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Adeline eyed the bag he held up. It was much, much smaller than her tote.
“It’ll be okay. This is what adventure is. It’s leaving things behind so that you can embrace what’s to come.”
“Mmhmm, is that what you tell yourself every time you board that flying house of yours?”
Nicolo threw back his head with a bark of laughter. “You have me. Guilty. I need to learn from your example and travel light.” He wiggled the empty wet-bag in the air, and his eyes sparkled with mischief.
To her chagrin, Adeline couldn’t stop Nicolo’s infectious laughter and smile from reaching her, and she found herself smiling just as big back at him. She had been wanting adventure, and now was her chance. So what that it didn’t look the way she had imagined it would? After all, having everything you experienced planned out wasn’t an exciting way to have an adventure. She needed to let go and trust.
Leaning over, she snatched the bag from Nicolo and then dumped all of her belongings out of her tote onto the small boat landing. She selected the snack bars, bottled water, sunscreen and an assortment of other small items before piling her change of shoes, clothes and towels back into her tote. At the bottom of it all, she stashed the heavy camera, deciding her cell phone’s camera would have to do. As for her sunglasses, she perched them atop her head.
“I’m ready!” she announced, tossing the wet-bag back into the water. The look that Nicolo gave her was full of adoration and pride, so much so that it made her cheeks heat in a blush. A part of her knew that his affection wasn't deserved, though. She'd lied to him and had manipulated him into doing what she thought was right. The more she got to know him, the more she regretted using him in that way. He meant something to her. He was important to her, and his opinion of her was important to her. If he knew the truth... She pushed the thought out of her head.
Taking hold of Nicolo’s steadying hand, Adeline made her way into the kayak. It swayed precariously to and fro but steadied quickly once she’d sat down.
Nicolo pushed them away from the boat landing with the tip of his paddle, and then they were off, gliding through the gently rippling waters. They both paddled, but Nicolo steered, guiding them out of the Romano del Mare’s small bay.
Rounding the edge of the bay to have open sea on one side and the island on the other, Nicolo kept them within easy swimming distance of land as they made their way down the rocky and cliff-riddled Sicilian coast. The land was arid and jagged but with a beautiful resilience that had withstood salt, storms, and the pounding seas for centuries. It was a testament to strength and endurance, and its startling bea
uty could be found in the most unexpected places. Adeline marveled that she had never taken the time to see Sicily beyond what was offered to the everyday tourist. She had overlooked so much of Sicily’s beauty.
Forty-five minutes into the trip, Nicolo angled the kayak’s nose toward a sheer rock face.
“What are you doing?” Adeline asked as they neared the sheer wall of granite. The cliff towered above them, taller than the Romano del Mare would if they were to stand at her door.
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course I trust you, but…” Adeline held her breath as the kayak’s tip got closer to the rocks, but then the kayak’s angle changed—and so did Adeline’s whole world. With the side of the kayak practically touching the cliff face, the kayak’s nose now pointed at an opening—a channel with walls as high as the cliff itself. It had not been visible from further away because of how the rocky face of the cliff jutted out and blocked the opening from being seen.
Adeline instinctively pulled her paddle from the waters and held it against the side of the kayak as Nicolo navigated them through the narrow channel of rock. Ten feet in, the channel curved and the tip of the kayak’s bow scraped the wall in front of it, but Nicolo managed to keep them moving forward.
Adeline gasped as the end of the channel came into view and the entire world as she knew it changed yet again. Just like stepping through a door, Adeline found herself in an island bowl of stone and water. The cliffs towered above in every direction, and when she looked at the clear water below, she could just make out an underwater bottom that she guessed to be about ten feet down. It looked to be stone as well.
“How did you find this place?” Adeline asked, her voice full of awe.
“It was actually Leonardo, one of my older brothers. He showed it to me when we were kids. Touch the water, bedda.”
Adeline dipped her fingers into the clear, glass-smooth water as the kayak glided forward. She gasped again. It was as warm as a heated swimming pool.
“It’s all the rock and the shallow bottom. The sun heats it up.”
Adeline was already stripping off her shirt when she eagerly asked, “We’re swimming, right?”
“That’s the plan.” Nicolo laughed.
Adeline shimmied out of her shorts to reveal her string bikini bottom underneath, and then tipped herself, head first, into the water. She dove deep, determined to touch the bottom with the tips of her fingers before shooting back up to the surface for air. She was amazed at how the water got warmer instead of cooler the deeper down she went, as heat radiated off the rock bottom.
Breaching the surface, she splashed Nicolo, then squealed and swam away as he stood up in the kayak and tore his own shirt off. A huge splash followed close behind her as Nicolo cannonballed in, and he had her in his arms just as Adeline was about to reach the bowl’s edge.
Turning to face him, Adeline wrapped her arms and legs around him as he held them aloft with one steadying hand on the cliff’s face. Sinking her fingers into Nicolo’s thick, wet hair, she took charge in a kiss that soon had them both gasping for air.
“I want to make love. Here,” Adeline declared.
Nicolo’s eyes darkened with a smoldering heat that quickened Adeline’s heart and sent tingles through her body. “Take a deep breath, t’amu,” Nicolo instructed. “Take another.” He mimicked her, taking deep breaths as well, then he dove, taking them both down until their bodies separated but they kept one hand linked.
Nicolo led her down, so far down that Adeline feared she would have to break away and go back to the surface for air. But then she saw it. It was a small underwater cavern opening near the bottom of the rock bowl.
Adeline’s heart raced with fear. Underwater caverns were dangerous. People got lost in them and drowned in them, and they weren’t even wearing any scuba gear. Nicolo forged on, though, and this was the adventure she’d requested. So she chose to believe, and followed.
