John pulled the fish off the grill, taking whiff of the lemon-smoked smell. "Few things smell as good as this does when done right."

"When's that then?" John gaped and caught Anna's half smile.

Shaking his tongs at her he tried to sound serious, "It's not nice to poke fun at a man cooking you dinner."

"Or giving me a place to stay." She acknowledged, holding the plate up for the fish. "But I do it anyway."

"I guess there's a personality in there then."

"You'll have to wait and see." She dug another two plates from a cupboard and John risked a moment to look over the place.

"You've made it look nice again."

"It was just some dusting." Anna set the plates at the table, pulling utensils loose from a drawer. "A little bit of love mends a lot."

"It does." John sighed, "Just not as much as you wish it would."

"Speaking from personal experience?"

"Maybe. You'll have to guess."

"Whenever someone drops a leading comment like that they are." Anna took her seat as John joined her, the plate of smoked fish soon set between them on the table. "We don't make hints like that unless we're writing Facebook posts or trying to see if someone cares enough to ask us for more details."

"They have Facebook in the ocean do they?"

Anna only gave a half smile to match her shrug, taking her fork and knife to pull one of the fish toward her before ladling a helping of the green beans and potatoes on her plate before passing them over. "Who said this was my first time on land?"

"You certainly haven't."

"And you're dodging the implied question."

"I'm more direct than that."

"Alright." Anna folded her arms on the table, looking at him, "What'd you mean when you said that you wished love could mend more than it does?"

"In this case, being that we're in my deceased mother's house," John waved his fork around them, "I wish I could've stopped her illness."

"What'd she have?"

"Hereditary kidney failure that didn't get noticed until she got a bad bout of mono last year and her spleen enlarged. When they operated on it they noticed her kidneys are practically destroyed and she only lived three months after that."

"No one noticed?"

"My mother'd been bound to a chair for a long time before that and her whole family had it before she did so she didn't think twice about it." John sighed, "I got tested but I don't have it."

"Does anyone else?"

"Ondine." John set down his utensils, "She'd been sick for a long time before that but my ex-wife and I thought it was just shitty luck. When Mam got sick I finally put two and two together. The Doctor tested Ondine and we found the cause."

"Genetics."

"My ex-wife puts it more simply than that." John cut into his fish with more force than necessary, "She says it's all my fault and blames me for it all."

"Blame is how some people deal with pain."

"Don't I know it." John shook his head, "Ondine gets dialysis twice a week as we wait for someone to die and leave her their perfectly effective kidneys before hers give out completely."

"Do you have much hope?"

"We're poor, we live in Ireland, and she's not exactly high on anyone's priority list but mine so, not really no."

Anna stayed silent a moment, "Did you know that selkies are believed to have a wish to give anyone they want."

"Are they?"

Anna nodded, "It's part of the magic they have. They can give the wish for someone to use for whatever they want."

"I thought that was genies."

"There are a lot of creatures with magic."

"Seeing as you already changed from a seal to a woman I'd say tht's magic enough."

She only shrugged, "Magic comes in many forms John."

"Is this the moment you're about to tell me that whatever we love we're fated to lose?"

"No."

"Good. I was afraid that maybe wherever you were before here had one too many fortune cookies."

"I don't really like takeaway Chinese food."

"That makes two of us. Backs me up completely."

Anna tried to stifle her snort before she giggled uncontrollably behind her napkin. John joined her, leaning back to give his chortle enough breathing space before wiping his thumbs at his eyes. They stared at one another before John cleared his throat to try and speak again.

"I hope I didn't offend any sensibilities."

"I'm not that delicate."

"My Mam always taught me to speak respectfully in the presence of a lady."

"Well I'm not a lady and I don't pretend to be."

John stopped, studying her face. "You're a lady to me and I've never met a finer one."

"Then my question is what kind of women have you met?" Anna kept her face serious, focus entirely on her food. "And I warn you, you don't know anything about me that would give you that kind of opinion of me."

"You cleaned my mother's house."

"I'm staying here."

"You didn't have to do it."

"It doesn't make me a lady." Anna finally faced him again, "I'm not the person you want to think I am."

"And who's that?"

"What?"

