Page 40 of Hidden Depths

8

STORM

The Pacific had settled into one of her quieter moods.

Long rolling swells.

A steady breeze.

Blue sky from one horizon to the other.

The kind of day that convinced people the ocean was gentle.

She wasn't.

She was simply being kind.

I finished another sweep of the horizon before stepping away from the helm.

Everything looked exactly as it should.

That never meant I stopped watching.

A soft knock sounded on the bridge door.

"Captain?"

I smiled.

"Come in, Rose."

Rose Bennett stepped inside, carrying two mugs of coffee.

She had silver hair that danced in the breeze and the kindest blue eyes I'd ever seen.

At seventy-two, she still smiled at her husband the same way she probably had fifty years ago.

"I brought you coffee."

"You didn't have to."

"I know."

She handed me the mug anyway.

"My Frank says captains forget to eat."

I laughed.

"He's not wrong."

"He usually isn't."

She looked out across the endless Pacific.

"I've never seen anything so beautiful."

"It never gets old."