“Want to walk on the beach?”

Marissa nodded and heaved herself to her feet. “Might not get another chance if transport arrives on time.”

“On Time means different things to different people. I’m hoping it takes a day or two to arrange the flights back to Papeete.”

“I like it here too.” Marissa made a little noise of pleasure as her feet sank into the sand at the end of the short walk from the pool. “But the cruise line is paying for the flight back to Papeete, so—”

“Let’s stay anyway.” Linda scampered past Marissa, then circled behind her again, kicking up a flurry of sand in her wake.

“I couldn’t afford this place.”

Linda shrugged. “I’ll pay.”

Marissa looked over her shoulder at Linda, eyebrows arched as high as they would go. “Are you independently wealthy?”

“Something like that.”

“Well, thank you, but I couldn’t.”

“Why not? It’ll be such fun.”

Marissa turned to parallel the shore, close enough for the occasional wave to run up over her feet. She watched the breeze lift Linda’s long hair from her back. How would it look worn up, like a princess? How would it look spread out on a pillow? “I couldn’t—my mother would have a fit, me accepting that kind of gift from a stranger.”

Linda scurried into Marissa’s path. “Your mother sounds uptight.”

“She is, believe me.” Marissa broke their gaze and looked down. Together they watched the surf slowly bury their feet with sand. “But there are social rules, you know.”

“Screw that. Stay. You could claim fate led you here and, hell, it might be the truth. I promise I’ll have you back in Papeete in time for your journey home. Stay.”

Marissa tried not to answer Linda’s eager grin with one of her own. “It’s not right . . . gifts from strangers . . .”

Linda seized Marissa’s shoulders, kissed her soundly, then let her go. “There. Now we’re not strangers.”

“You’re crazy.” Breathe, Marissa thought, you have to breathe.

“Something like that. Stay.”

With a voice suddenly soft, Marissa heard herself say, “Okay.”

***

“You’ve really improved in just three days.”

Linda’s scrutiny as Marissa adjusted her snorkel mask made Marissa feel clumsy. It was hard to get the thing on while treading water. “Yeah, it took four minutes instead of three for me to nearly drown. You’d think I’d be better at floating.”

“You saw the baby squid, didn’t you?”

“Oh yeah, it was great. And the tiny purple fish in that school. The angel fish—wow.” She grinned. “They were way better than the screen saver.”

Linda looked outraged. “I should hope. One more dive?”

“I think I can do one more.” Marissa wanted to stay out all day but the sun and rolling water was starting to make her feel light-headed. Thank goodness it was only two hundred feet or so to shore and most of that could be traversed by wading.

“Knew you could,” Linda answered before fitting her snorkel into her mouth again. Moments later she had slipped easily beneath the surface.