"Who is this person you're convinced I wouldn't like?" John opened his hands, "Because you've told me nothing abut yourself."

"That's for the best."

"Shouldn't that be for me to decide?"

"It's for me to decide because it's my life and I prefer you stay out of it." She snapped at him and retreated, fretting her hands up to her mouth and then back down before rubbing over her arms in a motion for self-comfort. "I'm sorry, that was ungrateful and rude."

"Doesn't mean you weren't right." John conceded, "It's not my business who you really are and I'm sorry."

"It'd best we don't talk about me anymore."

"What if someone's looking for you?"

"No one who cares about me is and those who are I don't care about."

"No family then?" Anna shook her head, "Then you don't think anyone needs to know you're alive?"

"It's better, for everyone who knew me as I was to think I'm dead now and I prefer it that way." She gave a self-depreciating snort, "I'd like to think of who I was being dead. Gives me a new start."

"Little hard to do that without an identity."

"People do it all the time."

"Maybe they shouldn't." John went to eat more but put his utensils down. "Do you want to go night fishing?"

"What?"

"Talk in this house always feels heavy for me."

"Why?"

"I've had too many deep conversations here."

Anna narrowed her eyes, "Did your mother die in this house?" John nodded, closing his eyes, "Where?"

"She died in her chair as I rocked her to sleep." John opened his eyes, blinking past the tears gathering at the edges of his eyes to point, "She hadn't left that chair in hours while I read her favorite book to her."

"What book?"

"Wuthering Heights." John laughed a little, "She'd just finished the audiobook the day before but insisted she might've missed something in the melodic Yorkshire tones."

"What?"

"The reader, for the audiobook, was a Yorkshire actress she loved from some period drama."

"And yours?"

John blinked, "What?"

"Your favorite book, what is it?"

"Oh," John coughed, "I thought you were asking if I liked the actress."

"Do you?"

"I think she's got a lot of skill."

"I do too." John widened his eyes and she waved it off, "Even if I was born in the sea I wasn't born under a rock."

"Obviously not."

"You're avoiding the question again."

"I forgot what it was."

"What's your favorite book?"

John went to answer but stopped himself, "On one condition."

"What's that?"

"You tell me something true about yourself. It doesn't have to be soul searching or deep just true. Something that's not shrouded in mystery."

Anna sat back, almost shrinking into her chair before she met his eyes with unflinching honesty. "Until I met you I thought my father was the last good man on the face of this earth and I lost him when I was nine."

John kept the memory of her eyes in that moment forever burned in his memory. The vulnerability, the trust, and the rawness to them broke his heart. With a nod John spoke.

"My favorite book is Sonnets from the Portuguese and I used one of those poems for my wedding vows."

"Which one?"

"Forty-three." John closed his eyes and recited from memory, "I love thee to the depth and breadth and height/My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight/For the ends of being and ideal grace. /I love thee to the level of every day's/Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight. /I love thee freely, as men strive for right. /I love thee purely, as they turn from praise."

"That's beautiful."

"And a lie." John stood, "I didn't love her that long."

"But you thought you did."

"Which only makes it worse." He motioned to the door, "Do you want to come?"

Anna took a deep breath and shook her head, "I don't think that's wise."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't trust the emotions I have at the moment." Anna stood, "I don't know what could happen out there if I act on what I'm thinking."

"What are you thinking?"

Anna tipped her head back to appraise him, "That I'd like nothing more than to kiss you right now."

"Why don't you?"

"Because I don't know why I'd do it."

John stepped toward her and both of them caught their breath when they realized how close they actually were. He reached out a hand, almost afraid to touch her, and gently grazed his fingers down her arm before bringing her hand up to hold its limpness in his hand. Her fingers tightened to hold more securely and he caressed her cheek with his other hand.

They rocked in silence a moment before he whispered, "I know why I'd do it."

"Why?"

"To thank you."

Anna's eyes widened, "Thank me?"

"You make me feel again. Something I haven't felt in a long time and it feels good to feel as deeply as I do just talking with you."

"What do you feel?" Her voice barely rose louder than a whisper but John heard it.

"Worthwhile."

