Page 24 of Set to Love

Moored at the dock is a wide, covered pontoon boat with several rows of bench seating. But Max’s attention immediately shifts to the two manatees lazily floating near the shoreline. “Incredible,” he whispers, standing completely still, his eyes full of genuine awe.

“It’s the quiet season now,” I tell him, leaning against the dock railing. “In the winter, there are so many of them you can practically walk across the water on their backs. I’ve been here when there’s as many as eight or nine hundred in a single morning.”

“Blimey. Can that many even fit in there?” He runs a hand through his hair.

“Mm-hmm. I have the proof on my phone,” I tease.

As I watch the manatees drift along, I’m reminded of the first time I laid eyes on one. It was on one of the rare weekends where it was just me and Dad. We’d been in Florida for exactly three weeks. He’d been reassigned from Colorado Springs to Tampa.

Being a military kid meant I was used to the “no questions asked” lifestyle. We moved nine times before I was twelve. I was about thirteen this particular weekend, and I was making sure Dad knew exactly how miserable I was about the move. Especially since it was in the middle of the school year.

We walked side by side along the waterfront of Apollo Beach. It was February, but it felt like summer. At least to me. I was used to the four seasons we got in Colorado.

“I know you’re still mad, Katie, but you have to talk sometime,” Dad said, his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

“I don’t understand why I couldn’t just stay with the Taylors,” I muttered, staring at the cracks in the sidewalk. “Sienna’s parents said they’d host me until the end of the semester. I wouldn’t have been a bother.”

“Katie, we’re a family. No man gets left behind.”

I heard the familiar frustration in his voice. He was used to commands being followed. Not questioned.

“You’ll be off to college before I know it. Is it wrong for a father to want a little more time with his little girl?”

And cue the waterworks. I’d been all geared up for a fight, but that one sentence turned my legs to jelly. I looked at him—really looked—and saw the faint mist in the corners of his eyes. It was the only time I’d ever seen my dad, the battle-hardened lieutenant colonel, near a breaking point.

I reached for his hand and squeezed it. “I’m sorry, Dad. I didn’t think about it that way.”

“Contrary to what you might think, I’m not out to ruin your life,” he said.

For the first time that morning, I’d wondered exactly where we were going. “Dad?” I asked.

“We’re almost there.”

“Where?”

“The power station.” He chuckled at my quizzical expression. “Come on, there’s something special I want you to see.”

When we reached the lookout, I gasped. The water was churned gray with hundreds of massive, slow-moving shapes that reminded me of mermaids. Except I knew mermaids weren’t real.

“These are manatees,” Dad said.

“They’re beautiful,” I whispered, unable to look away.

“I think so too. Not everything about Florida is bad.” Dad leaned his elbows on the railing. He was quiet for a long moment before adding, “You know, we aren’t just here because of me.”

I turned to face him. “What do you mean?”

“Mom and I picked this post because of your tennis. The best coaches in the country are down here, Katie. If you’re serious about going pro, we’re committing to it. We’ll do whatever it takes to help you make sure the mission is accomplished.”

Until that moment, Florida had felt like just another stop on the long list of places the military dragged us through. But standing there beside those manatees, listening to my dad tell me they’d chosen this place because they believed in me, changed everything.

Florida became my home. Tennis stopped being something I loved and became something I owed everything to.

I’d thrown my arms around his loud Hawaiian shirt and promised him I’d commit myself fully to the sport. And for the first time in my life, I meant it.

A voice crackles over the small dock speaker, shaking the ghost of the past from my head. “Last call for boarding! We’re departing in two minutes.”

I inhale deeply. “Come on, Max.” I grab his hand without thinking, his skin warm and steady, and pull him toward the gangway.