From the perspective of the crowd of tourists and onlookers on the beach, the seal release in Monterey was a spectacular success. The volunteers from the Center lined up the kennels containing the seals along the tideline of a tiny crescent of bay. At the signal of their crew chief, they opened the crates in unison. The harbor seals used their small flippers to inch out of the crates and across the pebbled beach. Their unswerving progress made it clear that they were made for the sea. The seal farthest from Alex and Trish peered out, as if unsure whether to leave the safety of its crate. Then it lifted its head, sniffed the air and wriggled toward the water. The crowd burst into applause as the first seal nosed into the lapping waves. One lady gave a donation on the spot to one of the surprised volunteers.
“Look,” Trish said to Alex with an excited grin. “They’re staring back at us.”
Four heads telescoped up above the surface and peered back with their huge, round eyes. Then, as if someone had choreographed it, they dove and swam out of sight.
An unfamiliar warmth spread in Alex’s chest as he watched the seal he’d helped Jackie stitch up, the one he’d helped feed and keep warm, watched it swim and dive, once again in its element. Seeing the seal swim free felt like accomplishment and it stunned him. He searched the faces of the volunteers and the watching crowd and knew that they felt it too.
He looked up the beach again, hoping that Jackie had arrived, but she hadn’t. His elation over the seal instantly deflated. He tried to bite back his worry and enjoy the celebration, but his heart wasn’t in it.
Still feeling off-kilter, Alex drove Trish back up to Santa Cruz for the Surf Expo later that afternoon. Cory took a few spectacular waves during the first set and thrilled Trish and the photographers. Alex kept scanning for Jackie, but again she didn’t show.
While Trish pelted one of the surfers with questions and her best flirtatious looks, Alex walked down the beach and grabbed Cory between sets.
“How’s Jackie?” He tried not to sound anxious.
“She’s still shaky,” Cory said. “But she said to thank you for pulling her out. She’s sleeping it off right now.” He wrapped a towel around his waist and waved off a photographer headed toward them. “And she’s sorry she missed the release. She told me you helped her with one of the seals.”
“Held it down is more like it.”
“The tale I heard is you leapt over a ten-foot wall and saved a volunteer.”
Alex laughed. “Thank God for tall tales or I’d have to do something to earn a reputation.”
A voice on the loudspeaker barked out Cory’s name.
“Show time.” Cory must’ve seen the concern in Alex’s face, because he added, “Don’t worry about Jackie, she’ll be fine.” He grabbed his board and jogged toward the water. “She’s survived much worse.”
That was exactly what Alex was afraid of.