She fingers tightened in his hold and her other hand snaked up to grasp the back of his neck to better drag his lips to hers. There was no rush to it once their lips met. Just a moment when both realized their thoughts were now reality before sinking into the display of affection.

John held himself back, letting Anna lead what she started, and only responding to her motions. She pulled back and he did not press forward, waiting. Her eyes opened to stare at him and John wondered if his breathing sounded as loud to her as it did echoing in his ears.

"I'm sorry."

"No," John held tightly to her hand, shaking his head a bit more emphatically than strictly necessary. "Don't be sorry for that."

"I just couldn't let you go after what you said."

"I didn't want you to." John ran his thumb over her cheekbone. "Is that still a 'no' to night fishing?"

"I think so." Anna turned her face to kiss his palm. "As much as I think I'd enjoy it, we're not in the right mind to be alone with one another on a rocking boat in the middle of the night."

"We're alone in a house now."

"But in a moment you'll come to your senses and realize you've got other responsibilities that wouldn't get done if you continued the thought right behind your eyes right now." John went to duck his head but she stopped him, shaking hers. "I'm not embarrassed by it and you shouldn't be either."

"I'm not embarrassed. I'm overwhelmed."

"Why?"

"Because my life's not been very happy and for some reason, someone, thought I deserved to meet you."

Anna shook her head, "Don't say that."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm not the angel you seem to think I am." Anna waved a hand at the table, "I'll take care of this."

"That doesn't seem right."

"You cooked so I can clean up since you've got to get home. I'm sure you've got an early morning."

"I do." John bit his lip, "Could I kiss you again, before I leave?"

"I'd be a little upset if you didn't."

John guided his lips to hers, moving slowly for a moment before pulling away. "Goodnight Anna."

"Goodnight John."

Ondine waited until her father's boat pulled away from the dock before guiding her chair down the little rise. The woman from the night before left the house after that, walking to the edge of the inlet. She stopped there, testing the water with a toe before she pulled the dress over her head. Even from a distance Ondine could see her exhale before the woman made a shallow dive forward.

She was lost from sight, stroking underwater for a few seconds before breaking the surface. Ondine squinted, trying to see more but the distance was too great for the detail she wanted. Her hand adjusted the gearshift on her chair and aimed it toward the secluded beach. It bumped over the stone bridge, clattering over the larger rocks as she guided her chair to the edge of the water.

There Ondine waited for the woman's head to emerge again. She leaned back in her chair, pushing the loose strands of hair that flew in her face when the wind whipped through the canyon to send large ripples off the shallow water to create waves at the opening of the inlet. In the midst of blowing an errant strand out of her mouth Ondine saw the woman's head break silently out of the water just three meters from her.

"I knew it wasn't a story." She grinned and the woman's brow furrowed in confusion, her head coming fully out of the water as she walked toward where Ondine waited on the beach.

"What story?"

"The one Da was telling me about a fisherman catching someone in his net."

"Who says I got caught in a net?"

""How else would you get here?"

The woman shrugged, coming fully out of the water to grab her dress. "Maybe I swam here."

"But if you swam here you wouldn't be staying in my gran's house."

"How'd you know I'm staying there?"

"I saw you, last night." Ondine pointed to her father's truck, "I followed him after he got me from school yesterday and saw him go to the shop where he bought that dress and those knickers."

The woman looked down, giving an impressed appraisal, "They're not bad. He's got good taste."

"I guess he had to replace your clam shell bra and seaweed knickers."

The woman crouched in front of Ondine's chair so they were eye-to-eye. "And why would he have to do that?"

"If you're a selkie then you don't need human clothes underwater. It'd just slow you down when you try to swim away."

"Then wouldn't I swim faster naked?"

"You're the selkie, you tell me."

The woman smiled, "Your father told me you're smart."

"What else did he tell you?"

"That you need this chair because your kidneys are failing." The woman looked to the water and then turned back to Ondine, "Have you tried swimming?"

"I've never had lessons and there's no pool in town. Ma thinks it's a waste of time and doesn't want me spending too much time with Da."

"Well I can teach you a few things now if you want. That way your Mum doesn't have to worry about you being with your Dad and you can get lessons."

"I don't have a swimsuit."

The woman stepped back, hanging her dress on the handles on the back of Ondine's chair, "Neither do I."

