Brian pulled one leg out of the wet suit, turning it inside out in the process. He did have on a bathing suit, but Caddie still got a look at his legs. She pretended not to notice.

Brian hung the suit on a nearby rack, which already held half a dozen other wet suits. An assortment of other gear was piled on the floor nearby. Caddie recognized some of it as stuff her father had, although what it was used for was a mystery.

“Do you dive?” Brian asked, noticing her looking at the equipment.

“No,” Caddie said. “I never learned.”

“I’m surprised your dad never taught you,” Brian remarked, drying himself with a towel. “You know, with him being a marine biologist and all.”

Caddie shrugged. “I guess he never had time,” she said.

Brian toweled his hair. “Want to learn?” he asked her. “I could teach you.”

Caddie looked doubtfully at the dive gear. “I don’t know,” she said. “It looks kind of complicated.”

“It’s not,” said Brian, pulling on a T-shirt. He knelt beside the equipment. “Not once you know what it is and how to use it.”

Caddie joined him on the floor as Brian picked up a short cylindrical object from which three hoses hung down, each one attached to another piece of equipment. “This is your regulator,” Brian said. He placed a mouthpiece between his teeth and talked around it. “You breathe through this,” he said, demonstrating before removing the regulator from his mouth.

He went piece by piece, showing her the computer; the low-pressure hose that, he explained, attached to her buoyancy control device and allowed her to inflate or deflate it as necessary; and then BC itself. “There’s not a lot more too it,” he told her. “You just need to learn how to use it all.”

“How long would it take?” Caddie asked him.

“A couple of hours,” said Brian. “It’s not rocket science.”

Caddie looked again at the gear. “Okay,” she said. “It might be fun.”

“It will be fun,” Brian said, taking her hand and helping her stand up. “After all, you’re going to learn from the best.”

“I thought Jacques Cousteau was dead,” Caddie said, trying to look confused.

To her surprise, Brian kissed her. When he pulled back he said, “Still want to go with Jacques?”

Caddie shook her head. “I’ll stick with you,” she said.

“Good answer,” Brian said. “Now let’s get out of here.”

“Where are we going?” asked Caddie as he led her toward the door.

“My house,” Brian said. He stopped. “Is that okay?” he asked her.

“Sure,” said Caddie. “That’s great.”

As they walked through the aquarium and out to Brian’s car, she wondered exactly what he had in mind for the rest of the afternoon. He’d been so hesitant the night before that she didn’t know what to think.