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“You sound just like Ramsay,” I say, grinning at my oldest friend.

Who?

“You’ll meet him,” I say, letting go of him. Then I show him my necklace. “See, you never left me at all.”

He wags his tail back and forth in response.

I pause before I ask my next question. “Have you seen Larimar?”

Nill nods.But not for a long time. I have faith that we can find her again.He looks up at the surface.Show me your ship, he says.

I smile and turn and start swimming for the surface, the shark right behind me.

When I surface, the sun nearly setting, making the surface glow a metallic orange, I look up at theNightwindand see Ramsay staring over the railing at me, Skip perched on his shoulder.

“There you are,” he says, looking relieved. “I was just about to jump in and…uh, Maren, I do say there’s a shark behind you.”

I glance behind me to see Nill’s dorsal fin slicing through the water.

“I found Nill!” I shout up at him. “He’s going to come with us.”

Ramsay frowns, probably trying to figure out the logistics of it all.

“He can swim as fast as the ship,” I assure him. “He’ll be our convoy.”

He nods, perhaps not loving the idea of a shark always circling the ship, but he’ll get used to it. Pirates are nothing if not adaptable.

“Do you need help getting up? We can lower the net,” Ramsay says.

I shake my head. “No, you go and get the wind blowing again. Nill and I will catch up.”

“Are you sure?” he asks.

I wave at him. “You sail into the sunset, I’ll swim after you.”

He nods. “Alright, luv,” he says. “But when it gets dark, I’m coming down into that water and fishing you out myself. I’m not letting the future Mrs. Battista out of my sight.”

“That’s a deal,” I tell him, waving my engagement ring at him.

Ramsay beams with pride, Skip still on his shoulder and waving his tail. Then Ramsay winks at me before turning to the crew. “Wind in the sails, boys! Let’s set course for Manila!”

“Aye, aye, Captain!” the crew responds.

The sails fill with the wind, billowing out in a dramatic fashion, and theNightwindbegins to move toward the sunset with speed.

I glance down at Nill, who is just below the surface. “Shall we?” I ask him.

He wags his tail in response.

Nill starts swimming and I start diving up and down through the waves, laughing as I go, following theNightwind’swake, following the man who has my heart, and the life I had once only dreamed of.

THE END