Snapshot: Chapter 36

Present Day

Cozumel

Dousing my mask with baby-safe soap, I rub little circles into the lens. Leaning over the boat rail, I scoop water into the mask, rinsing it off.

“Want me to defog your mask?” Dex asks, making his way to the front of the boat.

“Just did it,” I answer back. I glance at the phone in his hand and very seriously consider snatching it and throwing it overboard. “I was promised a work-free honeymoon, husband. How do you even have service out here?”

The cerulean blue ocean surrounds us on all sides. There’s no shore in sight. The water looks like an endless field of aquamarine gems. I’ve never experienced dive conditions this calm and clear before.

Dex holds up his hands in surrender, then tucks his phone away into the front pouch of his backpack. “I wasn’t working. That was my insider at Peak Publication giving me the details on what happened with Kat.”

“What happened?” I scoot to the edge of the bench.

“Apparently the article written about the Hesslers magically disappeared from the server the day before it was supposed to post. Her boss was furious and told her to pull an all-nighter to get it rewritten and ready for publication. She did. It went through editing and everything, but somehow, the wrong article was mysteriously uploaded.” Dex widens his eyes. “She quit before they could fire her. They were going to pull the article down, but it’s getting more click traffic than all of the other articles on their site combined.”

“Where’s Kat now?” I ask.

“Packed up and left. No one knows,” Dex says with a small shrug.

I bet I do. I bet Kat went overseas chasing world news stories. Maybe she’ll resurface one day in the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal with a new pen name, writing the stories she always wanted to.

“I think I’ll write her a thank you letter,” I say.

“But you don’t know where she is.”

“I’ll pull one from Dottie’s playbook. Maybe I’ll start my own letterbox. Sometimes things need to be said, even if they can’t be heard.”

“Grandma used to say that letters were for lost apologies.” He smiles. “Maybe they can be for lost ‘thank you’s’ too.”

Dex rises and makes his way to the dive equipment. He checks the gauges and synchs something up to his fancy dive watch. Picking up my BCD that he already hooked up to the tank, he says, “I brought another set of weights today. You almost floated away yesterday.”

When we got to Cozumel yesterday morning, we hit the water right away. Just a short dive. I had trouble getting my bearings at first. It had been so long since I’d been in the water that I’d forgotten most of my technical skills. For Dex, it was like riding a bike. He patiently paced with me as I blew through my tank in twenty minutes. I got a little nervous as we dipped below thirty meters, unable to keep my breath calm and collected. We had to cut the dive short when I ran out of air.

“I’ve got my sea legs today. I’m fine.”

“Humor me?” he asks with a cute pout. He holds up the weights, asking for my permission. Why fight? He’s always right.

“Fine,” I mumble.

Dex slips the flat-weighted plates into the pockets of my BCD. It makes me feel like an amateur. Dex can free dive with ease. The more I practice, the faster I’ll get there. I’ll never move as gracefully as my husband in the water, but I’ll spend a lifetime trying.

“It’s distracting to dive with you,” Dex says as he makes his way over to the bench to sit right next to me.

Instinctively, I turn so he can zip up my wet suit, covering the top half of my bikini. “Why do you say that?”

“I should be appreciating all the marine life down there. Instead, it’s impossible to take my eyes off you.”

I laugh. “Only because yesterday, I was a flight risk and kept floating away.”

“Partially,” he says with a smirk. “But mostly because you’re the only thing I think is more beautiful than the ocean.”

I smile at him. “Dex, you better stay this sweet and cheesy for the rest of our lives. Promise me.”

He laughs. “I promise.”

I tap his shoulder. “Okay, now let me zip your suit up.”

But instead of turning around obediently, he grabs my hand, bringing it to his lips. He plants sweet kisses across my knuckles. “I did a thing,” he says.

I lift my brows. “Care to elaborate?”

“Denny dropped her lawsuit trying to claim Hessler Group.”

“I know, babe,” I answer absentmindedly.

“But I still gave her the Hessler Estate. Is that okay with you? I mean, she hasn’t accepted yet, but my real estate team reoffered. We’ll see what she says. The condition is that she leaves us alone. No contact.”

My heart thuds for nothing else but confusion. “Why?”

“Because I feel guilty. Denny faced all the same obstacles and pressures that I did growing up, and I think…maybe I could’ve turned out similarly. Angry and bitter. Feeling empty, alone, and full of regret. Grandma saved me when she sent me away to Vegas. And I met you. You saved me.”

I place my hand against his cheek, watching the sun gleam against his face, making his hazel eyes look like a bright, light green. “What does that have to do with the house, though?”

“A peace offering, I suppose. As much as I want to hate her, I just feel bad for her because, somehow, I got out. I’m happy. I have you. She lost her whole family, and I’m just starting mine.” Dex places his hand against my stomach.

I squint at him like he’s crazy. “I’m not pregnant.”

“Yet. That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I asked Hank to step in as an intermediary for a while at Hessler Group.”

My eyes nearly pop out of my head. “What? I thought you decided to keep Hessler Group privately owned. What about the employees and⁠—”

“I am. I am. I trust Hank. He’ll still report to me, and I’ll oversee everything. I’ll still consult in a similar fashion to what I was doing before Grandma’s passing.”

