Zev looked into the camera, and Carly swore he was looking right at her as he said, “I’ve been searching for so long, it feels like forever.”
“Why this ship? What was it about the Pride that brought you out here?” Sutton asked.
Eyes still locked on the camera, he said, “My love for the girl I gave my heart to in second grade. Finding the Pride was our dream.”
Tears welled in Carly’s eyes. Had he really said that? Was she dreaming?
Birdie squeezed her arm and whispered, “I’m in love!”
“Oh, baby girl. He’s a good egg,” Marie said.
Carly blinked through her tears, riveted to Zev as he answered a litany of questions about the mystery girl, who he refused to name.
“She knows who she is,” Zev said, and winked at the camera.
Carly remembered what he’d said when she’d mentioned not being able to find any pictures of him after he and Luis had discovered the other shipwreck. I’d rather be the grungy-looking guy with the backpack people give space to than the rich guy who found the sunken ship who becomes the target of every scam out there. He was protecting her. She inhaled a shaky breath as Sutton moved on, asking about what they’d found so far and what he planned to do with the artifacts if they were definitively linked to the Pride.
“Carly went diving with him right there at the site,” Birdie said. “She should be on the show, too. Did you know—”
“Shh,” Marie said. “Let him shine, sweetie.”
Zev answered dozens of questions, and as the show neared the end, Sutton asked, “How many stars had to align for you to find this wreckage?”
Zev cocked a grin and said, “I think the stars had a little matchmaking help to bring us together.”
Carly could barely breathe. He was talking about them. Sutton asked more questions, but Carly had trouble focusing past the sound of her racing heart.
“He’s doing so well,” Marie whispered.
As the interview came to a close, Sutton said, “What’s next for Zev Braden? Where does a treasure hunter go after making a find like this?”
“I’ll spend the rest of my life discovering everything I can about her,” Zev answered.
A tear slid down Carly’s cheek.
Sutton smiled into the camera and said, “There you have it, folks. A man and his vessel, a match made in the stars…with a little dose of magic.”
As the closing credits rolled, everyone clapped and spoke at once, except Carly. She was frozen in thought, knee-deep in love.
“That was incredible,” Marie said.
“I felt like he was talking about Carly,” Birdie said.
“What did you thi—” Marie turned to Carly, worry chasing her smile away as she took Carly’s hand. “Honey? Why are you crying?”
“Carly? What’s wrong?” Birdie’s voice was laden with concern.
Carly opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Her thoughts spun, her heart ached, and guilt consumed her.
“Talk to me, sweetheart,” Marie pleaded.
“I can’t…It’s like…” My words are stuck in my throat.
“What’s it like, honey?” Marie asked. “What is it?”
Marie’s eyes implored her to speak, and the words burst from Carly’s lungs. “It’s like eating Lucky Charms your whole life, and then suddenly Lucky Charms goes off the market and you try other things—Froot Loops, Cocoa Krispies, granola. And sure, they’re fruity, chocolaty, crunchy. They’re not your favorite, but they’re pretty good. So you make do, and year after year you shovel substitutes into your mouth because Lucky Charms just isn’t available.” Words flew like daggers, and Carly was powerless to slow them down. “Then one day you walk into a wedding and they’re serving Lucky Charms, but only for a limited time. And you know”—know came out like a curse—“that after that they’re only going to be offered across the country. You won’t be able to order them online, and you have no idea when they’ll be back.” She paced, her hands flailing as she spewed her heart all over the shop. “And you try to resist them even though you don’t want to. You’re terrified that after that limited time, you not only won’t be able to go back to the substitutes, but you won’t be the person you were before you took that first bite. But you’re salivating over the marshmallows, craving the unique taste of the oats, and the cereal is beckoning you, looking at you like your mouth is the only place it wants to be, and you just can’t take it anymore. So you take the plunge, and that first bite is out of this