Seal With a Kiss Read Free Page A

standing stiffly nearby.
    Brody sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, leaving it sticking up and on end. "How? The
opening ceremony is less than a week away. The politicians will be coming to see how we've used the first
half of the funding and decide whether to give us the
rest. Need I remind you how badly we need that
money for the second boat and additional manpower?
The Smugglers Cove Stranding Research Center isn't
going to get all the way off the ground without it."

    "I'm sorry, Brody." They were the first words Violet had spoken since she'd yelled for him not to use
his snorkel.
    Smitty had to admit that the hot sauce, while surprising and not at all pleasant, had been an excellent
practical joke. It was almost as good as the time he
had safety pinned her into her hammock and sounded
the fire alarm.
    Over the years, the practical jokes they'd played
on each other had been one of the few links they'd
been able to maintain.
    Unfortunately, the timing of this particular joke
had been just plain bad, and the opening ceremony
video had paid the price. But, thought Smitty, everything was fixable.
    He sent Violet an encouraging smile, but she
didn't notice. Her attention was focused on Brody.
    Always Brody. Smitty sighed. Some things, it seemed, weren't fixable, no matter how hard he
wished for it.

    "What am I going to do with you two?" Brody
asked.
    Although he figured it was probably a rhetorical
question, Smitty answered, "Keelhaul us? No, seriously, boss. We're very sorry about the videotape
and we'll do whatever it takes to make it up to you."
    Violet nodded earnestly. "Sure, Brody. Anything."
    "Maddy tells me. . ." Brody paused, then continued in a voice that reflected genuine puzzlement,
"that you two don't want to work together anymore."
    Smitty was surprised at the depth of his own disappointment. He hadn't realized Violet was feeling
the same way. The idea brought a vague ache to his
chest. Sure, he'd figured some time apart might
smooth out the tension between them, but suddenly
the notion of not seeing her every day seemed worse
than fighting all the time.
    "Now, boss," he began, "let's not make any hasty
decisions-"
    But Brody rolled right over him, saying, "However, even if we get the funding, it'll be a while until
the second boat puts out to sea. Also, I've been thinking that one of us should stay on land to coordinate
the stranding rescue volunteers, organize the new educational programs we're going to run from the center, and help with the databases."

    Ahab, another of Dolphin Friendly's intern-turnedresearchers, had been working on a computer model
of dolphin and whale strandings on the eastern seaboard. He didn't seem to mind spending long hours
indoors clicking away at his computer, but Smitty
would rather eat chum than be stuck on land, working inside the stranding center day after day after
day....
    Stuck on land. Brody's planned punishment suddenly became crystal clear.
    Violet was just as quick to put two and two together. "Now Brody, don't be hasty. You wouldn't
want to pull one of your senior researchers out of the
field. You need us."
    "Exactly. I need both of you. But not when your
minds are elsewhere. I need you with me-body and
soul-and the dolphins do too." Brody reached
across the chart table and plucked a key ring from
the hook next to the ship-to-shore radio. "Take
these."
    Smitty did so, feeling a quiver of unease. As always, he hid it with a joke. "What are they? Keys to
the convertible I always wanted?"
    Brody snorted. "Not hardly. They belong to a
twenty-foot refrigerator truck that you two," he
glared at his friends, "are driving to Florida."
    Seeing where this was going, Smitty tried to stop
it before it happened. "But boss-"

    "Nope." Brody shook his head. "My mind is made
up. Take the keys or you're both on shore duty starting now."
    "Brody-" Violet began.
    "Nope. Neither one of you is going to talk me out
of this." Their boss