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‘Come on, Luke!’
The voice was still there and wasn’t going to go away. Luke heaved himself up, pulling his shorts to adjust their position. He blinked in the bright sunlight and pulled his shades down from his forehead. Abby was sleeping peacefully on the beach towel next to him. She hadn’t even heard Reuben’s voice.
Luke tried to crowd out the immediate thoughts in his head. The thoughts that tried to vanquish this little guy from sight. He stared at the little pair of eyes fixed on his. Nope. He definitely wasn’t going away.
‘What’s up, Reuben?’
‘I want to go in the water and I’m not allowed without an adult. Beach rules number one.’ The words rolled off his tongue in ease.
Luke’s face broke into a smile. How could he fail to? He leaned forward. ‘So how many beach rules are there, Reuben?’
‘Seven.’ He didn’t hesitate for a second. ‘Wanna hear them all?’
Luke nodded slowly as he glanced at Abby again. She looked tired and he’d kept her up half the night. She deserved some rest. He pulled the beach parasol closer to shade her from the sun and stood up. ‘Let’s go, little guy.’
He hesitated, just for a second, before reaching out his hand to Reuben’s and walking down to the water’s edge with him. Around them he could see lots of families in the water, fathers throwing their kids over their shoulders and ducking them under the waves. How hard could this be?
‘I want to do that.’ Reuben’s voice had a determined edge to it, his finger pointing in the direction of the surfers.
Luke’s brow furrowed. Right now, he’d like to do that too.
‘Have you done it before, short stuff?’
‘Mommy can’t surf. She said I’d need to wait for one of her friends to show me.’
Luke nodded. Sounded reasonable enough. There was a shack on the beach where some guy was hiring out surfboards, boogie boards and life vests. He pulled Reuben over and fitted him with a bright orange life vest. His eyes ran over the boards on offer and settled on a purple one. He pointed towards it. ‘We’ll take that one.’
‘Really?’ Reuben’s eyes widened at the adult-sized board, full of enthusiasm and excitement.
‘Sure.’ Luke pulled some dollar bills from his pocket and handed them over before lifting the board under his arm and walking down towards the ocean. He bent to speak to Reuben before entering the ocean.
‘So, I’ve got some ocean rules for you.’
Reuben nodded solemnly whilst his eyes swept over the ocean in front of him. He was practically jumping for joy.
‘First time out, we’re just going to paddle the board out a little, sitting on it together. Got it?’
Reuben nodded. ‘I’m going to surf,’ he said proudly.
Luke raised his finger. ‘We won’t be doing any of the standing-up stuff yet. And we won’t be going too far out either.’ He put his arms out, his body drifting from one side to the other. ‘We’re just going to get a feel for the waves, okay?’
‘Let’s go, Luke.’ Reuben was bouncing on the tips of his toes. He could hardly wait to start. A wide smile broke across Luke’s face. He knew another guy who used to be exactly the same.
He set the board down and plopped Reuben astride on top of it, pushing it out into the waves until the water reached his waist. Then he pulled himself up next to Reuben, sitting close behind him, and leaned forward. ‘Let’s start paddling!’ he shouted.
And then they started. Paddling their hands as fast as they could, pushing themselves out towards the wide ocean expanse. After a few minutes they stopped and turned the board round to face the shoreline. And sat there—feeling the waves.
And Reuben chatted. Constantly. And asked questions. Constantly. For a four-year-old he seemed to have spent some considerable time watching National Geographic. He wanted to talk about tides and moons. And crabs and dolphins. And sharks. Mainly about sharks. Before he moved onto volcanoes then racing cars.
And Luke listened. And listened. This four-year-old stuff wasn’t as hard as it seemed. He was just a mini-version of Ryan. He had the same boundless energy and enthusiasm—
they must have paddled in and out around ten times by now and his brain never stopped.
Reuben wanted to know everything. The kid was just like a giant sponge, trying to soak up every bit of information all around him. And if Luke could have transported himself through time and space to a time when Ryan had still been alive, he knew that they would still end up here, in this place. Because everything about this just felt so right. On these surfboards, at this beach, enjoying everything the day had to offer.
They turned to face the shore again and Luke squinted. It looked as if Abby had woken up. ‘Look, short stuff, there’s your mom, looking for us.’ He pointed to her bikini-clad figure on the beach. A very small red bikini that made him wish he was much closer to shore.
‘Uh-oh.’
‘What do you mean—uh-oh?’
‘Mom’s gonna be mad.’
‘Why would she be mad?’
Reuben gave a little chuckle. A tiny four-year-old-sized chuckle. ‘Cos I’m not allowed.’
Luke felt his stomach sink. ‘Reuben Tyler, you’re not allowed to do what, exactly?’
‘Surf.’
Luke caught sight of Abby as she walked swiftly toward the shoreline. She was not in a happy place. He leaned forward on the board. ‘Start paddling, little man, looks like we’re in trouble.’
Abby had woken with a start. She never fell asleep on the beach. Not when she was there with Reuben. That was irresponsible. Anything could happen.
Silence. All around her. Well, not completely. There were still plenty of other families on the beach, digging sandcastles, eating snacks. But there was a strange silence around her. One that she wasn’t used to.
She sat up quickly, her hand reaching over to the towel next to her. It was cold. No warm body had just vacated it. Her head flicked from side to side, trying to catch a glimpse of either pair of neon green turtle shorts on the beach. Nowhere. They were nowhere in sight.
Her heart gave a little lurch. Stop it. Reuben wasn’t alone. He must be with Luke. But where were they?
She saw the kids to her left that Reuben had made the mud pies with earlier. Pulling her hat firmly on her head, she walked towards them quickly. ‘Have you seen Reuben lately?’ she asked, trying to keep the strain from her voice.
The kids barely looked upwards. Both were too immersed in burying something in the sand. ‘He’s surfing with his dad,’ came the reply.
Her head shot upwards, eyes flickering over the horizon. She could see lots of surfboards on the ocean, most of them far away, like specks on the waves. He couldn’t have. He wouldn’t have.
Then she saw it. A board nearer the shore with a hand, raised giving her a wave. Two bodies sitting one in front of the other astride the surfboard, paddling towards her. The two white-blond heads close together, laughing and paddling as fast as they could.
She ran down towards the shoreline as the purple board bobbed towards her. Her eyes couldn’t even focus on Luke. She looked entirely at Reuben.
‘Reuben Tyler, what do you think you’re doing?’
‘Paddling,’ Reuben answered, and Luke almost guffawed. Lord, this kid was smart.
‘Get off that board right now. You know you’re not allowed to go surfing.’
‘Surfing’s the next lesson, Mommy. Today Luke and I were just feeling the waves.’ He held his arms out and rocked his body from side to side like Luke had done earlier.
Abby felt her heart pounding in her chest. She waded into the water and yanked Reuben from the board, putting his feet down firmly on solid ground. Her face was pale. ‘He’s not allowed to do things like this, Luke. It’s too dangerous. I won’t let Reuben take risks.’
