Page 2 of Second Tide's the Charm
Doubtful, but I double down. “Maybe she lives in one of the beachfront mansions and is on the lookout for a worthy environmental cause to support.” The multimillion-dollar homes that line the bluff bring an influx of residents to our tourist town every summer, and their spending cash keeps the town afloat.
“Or maybe she’s not going to wait till she gets home.” Zuri gestures toward the crowded beach parking lot, where the woman in question is handing over her credit card to placate her son with a shaved ice from the food truck. “Maybe she’s going to find a shady spot, fire up her cell phone, and leave me yet another scathing review.”
Darn. That is the more plausible scenario.
“I could go say sorry.”
“Oh my gosh no.” She grabs my arm before I can head toward the sandy boardwalk, her palm clammy against my sun-warmed skin. “Do not chase that woman down. That’s a guaranteed one-star. Maybe even a complaint to the Better Business Bureau.” A shudder goes through her, then she lets go and looks me in the face.
Uh-oh. I know that look.
“Hope, I love you.”
“Back at you.” I bare my teeth in my most charming smile.
Her lips flatten into a line, the same exasperated expression I often receive from friends and family. “I love you, but that would be the third one-star rating I’ve had since I hired you.”
“Technically, the first one came when I was still training, so...”
“Hope.” She repeats my name with the warning tone of a mom threatening to turn the car around. “You’re fired.”
I’ve never been fired before, and it’s a unique sensation. Like bungee jumping at a discounted rate. A thrill mixed with a reasonable amount of panic. Freeing, but also mildly horrifying.
“Fired, fired?” My voice sounds stunned, even to my own ears. The fact that I didn’t want this job in the first place doesn’t mean I want it snatched out from under me. Shepherding tourists on paddleboards and kayaks isn’t where I saw myself at thirty, but helping out Zuri has given me an excuse to put off coming to grips with the embarrassing truth that I’ve let heartbreak derail my career. “Or more of a temporary suspension?”
“You really think I can pay you to sit the bench?”
“Fair point.” Surf to Shore is not exactly a corporation. “But I promise I can do better. Especially if you stop making me wear these shirts.” I pluck the fabric away from my chest, damp in the muggy June heat. “They’re an open invitation to—”
“Deliver unsolicited lectures about sharks?”
My mouth drops open, then I shrug. “I mean, yes.”
“Everything is an open invitation for you to educate people about sharks.” She sighs. “Which isn’t a bad thing, necessarily. That’s why I’m kicking you out of the nest.”
I squint against the sun reflecting off the brilliant turquoise of the lake behind her, my sunglasses forgotten in my beach bag as usual. “Are you the mama bird in this scenario?”
“When am I not?” she asks, and I chuckle, thinking of how she rounded up the employees this morning and checked to make sure everyone had a water bottle and snacks. Her smile fades, though. “I honestly don’t know what I would’ve done without your help after Eric’s accident.” She sniffs, but her eyes are dry, holding my gaze. “But I’ve found my way. And I refuse to be your excuse to keep hiding.”
I’m used to being called impulsive and single-minded, but I am not timid. I’m not hiding from anything. Except my old colleagues, career, and a certain shark researcher with midnight-dark eyes and a lopsided grin who broke my heart by letting go.
“I’ve only been here for a month.” My previous job, working on an invasive species study in northern Michigan, wrapped up in the spring. Knowing the project was coming to an end, I should’ve had something lined up, but returning to shark research also means facing my ex-boyfriend. The possibility of running into him has kept me stalled, procrastinating my job hunt as if delaying the inevitable will make a difference.
“Long enough to make it clear to everyone, including mycustomers—” I flinch at the emphasis “—that you don’t want to be here.”
Shoreline Dunes is one of my favorite places. But while the lack of sharks in the Great Lakes is a huge draw for some people, for me, it’s a drawback. I can’t reboot my career if I refuse to leave the safety net of my hometown.
“It’s embarrassing, how much time I let pass.” The words scrape their way past a throat gone dry. I drop my head, catching sight of the turquoise nail polish on my toes, chipped from navigating the rocks at the water’s edge.
What began as a few months away to help Zuri care for her young children after the sudden loss of her husband somehow turned into three years. Somewhere along the way, shark research became entangled with my feelings for Adrian, and if I can’t manage to separate the two, I’ll remain stranded.
A moment later, an arm comes around my shoulders. Zuri, pulling me in for a hug. “Life happens. But we keep going, right?” Her words are born of experience, picking up the pieces after unimaginable loss, and my heart lurches for her.
The truth is, I have no qualms about defending my employment history. My work in the lab gave me worthwhile experience. But applying for jobs or going back for a PhD means coming to grips with the fact that not only am I starting over but that my worst fears about love were absolutely founded.
“I was thinking of applying to the Shedd,” I tell her, and she pulls away, frowning.
“You’d work at an aquarium in Chicago? With tourists?” Her skepticism tells me she’s fully aware of how I view tourists. One star. Would not recommend.
