safe
t
y
.
  He tugged her forward with enough force that she fell forward against his chest and into his
strong
embrace. 
She remembered
the moment she
look
ed
up into his sparkling blue eyes and
how her
heart
had
skip
ped
a beat. 
It was
one of
the best
mishaps
of her life
, and C
a
eli re
called
it
vividly
.

C
a
eli
finally
e
merged from her
pleasant
memory and
handed the photo to Max.

"Here you go. 
You can borrow this one
as long as you
promise to
t
ake good care of it
and return it when you're done
."

"
I will. 
I'm going to color
a picture of
you. 
It will be as pretty as you are.
"
Max smiled and returned to his own seat.

"
It was nice talking to you
, Max
.
"

"
I'm sorry if he bothered you
,
ma'am.
"
  The boy's father apologized sincerely.

"
It was no bother at all.  Max and I had a very nice chat.
  I'm C
a
eli,
"
she introduced herself to the boy's father.

"
I
'
m
Apela. 
Thank you for
keeping
my son
out of mischief
.
"
  He smiled at her then
re
turne
d his attention to his son, who was already working on his masterpiece.
  Max proudly showed C
a
eli's photo to his dad
, who
recognized he
r
team
jacket.

"
Did you attend Washington
High
?
"
Apela
asked her.

"
Yes
,
high school and State
U
niversity
.  Both
my husband
and I
are from that area.  In fact,
high school is whe
re
I first
ran into
Vin
.  How did you know?
"

"
Your jacket in the photo
is
familiar.  My sister, Lorrie, also attended
school at
Washington.
"
 

After a brief
chat with Apela, including a
synopsis of her first encounter with Vin,
C
a
eli finally laid her head back and closed her eyes, but she
still
could not fall a
sleep.
  She continued watching the other passengers
.

A few hours later,
Salma
placed her
hand on
C
a
eli
's s
houlder
,
pull
ing her a
ttention away from studying the redhead in the forward seat
.

"
C
a
eli,
"
Salma implored in a tense voice, shak
ing C
a
eli
lightly.

"
What's the matter?
"
  C
a
eli asked as she placed a hand on her churning stomach to help ease the discomfort
.  She wasn't feeling very well and thought she might be sick again.

"
Are you all right?  You look a little flushed.
"
  Salma inquired after noting the redness in C
a
eli's cheeks, the dark circles forming under her eyes, and the generally haggard look on her face.  C
a
eli looked like she might have the flu.