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Hope was obviously fine. She was having fun. She swam toward Charlie who had now coasted to the waters closer to her. Hope was about halfway to him when she turned around in the water and waved at the girl who was still standing on the cliff.
"Jump right where I did," she yelled. "It's deep. I went down far, and I didn't touch anything."
She turned and started swimming toward Charlie's boat again. He smiled as he watched her. He came to the side of the boat as she swam to him.
"Sophia was afraid she was going to hit bottom, so I was up there showing her where to jump." There was a small ladder on the back of the boat, and Hope climbed onto it as she spoke. "Hey, Charlie," she continued, climbing out of the water.
Charlie moved to her, helping her up. "Hey, Hope."
"I'm glad you're here. I left something at the house," she said. "Would you mind taking me back there real quick?"
"Sure. Of course."
She stood up to her full height and they balanced on the small boat. They were only a foot or two apart, and she smiled at him. "Take me over there to the big boat, if you don't mind, so I can tell them what we're doing."
Within a minute, they had made their way close enough to the big boat that they could speak and be heard without yelling.
"I forgot something at the house and Charlie's going to take me back there to get it. Do you guys need anything?"
A few of them shook their head like they didn't need anything but Beau yelled out. "If your leg wasn't hurt, you would have to race Hope up that cliff. She's amazing."
Hope looked at Charlie. "He took it easy on me," she whispered. "He's just trying to talk the girls into doing it. They walk around the trail to get to the top. It takes fifteen minutes."
Just then, Sophia (who hadn't heard any of that) shrieked and jumped off of the small cliff and into the water. Hope cheered for her when she came up, and the boat swayed, causing Hope to flinch in order to steady herself. She grabbed Charlie's arm to do it, and his chest felt tight.
