Free Courage and Comfort by Berengaria Brown Page A

the
vehicle that hit him. I hope Karma gets that asshole real soon.”
    “So what do we need to pack? How long do you think this’ll take?”
    “AJ seemed pretty sure where the Aquamarine will be. But I don’t know.
Likely we should plan to stay a couple of days in case it doesn’t reveal itself
to us the first time we look,” said Edmund thoughtfully.
    All the way home and while they were each packing a small bag, Utah and
Edmund tossed around the idea that a stone could help Mavis recover, could give
her courage and comfort. Edmund wanted to believe it was possible. He really
wanted Mavis to adjust to the terrible blow life had dealt her and concentrate
on raising her baby. But he wasn’t sure he had that much faith. The whole
concept was just too weird.

 
    Chapter Two
     
    Rocky Point Beach, despite its name, was a stretch of about a mile of
golden sand between a high cliff wall to the south and a curving rocky
promontory that extended well into the sea to the north. Keen swimmers could
swim out around the rocks and into a much smaller, sheltered cove. But few
bothered to do that, finding the main beach more than adequate for their
recreational needs.
    Edmund had the pale skin that commonly accompanied blond hair and light
blue eyes. But he loved swimming and the beach, so he usually wore a full-body
wetsuit, including a hood, which protected him from his ears down to his
ankles. He only had to worry about sunburn on the few inches of skin on his
face not covered by his goggles and the equally small amount of skin on his
feet not covered by his flippers.
    Utah, on the other hand, had the solid tan of an outdoorsman. His black
hair and dark brown eyes hinted at a more Mediterranean heritage, although his
name seemed to imply Native American antecedents. Utah had no idea which was
correct. What he knew of his family tree seemed to include a bit of everything
from everywhere. However, he almost never had to worry about being sunburned,
so he watched with a smile as Edmund slathered his face and feet with
waterproof sunblock.
    Utah wore short black board shorts, his black goggles dangling around
his neck for when they reached the sandbar and started to look for the Aquamarine.
Although he looked more the bad, beach-boy-type, he cheerfully admitted Edmund’s
swimming and diving skills were superior to his. He’d grown up where it was too
cold to swim outdoors most of the year. Edmund, on the other hand, seemed to
revel in cold water—or likely it was the wetsuit’s protection that enabled him
to cope with lower temperatures.
    Thank God today was hot and sunny, and the water was warm.
    Utah faced the ocean and stared into the distance, mentally marking the
line from the rock wall out to the sandbar. It was about two hundred yards, he
thought, which made him grateful the sandbar was there for him to rest on
before he had to get back to shore. He was a strong swimmer, but when he added
in the diving around they’d likely have to do while looking for the Aquamarine,
it’d be close to half a mile of swimming, and that was pretty much his limit.
    “Are you working out where to look?” Edmund asked, dropping the
sunblock onto his towel.
    “Yeah. It’s lucky you’re such a good swimmer. I reckon I’ll need to sit on
the sandbar and rest after a while.”
    “ There’s other things we can do on the sandbar
too,” Edmund said softly, waggling his eyebrows.
    “Uh-huh. Like get arrested for public indecency?”
    “Nah. No one will see anything they shouldn’t. We’ll keep our backs to the
beach.”
    “And no one will be watching us with binoculars from those speedboats
out there?” challenged Utah.
    “We’ll be fine.”
    Utah just smiled at his partner. Edmund had all the confidence in the
world and likely some naughty plan in mind. Well, they’d soon see just how
doable his plans were. One of the things Utah loved about Edmund was his
insouciant acceptance of sex as an integral part of daily life. And