Going Deep (Divemasters Book 2) by Jayne Rylon

Miguel Torres. I’m a divemaster here. Your husband was a great influence on me when I was younger. A friend, and an inspiration.”
    “I knew it!” Marta softened immediately, her suggestion of a frown perking up into a smile. “I hope you don’t mind that I poked around about the co-owners of the ship my Sabine would be spending her time on. I read your bio and the articles that have been circulating about you and your partners since the formation of the Divemaster Project. About where you’re from, how you’re self-made, and your impressive goals. Your name matched and I could see the resemblance to the photo Heinrich had of the two of you. After all this time, I hoped it might really be you. My husband was a good judge of character, son. He talked about you often. Remembered you fondly.”
    Afraid the moisture gathering in her eyes might leak out and ruin her work, Sabine finished up what she had been doing, then set the timer. When it went off, she should be able to detect some progress, if the solution she’d prepped and infused made any difference whatsoever. She peeled off her gloves then approached her laptop warily, as if it were a stonefish out to stab her with its poisonous spikes.
    Having her two worlds collide like this made it all too real.
    Miguel wasn’t a figment of her imagination, some dream concocted by her subconscious to help her make it through one of the roughest parts of her life. He was real. Here. With her. But he wouldn’t always be. Somehow, having Marta meet him—know that he existed—would make the loss more profound once he was no longer part of her life.
    Banks edged closer, and Tosin joined them, too. They must have looked ridiculous, crunched together in front of the screen. Marta was magnetic like that, though. She drew people in, and made them listen.
    “That means a lot. Thank you.” Miguel put his arm around Sabine, tucking her against his heat and strength. Subconsciously, she toyed with his necklace, which became more precious to her every day. Though she should have pulled away, stood on her own, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.
    Not when she had to admit her failures to the one person who cared the most about what she was supposed to be concentrating on here. Sabine blurted, “I haven’t found anything, Marta. I’m sorry. We’re almost out of samples, too. I thought I knew what to look for, but…”
    She held her hands out, empty palms up, then dropped them to her sides again.
    “I wasn’t calling for a progress report,” Marta told her. “I needed to see how you’re doing. That’s all. I’m worried about how you’re handling everything. And…I miss you.”
    If she wasn’t going to make a discovery here, Sabine should at least have been by Marta’s side.
    Her stomach ached when she considered how many ways in which she was letting the other woman, and Heinrich, down. He’d have wanted her to look after his wife, wouldn’t he?
    “Hey, you might not have found the cure yet .” Tosin’s optimism bolstered her spirits a little. “But at least you got a boyfriend out of the deal.”
    “Oh, really?” Marta leaned closer to the screen, as if she could judge whether Miguel was worthy or not from those extra couple of inches.
    Sabine didn’t respond and instead glanced away at the lovely wooden deck and her bare toes, which curled against it.
    “Ashamed of me, lindeza ?” Miguel asked softly. He lifted her chin so she had no choice but to meet his piercing stare.
    Could she keep making things worse? At least she seemed adept at that. Her fingers flew again to the necklace he’d given her, and she thought of the lost boy still buried deep within him. The one who’d been abandoned and never known how precious he was to those who loved him. “Of course not.”
    “It’s okay to find happiness for yourself, Sabine,” Marta assured her. “More than any scientific work, Heinrich would have been glad to see that.”
    What else was the woman going