Seal With a Kiss by Jessica Andersen Read Free Book Online Page A

truck back on
the road, and reach Florida sometime the next day.
They'd pick up Jasper, drive like heck to get home
before either the sea lion overheated or they killed
each other, and find some way to convince Brody
that they were friends again.
    Simple.
    "Oh good, you're here. I've saved you a place."
Violet grabbed his hand and swung him into the line
just as the family in front of them was buckled into
a fake log and sent on their way. Smitty noticed that
there weren't seats in the logs-the riders were
jammed in together, strapped down and expected to
hold on for dear life.
    He heard screaming from the other side of the ride,
and a big splash.

    "Our turn!" Violet pushed him towards a bobbing
log. The attendant helped him sit in the soggy hollow, then gestured to Violet to sit in front.
    "Put your arms around your girlfriend and hold on
tight," the attendant chirped, and Violet backpedaled.
    "Oh, I didn't realize-" The rest of her statement
was lost when the attendant deftly shoved her into
the log, tightened the belt across her hips, and sent
them on their way.
    At first, Violet held herself stiffly away from him,
and Smitty smiled grimly when the first series of
bumps and dips earned him an elbow in the ribs. "Vi,
you might want to lean back against me. I don't bite,
honest."
    Then the fake log was picked up by a clanking
track that lifted them high into the sky and they both
forgot that they were feeling awkward with each
other and started pointing at the other rides they
could see from their new vantage point.
    "Look over there! Let's hit the wave tank next."
Violet grabbed his knee and pointed to a huge body
of water. As they watched, a ten-foot-high swell
started at one end and sped to the other, carrying
swimmers and bodysurfers with it. Squeals of delight
floated up to them, carrying over the rush of water
and the clank of machinery.
    And still the fake log was carried into the sky. Short jets of water pumped over them and Violet
squealed as she took a blast in the face. Then they
were at the top of the enormous hill. The little log
teetered a moment and she pressed back against
Smitty as a rush of water pushed them over and
down.

    He felt the fake log lunge forward and freefall towards the ground, felt Violet's back mold itself to
his front, and he wrapped his arms around her as they
fell.
    Then they were laughing and screaming and the
water was coming at them from all sides, and as the
fake log plunged into an enormous tank and raised a
splash that seemed a mile high, Smitty reached for
the sky-look Ma, no hands!-and felt ten years fall
from his shoulders like they'd never passed.
    They didn't make it to the wave tank right away,
though Violet was itching to try it. The one thing she
disliked about being based on Cape Cod was the lack
of decent surfing. The Atlantic was okay, if you liked
that sort of wave. And the Cape's North Shore even
got decent rollers after a storm, but it didn't come
close to the California beaches where she'd learned
to surf.
    As they bobbed down an artificial river that wound
around the perimeter of the park, relaxing in separate black rubber tubes, Violet glanced over and wondered whether Smitty ever thought about the time
he'd taught her to surf. Then she ground her teeth,
annoyed that the only things she could seem to think
about were things that had happened between two
dumb kids at U.C. Santa Cruz.

    She and Smitty weren't those kids anymore. They
were grown-ups, well-respected researchers. Coworkers. A lot had happened since that long-ago day
at a California water park.
    Smitty had been married and divorced. Violet had
spent the two years following Smitty's marriage studying killer whales in Puget Sound. After his divorce,
she had rejoined Dolphin Friendly and the group had
prospered. Each year, they had landed more interesting, more lucrative grants, seen more marine mammals, and rescued more stranded animals. Everything