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“It’s beautiful,” Veronica added.
“Not as beautiful as you,” I said.
She rolled her eyes and splashed water in my direction. “Stop it.”
I nodded. “Okay then … just tell me if you thought about me often while I was gone and then I will drop the subject.”
Veronica hesitated, then said, “Of course I thought about you, August. Although most of them weren’t pleasant thoughts, make sure you remember that.”
I nodded. “I do, and I also understand why.”
A minute later, she asked, “Is the water this warm in South America?”
I arched an eyebrow, finding it hard to believe she asked me that. I had always considered the topic off limits. She’d never given me a chance to tell my side of the story and what was going through my mind, or share the personal turmoil I had been going through when I had ghosted her. She didn’t know the truth, my secret, only my father did, but he took it with him to heaven.
“I thought you didn’t want to go there,” I said.
“I only asked you about the water, nothing else,” Veronica said, then quickly added, “You don’t have to answer.”
“The water temps vary in Central and South America, depending on the time of year, but the warmest water I have experienced was while I was in Panama and Venezuela. It was actually warmer than this.” She nodded, looking deep in thought, before I added, “I missed you. Every single day. And there is something you need to know, something I have been wanting to tell you.”
She stiffened, which made me mentally kick myself for saying that. It was too soon, even though it was true. Fortunately, when her mouth dropped open, and she gasped, I knew it wasn’t about what I said at all. I followed her gaze and saw a fin slicing through the water not far away.
“Is that a shark?” she asked.
“No, it’s just a dolphin,” I reassured her. “From what I hear, there are a lot of them around here, and they can be quite playful. They’re harmless.”
As the dolphin approached, circling her with curiosity, she laughed, delighted. “I never thought I’d swim with dolphins! I know there are places that have them in captivity for the tourists, but this one is wild!”
“And they’re fiercely protected by the Tanzanian government. No touching,” I reminded her.
Veronica gave me a knowing smile. “Trust me, I’m not about to get arrested in Africa. I couldn’t even imagine …”
As the dolphin playfully circled Veronica, her delight was wonderful to see. I only wished I had a camera to capture the moment. She chuckled as it brushed against her, her face lighting up with the joy you’d usually see in children.
“It’s like he’s saying hello!” she exclaimed, her laughter mixing with the sound of gentle waves.
“He’s quite the charmer,” I quipped, watching her interact with the dolphin. “Seems you’ve caught his eye. Guess I have some serious competition now.”
Her laughter turned to a startled yelp. “Oh, no—August!” Her voice spiked with panic. “No, no, no! I can’t believe this!”
Alarmed, I swam closer. “What happened? Are you okay?”
“My bikini bottom!” She was frantic, her hands searching the surrounding water. “That thief! The dolphin snatched it right off!”
Laughter bubbled up inside me.
Veronica’s glare could have frozen the ocean. “This is not a joke!” She glanced around at some of the other people in the water who were fairly close, but they were not paying attention to her, or maybe they didn’t speak English and didn’t understand.
I suppressed my amusement and surveyed our surroundings. “Okay, it can’t be far. Let me go under and find it for you.”
“Don’t you dare go diving for it!” she warned, her voice sharp.
“I’m trying to help,” I defended, raising my hands in surrender.
“You can see everything in this water, August. Everything,” she emphasized, her cheeks flaming red, and not from the sun.
Nodding, I tried to reassure her. “Understood. But look, there’s a boat heading this way. You can’t just stand there like that. We need to figure something out fast.”