“Does that mean…” I bite my bottom lip, not finishing my sentence, a little afraid I’m drawing the wrong conclusion.

“Yeah, if you’d like, we’ll move back into the Vegas house. Let’s take a few years and put down roots. Let’s start a family alongside Avery and Finn. Spend time with your parents while we can. Hank says he can more than handle it for a few years while we live our lives.”

“Dex…I…”

“Is that what you want?”

“Yes,” I muster out before he can misunderstand my response. I’m struggling to give any other answer because I’m so overly enthused. “I would’ve gone back with you, you know. I would stand by you through anything.”

“Well, one day, we’ll go back. But right now, I want to give you these years while I can. Just you and me and all the little people I’m going to put in here.” He pats my stomach.

I smile, enjoying the warm sun against my skin. The boat rocks softly on the water, lulling me into a trance of comfort. I’m enjoying paradise. “We’ll make some babies soon. But for now, maybe I want a couple more honeymoons.”

“Fair enough.”

“Hank is really okay with all of this?”

“Of course. I mean, he’s about to get a hefty salary bump, but overall, I think he’s just happy to help Harrison and Grandma in some way. He did have one condition, though.”

“Being?”

“He wants you on his board of advisors.”

“What?” I squall.

“Minimal commitment,” Dex says. “Just join a few video conferences. Hank likes your ideas, and he wants your help bridging some gaps.”

I roll my eyes, pretending like I’m put off. “You’re never just going to let me be the trophy wife I am, are you?” I flip my hair as sassily as I can.

“Funny. I can tell him no if you want.”

“I can’t turn down his only condition. I’ll learn. And plus…Hank’s right. I have some ideas if anybody cares to listen.”

“I’m listening.” Dex kisses my forehead, then each of my cheeks. I catch a whiff of his sweet, spicy cologne mixed with the salty ocean spray. If I could bottle up this perfect moment and keep it forever, I would.

“Okay, baby. Time to suit up.”

We tug on our BCDs, test our regulators, and the instructor side of Dex even doubles back to check my straps. Force of habit. He’ll be doing this all day tomorrow and the rest of the weekend once the dive students arrive.

The radio intercom crackles to life, and our boat captain, who has been quietly ignoring us, answers the call. He speaks in his native language, back and forth with another boat captain. Luckily for me, he’s bilingual.

“Señor Hessler,” he says when he’s wrapped up his conversation. “Great news. We got a report from a few divers just coming up. There are at least two sharks down there.”

Shark. My stomach flips as the dread washes over me.

Dex’s eyes widen and he shakes his head fervently at the boat captain. He unsubtly nods his head toward me. “Some of us are a little skittish around big marine life.”

“Well, this was an almost fun dive trip,” I say, flashing Dex a disingenuous smile. I start unbuckling my equipment. “What should we do for lunch? I’m craving shrimp tacos.”

“Lennox, we’re all the way out here. It’s beautiful dive conditions and nurse sharks are bottom feeders. They are harmless unless you swim right up and punch one in the gills. I promise it’s okay.”

“Oh no, no, no, buddy. Don’t even think about it. I’m not going anywhere near a shark.”

“They’re basically sea puppies,” Dex says. “Sweet and peaceful.”

“And they’re vegetarian!” the boat captain adds with a chuckle.

“Not helpful,” I say, unimpressed with his sarcastic joke.

“There are big sea turtles down there. Rays too. So many big, colorful fish. Stunning coral in kaleidoscope colors. It’s breathtaking, Len. Don’t you want to see?”

I pucker my bottom lip and nod. “A little. But I can’t do sharks. Any kind of shark.”

Dex stands in front of me, refastening my vest one buckle at a time. “You helped me face my fear. Let me help you face yours. Do you trust me?”

“I do, Dex. But I’m scared.”

“I know. But I’ll be right there with you. I’ve got you.” Pulling me to the edge of the boat, his hand firmly in mine, he squeezes. Then he steps off the edge with barely a splash. Dex disappears under the water for what seems like an eternity, then resurfaces.

“Water feels amazing, Len.”

I shake my head, the anxiety buzzing like electricity all over my body. “I can’t do it!” Maybe if the stupid boat captain didn’t say anything. But I heard “shark,” and now my flippered feet won’t move.

Dex holds out his hand. “Come on, baby. You and me. If we’re going to be shark bait, we’ll be shark bait together.”

“That’s not as romantic as you think it is,” I call back.

He laughs. “Lennox Hessler, get your perfect ass in this water. I won’t let anything happen to you. Please? I want to share this with you. It’s like nothing you’ve ever seen. I promise.”

I blow out a deep breath and keep my eyes fixed on Dex’s face. Like I always do around Dex, I push out all logic and reason and trust my gut. I trust the man who holds my heart and has since the very first day I met him. My best friend. My partner. He smiles at me, and I know with my whole heart it’s the only smile in the world that could convince me to swim with motherfucking sharks.

I clamp my eyes shut and draw in a deep breath. I hold it as I force my feet forward.

One…two…three…

Splash.