CHAPTER TWENTY
A week later Carson hurried to the Medley coffee shop on Sullivan’s Island. She’d waited by the phone and Blake had finally called her after he’d returned from Florida. There was a definite shift in his attitude toward her since the accident with Delphine. On the phone he’d sounded formal, even impatient, when she had asked him to meet her.
She stepped inside the coffee shop to see Blake already standing at the counter. He was dressed in the usual khaki shorts, brown T-shirt, and sandals. He looked more scruffy than usual. His dark hair was longer and he’d started one of those trimmed beard/moustache looks that she found very cool for the non-fashion-forward man. Knowing Blake, he was probably just tired of shaving. Seeing him again, it was disturbing to feel the punch of attraction and to realize she liked him more than she wished she did. He was staring up at the large chalkboard on the wall with the day’s offerings written in white chalk.
“Hey,” she said, drawing near.
Blake looked over his shoulder at her greeting. His immediate reaction was to smile, his dark eyes lighting up. Then it appeared as if he’d suddenly remembered he should be angry and his smile fell.
“Hello,” he said in a cool voice. “Nice to see you again.”
So they were back to being strangers, she thought with a twinge of regret.
“Thanks for meeting me.”
“No problem,” he said in an offhand manner. “It’s part of my job.”
She sucked in her breath. “Do you have to be so nasty?”
“I didn’t think I was being nasty.”
“Never mind,” she said in a huff, turning to go. “I can see this wasn’t a good idea.”
“Wait,” he said quickly.
She turned back, glaring at him with a hurt expression.
“Okay, I’m still angry.”
“And I’m still devastated,” Carson replied, her voice shaky.
Blake’s brow furrowed in reflection. He asked in a conciliatory tone, “Want a coffee?”
Carson regrouped and glanced briefly at the menu written in chalk on the immense blackboard. “Latte, please.”
Blake turned to give the order. Carson pressed her hand against her stomach while she steadied her breath, regaining composure.
Cups in hand, they glanced around the small room. There weren’t many people in the coffee shop at this midmorning hour on a beautiful beach day. They claimed a small café table by the window.
“Blake,” she began. She dreaded going into this discussion, but knew it couldn’t be avoided. Better to dive right in than to endure painful chitchat. “I asked to talk to you today, because I wanted—needed—to tell you personally how badly I feel about what happened to Delphine.”
She glanced up at him and saw him sitting with his hands around his mug, looking at it.
“I couldn’t breathe until you’d called and told me that Delphine was going to be all right. If she’d died, I don’t know what I’d have done. I feel like I’ve been given a second chance,” she continued. “Yes, it was Nate’s fault to leave the fishing lines out. But the bigger fault was mine for luring Delphine to the dock in the first place. I know that now. I wanted her there for my pleasure. And for whatever reason—believe it or not—she wanted to be there, too. Still, that’s no excuse. I know now that she came where she wasn’t supposed to be.”
“And the dolphin got hurt.”
“Right,” she replied. “I’m so sorry.”
“I understand this kind of thing happens,” he said. “What I don’t understand, is how it happened with you. I thought you understood. I thought you were on my side.”
“I am.”
“Are you? Then how, despite all we’d talked about, all we’d seen together, did you never once mention that you had this friendly dolphin coming to your dock? You fed the dolphin. You swam with it. You acted no better than those guide boats that chum the waters for the tourists. I feel betrayed, Carson. I feel—”
“Hurt,” she said for him.
He tightened his lips and nodded. “And disappointed.”
Carson had no defense. She could handle his anger, but his disappointment and hurt were devastating. “Blake, I am so sorry.”
He looked in her eyes, as though gauging her sincerity. She saw his eyes flicker. “Okay.”
Carson knew that okay was something you said to someone when you really had nothing left to say. She’d not yet earned his forgiveness.
“And now?” she asked.
“Did I mention that under the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act, it’s illegal to feed dolphins, and doing so can be punished by a fine of up to twenty-two thousand dollars in a civil case or up to a year in prison and a twenty-five-thousand-dollar fine in a criminal case?”
Carson paled and stared at him. “Did I mention we’re making a significant donation to the hospital?”
Blake half smiled. “Glad to hear it. They need it.”
“You’re not going to—”
“Not if you don’t continue to—”
“I won’t,” Carson promised.
“So, if Delphine is released to the cove,” he asked her, “you won’t call her back to the dock? Or feed her. Not ever?”
The image of Delphine flashed in her mind and she felt again the power of the bond of their relationship. Just the thought of what it would be like to not continue that association brought a raw pain that was unexpected.
“It will be hard,” she said slowly. “I feel like I’m losing my best friend. But I never want to see her hurt again. What if she comes by on her own? Can’t I at least say hi to her?”
“Of course you can. As along as you don’t start feeding her or swimming with her. Or let anyone else feed her.”
“I’ll just be so happy to see her again. I miss her terribly.” She stopped, realizing she was treading on fragile ground. She didn’t want to start crying again. “You can check on me, if you like.”
He withheld that crooked smile. “I just might do that.” Blake looked at his watch and folded his long legs in. “I have to go,” he said with finality, and picked up his cup to leave.
Carson was caught off guard by his sudden decision to leave. Impulsively she reached out to grab his hand. “Wait.”