Page 31 of The Art of Loving Lacy
“Your brother wants to jump in and get a good feel for this monster’s girth,” Rob said.
“You wanna jump in?” Hugh asked.
Dane looked past his adrenaline and really studied Rob’s face. “Man, you don’t look too good.”
Rob finished tagging the shark and wiped his eyes. “Go, will you?” he snapped.
“You look sick. Let’s skip this one,” Dane said.
“I’m fine,” Rob said. “You going to do this or what? We got about seven minutes. Tops.” They always kept their tagging and tests to less than fifteen minutes for the safety of the shark. “Enough of this. Get your butt in there. I’m fine. I told you—I was tired, but I’m fine now,” Rob said.
“Tired doesn’t equate to safe,” Dane said.
Rob scoffed, stripped his shirt off, and jumped off the boat a foot from the shark’s tail.
“For the love of… Hold that sucker tight, Hugh. Tim, gimme the tailer.”Idiot Rob. What the heck are you doing?Dane’s heart slammed against his chest as he searched the water for his friend while gripping the tailer with all his might. He knew Rob would swim under the shark and use his arms to estimate the shark’s girth, but the water was too murky to see him.
Rob popped up beside the shark. “Got it.” He had a grin on his face as he swam to the side of the boat. Just as he started to climb into the boat, the shark flailed, and Rob lost his balance and sank back into the water.
“Crap. Tim, get him in the boat!” Dane hollered.
Rob swam over, and Tim helped him into the boat. Dane began the process of freeing the shark from the line and the tailer.
“What was that? Rule number one: Never doanythingunanticipated. What the hell, Rob? What was that crap?” Dane yelled.
Rob sat with his elbows on his knees, wiping the water from a cocky grin. “A girth of about five feet.”
“You son of a…” Dane said.
THEY PULLED INTO the slip around four in the afternoon and docked the boat. While Dane was pleased that they’d tagged a shark, he was livid. He watched Rob step off the boat and run the crook of his elbow down his face. For the first time in ten years, his faith in Rob faltered.
“What was that crap you pulled out there?” Dane asked.
“Hey, you know what? You only go around once, and living safe did me no good.” Rob shrugged. “I needed a little adventure.” He slapped Dane on the back. “We had a good run.”
“A good run, my butt. You’re worrying me, Rob. Wanna go grab a bite and talk for a bit?” Dane asked.
“Nah. I’m tired. I’m hitting the shower, then calling it a night,” Rob said, waving to Tim.
Rob’s trouble with Sheila and his behavior on the boat weighed heavily on Dane’s mind. He needed to get to the bottom of whatever was going on. He didn’t think Rob was drinking again, but he also had never seen Rob do anything that could jeopardize a mission—and today he was just plain careless.
Dane grabbed Rob’s arm as he walked past. “Listen, I know you’re having trouble with Sheila, but you can’t pull that crap. You sure you don’t want to talk about this?”
“I’m fine,” Rob said through gritted teeth. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Dane watched Rob walk away. There was no way he’d take Rob out on the boat tomorrow after what he pulled today. He’d give him time to cool off and talk to him about Sheila and deal with the rest of his mess later.
“I gotta get showered and up to the airport in P-town,” Hugh said. “Smitty’s opening Treat’s cottage for me to get cleaned up before I leave town. I’m flying into Boston, then to Cali. I had a great time today. Thanks for letting me tag along.” He slung an arm over Dane’s shoulder.
“I’m glad you came. What’s up with the shark research?” Dane asked. He was distracted by Rob’s behavior, and now that he was on dry land again, thoughts of Lacy stole his concentration, but he was curious about his brother’s recent metamorphosis.
Hugh shrugged. “Just learning about all the crap my impressive older brothers do. I’ve been reading up on acquisitions, too. Treat got some big deals under his belt. What’s up with you staying on Treat’s boat tonight?”
“It feels more like home,” Dane said. He withdrew his phone from his pocket and checked his messages. His gut clenched and he shoved the phone back in his pocket.
“No message from Lacy?”
“Nope.”
