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They docked and helped everyone off the boat. Speed and Dune cleaned up and took the equipment back to the shack, where Ana was.
“Did Caroline ever make it in?” Dune asked her after she finished helping a customer.
“Nope, haven’t seen her. I thought she was with you?”
“No, she never showed up.”
“Odd. Want me to call her?”
Dune shook his head. “I’ll do it in a minute.” He went down the ramp and headed toward his boat. His next tour was already on board and ready to go, thanks to Randy. Dune boarded and handed Randy the headset and told him he can guide the tour. The look on Randy’s face was pure elation. The young man had worked very hard since he started working for Blue Lobster Adventures and earned his shot.
As they left port, Randy began the spiel about Seaport and its history. The tour they were on was like one of those bus tours in destination cities, where people could hop on or hop off. Only Dune didn’t let anyone off.
Dune pulled up along the cruise ship that had anchored just outside of the bay. People ooh’d and ahh’d when they realized how big the ship was. In Dune’s boat, they were tiny compared to the massive vessel.
When this tour was over, Dune and Randy did one more before they called it a night. Tomorrow, they would have a nighttime cocktail cruise, which Caroline said she would work, but Dune wasn’t so sure he could count on her right now.
The last guest disembarked, leaving the crew to clean the boats. They worked as a team, making sure everything was ready for the next day. Dune went to the shack to lock up. Ana was still there, waiting for him.
“She ever show?”
She shook her head slowly. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” he said. He tried to mask his frustration, but the expression on Ana’s face told him he hadn’t done a very good job. “Are we going to Diego’s?”
“Yeah, of course. Meet you there?”
“Yep, I’ll be there.” Dune locked up and then headed toward Caroline’s. He tried not to worry, but every bad thought went through his mind. What if something happened to her? What if she was hurt? Needed help? How would he ever know?
When the crowds thinned, Dune jogged toward her cottage. He was fit, but hated running and his legs let him know they weren’t happy with him also. His labored breathing probably wasn’t a good thing either, and when he arrived at Caroline’s, he bent over to catch his breath. “I need to go to the gym more.”
Dune climbed the stairs and knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again and then went to the window to look in. The faint blue color of the television glowed. It wasn’t on when they left that morning, so either she was inside and ignoring him or she had come home and left it on.
“Caroline!” He pounded on the door. For the life of him, he couldn’t think of why she would ignore him. Everything was fine when he left her at the diner this morning. What could’ve changed from the time he left to the time she was supposed to show up at work?
He ran around back and tried the door, locked. “Fuck. God dammit, Caroline.” Still nothing.
Dune had three choices. Give up. Sit his ass on her steps and wait for her to return. Or go back to town to look for her. He opted for the last one and headed back toward town and right to the Sea Shanty to see if she was in there.
“Dune! Oh my, I haven’t seen you all summer.” A cute brunette wrapped her arms around his waist. He grabbed her hands from behind his back and removed them. He couldn’t recall her name, but she knew his, which wasn’t uncommon. “Do you remember me?”
“Of course,” he lied. “How have you been?”
“Better now that I found you.”
Where had he been? It wasn’t like he hid from anyone. If she looked, she would’ve seen him.
“It’s good to see you.”
“Wanna hang out tonight?” she asked, waggling her eyebrows at her.
“Not tonight. I’m looking for someone.”
Her face fell. “Oh.”
Dune didn’t stay to explain himself. He meandered around the bar, looking for Caroline, the only one he wanted to see. He was doing everything he told himself he would never do—chase a woman. Dune liked Caroline. Hello, he probably loved her. Not that he knew what being in love felt like.
Caroline wasn’t in the Sea Shanty. She wasn’t at Cobblestone’s. Not at the park, either. Dune looked for an hour before he gave up and went to Diego’s. He found his friends at their normal table and sank into the chair. Without even asking, the waitress brought his favorite beer over. He took a long drink and ignored the people staring at him.
