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"Are you sure you don’t want to join us in the swim today?" Joan called to her "You’re welcome to, and it’ll be fun"

"No, thanks I want to take pictures," she called back She lifted the ca around her neck to prove the point

"We have a photographer," Joan reasoned "He’ll reat shots of Nate"

Carson paused

A part of her wanted to go into the water with Nate, to feel the rubbery skin of the dorsal fin under her hand again and glide across the lagoon That feeling was unlike any other But she couldn’t face swi with another dolphin Not yet She’d had such a rare and unique bond with Delphine Sheher high-pitched whistle or her nasal staccato laughs Swi with another dolphin would be too painful

She shook her head "My sto a bit off," she called back "Better not But thanks"

Carson bent over her huge canvas bag where she kept all their supplies and pulled out the lenses she wanted to use today A dog’s bark fro her head, she was surprised to see a large black dog on the lower dock at the end of the pavilion A dog near the dolphins wasn’t the norm Curious, she rose and joined the cluster of tourists craning to watch the interaction between the big black dog and a dolphin They were laughing and pointing

Carson lifted her ca lower its pointy nose as it inched with agonizing slowness toward the edge of the dock The dolphin appeared equally curious about the dog and was rising higher in the water, angling closer

Carson held her breath, her finger on the button

The big dog reached the edge, then stopped The dolphin ’s nose

Carson clicked the ca She felt as if she were the big black dog as its tail began wagging aaway as the dolphin returned for ood ti’s collar and, with a gentle pat, lead it away froe, she lowered her caroans fro the tender scene He tied the dog to the dock post in the shade and gave the dog’s big head several more pats When he returned to the lower dock and looked out, Carson realized that the ht back to Nate’s dock, but she couldn’t resist watching Taylor give signals to the two dolphins at his dock with the ease and authority of any of the other trainers He orking with two e and the other s a co rapidly, she caught shots of the dolphin reached a reht, while beside hih

Carson’s heart lurched when she saw a chunk wasfrom the smaller dolphin’s tail fluke, like Delphine’s She followed the s in on the details When the sain at the dock to receive a fish, she saw that part of its dorsal fin was reat shot of Taylor’s face breaking out into a reluctant grin