Heather motioned for him to follow her out of the room, and they headed out to the verandah to sit together under the twinkling stars.
“It really is beautiful out here.” She leaned on his shoulder and sighed happily.
“You make it more beautiful,” he told her gently.
She snuggled against him, the rhythm of her breathing becoming so even that he knew she had fallen asleep as well. Not wanting to wake her he held on to her tightly, enjoying the sensation of her warm body against his.
His thoughts drifted to the events of the day. Remembering how close he had felt to Heather and Finn. For a moment, he had felt like he was part of their little family. At his age he had thought he’d figured everything out, and yet, with a child becoming a part of his life, Simon realized that maybe a little humility was in order. He didn’t know everything. For the first time in years, he couldn’t predict what the future would bring. But he did know one thing. He knew that, no matter what happened now, he was as committed to being there for Finn as he was to being there for Heather.
Chapter 6
“Finnley Hall, slow down!” Heather called as Finn raced across the sand towards a spot on the beach that wasn’t too far away from the water.
Finn grumbled something inaudible, but slowed down and waited for her to catch up to him.
Simon was bringing up the rear, hauling three portable lounge chairs towards them.
“Can I build my sandcastle now?” Finn asked.
She nodded. “Yes, but don’t go too far. Stay where I can see you.”
Her arms were tired from carrying the beach umbrellas, so she set them up while Finn began to unload his beach toys from the beach bag she had been lugging.
There were lifeguards on the mostly deserted beach, and she knew Simon was an excellent swimmer, but she wasn’t taking any chances with her son’s safety.
Simon approached them and started setting up the chairs.
With everything set up, she sat down on a chair beside Simon and kept an eye on Finn as he started filling up one of his plastic buckets with damp sand.
The water in front of them was absolutely breathtaking—a striking blue hue she had never actually seen in real life. She whipped out her cell phone from the beach bag and started snapping photos. Today was their second-to-last day in Florida and she wanted to remember it.
Beside her, Simon was tapping on his tablet, his brows furrowed in concentration.
“Working on something?” she asked.
He lifted his head and looked at her. “Yes. How could you tell?”
“You always get that look when you’re working on a project that excites you,” she said. “I thought you had lost some of the enthusiasm for working on your ideas after Everett stole them from you.”
“Well, I don’t want to jinx anything, but the trip to the aquarium inspired me,” he said. “Blue Naught has been working on improved tracking devices for us to track marine life, but what if there was a way to do more than track sharks or dolphins? What if we could find a way to actually communicate with sharks?”
“You mean like... talk to animals?” She raised an eyebrow. “Simon, that sounds a little out there.”
“Does it?” He put his tablet down and looked at her. “What if we could come up with some kind of computer system that could communicate with sharks? I’m not talking about having conversations with animals or anything crazy like that, but what if something toxic got into the water? A way to let sharks and other animals know not to go to a certain part of the ocean?”
“Like some kind of communication system to protect them from danger?”
He nodded. “Sure, keep them out of harm’s way if human activity caused some kind of disaster the animals couldn’t perceive.”
“Okay, I take it back. That’s not crazy. That’s actually incredible.” She sat up. “You liked going to the aquarium, didn’t you?”
“Of course, I did,” he said. “You and Finn were there.”
“Finn likes you.” She smiled. “And you like him.”
He nodded. “I do. Seeing how much he loves science has been really inspiring. I never thought I’d ever get along with a child, but he reminds me a little bit of myself at that age.”