Flukes (6 page)

“She crawled in my lap like a cat.” Blake laughed. “I didn’t know dolphins were so affectionate. Or that they shed their skin every two hours.” He shot me a smile and I couldn’t help grinning. Violet’s smile grew until you could see her teeth.

“Really? Sounds like you made yourself a new friend.” Violet’s white teeth gleamed against her dark skin. Blake seemed to sense something, because he narrowed his eyes a little and took a step toward my dad.

“Vi, why are you all fancy? The fish don’t care what you’re wearing.” I looked my friend over and noted her makeup and dressy clothes. Her braids hung around her shoulders and flashy sandals peeked out from under her wide-leg slacks.

“I have that scholarship interview today, remember?” My heart clenched at the reminder. My best friend was leaving for Hawaii soon. She’d be oceans away, working on her Marine Biology degree while I did classes online or at the community college.

“Oh, yeah. Good luck.” I tried to smile. It obviously wasn’t a good one.

Violet laughed at my words and hugged me to her.

“Don’t sound so glum. I’ll be back for the holidays and you can visit me in Hawaii. Lots of lovely water there for you to swim in.” Violet squeezed my shoulder. “Besides, you’re already making new friends.”

I tried to not groan and darted my eyes toward Blake. He had certainly caught the undertone in that last sentence, because his mouth was quirked to the side in amusement. I couldn’t help but wonder if he liked the implication or if he thought it would be funny for one more girl to fall under his spell.

The rumble of the bus pulling up in the parking lot drew of our attention away, thankfully. Most of the workers rode the bus just because it was easier than driving themselves out to the sanctuary. As the crew unloaded, Violet shook her head and frowned at me.

“I’ve gotta run, but you take care.” There was an undercurrent to her words that drew my attention. Her eyebrows were pulled together as she watched some of the workers walk in our direction. “Some of these guys are a little rougher than we normally get here.”

“What do you mean?” My eyes followed one of the taller guys; his wide shoulders and long legs set him apart from the group. His eyes were large and blue, which contrasted sharply with his dark skin.

“They aren’t here because they had a run-in with a principal or trashed some public bathrooms.” Violet turned away from the approaching group. “I heard that the tall guy, Devin, assaulted some girl at a bar.”

“Why would they send them here?” Blake’s voice surprised me. I hadn’t realized he had come to stand so close to me.

“I don’t know. They normally send the ones that need a slap on the wrist.” Violet looked over my shoulder toward my father before lowering her voice. My mind immediately wondered how Blake had ended up at Flukes. He didn’t seem homicidal or overly violent. So why had he beat up some guy in the locker rooms? “I heard your dad talking about it to my dad. He said he was going to pull you from the normal stuff to put some distance between you and them.”

The pieces fell together in my head, and I suddenly understood just how sneaky my father really was. He hadn’t just decided that I needed to work with Blake on designing a new logo and directing the crews. He had put me on a task that kept me away from the worst of the miscreants. I looked over at Blake, wondering if he had put it together, and saw that his mouth was pulled to the side in a smirk. Why on Earth had Dad decided that Blake wasn’t dangerous? He had eyes, didn’t he?

“Don’t worry, Vi, I won’t let anything happen to her while you’re gone.” Blake’s voice rumbled out of his chest, giving me goose bumps.

“I’m going to hold you to that, Blake Weathering.” Violet narrowed her eyes at him and put one hand on her hip.

I was in even more trouble than my dad realized.

Chapter Five

- Meena -

After Dad sent the crews to take care of the more remedial tasks, like cutting the grass or replacing the broken paver stones, I took Blake to the  toolshed and grabbed some gloves.

“I figured I’d show you the lay of the land and maybe see if we come up with any ideas.” I tossed Blake some gloves and he quickly tucked them into the pocket on the back of his shorts.

“What are the gloves for?” He leaned a shoulder against the shed door while I dug around in a bucket for a small hatchet. When I pulled it out, I smiled over my shoulder at him before sticking the hatchet through one of the belt loops on my shorts.

“Well, while we’re walking, we can work. There are some downed trees on a couple of the paths from the storm earlier this week.” I pushed past him and waited for him to close the door. We headed down the path toward my beach, stopping to pick up some of the limbs that had been blown back into the walkway. “Dad’s been talking about expanding for years now. We constantly get calls to take in wounded animals, but right now we just don’t have the room. If we get the contract, it would mean we could grow.”

“Out this way?” Blake leaned down and picked up a large branch, moving it farther off the path. I used the hatchet to cut up a large limb and push it out of the way.

“Sort of. We’re keeping this part of the beach private.” I pointed toward where the path forked and dove down to the white sand. “But, we could move the birds and smaller animals up here on top of the hill. And this is the easiest way to reach it right now.”

“Okay. What would it take to expand something like this?” He pushed some branches out of the way for me. This part of the path wasn’t used as often, so the overgrowth was a problem.

“We’d have to start small. Probably a couple of million to get everything going. More if we do what Dad is really wanting to do.” I stepped over a rocky outcropping. “Watch your footing.”

“What is it he wants to do?” The entire way, he kept moving branches and stones out of the path. I couldn’t help but enjoy watching his muscles tighten and shift under his skin. He looked over his shoulder at me, his mouth turned up in that obnoxious grin. Frowning, I looked away and kept walking.

“A school, eventually. Try to educate the public and tourists about how important the oceans are to the world.” We were almost to the top of the hill and the sun was throwing shadows through the trees and foliage.

“Is that what you’re going to go to school for? Come back here and help teach? Or do you plan on leaving and finding your own place?” Blake’s voice was calm, but there was an edge to his words. As if he couldn’t wait to get out of here.

