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Chapter 16
I went home and changed into my swimsuit and a loose dress, grabbed my beach bag and Natalie’s hat. I also threw some extra snacks in my bag, just in case.
When I arrived at the beach, the parking lot was mobbed, and it took me a little bit to find Alivia’s car and see her with all the kids unloading their stuff.
“Oh my god, do you need any help?” I asked.
Alivia pulled a cooler out of the back of her car and set it down with a clunk.
“I think I’m good,” she said, breathing heavily.
It turned out that she and the kids couldn’t carry everything and tote the cooler, so I did end up helping haul everything across the parking lot, down the wooden walkway, and onto the sand. Then we had to find a spot, which was a challenge. Each kid wanted something different, and so Alivia finally had to put her foot down and choose a spot because we couldn’t haul everything around anymore.
She passed out pails and shovels to the boys so they could go and dig a hole, and we took the younger two girls to the water to dip our toes in.
“What do you think, Gracie Bean?” Alivia said to Grace, who wasn’t so sure about the water.
“She’s used to pools, and pools don’t have waves,” Alivia explained. I’d taken my dress off and was in my suit and trying to help. Ellie took my hand and squealed as the waves covered her toes.
“Is it cold?” I asked her and she shrieked with joy.
Grace was reluctant about the water, but we started walking in with her and she seemed okay with it. Fortunately, the waves weren’t too intense today.
Alivia picked her up as we waded in further, and Grace seemed to like that.
“Show me how you swim, Ellie Bug,” Alivia said, and Ellie thrashed in the water for a little bit as Alivia and I watched and cheered for her.
“Good job, you’re a mermaid,” I said.
Ellie tried to swim with her legs stuck together like a mermaid tail, but it didn’t really work.
“You’ll just have to practice,” I told her.
Alivia practiced holding Grace in the water and holding her up as she tried to swim.
“They really should have lessons,” Alivia said. “They have swim classes for babies so if they ever fall into a pool they can float on their backs.”
“I don’t even remember learning to swim,” I said. “But it was probably during my summer breaks here in Castleton. My parents weren’t the kind of parents to give me swim lessons.”
Alivia gave me a sad look.
“Sorry. I try not to talk about them,” I said.
“You can talk to me about anything,” Alivia said, and I realized it was true. There was such a comfort level with her, an intimacy that had nothing to do with sex.
We had to get out of the water to deal with a disagreement with the boys, so we wrapped the girls in towels to dry them off and then sat them on the sand with buckets and shovels to amuse themselves. A timer went off on Alivia’s phone to re-sunblock everyone, which was a huge chore that I needed a nap after.
“I don’t know how Alice and James do this every day,” Alivia said when all four kids were playing.
“They must sleep really well,” I said. I knew I was going to sleep well tonight.
“I’m hungry,” Tucker said, bringing his bucket and shovel up to where Alivia and I had put our towels.
“Who else is hungry?” Alivia asked, and the three other kids yelled that they were.
“Okay, food time,” Alivia said.
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