"Just strip down to my pants then?"

"I can find your something in the house if you come with me." The woman grabbed her dress again, leading the way up the pebbled beach to the house.

When they reached the door she gave Ondine a hand out of her chair, offering her an arm. Ondine used it to get inside the house, walking slowly to get her legs under her until she took a chair. Once there she sat down, laughing a bit to cover the shake in her body. "I don't walk much."

"I wouldn't think you should but I'm not a doctor." The woman dug around in a bag and pulled something out, "You can wear this."

"Thank you." Ondine worked out of her skirt and shirt to pull the larger shirt over herself. "This was my gran's."

"Then it'll be even more special then." The woman offered her hand again, holding two towels in the other. "Ready Ondine?"

"What do I call you?" Ondine took her hand, pulling herself up and setting their slow pace back to the water.

"Anna."

"That's not very French."

Anna laughed, "Who said I was French?"

"Selkies are French."

"They're also Scottish and I don't sound like that either."

"I know." Ondine laughed before shrieking at the cold water. "That's freezing."

"Good for the blood." Anna encouraged, walking in front of Ondine while holding her hands. "And in a moment your body'll acclimate and you won't notice."

"I think I will." Ondine shivered but followed Anna further into the water. "Were you born in the water?"

"What do you think?" Anna kept her pace even, tugging when Ondine stuttered in her steps.

"Selkies are seal until they shed their seal coat. Then they come on land and bury their seal coat."

"Is that so?"

"You have to, so you can stay seven years."

"Who says I want to stay seven years?"

"Wouldn't you?" Ondine stumbled but Anna caught her. "If you already came all this way wouldn't you want to stay?"

"Depends on whether or not I like it." Anna held Ondine steady as she tried to balance on her tiptoes in the water. "Alright, I'm going to put one hand on your back and you're just going to float."

"I'll sink! I'm too heavy."

"You're nothing but a feather." Anna soothed, "See, I can lift you."

With her hand at Ondine's back she lifted, holding her hand and waiting for Ondine to relax in the water. After a moment Ondine extended her arms, holding herself as straight as possible in the easy waves. Anna moved her hand to adjust Ondine's head and then only held her hand while stepping back.

"Now just breathe. Feel the water under you and relax."

"That's it? I'm swimming?"

"No." Anna chuckled, "You're floating right now. It's important when you get tired to float to help you regain your strength."

"Really?"

"Yes." Anna shrugged a shoulder, "It's also very calming. You feel at one with the water."

"You do." Ondine closed her eyes a moment but forgot to keep her stomach straight. Her body bent and her head went under the water. She thrashed, water going into her mouth and something tangling on her ankle.

Jerking out of the water Ondine inhaled water and air before coughing. Hands helped her up, holding her out of the water while trying to speak to her. Whatever latched onto Ondine's ankle remained there and she tried to get free, the hands running down her leg to help her.

"Ondine, Ondine, it's alright. It's just a strap." But when Ondine blinked the water from her eyes, finally getting air past her water-scraped lungs, she saw Anna's expression.

"What is it?"

"I-" Anna just stared at the brown mass in her other hand.

"It's your seal coat." Ondine pointed at it, pulling Anna toward shore. "We've got to bury it."

"What?"

"If you bury it then you can stay seven years but if not then you've got to put it back on and return to your selkie husband."

Anna followed the tug of Ondine's hand, tripping after her up the beach before following her around the house to a little conservatory. Ondine pried the doors open and pointed to a pile of dirt.

"We bury it there and it'll be our secret."

Anna looked from the dripping brown material to Ondine and then to the mound of dirt before nodding. "Alright. We'll bury it."

Between the two of them they tore into the dirt with bare hands, making a hole big enough for the 'seal coat' and covered it back up. Ondine stepped back, her legs shaking slightly but not as much as Anna's hands. Ondine grabbed her hands, holding them tightly in hers.

"We won't tell anyone. It'll be our secret."

Anna took a deep breath before squeezing Ondine's hands. "Our secret." She tugged Ondine after her, "Come on."

"Where?"

"You haven't finished learning to swim." Anna helped her back down the beach and into the water. "We'll make you a water dancer yet."