Mia's Heart

by Courtney Cole

  I don’t know why he sounds surprised. I’m not exactly what you would call a people person. It usually takes me a little while to warm up to someone.

  “No, of course not,” I say anyway. “It’s your boat. You can invite anyone you’d like. Except Elena, of course.”

  Gavin laughs at this. Elena Kontou is the notorious Mean Queen of our class. Her mother is in Dimitri Giliberti’s Cabinet which has always put her into our select little group. But she’s mean as a snake even though she has a perfect face.

  Actually, make that had a perfect face.

  Her cheek was scarred in the same yacht explosion that injured Dimitri Giliberti this past summer. She’s had a couple of surgeries to correct it, but you can still see it. And she sort of blames me, because my sort-of-boyfriend at the time, Vincent, was the one who rigged the yacht to explode.

  Have I mentioned that my life is complicated?

  Yeah.

  It is.

  But now Vincent is waiting for his trial and Elena’s face is still scarred. And she has to have someone to blame. And I’m it.

  Lucky me.

  “Okay,” Gavin agrees. “I will never invite Elena when you’re here.”

  “You’d invite her otherwise?”

  I am shocked by this notion.

  “She’s a snake, Gav. And she can’t swim. You shouldn’t take her out on the water with you.”

  He starts to say something, but we’re interrupted by an American drawl.

  “I’m not a snake, but I can’t swim either. Is that a problem?”

  I look up to find the tips of two battered cowboy boots poking over the edge of the pier.

  Quinn’s gaze meets mine and I find that he is completely unembarrassed by this.

  “You seriously can’t swim?” I ask, sure that he is kidding. “Everyone can swim.”

  “No, they can’t,” he answers easily as he hops into the boat. “Apparently, the snake and I can’t. Hey, dude,” he greets Gavin. “Thank you again for the invite. I was going crazy at Giliberti House. I was starting to talk to myself.”

  “No problem,” Gavin slaps his shoulder and hands him a life jacket. “You’d better wear this if you really can’t swim.”

  Quinn takes off his shirt and I am instantly distracted by this.

  HolySweetMotherOfGod.

  What do they feed the boys in Kansas?

  This guy is built like a lean brick house. I can easily count his ab muscles and they ripple every time he moves.

  Holy. Cow.

  He straps on the bright orange life jacket and looks down at me.

  “See something you like?”

  And now he’s cocky.

  And I like it.

  What is wrong with me that I like cockiness as a character trait?

  I shake my head and lie. “Nope. Nothing in particular.”

  He grins, unabashed. “Whatever you say.”

  His expression is knowing. And annoying.

  “Look, farmboy. I know that you’re Mr. Hometown Football Hero back home, but here, you’re not. So, you should start out your relationships with a little less ego. People will like you more.”

  “Hmm,” he says, staring at me thoughtfully. “Kitten has claws.”

  Gavin is staring me in complete and utter surprise. I’m not usually so bitchy and to be honest, I don’t know what came over me. I shake my head and look away from both of them. Gavin takes the wheel and we’re gliding our way out onto open water. Only now, the silence is sort of uncomfortable.

  And it’s my fault.

  “Look,” I turn to Quinn. “I’m sorry. I’m not that good with new people.”

  “Really?” he answers innocently with that lopsided grin. “I hadn’t noticed.”

  Gavin busts out laughing and I have to laugh too.

  “I’m really sorry,” I say again. “I guess I have trust issues with new people. It seems like so often they just want something from me. But I know that’s not the case with you.”

  He eyes me up and down. And then leans in to murmur into my ear.

  “Don’t be so sure.”

  And my cheeks are instantly flushed.

  OhMyWord.

  Did he really just mean what I think he meant?

  My eyes meet his and he nods, as if he could hear my unspoken question.

  I’m starting to feel like he can read my freaking mind.

  And I’m still blushing.

  So I ignore him.

  And my racing heart.

  Good lord.

