Seal With a Kiss Read Free Page B

grinned and stretched before lacing his fingers together behind his head. "If you want
to complain, talk to Maddy. This was her idea."
    "No kidding," Smitty muttered, "Miss `why can't
we all get along' just had to get involved, didn't
she?" But he wasn't really mad. Brody was right.
    He and Violet had to make peace or stay away
from each other for good. This half-friendship, halfenmity wasn't working for either of them, and it
wasn't helping Dolphin Friendly.
    "I don't get it. What are you talking about?" Violet
demanded.
    "We're talking about a road trip," Brody told her.
"You and Mr. Smith here are taking a big, ugly refrigerated truck down to Florida to pick up a California sea lion named Jasper."
    "A sea lion? In Florida?" Violet repeated, and
Smitty felt almost sorry for her. "With Smitty?" The
flush that climbed her cheeks was downright lovely,
and her perfect nails clenched the edge of the chart
table as if it were a lifeline. She looked utterly horrified.

    He felt a thump of disappointment. Was the idea
of spending a few days stuck in a vehicle with him
really so awful? If so, friendship, or even a truce
between them seemed unlikely.
    "It was your idea, wasn't it, Violet?" Brody looked
to Smitty for confirmation. "You suggested that we
use a trained sea lion to cut the grand opening ribbon
with oversized scissors, right?"
    She nodded, then shook her head. "Yes, but I was
kidding. I didn't think you'd actually go for it."
    "Well, I thought it was a good idea. The politicians
will love it. I asked a few people, and it turns out
that Jasper the sea lion was already scheduled to be
transferred from the Florida Stranding Rescue Seaquarium up to Boston. I got them to agree that if we
drove him, Jasper could make a quick detour to the
Cape on the way to his new home. The trainers have
worked with him and a pair of foam rubber scissors,
and now he's ready for transport."
    "T-transport?" she stammered.
    Smitty patted her shoulder, wishing she didn't look
so upset by the idea of a road trip with him. "It won't
be so bad, Vi."
    She shrugged him off as though she couldn't stand
his touch. Backing away from the chart table, she
held up both hands. "No way. I'm not going."
    Brody shook his head. "Sorry. Not an option. I need my senior people in charge of this move and
you two are it."

    Smitty didn't bother to ask whether Ahab and Ishmael had been scheduled for the trip until the darned
video camera landed in the drink. He'd bet on it.
    "And if I refuse?" Violet asked.
    "Then you're both on land duty as of tomorrow,
and I'll tell Ahab to make you guide all the preschool
field trips scheduled to tour the rescue center. When
you're done with that, you'll be on data entry."
Brody grimaced when they both shuddered in horror.
"I'm not kidding. Do it. This may sound stupid, but
Maddy thinks you two have some stuff to work out.
I'm giving you three and a half days. Take a day or
two to drive down, and then drive Jasper straight
back for the ceremony. By the time you get home, I
want you to have worked things out so you can at
least be civil to each other."
    Violet stuck out her chin, though her eyes were
wary. "Or?"
    Brody looked from the broken camera to her and
back again. "Or you're no use to me as field researchers, either of you. As Maddy's parents learned,
a boat is no place to make mistakes. I won't run the
risk of you getting hurt because your minds aren't
on your work. Figure it out, or you're on desk duty."
    Brody stood, walked to the door, opened it, then closed it softly behind him, probably figuring they'd
like to get a head start on making up.

    Brody always had been an optimist. Smitty would
like nothing better than to make things right with
Violet, but he wasn't even sure when it had gone
wrong. He didn't have a clue how to start fixing their
friendship.
    So he went with sarcasm, dangling the keys off
his index finger and grinning. "What do you say, Vi?
Ready for a