Page 129 of Sharkbait
“Oh stop.” She smacks me playfully on the shoulder, then takes my elbow when I offer it.
We walk past the gates, arm in arm, pick up our seating card and make our way down the lit path toward the gazebos set up for the event.
“Thanks for coming with me tonight,” she says.
“Are you kidding me? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“People will bid on the paintings, right?”
“Of course they will. Your work is phenomenal and Meilani’s is…” I search for my words. “Well, I don’t think I can classify a sea lion’s painting skills as phenomenal, but she really did some… cool splatters.”
Louise laughs. “She did, didn’t she?”
“You and Meilani make a good team.”
She nods, but her smile fades.
“They’re sending her back to California. Did I tell you that?”
“No. Why?”
“It’s a good thing. A great thing, actually. She’s not in the running to re-release into the ocean, but there’s this great team out in Monterey creating prosthetic limbs for marine life and they think Meilani’s a good candidate for a new flipper. They sent outa prototype last week for her trainers to try with her. You should have seen her light up when she wore it. It was… it was beautiful.” She takes a deep breath, then lets it out. “So they’re going to send her to The Center for Marine Mammals after Thanksgiving to work with that team. Build her strength up even more. Give her the best life possible.”
“I imagine there are some mixed emotions about that.”
“Yeah. There are.” She wipes a tear from the corner of her eye before it can drop. “I mean, they’ll send me videos, and I can visit, but…”
“It won’t be the same,” I finish the sentiment for her.
“Yeah. It won’t be the same.”
Without realizing it, we’ve stopped in the middle of the path, surrounded by trees strung with twinkle lights. We’re looking into each other’s eyes and feel like neither of us is talking about Meilani anymore.
I place my hand on her cheek.
“Lou,” I start. “You know, people make things like this work. The distance will be an issue, but we can find a way to—”
“I’m not ready to sit down yet.” She cuts me off. “Want to peruse the auction with me?”
“Um, yeah. Sure.”
She links arms with me again and steers me toward Raptor Ridge where the items for auction are displayed.
Okay. I clearly didn’t pick the right time to have that discussion.
We walk in silence while taking in everything the auction has to offer.
“My station is right over… there.” Her voice trails off like she’s seen a ghost.
“You okay Cold Brew? What’s going on?”
Her eyes are fixed on someone standing in front of her largest painting of Meilani. It’s one of her best. Painted in what I’ve come to recognize as her signature style, it uses bright blues and yellows and greens and can be enjoyed from a distance, but when you get closer, you see the hundreds of tiny squares that make it a masterpiece.
She has a true gift for this.
“Humans are six times more likely to be killed by this domestic animal than a shark.”
Her voice sounds hollow when she says it, her eyes still glued to the man’s back at the canvas.
