Jake positioned himself at the edge of the railing and swung one leg over. “Don’t try this at home, kids.”
Perry could practically feel the intake of breath on the boat as he rose with barely a wobble and balanced on the narrow rail. “Look out below!” he yelled, and then he executed the perfect backflip.
Perry’s eyes went straight to Olivia. When Jake shot back up to the surface, she let out a whoop and everyone clapped. The rest of them jumped like lemmings. His father, Rob. Even Amelia leapt off the back of the boat. Perry had never known Amelia to jump off of anything.
Perry went to sit with Emma, who seemed engrossed in texting. He wanted to ask whom it was with. “Having fun?” he asked instead.
“I guess.”
Below them, the boys splashed about in the water with Jake, taking turns wrapping their arms around his neck.
Phoebe shouted down at them, “Careful! You’re going to drown your uncle.”
“Livi!” Jake called. “Come rescue me.” Perry had not heard his brother refer to her as such. To him, Olivia seemed more fitting.
But she didn’t seem to mind. “You’re on your own,” she shouted back.
“City girl!” Jake taunted her.
That was all it took. Olivia turned and grabbed Luci’s hand. “Come on, love. Let’s show these boys.” But Luci shook her head.
Perry tried to avert his gaze as Olivia undid the button on her jean shorts and they slipped to the boat floor. But when she bent and tossed him her cutoffs, he couldn’t help but blush.
“Would you please set those on my bag so they don’t get splashed?” She flashed him a dizzying smile. Perry coughed.
In no time, Jake had organized a diving competition. Because that was the kind of thing Jake did. Even Emma stopped texting to take a video of everyone playing in the water.
Refreshed and dripping wet, Amelia climbed up the ladder and wrapped herself in a towel. “See who’s having a good time?” Amelia said, gesturing toward Emma. “I don’t know why you worry so much about her.”
Emma had abandoned her phone and was in line for the diving contest. Perry grinned as she cannonballed off the edge. He realized that only he and Luci remained.
Olivia climbed up the ladder and waved. “Lu Lu! Want a turn?”
Timidly, Luci peered down into the water.
“Oh, come on,” Olivia coaxed. “Show the boys your stuff.”
From below came Jake’s call. “What’s going on up there? The judges are getting tired of treading water.” He’d said it jokingly, but Perry thought he saw a flash of consternation cross Olivia’s brow.
“Just a minute,” she said, climbing up onto the deck. “She’s coming.”
But Luci didn’t go to her mother. Instead she turned and looked at Perry. Unsure of what to do, he waved. Luci returned the gesture shyly.
Perry leaned forward from his seat. “Can I tell you a secret? Emma used to be afraid to jump,” he told her. “And you know what I did? I said I’d jump, too, if she went with me.”
Luci glanced over at her mother, then back at Perry.
“What do you think?” Olivia asked. She was smiling encouragingly, but her question came out as more of a plea.
Perry felt something inside him shift. Suddenly, it mattered tohim very deeply that Luci answer her mother. That she join in the group, and not hold back, afraid.
“I bet you’d have the best dive,” Perry said, softly. “What do you think?”
“Okay.” Luci’s voice was so soft, the single word so small, that at first Perry wasn’t sure he’d heard right. Had she really spoken, or had he just wished it?
But the look on Olivia’s face said otherwise. “That’s my girl!”
Luci pointed to the water.
