The Mermaid Chronicles: Secrets of the Deep by Marisa Noelle

Author:Marisa Noelle [Noelle, Marisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Champagne Book Group
Published: 2020-05-31T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

My father and I spent the morning of my eighteenth birthday at Bed, Bath and Beyond where I decided on sheets and a duvet cover in duck-egg blue and pillow slips in a soft cream. We purchased a new duvet, pillows and my father agreed to the latest Tempur mattress.

“Happy birthday!” He laughed as the dollars racked up at the till.

“Oh, I’m expecting a lot more than that!” I poked him in the side.

“Birthday pancakes at Shade’s?”

“That’ll do for starters,” I said, as I carried the bags of bedding to the car. The mattress would be delivered to the house later. I was glad I was getting new sheets, new bedding, new everything. Then I could wipe every memory of Wade ever being in my room, lying on my sheets, seeping his enticing smell into them and start afresh, with a hardened heart and a determination that I would never trust anyone ever again. Ever.

Dad parked outside the restaurant, and we sat on the balcony overlooking Ocean Beach and the pier. My gaze scanned the distant horizon, looking for Dylan or any of the other mermaids.

The waiter brought a short stack of buttermilk pancakes with a sparkling candle stuck through the middle of the pile, and if that wasn’t enough, eggs, bacon and home fries surrounded the wobbling structure. The enticing aromas were too much for my stomach, and I almost drooled on the candle.

“Happy birthday to you!” Dad sang as his eyes filled with tears.

“Thanks, Dad.” Blowing out the candle, I made a thousand wishes. I wondered if any of them would come true.

“I can’t believe you’re eighteen.”

Both of us glanced at the empty chairs beside us where two other people ought to be sitting. We could never celebrate my birthday without the sense of both of them hovering between us. Neither my father nor I could face the baking of cakes - that was something my mom had always done. Every year since the accident it was our unspoken agreement to eat a birthday brunch at Shade’s. We would order pancakes and stare at the ocean wondering if perhaps they were out there somewhere. This year, I smiled to myself. Although I knew my mother was lost, Dylan was out there, perhaps having the ocean equivalent of birthday pancakes.

“Neither can I,” I said.

Dad leaned forward conspiratorially. “I have a message from Maya.”

“Oh?”

“You need to be ready at seven o’clock sharp in your best cocktail dress.”

“Cocktail dress?” I wanted to put my new sheets on my new mattress, crawl under my new duvet and forget Wade Waters ever existed.

“Yes.” Excitement rolled off him like it was Christmas morning. “She’s coming by to pick you up in a limo.”

“Bring it on.” I laughed, unable to deny his enthusiasm. I slurped the rest of my smoothie with my straw.

“Oh, I almost forgot.” Dad pushed his finished plate away. “It was all those dollars at Bed, Bath and Beyond that distracted me a little.” He chuckled softly and then pushed a small, wrapped jewelry box across the table.

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