AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Tina spun around. “Well, I’ll be.”
Thirty minutes later, Tina and I were on the beach watching as Callie nervously stood waist deep in the water with the lifeguard. She listened intently as he went through the swim test rules, giving a nod when he asked if she understood. She had just watched me go through the same process.
Teddy was wrapped around Tina like a monkey. He had fussed a bit about the idea of getting wet at first. A simple reminder that he wouldn’t have to get his face wet if he didn’t want was enough to relax him. Now, though, the death grip he had on his mother made me wonder whether he would really end up getting into the water.
Callie peered over at us, and I gave her a thumbs-up. Pride surged through me as she raised her arms above her head, took a deep breath in, and dove into the water.
Nerves settled in my stomach. If she didn’t pass, she would be disappointed. But the realization that I didn’t want her to be disappointed was the real reason my gut was twisted up.
A hand brushed along my arm, and I glanced over at Tina.
“She’ll do it.” She sent me that smile of hers, and my body instantly relaxed. “Stop worrying.”
I shook my head. “I don’t break promises.”
Except one. I made Levi a promise, and I still hadn’t followed through.
Holding my breath, I tracked Callie as she approached the rope buoy. When she got there, she halted and treaded water for thirty seconds as instructed. From there, she headed back toward the lifeguard. The look of determination on her face told me all I needed to know. There was no way she wasn’t making the ten-yard swim back.
The beaming smile on her face when she exited the water with her green wrist band on was one that would be etched into my memory forever.
“I did it!” She clapped as she bounced on the sand in front of us.
“You did.” I held out a fist, and she bumped it. “I knew you would.”
“So proud of you, baby girl.” Tina stepped back and held up her phone. “Now let me get a picture.”
Tina snapped a few pictures, and Callie obediently smiled. As Tina clicked the lock button on her phone, signaling that she was finished, Callie asked, “Can you get one of both of us with our matching bands?”
My heart flipped in my chest when I realized she meant me. Immediately, I kneeled in the sand and held my wrist up next to hers for a picture.
“I didn’t realize you were going to take the swim test too,” Tina added, dropping her phone on the blanket.
I shrugged. “Why should Callie get to have all the fun?”
“Yeah, and now I have somebody to go on the slide with and race to the stairs.”
I hadn’t needed a reason to go down the slide since my earlytwenties, and even then, I’d done it for Savannah, who was only twelve at the time.
“And she’ll have to do this each year?”
I nodded. “Yeah, we both will.” Fuck.Shewill. I wouldn’t be here the following year. I shook my head. “It’s required every season. They’ll record it, and for the rest of the summer, every time you check in, you get the green band.”
She surveyed the matching red bands on hers and Teddy’s wrists. “Red for non-swimmer, and green for swimmer, huh?”
“Pretty much.” I smirked. “But you could take the swim test if you wanted to.”
She glanced at the big slide that sent its riders flying into the water and cringed. “Yeah, no. I’m good.”
Callie and I spent the next half hour going down the slippery contraption that propelled us up and into the lake. I’d forgotten how much fun it was. Between rounds, Tina waved at us from the beach, catching our attention. When we waved back, she snapped a picture of us, and then we were off to slide again.
Thoroughly worn out, we made our way back to the shore, where Tina stood with Teddy in water that came up to his hips.
“Did you swim, bud?”
Teddy shook his head.
“I couldn’t get him to go out any farther than this.” Tina nodded down to her son and shrugged. “It’s progress, though. At least he’s in the water.”
