Making Waves Read Online Free

sunscreen, extra clothes, camera—”
    “Will I get a life jacket?” she asked, glancing out at the ocean again.
    “Of course. We can even find you those little inflatable water-wings if you want.”
    “Really?”
    The clerk stared at her. “We only have three spots left on tomorrow’s trip, so if you want to do this, you’d better act fast. I assume it’s you and a boyfriend or husband or something?”
    Juli gritted her teeth. “No. Just me. All alone. All by myself on a Caribbean island.”
    “Okay,” the man said. He stepped back a little from the counter. “So just the one spot.”
    Juli nodded, feeling her stomach flip over again. “Do you have anything for seasickness?”
    He reached beneath the counter and handed her a little white box. “That’s $12.95. Take it an hour before you get on the boat, and you should be just fine.”
    Okay. No reason left to stall, was there?
    “You take Visa?”
    Fifteen minutes later, Juli was out on the pier again, looking for the boat that would, in all likelihood, be dragging her to her death the next morning.
    “ Spank Me ,” she muttered, glaring at the receipt in her hand. “That’s a stupid name for a boat.”
    It was a big, white boat with a blue stripe. It looked harmless enough. And the clerk had kindly offered a private berth at the front of the boat where he assured her the bedding would be clean and she’d have a bathroom close by.
    So that was done. She glanced at her watch, wondering if it was time for dinner yet. Six p.m. was a little early, but maybe a pre-dinner drink at that cute place she’d seen earlier with big flowery umbrellas and barstools planted in the sand. Juli set off down the boardwalk, Uncle Frank’s urn tucked snugly in her knapsack for safekeeping. She patted the side of her bag, relieved to discover it was still upright with the top latched tight.
    Juli heard the pulse of calypso music before she even reached the quaint seaside bar. Moony-eyed couples, cotton-haired retirees, and scantily clad singles had already packed the place, and a small stage near the bar suggested a rowdy evening to come. She picked the only unoccupied table. It happened to be close to the water, but that was okay. If she was going to go plunging out into the ocean like a maniac, she may as well get used to the sight of it. She set her knapsack on one chair and lowered herself into the other, scanning the turquoise waves for any ships that might be going down.
    “Can I get you something to drink, miss?”
    Juli looked up at the waiter, then down at the little drink menu tucked inside a coconut shell. “I’ll have a mai tai, please,” she said. “Make it a double, actually.”
    The waiter nodded and ambled off, his flip-flops throwing sand up behind him. Juli looked back out over the water. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe this was exactly what she needed.
    Dr. Gordon had sighed loudly when she’d told him. “So you just quit another job?”
    “I didn’t quit , exactly. I just voluntarily accepted the severance package they were offering.”
    “Three weeks’ salary and a scone-of-the-month club membership?”
    “They’re excellent scones.”
    “Juli, we talked last week about your career choices. About the fact that someone of your particular IQ, with an attention span that has prompted”—he consulted the notepad in his hands—“forty-two job changes in the last ten years, could perhaps benefit from something more stable. Something representative of a more mature career decision that isn’t such a waste of your intellect and your—”
    “I kind of liked that job I had where I washed dogs for that pet groomer.”
    “Juli—”
    “Or the month I sold fireworks at that roadside stand.”
    “Juli—”
    Her ears had begun to burn, so she’d given him a meek nod. “Okay, I’ve got it. I’ll think about it.”
    “You can belong somewhere, you know. You really can fit in if you try hard enough.”
    “I know,” Juli had murmured,