The Devil and the Deep - By Amy Andrews Page 0,67

water unscathed, unlike bronze coins that were degraded by salinity.

It was also Spanish.

It still didn’t confirm the ship was The Mermaid. Archaeologists were going to have to decide that. But it was another strong indicator.

He grinned back and hugged her tight.

* * *

A couple of hours later they were back on board and had finished notifying the necessary people. Rick had organised for the marine archaeology company they used to send a team and had started the application process for a permit to salvage.

Stella was on deck looking at the marker buoy in the distance when Rick came up behind her. She was in a vest top and sarong and he pressed the chilled bottle of champagne they’d brought way back in Cairns for just this occasion against one shoulder as he kissed the other.

Stella jumped at the shock of it, then turned in his arms, and hugged him. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered.

Rick held her close, the boat bobbing gently. Realising Nathan’s dream had meant as much to her as it had to him.

‘I’ve been thinking,’ she said, pulling back slightly. ‘When they confirm it’s The Mermaid, I’d like to bring Dad’s ashes out here and scatter them.’

Nathan had always wanted them scattered at sea, but until now Stella hadn’t felt ready to let him go.

Rick nodded. ‘Good idea.’ He smiled. ‘Let’s drink to Nathan,’ he said.

They eased apart and he handed her the flutes as he worked the cork. Its pop was lost in the vast ocean surrounds and he quickly filled the glasses, handing her one.

‘To Dad,’ she said, holding her glass aloft.

Rick nodded, clinking his flute against hers. ‘To Nathan.’

He glanced at her as she sipped the frothy nectar and she grinned at him. The breeze caught her drying blonde hair and the sun sparkled on the sea behind her like the champagne bubbles. She looked like a mermaid, a sirena, and he felt deep, deep-down-in-his-bones happy.

‘What?’ Stella asked as the glitter in his gaze became speculative.

‘I think I love you,’ he murmured.

The words fell from his lips and he didn’t even bother to recall them because he knew in that instant that they were the truth. He did love her.

He’d loved her for ever.

Stella blinked. ‘Okay...no more champagne for you,’ she joked.

He laughed, then sobered, his gaze roaming her lovely familiar face. ‘I’m sorry, I know that’s sudden but...it’s not really. It’s just been a long time coming.’

Stella realised he was serious. Her pulse tripped. ‘But...I thought the ocean, this...’ she threw her arm out, indicating the glory of the scenery around them ‘...is your great love.’

Rick shook his head. ‘This is nothing without you.’

Stella’s heart clanged like a gong. She didn’t know what to say. The fact that she loved him too was a no-brainer. It was suddenly as clear as the tropical waters fringing the pristine Micronesian reefs. In fact, she couldn’t remember a time she hadn’t loved him. It had always been there, snuggled inside her. She just hadn’t been free to admit it.

Until now.

But she’d already lived through one broken marriage because of the sea and, no matter how much she loved him, she couldn’t be with a man who wouldn’t put her first.

Stella shook her head sadly, not allowing her love to bloom. ‘It’s not enough, Rick. Love’s not enough. My father loved my mother, after all. I need to know you want me more than the ocean. That you’ll put me before it. Something my father and your father never did.’

Rick stood firm, understanding her reticence, knowing that what he did for a job was hard on relationships but refusing to be cowed by it. ‘You want me to walk away, I’ll walk away.’

Stella lifted her hand and stroked his whiskers. ‘I can’t ask you to do that, Rick. I’m not going to forbid you from the ocean—I saw how much grief that caused my mother in the long run. That has to be your choice.’

Rick lifted his hand to cover hers with his. ‘The sea is not an easy mistress, Stel. She’s selfish and addictive. But I’ve seen what happened with Nathan and Linda, and lived with the consequences of my father’s inability to choose between two loves. Believe me, I know the heartache of that just as well as you and I don’t want that for you and me. Rest assured, Stel, I will never put the sea before you.’ His hands slid to her shoulders. ‘Never.’

Stella wanted to believe him. His brilliant blue eyes glittered with openness