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“Dad, I wasn’t out with anyone, I promise. I just went… walking. Too late, I know, but…”
Gods, it sounded worse every time I said it. Why hadn’t I just said I went out on an impromptu night out with the girls?
Dad’s face fell. “I didn’t think we couldn’t be honest with each other, Maeve. That’s… a shock to me.”
A pang shot through my heart. We were alone now. Should I just tell him?
Right, I thought, and shatter every image he had of his late wife and leave him with more agony and questions? Nope. I was going to have to take this one for the team.
“Dad, I’m sorry if you don’t?—”
“Go to bed.” Dad released my shoulders and pressed a hand on my back to steer me into the hallway. “For goodness’ sake, don’t leave the house without at least telling me tomorrow.”
I couldn’t argue with him as he guided me to the stairs. At the bottom, he pushed me up them but didn’t come with me.
“Night, Dad,” I muttered.
He didn’t answer me, and instead paced back to the living room, running a hand through his hair.
I trudged up the stairs, wanting so badly to turn around and tell him the truth. But I kept on walking to my room.
After the previous day’s drama, I tried to keep a low profile. I stayed at the front desk in the scuba office, reading magazines and answering the phone. Half of them were Dad checking up on me.
He had said little that morning, but he had at least mustered a smile or two over breakfast.
Keith had only opened his mouth to shovel food into it, so I hoped that the family had mostly forgotten the previous day’s events. Or at least chosen to ignore them.
I flipped through my magazine, spinning around on my chair. I wasn’t even reading it.
Memories of the night before plagued every thought. What few hours of sleep I had gotten featured dreams of swimming underwater in mermaid form, just to turn into a human again and drown.
However much I tried, I couldn’t deny that I had somehow transformed into a mermaid. A part of me wanted it to be a dream, but another part of me… well, I hadn’t worked that out yet.
Regardless of how I felt, the truth behind it still eluded me. My best theory was that Mum had kept her mermaid status a secret. Or Dad knew and wanted to keep it from me, but that seemed unlikely.
Which meant that my answers would come from digging a little deeper into where Mum came from. Dad wanted to talk about Mum more than I wanted to listen. Maybe there were some things I had missed over the years.
The door to the office creaked open just a crack. I peered over the top of the counter, ready to put on my customer service face.
Ben Everhart poked his head around the door and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw me.
“What are you doing here?” I put my magazine down just in case I needed to throw a few punches.
“I thought you were dead.” Ben looked around like a nervous cat before stepping inside. “My brother said you fell off a cliff last night.”
I paused. Who hadn’t heard?
“Sounds dramatic.” I stood and leaned on the desk.
Ben’s eyes narrowed. “He said he saw you fall.”
I spread my hands apart. “Well, I’m still here, aren’t I? Why was he chasing me, anyway?”
“He couldn’t mind his own business.” Ben shoved his hands into his pockets. “I only came here to check you weren’t dead, so…”
“Awww, how sweet.”
“Not for you. I don’t care about that. Fall off a cliff anytime you want, so long as we find Tyler’s killer first.”
