A Lowcountry Wedding (29 page)

“Sad.” Her lips turned down in a frown.

His gaze shifted to the beach where the dolphin lay. “A neonate.” He dropped his arm and walked directly to the dolphin. “Yeah, it’s always sad to see one of these.”

Carson followed Blake. “Look at him. He’s so cute. He looks like he should just swim off with his mama.”

Blake pulled gloves from his back pocket and slipping them on, bent at the knees to survey the animal while Carson watched. Without speaking he went to his truck and pulled out a case, then returned to the animal. He spread out a thick piece of blue plastic and lay the small dolphin on this. Blake was as precise as a surgeon as he took blood and skin samples and placed them in tubes. Then he wrapped the tarp around the dolphin.

“Would you grab the case?” he asked as he carried the wrapped dolphin to the truck. He placed the carcass and case inside, then closed the tailgate.

“Where are you taking it?”

“To the NOAA offices. Wayne McFee will do the necropsy. Researchers are able to gather a wealth of information from strandings that will help support the live ones out there.”

Thinking again of Delphine, she asked, “Why do you think it died?”

“For neonates, if it isn’t a shark attack, the culprit is usually
water quality. The toxins in the water build up in the mother. When she gives birth, she purges the toxins from her body through the calf. Thus the stillbirth.”

“Could that happen to Delphine’s calf? Could it be hers?”

Blake lifted a shoulder. “I don’t know. It’s a fresh birth. I’ll only know when I see Delphine next.”

Carson looked out at the sea. These were tough times for all the animals in the oceans. But Delphine was her friend. She cared about this dolphin. “I hope not.”

“I don’t think it is,” Blake added reassuringly. “I can’t be sure, my guess is she has a ways to go yet.” Blake took his gloves off and tucked them into his pocket. “Hop in, I’ll drop you off.”

“I’m parked on Third, but I’ll ride with you.” Carson hopped into the cab of the truck. The truth was she wasn’t ready to be alone just yet, needing Blake’s comforting presence a bit longer after witnessing that heartbreaking scene of the dead calf.

The truck rocked on the uneven surface as she looked out at the sea. Though the day was gray, there were no waves to speak of. Still, one young man in a wet suit was out there. Probably someone on vacation determined to practice. Carson had surfed since she was sixteen, usually right here on Isle of Palms. She glanced at the man beside her. He clearly hadn’t shaved yet. The dark stubble rimmed his jaw. Was it only a year ago that Blake had taught her how to kiteboard? She smiled, remembering. That might’ve been when she knew she could fall in love with him.

“This would make carting all my boards and kites onto the beach easy,” she said, tapping the truck with affection.

“Yeah, right?” He laughed lightly. “But don’t get any ideas.
I can only do this on official business.” He reached out to push back a lock of hair that had escaped from her dark braid. “You done good today, Carson. I’m proud of you.”

She basked in his compliment. “You didn’t see me duke it out with the two ladies who phoned it in. They were none too pleased I told them not to touch the dolphin.”

His smile came slow, teasing, aware of her frankness. “Just be nice. We’re ambassadors out there.”

“I’m always nice,” she replied, ignoring his snort. She felt the time was right to bring up another dolphin story. “Blake, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. Last week when I was paddleboarding, I saw Delphine.” She glanced over at him. He was busy maneuvering the truck off the beach along the narrow beach path for trucks.

Once they got to Ocean Boulevard, he turned onto the pavement and headed back to Third Avenue. Blake shifted to look at her. “Yeah? So how is she?”

“She looked good. Fat.” Carson chuckled. “She was swimming with another female out at the mouth of the harbor.”

“She’s fit right back into the clan.” Satisfaction was in his voice.

“So it seems.” This was what they’d wanted for Delphine. The reason she was released back into home waters. Carson licked her lips. “She recognized me.”

There was a brief pause. “Yeah? What she do?”

