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I nodded.
“One.” He looked at me and my hand and said, “We go on three.”
I snickered. “Got it.”
“One. Two.” His attention turned from our hands, and he looked at the other side of the pool as he said, “Three.”
He kicked off and glided over to that side easily. I was not far behind him. At that side, he pushed his hair back, making it an adorable mess on top of his head, and said, “You’re faster than Gweta.”
“Thanks.” I should hope so. Greta was old enough to be his dad’s mom.
“Ready?” he asked. I nodded. I lifted my hand on two, and he stopped and said, “Hoppy, you have to play by the rules.” His r sounded a bit like a w, so it explained why I was Hoppy, not Harpy, just easier to leave the r out altogether.
I smiled, put my fingers flat on the side, and said, “Yes, Sir.”
“Better.” He nodded. I cracked up laughing again. He counted off, and we raced to the other side of the pool.
Once there, he considered me a long moment and asked, “You go to school with my Dad, too?”
“I do.” I smiled. “Do you go to school?”
“Yeah.” He sighed. He had a lot on his mind. He pursed his little lips to the side the same way Dane sometimes did. He looked like his Dad. Would be tall like him. Had to have his mother’s eyes, though, because they were a light green. Kid would be a heartbreaker. He looked at me and said, “Do you think my dad is good?”
“At lots of things. Yes. Why?” I tried not to look too serious at him.
“Gan said he’s her twouble child. Gwetta said I’m like my dad.” He looked away from me, and his smile lit up.
I looked in that direction and saw Dane walking toward the pool. He wasn’t walking fast, and as other bodies started to emerge, I realized Tituss was not among them. I said to Rip, though I wasn’t a hundred percent sure I believed it, “Your dad is a very good guy. And Greta told me he was always a sweet boy, so maybe Gran is just worried about him.”
“I wowwy about him too.” He looked at me, and I smiled.
“He worries about you. And Gran.” And for good measure, “And Greta.”
Rip laughed and nodded. He said, “One. Two.”
And on three, we were racing to that side of the pool. Dane was there and out of his shoes by the time we pulled up on that side. He moved over and took a seat. Squeak waved as he left. Dane let his feet dangle in the water and reached in and pulled Rip up only to throw him in the air, where he did another cannonball into the pool.
I looked up, but before I could say anything, he said, “Dougie is dead. They found him this morning. Tituss had to go meet with the coach. I’m sure the team will get called in shortly. I—”
I put my hand on his knee and said, “I got him. You okay?”
“I didn’t like the guy, but…I don’t know.” He shook his head. He put on a smile and motioned at the water. I looked back, and Rip was almost next to me. “One more. Then we need to get lunch.”
He pulled him up out of the water, then acted like he was going to toss him, but then pulled back, then acted like it again, then finally tossed a squealing and laughing Rip into the pool. He said, “Damn, that kid is getting heavy.”
“He’s going to be big, like you.” I was looking at Rip, so when I looked up at a grinning face, I said, “But he’s a sweetheart. Unlike you.”
“I’m sweet.” He scoffed and then couldn’t even hold a straight face. “Okay, so maybe I’m not a Popsicle.”
I couldn’t even respond to that. Rip was back, and Dane pulled him up out of the water and put him on his feet next to him. “Grab your shirt.”
I watched both of them. Rip ran over and picked up one of the towels next to the floaties. Dane’s brow went up. As I contemplated if Rip’s dad would help me out or if I needed to get to one of the ladders or the stairs, Dane said, “He’s been swimming since he was born practically.”
“I didn’t know that. He’s really advanced for a four-year-old.” I was also guessing that, but he did seem to have a lot on his little mind.
“Of course he is.” Dane snickered. “He’s my son.”
He got pushed up and then looked down at me. He was about to say something when Rip came over and said, “Hoppy huwwy!”
