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Jenni was overcome with everything she saw. This was a different kind of fishing than what she had experienced back in April. Noticing her fascination, Mike remarked, “This is what it’s like in the middle of the busy season. These folks are all paying a premium for a day offshore. They’ve all got dreams of marlin and sailfish and the like. We’ll probably see many of these same boats once we’re out there, especially if we start catching fish.”
Dare had been up in the tower, but now he came down the ladder, onto the dock, exchanging introductions and shaking hands with everyone. “I know I’m crazy for taking my almost-family out in the middle of the tourist season, but I made these plans a long time ago. When Susan, Chris, and SeaAnna said they just weren’t up to it in this heat, I was going to take some make-up folks…um, those are people who don’t have a full party but will go along with others in the same, well, the same boat.”
They all laughed.
He continued, “But then Jo made the invite. She gave me the heads-up, and here you are. I am glad it worked out. Andrew, I hear this is a bucket list trip for you. Don’t hesitate to ask me questions and…” he said glancing around at everyone, “Jo and Mike can answer a fair amount too. And if we see jellies, Jo will go nuts.”
He looked over at Jo, and she nodded in full agreement. “I will,” she promised.
Dare began to assist them one by one onto the boat. Jo and Mike hopped on unassisted. Jenni noted that while Mike wasbecoming more experienced with how to help Dare, he deferred to him, asking him questions and following instructions.
“Do you mate often?” Jenni asked.
“Dare’s normal first mate wanted to spend the day with his family, so I volunteered,” Mike said. “I certainly don’t know everything, but Dare is great at telling me what to do.”
“I sure am,” Dare grinned, then turned to the group. “One more thing, I don’t normally fish offshore. Inshore is my thing. But with today being what we call ‘slick cam,’ it won’t be an issue. Hardly any wind, not much in the way of waves. The only thing is, it’s going to be really hot out there, so I’ve made sure we have lots of water. Hope y’all brought hats.”
They all nodded, but Jenni was still thinking about what Dare had just said. “Don’t you mean calm?” she asked.
Dare smiled. “Nope, down here it’s slick cam. Use that phrase, and you’ll almost be mistaken for a native. Now, have a seat, it’s about an hour and a half to the Gulf Stream. Just relax, enjoy the early morning cool, and we’re off.”
He scampered up the tower with Jo right behind him. Caitlin and Andrew were seated on one side, so Jenni decided she’d sit on the other while Mike was busy preparing rigs and checking on bait.
Every boat was obviously on the same time schedule, so they all made their way out of the harbor and into the sound in a convoy of sorts.
“Do we all just go in a big line?” she asked Mike.
“More or less until we get out of the inlet,” Mike answered. “There is so much shoaling that the channels are ridiculously narrow. Some of the boats can cut across, but you have to know what you’re doing and be a relatively small boat. You’ll see the ferries using the channel as well. It will take us nearly as long to get out into the ocean as it will to get to the famous Gulf Stream current.”
Jenni sat back and let the wind from the movement of the boat rush through her hair. She grabbed a ponytail band she’d placed on her wrist and pulled her hair up. She knew it wasn’t done perfectly but she also knew that when you fished, you didn’t get points for your fashion sense. Some boats were able to pass by them as they headed out, folks waving or shouting as they zoomed by.
She swore she saw Caleb on board another boat, but she also knew she had an overactive imagination.
Her heart raced.
She realized to her dismay that the more she tried to forget about him, the more she thought about him.
If he really was here, would she see him? She shook her head as if to shake away the thoughts, but it didn’t work.
She knew she longed to see him, even if it was from a distance.
As they made their way through the inlet, she found herself deep in thought, observing the two couples on her boat. When she craned her neck and looked up, she could see Jo and Dare sitting side by side on the tower, their blue-green polarized sunglasses glinting in the rising sun.
They seemed to be talking non-stop with Dare pointing to other boats or chatting on the radio, and Jo gesturing, obviously adding her thoughts. Jenni couldn’t hear anything clearly, but she could sense they were very comfortable with each other.
She remembered that she had heard somewhere, maybe it was back in April, that the two had grown up together in the summers when Jo visited her grandmother, and then later worked at her motel. But she’d also heard they weren’t really a couple.
Who’s fooling who on that one?she thought.They seem like a couple to me.
Chapter Nineteen
The slight rocking of the boat was very soothing, and Caitlin and Andrew looked like they were asleep, her head on his shoulder.
Jenni knew their story far better. When Caitlin met Andrew in Charleston, it was the old love at first sight thing, but they dated for several years before they moved in together. Caitlin admitted that there were things about Andrew she would never have known had they not spent so much time together, and the same held true for him.
According to her, learning those things in advance helped them shape their relationship and work through some rough patches.
With Compy, Jenni wasn’t sure if it was love or just infatuation. He was everything she’d dreamed of, or so she thought, and marrying immediately after graduation, she really didn’t know what made him tick.
