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“Because you’ll start acting weird like you are right now,” she told him and put a hand on her hip.
“I’m weird, weirdo?” he joked and touched her arm.
I swear, I could see hearts in her eyes.
“Apollo!” A pretty teenage girl screamed from a WaveRunner. Zeus helped her onto the boat, and she rushed up in a bikini top and cut-off jeans, jiggling a paper bag to Apollo. “You forgot the lunch I made for you.”
His cheeks pinked and his jaw went tense.
“Sorry for interrupting your work. I’m sure this fine family will forgive a tiny interruption. He’s saving for college, so please tip him.” She kissed his cheek and squeezed his waist.
Zeus walked with her to the side of the boat to help her back on her WaveRunner.
I turned to Darling; her face was flushed and her eyes glassy. She looked toward Paul. “I’m not feeling so well. Can we go home?”
Paul shook his head. “We’re already in our gear and ready to go. I’m sorry, but we’re continuing with the snorkeling lesson for Nadia.”
I poked his side and frowned at him. “We can leave, Paul. I don’t mind.”
“Apollo, I want you to sit this one out,” Zeus called over to him and walked over to us. “Would you help me teach today, Darling? Apollo will help out below deck.”
Darling nodded, then walked over to the rail and stared out at the water.
Paul and I both thanked Zeus as his crew quickly released the boat from the dock, and we sailed off.
Paul came over to stand next to me, and I frowned at him.
“Hey, I’m not the bad guy. I tried to warn Darling not to get her hopes up high.”
“But you could’ve let her leave,” I pursed my lips.
He jutted his chin. “No chance. I’m positive Dad would have done the same thing. You have to face your disappointments head-on. You did it with your ruined dress. You could have cried and run away, but you fought.”
“So when your heart breaks, the show must go on?” I chided.
“It does,” he sighed. “It’s not Apollo’s fault he has a girlfriend. Darling could have asked and saved herself the heartache. Now she’ll know to do her homework and not waste her time on a fantasy.”
I glared at him. “Whoa, brother of the year. You need to brush up on the bedside manner—”
“Darling’s a Crane. She needs to get tougher—”
“Darling’s also ayoung girl. Seeing her crush’s girlfriend is a big deal. Even if she does need to move on, she first needs compassion.”
Paul’s jaw tightened. “I disagree. Darling feels the hurt, and she’ll know what to do next time.”
But not today.Darling sent a few daggers Paul’s way, but he ignored her while Zeus pointed out the sea life in the area. “Today, you’ll see mostly tropical fish and a coral garden set in the Indian Inset. If you want to take the intermediate class and dive deeper, you’ll find sea turtles, sharks, and octopi.”
“Excuse me, I’ll be right back.” I left Paul and went to talk to Darling.
She hunched her shoulders. “I looked like a fool. I don’t know how to face Apollo now. He knows I like him.”
I blanked my face to spare Darling’s feelings. Mom taught me that the crush always knows that you like them, even though you try hard to hide it. She also said when they like you and are not interested, they are polite and friendly, in Apollo’s case a little flirty, but nothing over the line to encourage more than friendship.
“Go back and act as if nothing happened. Trust me, from the little I know, men will look for a quick out to an awkward situation.”
Her lips parted. “Can I do that?”
I nodded. “Of course, you can. But remember, Apollo might have known you had a crush on him and didn’t tell you about his girlfriend. Maybe he didn’t know how to tell you because he didn’t want to hurt you, or maybe he was flattered, but no matter what, he has someone. It hurts now, but you’ll meet someone else.”
