Page 17 of Mail Order Splash

The Coast Guard boat was back quickly. “She says thanks, but they got it loose. Plus, it was strong enough to swim off.”

“Can we approach now, then?”

“Give her a few minutes to reload her gear, then I can’t stop you.”

“Hey, how does she find out about these rescues? I called the Coast Guard to ask but they said they don’t do that.”

“We’re old friends, so I call her.” He relaxed his stance. “What are you doing all the way out here on jet skis?”

“Looking for her. I had a great time helping the other day and wanted to help again. I didn’t get her name, though.”

“I can’t give it to you, that’s for her to decide.” He backed his boat away. “You boys behave yourself.”

“Why would he say that? We don’t have a pirate flag waving or anything. Why assume we’re up to no good?” Eli complained. “See? Try to do a good deed and you get pushback.”

“Doesn’t mean anything, he might be protecting a friend. I can respect that.” I turned my jet ski back on. “Should we go over there?”

“Other than her interrupting our romantic day, I would say yes, we should.”

We got close enough to speak then cut our engines. She looked our way once with a nod but kept to her work. The guy from the other day nodded in our direction as well but neither waved us in closer.

“I’m not so sure they want us here, Dalt. We should go. That was not a welcome nod.”

“No way. We came all the way out here for this.” I waved when I saw her look our way again. “Hi. I see you don’t need help, but I was curious about Netty.”

“Netty is doing better. Thanks for asking.” She pushed her mask to her forehead. “What are you doing out here again?”

“Truthfully, I came out on purpose to see if there was another rescue. I liked helping.”

“Well, we will never turn down rescue help but today wasn’t as bad.”

“Will you be releasing Netty when she gets better?”

“Once she’s strong enough and if her pod is still here then, yes, of course.”

“What’s a pod?”

“Basically, her family.” She climbed onto the back of her boat. “I believe she’s from this same pod.”

“There’s a pod here right now?” I looked around.

“Yes, they’ve been circling for the last hour and assisting in the rescue.” She pointed to fins coming up out of the water at a distance.

“That is so cool, I had no idea.” I smiled. “Is it possible to see Netty?”

“I don’t bring people to the facility and she needs rest. She has pneumonia.”

“Can I give you my number? Maybe I can come help with another rescue sometime.”

“Probably not a great idea, I can’t have amateurs out here. I can’t be responsible for your safety.”

“You let me help the other day.” I questioned her response.

“I did, and we got lucky. Besides, you just appeared and started helping. If I called you, it would be different.”

“So, what you’re saying is I have to be out on the water every day.”

“Something like that. Sorry, I don’t mean to seem ungrateful, but I can’t get sued.”

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