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She grinned. “You know, it’s been a while since one of our friendly competitions. How about we race back to the pier?”
“Deal!” He immediately took off.
“Hey! No fair—” It was a long way back to the dock, so she tried to equal his pace, moving up to his shoulder and staying there. She had plenty left in the tank today. Alex increased his speed and pulled ahead. Hope pulled up alongside him, staying even with his shoulder again for several minutes. Then she tired of the game and increased her arm turnover, taking the lead, but she wasn’t able to drop him.
Is he gaining on me again? Oh, this cannot stand.
Hope surged forward, once again ahead of him, heart beating strong and body moving powerfully through the water. After a few breaths, he was next to her before drawing ahead. Not today, you’re not. She found more speed, arms churning faster and breath heaving, pulling even with him again.
Hope matched him stroke for stroke, their arms turning over in unison.
She sighted quickly—they were nearing the dock. With arms flying and feet kicking hard, she moved into her top speed, giving it everything. The water was a white froth around her, and Alex’s head was now even with her shoulder.
She touched the dock just before he did.
“Yes!” she yelled to the sky.
Alex held on to the ladder, breathing hard. “Damn, woman. Maybe you should try out for the Olympics or something.”
She laughed, flush with victory. “I wish. But next time I might let you win to help your poor bruised ego.”
“Thanks. It needs all the help it can get.”
They climbed out and toweled off. Hope had seen more of the circular spiky black objects on the way back, and now they were scattered all around the shore area on both sides of the pier. They were large, some a foot across. “What are those black things?”
“Black sea urchins.” Alex frowned, inspecting the area. “They sometimes migrate in this time of year. This is a lot. I don’t remember seeing this many before. You should warn the guests to look out for them. Stepping on one is no fun.”
“I’ll do that.” She looked out at the inviting ocean. “Great morning for a dive.”
“You want to come with us? There’s room on the boat.”
“No, I’ve got too much going on this morning. Another time.” She started to walk away but turned back. “Oh. I need to check some permits and licenses for the dive operation. After you get back, can you show me the paperwork?”
He smirked at her. “Never a dull moment with you, Boss Lady. Just come find me after we’re back.”
* * *
After breakfast, Hope strolled into the lobby office. “It’s another beautiful day, Patti.”
“What has you so happy this mornin’?”
Hope didn’t realize it was so obvious, making her self-conscious. “Oh. Things are going really well right now. Everything seems to be firing on all cylinders.” She couldn’t resist. “And to top it off, Alex and I went swimming this morning. We raced back to the dock, and I beat him! I was a pretty decent swimmer in high school, and it makes me feel great to know I’ve still got it.”
Patti smiled, biting her bottom lip. “Well, that is quite the accomplishment! Congratulations. You’re right—we’re havin’ a wonderful month, for sure. Our reservations are up ten percent this month over last year, and I’ve never seen such positive reviews.”
Patti regarded Hope with a gleam in her eye. “You know, there’s been quite an attitude shift in the staff since you got here. And I’ve definitely noticed a change in Alex.”
On the wall next to Patti were several rows of eight-by-ten staff photos. They were of each person from head to mid-chest, set against a white background. Patti laughed, pointing to the photo of Alex, who stared at the camera more like a drill sergeant than a dive guide. “He used to look like that all the time, except on the dive boat. And I’m enjoyin’ my job more these days too. I only wish you’d take it a little easier. You work too hard.”
Hope was touched. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
Another thought had been percolating in her head for a while now and this seemed like a good time to broach it. “Patti, with the success of Gerold’s cooking class, I’ve got another idea. What do you think about starting a weekly manager’s reception? We could hold it every Wednesday, the hour before dinner. We’ll have free beer and wine, and because it’s only an hour, we don’t need to worry about the drinking getting out of hand.”
“What did I just say about you workin’ too hard? You don’t have to change everythin’ at once, you know.”
“I thought it would be another opportunity to increase interaction between staff and guests. Of course, you could come in later on those days to make up for staying late.”
“Oh, I don’t mind the extra hour.” Patti frowned, though.