“I’m not going anywhere. This is my home.” I shrugged my shoulders. Most people wouldn’t understand. I loved this place. Loved the animals and the people that worked here. Plus, I couldn’t be far from the ocean, so it wasn’t like I could travel a great deal.

“You aren’t going to college?” His brown eyes raked over my face as if trying to figure out a puzzle. “Don’t you want to get out and see the world?”

“I’ll take online courses.” I frowned. Of course I wanted to see the world. Not that it did me any good to dwell on it. “What about you? You graduated this year. Are you going into the family business?”

“Fuck no. As soon as I get my diploma, I’m outta here.” His voice was full of conviction. Part of me understood the desire to see something new, to experience a different place, but I didn’t understand the underlying sense of hate he felt toward the island.

The foliage had started to thin and the views were taking its place. Turquoise waters spread out before us and you could see all of Flukes. My heart gave a contented thump as I looked at my home. It had taken years, but we had turned the place around. When I was little there had barely been enough money to feed us, much less the animals. As I had gotten older and started to understand my ability to work with the animals, things had gotten a lot easier.

“Great view.” I could feel his eyes on me, but he looked away when I glared. Blake shielded his eyes with his hands, scanning the area. “I can see why you want to keep that little beach to yourselves.”

“I’m sure you’ve seen a lot better, but this is my little piece of paradise.” I knelt down, letting my eyes run over Flukes, our house, and our tiny little beach. “There’s a little cottage down there that Mom and Dad lived in when they first moved here. I’m planning on fixing it up for my own.”

“The cove really makes it special.” His voice was honest, as if he really did think our place was worth something. “The northern part curves just right. I bet you guys don’t have to deal with too much storm damage. Don’t ever let my dad come here. He’d try his best to turn it into some high-end resort.”

“We still have issues, but it’s better than it could be.” I picked at a piece of grass and twisted it between my fingers. My eyes caught on one of the workers throwing shovels of sand at the sea lions. “Oh, hell no.”

Standing up, I tore back down the path, jumping over the rocky patches and heading for the sea-lion pen. Blake stayed right on my heels but didn’t say a word. As soon as I had the guy in my sights, I was ready to strangle him. He was now tossing rocks at the animals and laughing.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” I barely stopped in time to keep from bowling the guy over. I grabbed the handle of the shovel and yanked. He held on, his blue eyes raked over my body, and a sneer pulled at his mouth. Something in me screamed to hurt him, to make him leave, but instead I pulled with all my strength and wrestled the shovel away from him. I pulled so hard that I would have landed on my butt if Blake hadn’t caught my shoulder. Again, that warm feeling ran over my skin, but I didn’t have time to wonder about it.

“The stupid shit kept spitting water at me.” The worker leaned forward as if asking for trouble. I recognized him from the first day of orientation—Devin, I think.

“So you throw sand at it? And rocks? It’s a sea lion! Of course it spit water at you, you idiot!” I looked back at the animals to see them swimming happily in the lagoon water. “Why didn’t you just move out of their range?”

“It should have listened when I told it to stop.” Devin leaned back against the rope railing and crossed his arms over his chest. My entire body vibrated with disgust. There was this foul smell of something dead rotting in the sun and I could swear it was coming from him.

“It’s a
sea lion
. You were near its enclosure, doing something it didn’t understand.” My hands squeezed the handle so hard I could feel the wood digging into my skin. “Get out of here.”

“I can’t get out of here. The court says I have to stay.” Devin smirked. “You’re awfully upset about that stupid sea lion. Maybe if you spent time around real people, you wouldn’t care about animals so much. Or maybe you just prefer animals?” His eyebrows pulled up at his nasty innuendo.

“Go help the others lay pavers.” My jaw was clenched so tight I could barely get the words out. “Just get the hell out of my sight.”

“Sure,
Meen-ah
.” He drew my name out like it was an insult. “Whatever you say. Fish lover.” He mumbled the last word under his breath, but I heard it anyway.

“What’s wrong with you, man?” Blake stepped in front of me, the muscles in his back taut. “Stop being an ass and just do what you have to.”

“Watch yourself, Weathering.” Devin stood away from the fence, his chest puffed up. “I don’t take orders from you. You aren’t the only one with a rich daddy.”

“No. You take orders from her and her parents.” The amused look that had been on Blake’s face earlier had completely disappeared. Instead, he was wearing the aloof, irritated look I had seen the first day.

“And what? You’re going to be her enforcer?” Devin laughed. The sound was like razors along my skin. “You’re the safe guy. The one her daddy doesn’t care if she’s around. We heard him talking. You’re a joke.”

Blake moved before I could register that anything had happened. Devin stepped back, but Blake was right on him, sending the other guy to the ground with a hard shove. Devin fell back into the sand before scrambling to his feet.

Leaning close, Blake looked Devin in the eyes, his fists at his sides. “You’re here because you couldn’t get some girl to sleep with you, so you beat her up. I’m here because I put the captain of the soccer team in the hospital. Right now, you’re next on my list.” There was a low growl in his words that made my heartbeat pick up. “Get out of here before I decide to do more than throw rocks at your head.”

Devin’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t say anything. Taking a step away from Blake, the boy looked at me and winked. Slowly he made his way up the trail, toward some of the other workers. I ground my teeth and glared at him as he walked. I was going to have a long talk with my dad. Not just about Devin, but about giving me a babysitter. Throwing the shovel down, I jumped the fence and waded out into the water.

“Harper! Ruth! Menolly!” I hollered the names of the sea lions and waited for them to answer. My connection was much stronger with the dolphins, but I could still feel and understand the other animals in the sanctuary.

The sound of splashing surprised me, and I turned around to see Blake wading out to where I was standing. His face was blank, but if I had to guess, he was still pissed. I didn’t blame him. Not only was he having to do community service, my dad had decided to make him watch out for me.