  We race from the bay and out into open water while the waves toss The Shining about. We probably shouldn’t be out here, but the dangerousness of it gives it a more exciting edge.

  We’re probably insane.

  Gav looks at me. “Do you want to go out to the wrecks or stick to the reef?”

  Either way, we’d be insane. The wrecks, a collection of old sunken ships, are quite a ways from the bay and the waves will be crazy big there today. And the reef… well, let’s just say that sharks enjoy the reef. A lot.

  “Wrecks,” I say.

  “Done,” he grins.

  He turns the boat into that direction and the wind blows my hair from my face.

  I notice that Quinn is gripping the side pretty hard. So hard, in fact, that his fingers are white. Interesting. Is the Hometown Hero afraid of boats?

  And then I feel bad for thinking of him as Hometown Hero. I decide that I will ask Reece about that before I do it again. I might be way off base, but I doubt it.

  I turn my attention away from both of the guys onboard and instead, stare out at the water. I was right. The waves here are huge. No wonder Quinn is nervous. He’s not used to the sea at all. And he can’t swim. And since that’s the case, I decide that he must be pretty brave to come out onto the sea in these waves in a little motorboat.

  Or maybe stupid. I haven’t decided yet.

  I lean over and put my hand on his arm for a minute.

  “Don’t worry,” I tell him with a grin. “I won’t let you drown.”

  He raises an eyebrow.

  “How would you save me, Tiny Tot? You’re half my size.”

  And that is a true statement.

  I eye him, at the way he is once again sprawled out, casually fitting himself into the boat seat.

  “How tall are you, anyway?” I ask.

  “6’6,” he answers. “I ate my spinach when I was growing up.”

  Holy crap. I practically am half his size. He’s gigantic.

  He leans over to me.

  “And I wear size 14 shoe. Do you know what they say about the size of a man’s foot?”

  My cheeks flare into color.

  Yes, I’ve heard of the saying.

  The size of a man’s foot is supposed to be directly parallel to the size of his… um, male unit.

  I can’t even help myself.

  I eye his foot.

  And it is gigantic.

  My eyes fly to his face and find that he is nodding again. And then he laughs.

  Gavin is shaking his head. He’s never seen me blush so much. That much is true. I’m usually unflappable. But this guy. He gets to me.

  And I’ve almost decided that I hate it.

  But the verdict is still out.

  Because I might like it.

  Gavin drops anchor and the waves really are crazy. The boat is rolling on top of them and I have a brief sense of hesitation.

  “Should we stay out here?” I ask him hesitantly.

  He looks at the water and shrugs.

  “We’re here now. Let’s just take a quick dive and then we’ll head in.”

  I nod. “Fine with me.”

  I pull my wet suit on over my bathing suit and slide the mask onto my face. Gavin lifts the oxygen tank onto my back.

  Quinn watches us prepare.

  “Is there anything I should be doing?” he asks.

  Gavin shakes his head. “Nope. The boat is anchored, so you won’t go anywhere. We’ll be back up sho
rtly.”

  Quinn nods and Gavin grabs my hand and we jump over the side without hesitation.

  It is instantly calm beneath the water.

  It is exactly why I love to dive.

  Nothing can reach us here in the quiet underwater world. No troubles, no stress, no worry.

  My flippers slide through the water with ease, propelling me downward. My hands cut through the crystal blue water and Gavin is right beside me. I glance upward and I can still see the outline of the boat above. It looks like a giant whale from here.

  I turn my attention back to the water below me.

  I can just see the moss-covered tip of a mast of a sunken galleon when a strange sensation ripples through my body. I stop moving and the sensation grows.

  It’s a rumbling vibration, a weird shaking.

  It’s literally rolling through my body, like I’m sitting in a car with the bass turned up too loud.

  I look at Gavin, my eyes wide. He is frozen too, floating in place in the water.

  Our eyes meet.

  And then we notice that the sandy sediment on the sea floor is rolling toward us in murky billows.

