Page 79 of Surprised By Her

Ryan and I got on the boat and I looked around, only seeing other employees and polo shirts aboard.

“Are we early?” I asked.

“It’s a private tour,” Ryan said, squeezing my hand. “That way you can see the whales and not have to deal with any puking children.”

“Seriously?” I asked.

“It’s just you and me,” she said, gesturing to the boat. It could easily fit fifty or more people aboard, but it was just us and the crew, who were bustling about and getting everything ready.

Ryan smiled at me and I threw myself into her arms. She laughed and spun me around before setting me back on my feet.

“I knew you’d like that,” she said.

“I love it,” I said. “I absolutely love it.”

We got our ponchos, and Jen stood right next to us to give her talk as the boat cut through the ocean waves and the sun beamed down on us.

The motion sickness medication was doing its job and Ryan’s arms were around me the whole time. All that was missing were whales.

As soon as I had the thought, I saw something to my right that looked like something. Moments later a tail flipped out of the water and then slid below the waves.

“If we’re lucky, she might surface again. Based on the markings on her tail, that was Mrs. Bubbles. She got that name from a contest we had with the local schools,” Jen said as Ryan and I laughed at the silly name.

I made sure I had my phone ready to video so I’d have some record that I’d seen a whale in person.

“There she is,” Jen said as the whale broke the surface again, this time spinning vertically, her flippers flying as if she was dancing. The resulting splash was loud, and my mind couldn’t comprehend her size. It was a relief we weren’t closer.

“Wow,” I said as the waves started tossing the boat. Ryan held onto me, keeping me steady.

“Incredible,” she said in my ear.

“Some days we come out and we don’t have any sightings, which can be a huge disappointment, but you hit the jackpot today,” Jen told us after we’d seen two more whales (Takeshi and Nico).

“We’ll take you over to where the seals hang out and then we’ll turn around and head back,” she said. “Do you have any questions?”

I shook my head. Jen was remarkably knowledgeable about whales, and kept her energy up the whole time, even though she must give this same speech every single day.

“Awesome, I’m just going to check on a few things and I’ll be right back.” She bounced off and Ryan pulled me closer.

“How much coffee do you think she drinks?” Ryan asked, and I turned in her arms so I could look at her.

“Way too much,” I said. “But she’s nice.”

“She is,” Ryan said. “Not as nice as you.”

“But she does know more about whales,” I said.

“I think I can live without the whale facts if I get to have you,” Ryan said, kissing me. The boat made a huge dip and if Ryan hadn’t been holding onto me, I would have definitely been on the floor of the boat.

“I’ve got you,” she said, pressing her forehead to mine. “I’ve got you, cupcake.”

“Thanks,” I said. “This has been amazing.”

“Are you hungry?” she asked.

“If they have food,” I said. “It’s probably only chips or granola bars or something.”

Ryan grinned. “I think we can do better than that.”

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