“Oh, the usual. She whistled and splashed. She pitched a hissy fit when I wouldn’t engage. It near broke my heart to ignore her. I know it was best for her, but how can I explain that to her? So I lay down on the board and we just looked at each
other for a while. Eye to eye. It was pretty powerful. I knew we were connecting and she must’ve, too, because she calmed down and just looked right back at me.”

“Cool. I wish I could’ve seen that.”

“Atticus did.”

“Atticus?”

“Yeah, I invited him to come out with me. Remember him talking about how he had that experience with a dolphin? I was hoping we’d see Delphine. Thought it would mean something special for him.”

“Did it?”

“Yes. I think so. But to be honest I also wanted someone else with me the first time I saw Delphine again. I thought it would make it easier not to reach out to her if I wasn’t alone.”

They arrived at Third Avenue. The Blue Bomber was parked in the sand off the street. Already two other cars and a golf cart had filled parking spaces.

Blake parked the truck beside the Bomber. “So what happened?”

Carson puffed out a plume of air. Now she was getting to the hard part. “I messed up.” She saw a quick flare-up in his eyes and his face grew somber. “I started putting my hand out to touch her. It was instinctive. Selfish, I know. But I stopped, Blake. Halfway, my hand just stopped. I was about to pull it back when Delphine rose up and bumped my hand with her rostrum. It made me laugh. Then she circled around and swam past me, right close to the board so she would brush against my hand. I swear, Blake, I didn’t move it forward. Not so much as an inch. But I felt her skin under my palm. I told myself I
didn’t do it, that
she
did. But I was kidding myself. I let my hand hang there off the board. I was encouraging her, allowing it to happen.”

Blake waited for her to finish.

“Then I tucked my hand back in, climbed to my feet, and when she started making noises at me, I gave her the signal to go. And”—Carson ended with a sigh—“she did. We watched her make a beeline for her friend farther in the harbor. The last we saw of her she was swimming off with her friend.”

Carson turned her head to study his profile as he looked out the windshield, so strong and seemingly so rigid.

“So,” he said after a few moments of silence. “You’re telling me she came to your paddleboard and tried to engage you. And then you touched her.”

“Yes. That was my first challenge, the one I was most afraid of,” she said in a rush, trying to explain herself. “Now I know that I can do it. As hard as it was to see her again, it was harder to watch her swim away.”

Blake stretched out his arm. “Come here.”

Carson sighed and slid into the crook of his arm. He tightened his arm around her and kissed her head. “I know that was hard for you to not engage with Delphine. But you did it.” He squeezed her shoulders. “And you told me. That means a lot to me. I love your honesty. And that you trust me with your feelings.”

“I always want to be honest with you. Even if I’m worried you’ll be mad.”

“I might get mad sometimes. You might get mad at me. Babe, we’re going to have a lot of issues to face in the years
ahead. When we have children, you know we’re going to see things differently from time to time. But as long as we can talk about them, air our feelings out, and not be afraid if the other person will get mad, we’ll get through them.”

She smiled up at Blake and, looking into his eyes, sighed with deep relief and even hope. Whatever roller coaster their marriage might be, wherever they decided to live, whatever she decided to do as a career, she sensed that she and Blake were going to be just fine.

Midmorning that same day, Marietta sat on the back porch under the uncompromising shade of the black-and-white-striped awning. She was enjoying a rare third cup of coffee. Over the rim of her cup she glanced across the water to see Girard’s dock. His Boston Whaler was hanging above the water in a lift. His small johnboat was tied up to the lower dock, bobbing on the water like a pelican. Her lips stretched to a smile beside the rim of her cup as she recalled the first two cups of coffee she’d enjoyed this morning with Girard.

A splash caught her attention, and Marietta diverted her gaze to the pool. Imogene had been swimming laps for the past quarter hour. Back and forth, her arms pumping like a piston. Too much emotion was in those strokes for it to be just idle exercise. Something was bothering the woman. Marietta had noticed a change in Imogene since she’d arrived, despite how she’d tried to cover it up.

