Chapter Thirty

Two years later, Gulf of Mexico

Kate sat in a low beach chair watching the surf. The warm day held a slight breeze that made it bearable. Ryan's head popped out of the water. She removed her dive mask and snorkel, then smiled so big Kate could see it from where she sat.

"I touched a lemon shark," she yelled excitedly.

It was an excitement Kate didn't share though she returned the smile.

It had taken Ryan a year to go back into the ocean and that included staying clear of swimming pools. Kate's father was the reason she finally went back in. They lived with Greg now and followed him on his adventures. They'd come to this cove because it had a small reef and small sharks. He knew that touching one would be a new high for Ryan.

"Would you like some iced tea," a thick male voice asked from beside her.

Dr. Lawrence Cordova was now her father's fulltime research partner. He'd flown in from South Africa after the attack on the teens and he never left. His specialty with sharks went hand in hand with Greg's stingray work and the two men were fast friends.

"I would love some," Kate replied.

They had spent countless hours discussing the shark that killed Sam. They'd examined the animal's behavior from every angle they could think of. Kate's theory that the shark was angry over the loss of its friend was as sound as anything their combined research could come up with.

Lawrence was in his forties, good looking, and wonderful with Ryan. He and Kate were not in a relationship beyond friendship. Yet. But even Kate knew it would happen when she was ready.

The insurance money for Ryan's Gift came three months after their rescue. Following the sale of her house, Kate invested the combined assets into her father's research. Sam also had a substantial life insurance policy, which she reserved for Ryan's college fund. The rest of the money allowed them to travel wherever the ocean needed them without depending on grants. They made Greg's house in the San Francisco Bay Area their home base.

Unlike Ryan, Kate had not gone back into the ocean. Maybe one day but for now, she was happy on dry land though she still enjoyed swimming if it was a pool with crystal clear water. The one and only time she'd gone out on the boat with them, she'd had a severe panic attack. That had been a year ago and, she thought to herself, she was ready to try again.

Ryan walked out of the surf with her grandpops and headed closer until they blocked the sun. She was growing so fast and Kate hated that Sam wasn't here to see it.

"I found an entire bag of garbage," Ryan said and held up the diving bag filled with what she'd recovered.

Greg's endless patience with Ryan had paid off and touching the lemon shark was a huge step for her. She'd finally gone back in when he explained that sharks had feelings. He'd gone further and said they mourned their dead and the shark that attacked them, did it out of a misunderstanding.

Not that Kate believed that hogwash. Yes, the shark most likely attacked them because it thought them responsible for the loss of its friend but she didn't feel sorry for it.

Ryan plopped down beside her in the sand and her father took the chair next to Lawrence who was back. He handed out the drinks he'd ordered. Ryan's was pink with a small umbrella.

"Thank you," Ryan said with a smirk in her mother's direction because Kate only ordered sugary drinks for special occasions.

Lawrence winked at Kate. "Bribery works every time," he joked.

Kate hid her smile. "What does she need to do for the drink?" she asked.

"She promised to organize my paperwork."

Kate couldn't stop her laugh. "That will take months. I don't know if there are enough sugary drinks in the world to pay someone for that kind of help."

He laughed along with her. Unlike Greg, Lawence wasn't a neat nick and was more scatterbrained. Her father looked up to him even though he was much younger than Greg, which said a lot.

Lawence signed loudly and pronounced, "Life is good."

Kate hadn't planned to fall in love, but it somehow snuck up on her. Sam would want her and Ryan to be happy. Kate didn't look back at his memory with rose covered glasses, but she had forgiven him for what he'd done. She felt an emptiness when she thought of him, but even that was fading.

Kate partially covered her eyes with the back of her hand and looked out into the blue water. She breathed in the scent of the ocean as her eyes scanned the surface.

The shark was out there somewhere.

"Mom?" Ryan asked.

"Can we buy a Sea Doo?"

Kate groaned. Children were resilient and Ryan proved it. Unfortunately Kate would never get the last image of Sam on the Sea Doo out of her memories.

"I don't know," she said. "Your room has been messy lately."

"Awe mom," Ryan whined.

With her eyes still focused on the water, Kate replied softly, "Not yet, but maybe next year."

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Thank you for reading brEACH! I thought about this book for years but never thought I would actually write it. From the age of twelve (the year Jaws hit movie theaters) I've been terrified and fascinated by sharks. I spent my childhood on the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, playing entire summers in the ocean. I remember parents yelling out that something big was in the water and we would all run out, wait about ten minutes, and go back in without a thought of being eaten. Sharks no problem but no swimming for 30 minutes after eating your meal. Yeah, I fell for it too and now that I'm an adult, I'm too smart to swim with sharks and no I won't cramp and drown because I didn't let my food rest.

Shark Facts: I tried very hard to get the facts straight. I didn't lie when I said over 100 million sharks are killed each year, many on the endangered species list. Our oceans are dying and once they're gone, so are we. I learned a lot during my research and my love for sharks grew. I want to protect these amazing creatures by simply letting them be. I strongly recommend you join a shark monitoring app. I use Shark Tracker.