“Okay,” I said after maybe an hour had passed. I was panting myself, my jeans wet and sandy, making my skin feel raw. I got another bucket of water and dumped it over Honey, then considered the tarp. If I could roll her onto it without hurting her, I could drag her closer to the Sound. It was better than nothing. I didn’t know if the rain was hurting her skin, or if it was good for her, or if she was hungry and I should’ve brought that envelope of tuna in my cupboard to feed her.

I spread out the tarp next to her and knelt, putting my hands on her. If I rolled her, would it hurt her fin? I tucked it against her and looked in her eye. “I hope this won’t hurt you, Honey,” I said. “I just want to get you back to your family, okay? Okay. So on three, we’ll roll. One, two . . . three.”

She was heavy, but she rolled over pretty easily onto her back, and I managed to tuck her other fin so it wouldn’t get hurt, and rolled her the rest of the way. She lay on her stomach, but now on the tarp. “You okay, Honey?”

She didn’t answer, just blew hard. No more squeaks.

I went to the front of the tarp and started dragging it. God! She was heavy! I had to walk backward, and after a few steps, I tripped and landed flat on my ass in the wet sand. Got up and started trying again. She wasn’t even trying to flap her tail fin anymore. “Please don’t die, Honey,” I said. “I’m giving it my best here.”

I had never been this soaked. Even my raincoat was soaked through, and I was sweaty and clammy and shaking with exhaustion, but we’d come this far, Honey and I. I wasn’t going to leave her now.

“Sadie! Hey!” Noah, his hair whipping across his face, was standing on the hill my house perched on.

“Oh, thank God,” I said.

He ran toward me. “What are you doing?”

“Just saving a dolphin. You know.”

“Did you call anyone?”

“I tried. No cell service out here, and my car’s blocked in.”

“Yeah, I saw. No service in town, either. I tried calling you to see if you were okay, then came out to check.” He bent down to look at my new friend. “Have you named her?”

He knew me well. He really did.

“Honey.”

“Yes, dear?”

“No, that’s her name.” I smiled at him. Noah, flirting with me over a baby dolphin. God! The feels! “Think we can pull her to the water? She’s getting tired, and the tide is going out.”

“Let’s go.”