“You don’t have to swim if you’re uncomfortable,” Gretchen assured him. “We’ll stop soon for a snorkel and then when we find the whales, you can assess the situation yourself.”
He nodded. “All right.”
She went onto the bow as they neared the mooring and readied the hook to snag it. The satisfaction of looping the rope first go and pulling it over the deck, tying it in place, never faded. When she was done, she caught Arthur watching her through the window. She smiled and waved, but he simply stared at her.
Intense, bordering on creepy, if she hadn’t known what he’d been through. Losing part of his leg as well as his job would be difficult to deal with, and it sounded as if he was dealing with depression and chronic pain as well. Amy had called a few days ago to ask if Gretchen could help him with therapy when he came up, and while she was happy to help, she couldn’t do it in any official capacity until she passed her degree.
She headed into the cabin and stripped out of her polo shirt and shorts, before slipping on her own stinger suit and grabbing her gear out of her backpack. “Are you snorkelling?” she asked Arthur.
“No.”
“We’ve got floatation devices if you need a hand.”
“I can swim.”
“You should jump in,” Sam said, walking into the room.
“You want me to scare away your customers?” Arthur demanded.
“You’re not that ugly,” Sam joked.
Arthur grunted. “You know what I mean.”
Sam glanced at Gretchen and she got the hint to get out of there. She slipped by him and joined the group waiting to get into the water. It was her turn to monitor the snorkellers and figure out who was a decent swimmer. They kept the stronger swimmers together so they didn’t have anyone falling behind when they reached the whales.
The water was cool, but not crisp, and the visibility was about ten metres. She swam amongst the guests, pointing out things of interest as she spotted them: a stingray gliding along the bottom, a turtle feeding near a clump of coral, and the brightly coloured clown fish were always popular. The man who had expressed his concern about the danger swam confidently next to his wife. At least that was one less concern. In fact, no one struggled with swimming at all today.
It made her job easier.
At the signal from Sam on the boat, she shepherded the passengers back. Morning tea had been laid out on the table and people were already enjoying the fresh fruit and hot drinks by the time she got out. All except Arthur, who was still sitting in the cabin in the same place. Maybe he needed help to move. She towelled herself dry, wrapping it around her waist, and then climbed the ladder to the top deck to talk to Sam. “Jasmine found us anything yet?”
“Yeah, there’s a pod heading into the gulf now.” He pointed north and in the sky in the distance she spotted Jasmine’s microlight plane.
They were alone up here, but still she moved closer so she didn’t have to shout. “Does Arthur need help moving?”
Sam grimaced and shook his head. “No, he can use the prosthesis just fine. He has an aversion to people pitying him and thinks if he goes out there, he’ll ruin everyone’s day.”
How sad.
“He’s struggling, and he wasn’t the best conversationalist to start with. Don’t be offended by him.”
“I won’t.” She couldn’t help but want to make him feel better. She returned to the lower deck and went into the cabin to throw her polo shirt back on. Arthur stared out the window and didn’t so much as glance at her. He had a bottle of water next to him. “Can I get you anything to eat?”
A hesitation, but no response.
“You should taste some of your hard work.” Still nothing. “Unless you filled up while you were cutting the fruit.”
That got his attention. “I didn’t eat while I worked.” His eyes widened as if she was accusing him of theft.
She’d offended him. She smiled. “Well, you’re stronger than I am. I wouldn’t have been able to resist. Do you want anything now?” She gestured outside to where the passengers had all filled their plates and were sitting around the boat eating.
His eyes flitted outside and then down to his leg, and back to her. “Yes,” he replied. “Please.”
She grinned. “Have you got a favourite?”
“Oranges.”
Interesting. Most people went for the watermelon or strawberries. “Be right back.”
