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I look at Paul.
“Is this real?” I ask and genuinely want the answer. “Do random dolphins just happen here?”
He looks at the ball, then at the dolphin, then at me. “First for me.”
“Do I throw it back?”
Paul’s laugh comes out brighter this time. Almost a giggle.
“I think that’s what he’s getting at.”
I glance toward the umbrella of workers, all of them watching us.
“This okay?” I call, lifting the ball.
One of them looks over, completely unbothered, and waves one hand in a lazy go-ahead motion before returning to his food.
I nod at the dolphin, ball turning in my hands. “Yeah?”
The dolphin squeaks again and dips its nose.
Paul steps closer to my shoulder. “I think you’re being challenged.”
“Seems unfair. He has home-pool advantage.”
I grip the ball in both hands, lean back, and throw it out over the water. The dolphin shoots after it, followed by the rest of the pod. Six sleek gray bodies flashing under the lights, water breaking white behind them.
I laugh before I can stop myself. A stupid, open, little-kid laugh that comes out of me like it has been waiting for this very moment.
Paul laughs too. For a second, the boat, the inheritance, the house—all of it disappears under the sound of dolphins chasing a ball through blue water.
The ball comes back quickly. One dolphin noses it across the water, then dips underneath, popping it up with enough force to send it rolling toward the edge. Another cuts behind him like backup. The whole thing is ridiculous and coordinated and so much better than anything involving a wristband and seat number.
Paul moves before I do. He crouches and catches it with both hands, getting splashed across the front of his shirt again.
“Oh,” he says, laughing as he straightens. “Cold.”
“Did you see that?” I grab his arm without thinking. “He brought it back.”
“I saw.”
“No, like, he really brought it back.”
“I’m familiar with the concept of fetch.”
His face is bright. He looks younger, like nothing else matters in the world but what’s happening right now.
A dolphin squeaks.
I point at the ball in Paul’s hands. “He wants you to throw it.”
Paul looks at the waiting dolphin. “Me?”
“Yeah. You caught it.”
“I don’t know how to throw.”
“Does anybody know how to throw in this situation? C’mon.”
