"Come in, come in! Any friend of Cole's is like family. Can I get you something to drink?"
"What are you having, Dad?"
"It's tea, son. Look in the fridge while I entertain your young lady friend." He put down his tea, wiped his hand on his shirt and held it out to her. "Dennis Bayard," he introduced himself. "You must be Rosie's daughter. You look just like your mother."
"Dennis, do you ever go by Denny?"
"Only to my closest friends and family. Be proud if you'd call me that." He grinned happily.
Mara smirked at Cole who was just coming back in the room with two tall glasses. "Old enough to be your father, huh?"
"So I fudged a little." He shrugged, handing her a glass.
"Am I missing something?" Dennis looked from one to the other.
"I mentioned Rosie's scuba lessons." Cole looked a little sheepish.
Dennis threw back his head, laughing heartily. "Boy, she didn't really learn much, but she sure enjoyed the lessons!"
"She mentioned something about tight buns in wet swim trunks. I guess she was referring to yours?"
"That's my Rosie! She loves a man with a tight ass and flat abs! But I shouldn't tell your mother's secrets." He smiled brightly.
"Have you got the tanks aired up, Dad?"
"I do indeed, son. They're downstairs in the storage shed."
"I'll have a look at them." Cole rose and trotted back down the stairs leaving Mara alone with his father.
"A good diver always checks his own gear," Dennis said quietly, watching his son go. He looked at Mara, his eyes meeting hers with a seriousness expression. "He never invited a woman here before. You must be someone special. Have you know each other long?"
Mara shook her head. "We just met yesterday, kind of by accident. Red hit me with a volleyball."
Dennis chuckled. "I wonder if the little shit did it on purpose. He keeps trying to fix my son up with a nice woman. One day, maybe my daughter will wise up and let him marry her. He's been trying since high school, but she won't commit."
"Why not? Doesn't she love him?"
"She's been crazy about him for years. Who knows? I've never been able to figure a woman out. I think that applies to most men."
"We're not so difficult. It just depends on if we know what we want. Once we decide, it's only a matter of time before we get it."
Dennis chuckled. "And what do you want, Mara?"
"I don't know, Dennis. I'm still trying to figure it out."
His expression grew serious again. "Does it involve my son?"
Surprised, she looked at him, frowning slightly. "Yes, it does. That much, I'm sure about."
"If you're looking for a casual fling...."
"No! Nothing like that."
"Now we come to the part where you aren't sure?"
Mara smiled, glancing out the window. "Yeah. That's the part."
"You aren't sure what he wants, is that it?"
Mara didn't trust her voice. She nodded. Dennis put his hand on her knee, forcing her to meet his gaze.
"What he wants, and what he needs, are the same. A good woman to fill his heart, warm his bed, and love him for all she's worth. He's had a tough few years, Mara. I'm not betraying any kind of secret telling you that. His last relationship was the worst kind of destructive. It took all of us to pull him out of that mess. I won't ever see him sink that low again. So if you don't want more than a casual, vacation romance out of this, I'll drive you home myself."
Mara's eyes filled with tears. "I want to be happy," she said softly. "I want Cole to be happy. And I think together we would be. I'm not a casual kind of girl. It's taken me the last ten years to establish my career and now I'm ready—for the first time—to find a man to fill my heart, warm my bed, and love me for all he's worth." She smiled as the tears ran down her cheeks. "It took meeting Cole to realize why I've never had a long term relationship. I never tried because I was afraid of being hurt. I'm not scared any more. In fact, I welcome all the disorganized chaos of having a man in my life."
Dennis chuckled. "I wouldn't describe it quite that way."
"I live a very ordered life. Everything is planned, it's all secure."
"Can't plan a man," Dennis said, echoing her own self-revelation.
"True," she grinned. "But now, I don't want to. I like your son. He's an amazing man, and whatever happens between us, it will be good."
Dennis grinned back, toasting her with his glass of tea. Cole came back in the room, breathless having taken the stairs two at a time.
"My ears are burning," he joked. "You've been talking about me."
"What gives you that idea, Son?"
©2021 Dellani Oakes
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