The knocking stopped, but a loud whisper replaced it. “Honor! You awake?” Thunk, thunk. “If you still wanna dive, we’re going.” It was Wyatt’s voice outside the window. Wyatt, who had been sweet and kind, and who I’d kissed on the cheek when he walked me to the car.
I let the last wisp of sleep slip away, then gave in and pushed myself up on the seat. I could see Wyatt’s smile in the window before he took a step back so I could open the door. I looked in the rearview mirror, which wasn’t much help in the dark, ran my fingers through my hair one quick time, pulled on my boots, and tried to put away the unsettled feeling that lingered from the night before. When I opened the door and breathed in the fresh smell of the dirt mingled with the crispness of the junipers and sage, it lifted ever so slightly.
“Mornin’.” Wyatt stepped toward me and smiled. “You’re a hard sleeper. Either that or you were just hoping I’d go away if you ignored me for long enough.” He raised an eyebrow, then shoved his hands in his pockets and shivered a little. “You still wanna dive? Sam and Corrie are already over there getting the gear ready.”
I hugged my arms to my chest and glanced around. “What time is it?”
“Five something. Sunrise is soon.”
“I don’t know. I . . .” I’d felt so much braver the night before, sitting next to the fire and planning an adventure, until Rusty’d gone and ruined it.
Wyatt motioned with his head at the picnic table. “He’s out cold over there. I don’t think he’ll be up for a few hours.”
I shook my head. “That’s not what I meant. It’s just . . . I don’t know how to scuba dive, or what I’m supposed to do, or what I’m even doing here . . . and I should probably just get back on the road, because this whole thing is just—I’m kind of on a deadline. . . .” Wyatt nodded slowly as I stuttered, waiting for me to finish. A lump rose in my throat. “It sounded like a better idea in my head.”
He shrugged simply. “That’s okay. A lot of things do. You can just come watch if you want. There’s a big rock you could sit on and see us from. And the sunrise’ll still be great.” He nodded over at where Rusty must’ve been laid out. “C’mon. He’s not going anywhere.”
I leaned against the car and considered again what it’d be like to see the stars from beneath the water and watch the sunlight wash over them, wiping the sky clean for a brand-new day. I needed one. Finn never would have passed up the chance. And he maybe even would have understood what I was doing here. I took a deep breath and looked up at the stars twinkling in the purple-black sky, then back to Wyatt. “Okay. I’ll try it. Since I’m up and all.”
Wyatt broke into a grin. “Got a bathing suit?”
I went to the trunk for it, and Wyatt followed. “I knew you had it in ya.” He heaved a large bag over one shoulder, then looped his other arm through mine. “Let’s move on out.”
It didn’t look like the sun had any plans to come up soon, but according to Wyatt it would, so we needed to hurry. We jogged across the deserted highway, and he ducked under a chain that was stretched across the entrance to the parking lot for the dive center, holding it up for me to do the same.
“Are we sneaking in here?”
He glanced back at me. “Sort of. It’s just not open yet, is all.” He stopped and hitched his bag back up on his shoulder for the tenth time since we’d left the campsite. “I don’t think anyone will be out here for a while, though. Only Corrie would come up with something like this. She’s . . . creative.”
I smiled. “Do you guys do this a lot? Come up with random adventures that you go on together?”
“They try to make a thing of it, Sam and Corrie. They’re good together that way. They’re all into that whole carpe diem thing.” He was a little out of breath from lugging his bag. “And usually, they don’t mind if I come, which is cool. Sam’s pretty mellow as far as older brothers go.”
He stopped short, like he’d said something wrong, and neither one of us said anything as our feet crunched over the gravel in the empty parking lot. We came to a low rock wall, where Wyatt set his bag down. He looked at me, concerned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to—”
This time it was me who stopped him. “It’s okay. You can say the word ‘brother.’ It’s fine.” I looked past the wall and caught a glimpse of the water’s slick, black surface. “His name was Finn.” I paused at the pang in my chest and waited for it to pass. “Anyway, he would have thought this was great.”
Wyatt nodded but was quiet.
“And I think he would have liked you, too. Rusty was just being a jerk last night for whatever reason.”
“Whatever reason, huh?” He raised his eyebrows. “Yeah . . . I don’t know what that reason could be.” He held my eyes a moment, and I decided not to bother explaining that it wasn’t a protective thing or a jealous thing. It was an asshole thing. Wyatt clapped his hands together. “You ready? It’s right over there.”
We climbed over the wall and made our way down the slope to where Sam and Corrie’s silhouettes whispered as they cinched straps and clicked together buckles. Corrie saw us first and came over to me, arms wide. “You made it!” She gave me an awkward, equipment-laden hug, then pulled me back by my shoulders. “You nervous? Don’t be. Here.” She grabbed my hand and led me over to a bench carved into the surrounding rocks. “Wyatt can get you all set up. We need to hurry if we wanna beat the sunrise.”