After what seemed like years but was really only a few hours, the guests finally left. All except for Parker, who stayed to clean up, and the guests of honor who also stayed to “help,” which in their case meant enlightening Jami through the power of om for the low, low cost of three thousand dollars or ninety-nine dollars per month over a period of thirty months.
“Poor Jami,” I said to Parker as we folded chairs to stack on the rental truck. “Do you think she’ll buy into it?”
“No. She’s too smart.” He took the chair I held and walked it to the truck, leaving me empty-handed but also empty inside. His comment stung. Did he remember I’d once been om-powered? Not only that but he’d shut down all my other attempts at conversation and would barely look at me.
“Hey!” I said when he came back inside, determined to give it another go. “Do you want to go surfing tomorrow? The wave report looks good . . . better than good.”
He stopped folding the chair he’d grabbed and looked at me. “Who else is going?” His eyes bored into me, and I felt my cheeks flush.
“Well . . .” I swallowed. I’d forgotten I already had surf plans with Blake. “Blake’s going too.”
He answered by squinting his eyes then dropping the chair and picking up another to fold. “Sounds great. I’ll invite Jami too. She was just saying she wants to give it another try.” He slammed the chair closed, picked up the one he’d dropped, and brushed past me toward the truck.
A double date with Parker and Jami wasn’t exactly what I’d had in mind when I’d invited him, but I couldn’t back out of it now.
I could, however, invite Hailey to come along. Jami liked babies. Maybe she’d be motivated to sit on the beach with Xander again, especially when she saw the size the waves were predicted to be. I’d put Hailey in charge of teaching Blake how to master real waves, and maybe I’d get a little alone time with Parker to figure out why he was avoiding me.
The five of us met on the beach the next morning. Hailey’s car was in the shop again, so I picked her up, noticing right away her mascara. Not just the mascara but also how her hair was pulled back in a cute twisty braid thing that looked a little too fancy for the waves. She was trying to impress someone. Parker was way too old for her—and so not her type—so it had to be Blake.
That’s when it hit me that Blake would be perfect for her. He was fun, he liked Xander, he had a college degree, he had a job—or at least he would have one soon . . . Probably.
He’d be perfect for her.
“Those waves look bigger than last time.” Jami interrupted my thoughts, worry emanating from her voice and her face.
“They are pretty big.” I answered then let a smile spread over my face. Jami had given me a perfect way to get Hailey and Blake out into the water. “Why don’t you and I watch Xander while Hailey shows Blake how to conquer those waves.”
“I don’t think I’m man enough for those beasts.” Blake shot down my idea and held his arms out for Xander at the same time. “I’ll stay here with Jami. You pros can show us how it’s done.”
I expected Hailey to protest. Instead she handed Xander off to Blake with a thanks and grabbed the board she’d stuck in the sand. “Let’s go, Parker!”
She ran toward the ocean with her tiny little body in her tiny little wetsuit. Her hair came loose and bounced up and down. She glanced and waved Parker to join her, and I swear she looked like she’d run right off the pages of a Hollister catalog.
“Do you see your mommy?” Blake cooed to Xander. Which meant he was watching Hailey. “Wave to her,” he added and moved Xander’s arm up and down. He was so good with him. And Hailey was comfortable leaving him with Blake. They were definitely perfect for each other, and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. My matchmaking skills were rusty. But at least they were still intact.
“You coming?” Parker asked me and gave his wetsuit zipper a tug before heading toward the water.
“Of course.” I zipped my wetsuit and picked up my board then hustled to catch up with him.
“Is she going to be okay out there?” he asked when I caught up. The water licked our toes, but Hailey was already sitting up on her board waiting for us.
“Why wouldn’t she be? She knows how to surf.” I waved to her then jumped on my board, noticing for the first time the patches of murky water indicating riptides.
“The water’s pretty rough. Be careful.” Parker paddled past me toward Hailey.
I paddled harder but didn’t get to them before they caught their first wave—a big one I had to duck dive under. I came up from it in time to see Hailey get rolled at the tail end of her wave. Her board popped up before she did, and I could see she’d lost it. I remembered the leash was shot on the board she’d borrowed from me, but I also knew she could swim. At least, I thought I knew she could.
I checked the water behind me. A swell was coming, and I could either paddle and take the wave, or it would take me. But I was too late. I got raked over. By the time I popped out of the water and got on my board, I expected to see Hailey back on hers.
Instead her board was headed toward shore, and Hailey was waving her arms and being pulled in the opposite direction. That’s when I knew she’d been caught in a riptide. Riptides aren’t that big of a deal for people who know what to do in them. It’s basic. Stay calm and float parallel to the shore until you can swim out. People only drown when they waste energy waving their arms and trying to swim out of the riptide. Hailey should have known better, but she was doing exactly what she shouldn’t.
I paddled toward her, knowing I probably couldn’t reach her before things got really bad. Parker would have to do it, but I didn’t see him anywhere.
“Are you okay?” Parker called, and I looked to my right to see him paddling toward me instead of Hailey.
“I’m fine!” I yelled back and pointed to Hailey. “Hailey’s not!”
He looked in Hailey’s direction then paddled hard. I joined him but stopped when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something black darting toward the water.
