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She could see other anglers bringing fish on board their boats as well, so clearly it was starting out to be a good day.
“Nice one, Andrew.” Mike patted him on the back. “I wouldn’t have known exactly how to gaff that fish, so I’m glad Dare came down. If I’d lost it for you…well, I guess it would be a long swim home.”
They all laughed as Caitlin took the requisite photos for social media. Andrew beamed.
“Who wants to be next?” Mike asked, and Caitlin stepped up.
Chapter Twenty
The school of tuna had come and gone, and there were no more tuna caught that day. They did see some amazing jellyfish float by, and Jo happily pointed out the various species and their interesting stories, she being the resident expert on jellies.
They shared lunch and caught a few smaller fish and listened to the chatter from the other boats as the sun passed high overhead.
Jenni learned about the currents, the shipping lanes, and stories of storms and shipwrecks. It felt like they had been on the water just a few hours, so Jenni was shocked when Dare announced that they’d be headed back.
The day had truly flown by.
Jo came down and asked Mike if he’d like to be on the tower with Dare. She sat down next to Jenni and asked how she’d enjoyed the day.
“This was incredible,” gasped Jenni. “I feel like I have learned so much. And I did catch one small mackerel, which was fun. I have an uncle who will love hearing about all of this. I can’t thank you enough, it was so generous of you to offer. I mean, we’re practically strangers. At least, I am.”
“Consider it an alumni reunion.” Jo laughed. “And having y’all on board made it a lot of fun. I rarely get to go out with Dare, so this time together is special for us. When we were kids, we had all the time in the world. It’s different now for sure,” she added wistfully.
They sat in silence for a few minutes, Jenni noting that one by one the boats were all more or less in a line again heading back into the inlet.
“Um, Jo, can I ask you a question, a kind of personal one?” Jenni asked.
Jo cocked her head to one side and said carefully, “Sure. Have at it.”
“Do you trust Dare?” Jenni blurted out.
Jo looked shocked for a moment and then regained her composure. “Well, of all the things I thought you might ask, that wasn’t on my list. But to answer your question, I guess I have never really thought about it, but yes, I do. I trust him completely. I have never had a reason to feel otherwise. May I ask why you wanted to know?”
Jenni pointed up toward Mike. “Your dad and I had an interesting conversation this morning…”
“I hope not about me,” Jo’s eyes widened.
“No, no,” Jenni reassured her. “It was about me. I guess I have huge trust issues because someone I cared deeply about, my ex-husband actually, violated that trust. I’m finding it really hard to move past that.”
Jo nodded slowly. “I can see why that could happen. We allow ourselves to be so vulnerable when we trust so completely. Thankfully, that’s never been an issue for me and Dare. But then, we’re just old buddies, anyway.”
Jenni looked to see if Jo was joking, but she saw that the younger woman was very serious. Jenni said nothing but thought,She has no idea how in love they really are.
Not wanting her silence to be misinterpreted, Jenni quickly said, “Thanks for that,” and changing the subject, pointed to the Hatteras fleet now returning from a long day on the water.
“It’s something to see, isn’t it?” Jo said. “Especially on the Fourth of July holiday with all the flags and whatnot. What will y’all be doing tomorrow?”
Jenni looked over at Caitlin who had picked up on the tail end of the conversation.
“Well…” she stretched out that one word, looking carefully at Jenni. “Andrew has some other friends who happen to be here on the island, so he’s visiting with them for the first part of the day. So… I thought we could take an early ferry to Ocracoke, just hang around a little bit, maybe catch lunch and head back. We’d be in Frisco way before the fireworks. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”
“Um,” said Jenni. “I swear. What is it about you and early mornings? But I haven’t been to Ocracoke in forever, I mean, since I was a kid. But won’t there be a huge ferry line?”
“Not if we go super early,” said Caitlin who clearly had this all planned. “And most people who want to be there are already there. Plus, it’s a holiday, so no big delivery trucks to contend with.”
Jo looked at Jenni and started to laugh. “I’d say that’s a done deal.”
Jenni and Caitlin laughed as well. They were almost back to the docks now, and traffic was moving much more slowly. Jenni started to add something about Caitlin happily running her life when she caught her breath.
