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“You’re off,” Speed said.
Dune shook his head. “I have a bad feeling about Caroline. I can’t explain it.”
“Try,” Speed said.
After a lot of huffing, Dune finally said, “Something doesn’t feel right. I took her to breakfast this morning and everything seemed fine. We talked about her being a guide for this tour and she said she’d be at the dock after another cup of coffee. Yet, she didn’t show and didn’t call either. It’s unlike her.”
“Did you guys have a fight?”
“No,” he said, shaking his head. “That’s just it. Everything is wonderful, maybe too good. I don’t know.”
“When does she leave?” Speed asked.
“At the end of August.”
“Maybe she’s ready to leave now.”
Dune shrugged. “Then say something. It’s not like I’m going to beg her to stay. She has a life away from here. I know this.”
“You like her a lot, don’t you?”
He nodded. “Yeah. It’s unexpected. But I do. It’s going to be hard to say goodbye.”
“Until the next tourist comes to town.”
Dune laughed Speed’s comment off. Caroline was his longest relationship and he sort of enjoyed going home to her every night. He’d miss her when she left, and he honestly didn’t see himself returning to his playboy ways. That lifestyle no longer interested him.
“I’m sorry, man,” Speed said. “I have no advice to offer. Like you, I normally don’t do relationships. They’re troublesome and I like to have fun in the summer. So do you, normally.”
“I know,” Dune said. “You know, she was a challenge when I first saw her. Way out of my league. There was just something about her, though. She looked so lost and not in the needing directions type of lost. I’m going to miss her.”
“Has she asked you to come to New York to see her?”
“Nope,” Dune said. His lips flattened. He had expected her to ask. She hadn’t, and if he was being honest with himself, the fact that she hadn’t hurt his feelings. It made him question how she truly felt about him. If he was her summer fling, so be it. All she had to do was tell him they were fuck buddies, and he’d shut his feelings off.
Dune looked out over the water and counted the people. He wrote the time and number down on his clipboard and recounted the people on his list. All were accounted for. He’d never lost anyone on any of his snorkeling tours and didn’t plan to today, despite being sidetracked. A distracted captain was the worst thing for everyone.
Speed dove into the water and swam for a bit before getting back on board. “Shit, that felt good.”
“You’re crazy.”
“Nah, what’s crazy is those people going into the water after that man asked about sharks. Like, why ask that?”
Dune smirked. “I thought for sure the tour was going to get canceled. Nice way to freak people out.”
“Your answer was appropriate, though. At least you were honest.”
“Yeah.” With that, Dune picked up his binoculars and scanned the horizon. Over the past couple of years, more and more shark sightings happened in Cape Cod, mostly in the Chatham area because of the high population of seals. There were signs all over the beach, telling people to stay out of the water. Yet, most risked it just to cool off.
“See anything?”
Dune shook his head slowly and continued to scan the water. He looked for a dorsal fin cutting through the water. When he didn’t see anything, he checked the rocky cliffs for any seals. He spotted a few who seemed to chill, showing no fear. Finally, he looked at the water near him, checking for any dark shapes moving in the water. He saw nothing.
“That man has you on edge now, doesn’t he?”
“Yeah, and I don’t like it. Global warming is really messing with things,” he said. “The warmer water is attracting them more frequently. Soon we’ll be living in the world of a real-life Jaws and there won’t be anything we can do about it.”
“I don’t think it’ll get that bad,” Speed said. He then looked over the edge before taking the binoculars from Dune.
After a bit, Dune blew his horn, signaling it was time for the group to return to the boat. One by one, Dune and Speed helped everyone get on board. Dune took roll call and verified that everyone was on board before he pulled the anchor and turned the boat toward Seaport. He’d cut speed this time, in no rush to get back to port.
On their way back, the guests talked about everything they saw. They delighted Dune with their stories. He was proud of his company and the entertainment they offered to people.
When they arrived back in Seaport, Speed once again pointed out landmarks. He didn’t revisit the story of Redbeard, despite the Jaws-seeking customer asking where he could find the hidden treasure. “It’s hidden.” That’s what Wilson told him.