It was Blake. “Darting” may be too generous a description when it comes to running in a too-tight wetsuit, but even with his awkward run that should have been a dive into the water, I could tell he’d be able to get to Hailey before we would.
Parker saw it too and sat up on his board. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted to Hailey, “Stay calm! Swim with it!”
Her head dipped momentarily under the water, and Parker let out a curse as Blake swam straight for the riptide. “We’re going to have to rescue them both!” He dropped back to his board and paddled so fast there was no way I could keep up with him.
As it turned out, I didn’t need to because Hailey figured out what she needed to do even before Blake reached her. Maybe it was Parker’s yelling or maybe it was seeing Blake swimming toward her, but she finally calmed down and swam with the current instead of fighting against it until she was able to get out of the rip and swim for shore. In fact, it was her warning that kept Blake from swimming directly into it.
He turned back once he saw she was safe and then met her in the knee-deep water where he wrapped his arms around her waist to help her the final few feet to shore. She laid her head against his chest until they made it to Parker, who had paddled in. They both helped her to our spot on the beach, where she unzipped her wetsuit and rolled it to her waist before collapsing on the sand.
By the time I joined the group, Jami had a towel and her arm wrapped around Hailey, with Blake sitting next to her wrapped in his own towel. Parker stood behind them, bouncing Xander, trying to get him to stop crying. He kept reaching for his mom, who sat cross-legged with her head bent forward and her hair hanging in long, wet tendrils in front of her face. Her back moved up and down in slow arcs with each breath she took.
I squatted in front of her and tucked her wet hair behind her ear. “Are you okay? You scared me to death!”
“I scared myself.” She took a deep breath and blew it out before lifting her head to look at me. “I panicked and forgot what to do. I’m so dumb.”
“Stop that!” I squeezed her arm and then plopped down cross-legged in front of her so our legs touched, and I could put my hands on her knees. “Anyone could make the same mistake. I’m just glad Blake was there to help you.”
“I know. Me too,” she said, glancing at him with a shy smile. “And Parker too. I never would have remembered what to do without him.”
She popped up, fully recovered from her ordeal, and took Xander from Parker. “Thank you so much. For everything.” She gave him a warm smile and squeezed her squirming baby close to her chest.
“You were so amazing!” I said to Blake, thinking maybe Hailey hadn’t seen what he’d done for her. “Did you see him swimming straight into the riptide to help you? He didn’t hesitate—”
“Yeah, talk about dumb,” Blake interjected. “I didn’t realize it was there. Someone would’ve had to rescue me too.”
“That’s what makes it even more courageous, right, Hailey?” I nudged her, and she stopped kissing the top of Xander’s head. “You were willing to risk your life without even thinking about it.” I nudged Hailey again because she’d gone back to kissing Xander. How many kisses did he really need?
“Yeah, totally,” she answered then held Xander’s naked belly up to her mouth and blew a raspberry on it. He squealed with laughter, so she did it again, and suddenly everyone’s attention was on the giggling baby instead of where it should have been: encouraging the budding romance between Blake and Hailey.
“It’s getting late,” Parker said and cleared his throat. Hailey paused mid-raspberry, and everyone turned toward Parker who cleared his throat again. “I’m going to hit a few more waves before I head home.”
“I’ll go with you if you want,” I said and stood. A little alone time on the water with Parker would make for a pretty perfect morning.
“Do whatever you want.” His answer felt like the time I’d gotten stung by a jellyfish. Only worse.
“I’d love to give it another go too,” Hailey said and handed Xander to a surprised Jami, who barely had enough time to stick her arms out before the baby was dropped in them.
“I actually need to head home.” Jami passed Xander to Blake and then stood and brushed the sand off her butt. “I’ve got a bunch of job applications to fill out.”
“I’d better go too.” Blake swung Xander into the crook of his arm and pushed himself up. “Are the jobs around here?” he asked Jami, who shook her head.
“I need you to open the store at ten,” I said to Hailey. “I don’t think you’ll have enough time to go out again. Maybe Blake could give you a ride home.” I dug through my bag and handed her the fob to my car. “Hide this under the wheel after you get Xander’s seat out.”
A fast-moving cloud passed by the sun, casting a shadow over all of us. At least, I think that’s why Hailey’s face looked the way it did. Blake interrupted before she could answer.
“I smell poop.” Blake held Xander out to Hailey and turned his face away from the odor of rotten eggs that filled the air as the sun peeked through the clouds again. “I’m happy to give you a ride once that’s taken care of.”
“Okay.” Hailey took her baby back, but there were no kisses or raspberries. Not even a smile. Just a slow dig through her beach bag until she found the diaper and wipey things she needed.
“Ready?” I asked Parker. His eyes narrowed in an unasked question. Or maybe it was an unspoken lecture. Whatever it was, he kept it to himself and only gave me a small nod, which somehow filled me with more guilt than his words ever had.
“I’ll see you in a little bit,” I said to Hailey and reached down to lightly piano-tap her shoulder.
She nodded and smiled. “I’ll have the shop ready.” Despite the smile, her voice came out high and tight.
“Okay. Thanks.” I waved goodbye to Blake and Jami and expected to see Parker behind me, but he was already in the water.
I grabbed my board and ran to catch up with him, but he didn’t wait.