Page 34 of Summer Affair

“Thanks. What about your mom? Does she pressure you to move on from the camp?” she asked, appreciating his support more than she could express. Still, it felt foreign, and she felt an urge to move on quickly.

Being around him made every part of her body heat. He’d always done that to her. Even more now that she knew what he tasted like.

“No.” He chuckled. “If anything, she keeps worrying that I’ll quit River Camps.”

She frowned. “You’re not thinking of quitting, are you?”

“No.” He shook his head. “My mother just enjoys access to the grounds and doesn’t want to lose it.”

“Which reminds me, she has made it very clear to me that I am never to schedule you as her massage therapist.” She grinned. “Something my sister and mother have no problem with, just as long as they get the family discount.”

He chuckled. “I gave my mother one lousy backrub when I was ten, back when she pinched her shoulder.” He rolled his eyes. “But yeah, I agree with her. You and Kara can handle my family.”

They were both done with their lunches, so they tossed their garbage into the bag she’d brought along and decided to cool off in the water.

They walked over the hot sand and stepped into the cool shallow water. In less than a month, during the height of summer, the water would be warm enough that she wouldn’t even shiver, but now she had to focus not to vibrate or turn around and head back to the sand. All of the tourists thought the temperature was perfect. Tourists, she thought with a grin, often wore swimsuits in December down here.

“The water is still chilly,” he said, taking her hand. “Once we get in, we’ll get used to it.”

“Tourists think it’s so warm.” She shook her head.

“Tourists.” He scoffed and had her laughing.

“Right?” she agreed. “I’m cold when it dips below seventy-eight.”

“I can go as low as seventy-five, then I need a sweatshirt.” He laughed.

He was right. A few moments after they’d both jumped all the way in, the water felt fine and they floated and played in the surf like they had done all of their lives.

They talked about the event the previous night. About her sister. About his sister. She’d never really dated someone who had been a friend before. They knew so much about one another, it was odd to think that they still had so many things to talk about.

They had just decided to get out of the water to grab some drinks when a panicked shout echoed down the beach. Andrea’s head snapped up to see a woman frantically waving her arms, screaming for help.

Two small boys were struggling in the water a few yards directly out from the woman. The kids were obviously caught in a rip current and being pulled out to deeper waters quickly.

Beside her, Dean didn’t even hesitate. He ran towards the kids before she could even react. She quickly followed him down the beach to where the mother stood, her heart pounding in her chest.

“Stay here, I’m the better swimmer,” Dean called to her as he dove into the deeper waves, swimming powerfully towards the boys.

He was right. Even though she was an excellent swimmer in a swimming pool, she never really went out deep in the Gulf. The currents scared her too much. She always wore a life vest when she went paddleboarding. Always.

She knew that all during high school and for a few years after, Dean had been a part-time lifeguard at the beach just down the road.

Andrea stayed along the shore and watched anxiously with the mother as Dean reached the first boy. For a split second he struggled, but then he started swimming sideways down the beach to get out of the strong current.

When he got closer, she jumped in and met him in the shallow water and pulled the small boy to safety while Dean rushed back in for the second child. She ran, carrying the little boy’s limp body from the water. He was wearing bright yellow SpongeBob SquarePants swim trunks. Her mind kept focusing on that instead of how pale and blue he looked.

She laid him on the dry sand and immediately checked if he was breathing and for a pulse before starting CPR.

“Come on, come on,” she muttered. She started compressions, counting out loud with each deliberate motion, then breathed into his mouth when she reached thirty. “One, two,” she thought with each breath she gave him. She stopped to listen as she felt for a pulse again. When she heard gurgling noises coming from the child’s chest, she sat the boy up and pounded on his back several times.

Finally, the boy coughed, water spluttering from his mouth along with chunks of food as he threw up in the sand.

She breathed a sigh of relief as he started to cry for his mother. His mother had been kneeling beside the boy, watching Andrea as she’d worked, and took him into her arms as she cried and thanked her.

Remembering that Dean was still out in the water, she jumped up and glanced around. Dean was so far out in the water, he was only a dot. She could tell he was fighting the current to reach the second boy. She watched, her heart in her throat, as he struggled against the rip current.

Would he reach the second boy in time? She held her breath as she kept her eyes glued on both of them.