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Once again, she could have sworn she saw Caleb in a boat passing them by.
She was seriously starting to question her sanity.
It looked like just guys in the boat, and Jenni felt an uncontrollable sense of relief.
What if it had been Caleb and there had been a woman on his arms?
This constant Caleb obsession was beginning to worry her.
"What is it?" asked Caitlin. “You look funny.”
“Oh, it’s nothing,” swallowed Jenni. “Nothing at all.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Not for the first time on Hatteras Island, Jenni found herself waking up with the dawn just beginning to spread its pink and lavender light over the horizon. She grabbed a robe and stumbled into the kitchen where Caitlin shushed her and handed her a cup of coffee.
“Don’t want to wake up the others,” she whispered. “We can get another coffee down at the ferry dock. How long will it take you to get ready?”
“Not long at all,” said Jenni very quietly as she enjoyed her first sip. “This stuff is my elixir.”
Then realizing Caitlin wanted more of an answer, she added, “I showered last night, so I’ll just get changed, and we’ll be ready to go.”
“Sounds good. I’ll just meet you outside in about fifteen,” Caitlin said.
“Let’s take my car,” suggested Jenni. “It’s a bit smaller, and that way, we won’t take up as much room on the ferry. I don’t think we’ll have many issues going over, but we sure want to get back without any problems.”
“Good idea,” Caitlin nodded, setting her cup in the sink. “See you in a few.”
Jenni added her cup to the pile of cups and wine glasses from the previous night and headed quickly to her room. They all had enjoyed sharing their experiences on the SeaAnna II yesterday evening, and Scott and Barb seemed intensely happy that they had had such a great day.
“That was a truly special experience,” Barb had said to Andrew, Caitlin, and Jenni. “Dare is already considered to be one of the finest young boat captains in the Hatteras fleet. I don’t think he would have many vacancies on his boat for this summer, so your timing was lucky for sure.”
Scott readily agreed. “I have to admit I’m a bit jealous, Andrew. Catching a tuna is a bucket list item for me as well.”
Andrew had suggested the two of them try to make up a charter sometime, and Scott practically pounded his soon-to-be son-in-law on the back. “That’s a great idea.” He laughed. “I like how you think.”
The rest of the evening had passed by pleasantly and quickly, and Jenni almost felt herself relaxing except that, every once in a while, she’d have a fleeting thought of Caleb.
She thought she saw Caitlin look at her as if she knew what was in Jenni’s mind, so Jenni made sure to always jump into the conversation quickly and either add something or change the subject. She did not want there to be a lull where Caitlin would ask her questions she didn’t want to answer.
The truth was, she was often asking herself questions for which she didn’t have an answer.
She checked the time as she walked out to her car. It was just after 5:30. They’d have plenty of time to get to the dock and grab that coffee before boarding. She hoped Caitlin was right about the holiday being a slow day, at least at this ungodly hour. Sure enough, as they pulled into the line, there were only a handful of cars ahead of them. That was the good news. The bad news was that the little snack and coffee shack didn’t open until 6.
“I’m sorry,” Caitlin said. “But I promise you when we get to Ocracoke Village things will be open. We’ll have coffee and a good breakfast.”
Boarding commenced almost as soon as they had taken their place in line, and before Jenni knew it, they were moving away from the docks. For the second time in two days, Jenni was back in the channel heading across Hatteras Inlet, only today she was seeing it from the ferry’s perspective. She could see charter boats ahead and behind in the line, and marveled at the endurance of the captains and their mates who did this work day in and day out all summer long with few if any breaks unless there was really bad weather.
She and Caitlin had gotten out of the car and were standing by the railing, watching the sun as it climbed in the sky, trying to catch a bit of breeze as they moved along.
“I remember as a kid you could get across the inlet in about 45 minutes,” said Caitlin. “Now it’s over an hour. But people love to visit Ocracoke. The number of day trippers is really crazy when you consider the population of the village.”
Jenni thought back to the few trips she and her family had made in her childhood. She didn’t remember much except that she was sure she had seen ponies there.
“Hey,” she suddenly blurted out to Caitlin. “Are there still ponies on Ocracoke?”
Caitlin laughed as she shielded her eyes from the sun, which, even with sunglasses, was intensely bright as it rose. “Yep. They’ve got a nice parking area there, and usually, you can walk up on the viewing platform to see them. We can do that if you want to before we drive on into the village.”
