Page 60 of Visions of You

Hailey beamed, and I laughed. “Thank you,” I said. “That’s very kind of you.”

A tip jar sat in front of the cash register and Gabe slid a twenty into it. I was pretty sure Liv couldn’t see the bill. I winked at her. “Thanks for your generosity. Have a good day.”

“You guys also, but I think you’ve got it handled.”

As Gabe turned, he wrapped an arm around my shoulders. Liv deliberately widened her eyes and gave me a long stare. I gave her a demure smile back over my shoulder as we left the shop.

Bahia Honda State Park was only a few miles up the Overseas Highway from Big Pine Key. Gabe paid the entrance fee, and we were early enough to find parking in front of a beautiful stretch of white sand. Scrubby trees even provided some shade.

We circled to the tailgate. Gabe lowered it and we all loaded up with lawn chairs, blankets, snorkel gear, and anything else we could carry. We set up on the sand in front of the trees, and Gabe strung a tarp to provide consistent shade. After laying down the blanket and making sure plenty of ice remained in the cooler, I stepped onto the beach. Shading my eyes with my hand, I glanced at the remnants of the old overseas railroad trestle visible in the distance.

In front of us lay a calm stretch of aquamarine water. I could see encouraging darker patches, giving a hint of seagrass or reef to investigate. I headed back to our base and organized the three sets of snorkel equipment I’d grabbed from the gear room that morning.

“I’m jumping in the water!” Hailey yelled and took off.

“Hold on there!” Gabe called, and she reluctantly turned around. “You’re not going in the water with your hair free like that. It will be a total mess. And what else are you missing?”

“Sunscreen,” she said begrudgingly but trudged back to the blanket.

Gabe sat on the blanket with his legs in a V. Hailey returned and sat between them, facing away from him. He pulled an elastic hairband out of his pocket and stuck it between his teeth. A huge smile rose on my face at the sight of Hot Grumpy Guy quickly and expertly braiding her hair into a long tail down her back.

Gabe tapped her shoulder. “Okay, you know the drill.”

He grabbed a can of reef safe, spray-on sunscreen and Hailey turned around. He placed his hand over her closed eyes and mistedher face. Then she stood and twirled with her arms out as he covered her with the spray.

The ease and familiarity of how they accomplished the procedure touched me deeply. The routine was obviously one they’d completed many times, and my smile softened as I stared at Gabe.

Hailey parked both hands on her slim hips. “Nowcan I go?”

“Now you can go,” he said and handed me the can.

As she splashed into the water with her snorkeling equipment, I sprayed the front of my body. “You want to spray my back?”

“Oh, absolutely.”

I shivered as the cold fluid touched my skin, but Gabe’s hand was much warmer as he spread the sunscreen around. I did the same to him, slowing to caress his broad, muscular shoulders.

“Hurry up back there,” he said. “My board shorts aren’t that baggy, you know.”

Laughing lightly, I returned the can to our beach bag and picked up two sets of snorkel gear. “Shall we?”

I found a nice patch reef a short distance offshore. I wore a weight belt so I could investigate more closely and discovered a juvenile spotted moray eel. Hailey was eager for a closer look, so I let her hold on to my arm as we dove down to the reef. Gabe dove on my other side. I let Hailey inspect the small creature whose head poked out of a hole in the coral, and she exclaimed through her snorkel as it opened and closed its mouth to breathe.

Not wanting her to stay submerged too long, I rose to the surface, and we inspected the rest of the reef from the top of the water. I discovered a huge green sea turtle snacking on sea grass, and we spent ten minutes above it. The massive animal completely ignored us, chomping on the grass as it moved slowly along.

After snorkeling, we explored the trails in the park and got a good look at the abandoned, decrepit railroad trestle, which Gabe told us had originally stretched from Key Largo to Key West. In the early twentieth century, it had brought guests to Calypso Key Resort.

Gabe brought a lunch of fried chicken, potato salad, and freshfruit he’d picked up from Dorado, so we ate like kings under our shady tarp. Black frigate birds soared above us, amid the white, soft clouds.

I couldn’t imagine a more perfect morning.

After so much activity and with a full stomach, Hailey curled up on the blanket and was asleep in minutes. Gabe sat with his back resting against the trunk of a palm tree and beckoned to me. I eased to the ground in front of him, then leaned back against his solid warmth. I laced my fingers together over my stomach and he rested his on top, his arms around mine.

“Thank you for inviting me,” I said. “This has been wonderful.”

“I’m glad you’re here with us.”

“Did you enjoy the snorkeling? You looked plenty comfortable in the water.”

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