Marietta sipped the coffee, disappointed in its tepidity. She worked on the newspaper’s crossword puzzle a bit, then looked again at Imogene in the pool. Her strokes were slower now,
weary. Could she be so upset that Marietta had moved into Lucille’s cottage? Marietta hadn’t missed that glare Imogene had directed her way upon finding out her beloved cottage was already occupied. If that was, in fact, the reason behind Imogene’s change in attitude, well, that was absurd! Marietta bristled. First of all, the cottage wasn’t hers to be upset about. This had been Marietta’s home, after all. For more than fifty years. And her husband’s family’s beach house for a hundred more. If anyone asked her, Imogene was just a prima donna, making a tempest in a teapot. So what if her money had bought the house? It was Harper’s name on the deed of sale. The decision had been Harper’s to make. And make it she did. Marietta adjusted her seat on the chair, letting out a little humph of righteous indignation. If Imogene James thought Marietta was going to kowtow to this little show of pique, she was sadly mistaken.

Marietta continued to watch Imogene swim until at last the woman ran out of steam. With weary steps, Imogene climbed from the pool and reached for her towel. The temperature was only in the seventies on this beautiful first day of spring, but Harper had heated the pool to a toasty eighty-two degrees. All for Imogene—and it was costing Harper a fortune, Marietta thought with distaste.

She picked up a magazine and pretended to be reading as Imogene walked up the stairs to the upper deck. She strolled to the table. Marietta looked up with a welcoming smile. Imogene’s white hair with hints of auburn was slicked back from her face, and the large towel engulfed the woman like a blanket. In the stark morning light it shocked Marietta to see how tired and old Imogene appeared. She’d lost weight since her
last visit. How could Marietta have missed that? And her usual spark of life, her bravado, seemed to have fled, leaving something of an empty shell behind. In a rush, all Marietta’s previous pique fled in the wake of compassion.

“Imogene, do sit down. I’ll get you a cup of hot tea to warm you.”

“No, thank you, I’ve brought water. But I will join you for a moment.”

Imogene collected her water and returned to the table, moving her chair to sit in the sunshine. She closed her eyes and lifted her face to the sun.

After a moment, Marietta wondered if she’d fallen asleep. “Imogene?”

Imogene brought her head up. “Yes?”

“Are you all right?”

Imogene released a short, tired laugh. “No.”

Marietta’s brows furrowed in concern. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Imogene released a long sigh and slowly shook her head. “I’ve made a muddle of things.”

“Why not tell me what’s bothering you? It helps to talk about it. Or so Lucille used to tell me.”

Imogene sighed. “I suggested Harper call her mother with the good news about the baby.”

Mamaw wanted to jerk Imogene’s tail. But she pursed her lips and looked at her hands, giving Imogene the chance to finish.

Imogene tightened the towel around her neck. “It didn’t go well.”

“How could you expect it would?” Mamaw asked with annoyance. Then in a softer tone: “What happened?”

“It was bloody awful. Georgiana suggested that Harper move to Greenfields Park.”

“
Suggested?
I bet it was stronger than that. That woman is as subtle as a Mack truck.”

“Well, I only heard Harper’s end, so I don’t know exactly what was said. But from what I could glean, Georgiana thought Harper more or less owed it to the family . . . to me . . . to take over Greenfields Park.”

“But she’s already bought Sea Breeze.” Mamaw felt a little panic stir.

“Georgiana, I’m sure, sees that as a rectifiable mistake. She pressed on the poor girl to think of the child’s welfare. They waffled and it went downhill from there, I’m afraid. She must’ve said something that really set Harper off, because she rallied and told her mother she wasn’t doing her duty, or something like that. She pretty much told her mother to sod off.”

Marietta nodded approvingly. “Good girl.”

“Then, when Harper asked if Georgiana was coming to the wedding, Georgiana replied that she was not.”

Marietta made a fluttering motion with her hand as though waving away a pesky fly. “Frankly, I would be surprised if she’d accepted.”