  What the eff?

  The water continues to vibrate and shake around us and the moment that I think the word shake, it occurs to me.

  Earthquake.

  Chapter Five

  Gavin realizes it at the same moment that I do and we both spin and propel ourselves upwards.

  HolyEffingEarthquake.

  I burst from the surface of the water and grip the side of the boat and I can still feel the rumbling in the sea. In order for us to feel it all the way out here, the earthquake must be enormous. We haven’t had a big one in years and years, way before my lifetime.

  Gavin pulls himself over the side and then reaches over to give me a hand. I land on the floor of the boat in a clumsy heap and instantly start pulling off my stuff. My flippers, wetsuit and oxygen tank land in a pile.

  “What’s going on?” Quinn asks. He can see the anxiety on our faces and I’m sure he can see the vibrating water.

  “Earthquake,” Gavin tells him. Gav isn’t even undressing, he’s turning the boat toward shore in his flippers, guiding the boat with capable hands.

  Quinn looks startled and he stands up to look out at the horizon. But the rough water knocks him back down. He sprawls in a seat and stares at me in shock.

  My heart thumps in my chest.

  This isn’t good.

  And from the look on Gavin’s face, the dead-serious expression that he never, ever gets, he knows it too. We’re right in the middle of a serious situation, maybe even dire.

  I gulp.

  As we race toward the shore, jumping hard over waves, my teeth jar every time we land. We hit the water so hard that I can’t believe the belly of the boat doesn’t splinter into pieces. I grit my teeth and hold on.

  Quinn is silent now and I almost wonder what he’s thinking, but then I’m distracted by trying to hold on to the things that keep trying to fly out of the boat, like life preservers, bags, flippers and so on. I’ve never seen the current or waves so bad.

  We fly into the bay and the way the boats are rolling on the waves as they sit in their slips is unnerving. They are haunting and spooky as they move with the sea. One of them has flipped onto its side and I know that it will sink. Water is flooding its deck. Debris is floating in the water; oars and cushions and cups and pieces of wood, and I am almost too afraid to look onto the shore.

  But I do.

  And I gasp.

  The Harbor Master’s building is in rubble, in an absolute shambles.

  And the complete seriousness of this hits us.

  “Holy shit,” Gavin breathes. He reaches over and grabs my hand as he noses us into his slip. “We’ve got to move.”

  “But where should we go?” I ask as we scramble from the boat and onto dry land. The ground is not moving, but after a moment, I feel a short rumble.

  Aftershocks.

  They vibrate my feet and I gulp.

  Even the air feels scary, like a premonition or foreboding. Or something. I try to ignore it.

  “I don’t know,” Gavin admits. He climbs up beside me, then releases my hand to help Quinn from the swaying boat. “Somewhere other than here.”

  “We should stay together,” Quinn points out calmly.

  He’s right. And I say so.

  There’s no one else in the harbor, something that I find strange. Although, looking back, I realize that there wasn’t really anyone here when we left. Everyone else was smart enough to not venture into the waves.

  Gavin’s cell phone rings and we look at each other, startled.

  In the heat of the moment, we had forgotten that we had phones.

  He picks it up and I can see the relief on his face as he talks to his mom. After a few moments, he hangs up and looks at me.

  “My parents are fine. But the Earthquake was bad. Roads are blocked. My parents say to go to the Old Palace and wait there.”

  I gulp.

  With shaking fingers, I pull out my phone. I try my house and there is no answer. I try again, and this time, I get a weird busy signal.

  This can’t be good.

  “Gavin, I’ve got to go to my house,” I tell him.

  He looks uncertain. “But my parents said we should wait at the Old Palace. I’m sure yours would want you to do the same thing. Your father is probably there.”

  The Old Palace is the Capitol building of Caberra. It houses the courts, various government agencies and the Prime Minister’s residence and it is where our fathers work. It is located in the heart of Valese