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With that, he strode over to the drink tent, easily striking up a conversation with the next people in line and having them laughing in minutes. Fucker was charismatic, I’d give him that.
Taking a deep breath, I turned my attention to the shore, needing only a second to find the two people I cared about. Kenzie and Jake stood at the edge of the water, letting the waves lap at their feet. As I got closer, I saw they were both smiling, Jake laughing loudly each time the cold water got his toes, and my relief was indescribable.
Stan came here because he had no choice, but he thought to ruin it with his cruel accusations; I was glad to see he hadn’t succeeded.
Fucker.
I uncapped the water bottle in my hand and took several healthy gulps, the bottle crinkling as I chugged over half of it. There was something about what he said that bothered me. The confidence he had in his claim.He sounded like he had something on Kenzie that would prevent the judge from agreeing to our request.
I forced an exhale and shoved the bottle into my back pocket as I approached Kenzie and Jake. I couldn’t think about that now. Stan didn’t deserve any more of my focus than he’d already claimed.
As I got closer, I heard Jake squeal when a particularly large wave crashed onto the beach, the flow rising up his calves. He wasn’t afraid though. He looked up at Kenzie like he wanted to get closer.
She’d mentioned they’d never brought him to a beach before, and even though the water was cold, I knew Jake wouldn’t care. He loved water.
“Looks like someone wants to go in the ocean,” I said when I reached them.
Kenzie spun, her lips peeling apart when she saw me. The love I felt in her gaze was enough to bring me to his knees.
“You’ll take me?” Jake smiled and looked at me—hope in his eyes.
Something tightened in my chest, but it was different than before. Unsettling. I cleared my throat, pushing through what must be the swell of emotion and answering him, “If it’s okay with your mom.”
Kenzie nodded. “Of course.” But it was the way she reached for my arm when I went to walk by her—the way she leaned close and whispered, “I love you” that calmed the storm inside me.
“I love you, too,” I said, sinking my hand around the back of her neck and claiming a quick kiss.
Jake’s grin split his face, waiting for me before wading farther into the waves.
“Alright, let me show you how to ride a wave,” I said.The water was damn near freezing, but it didn’t matter—nothing mattered when Jake’s small hand fit into mine.
I led him toward the cresting waves. They weren’t too tall or I wouldn’t have offered to go in with him.
“Alright, let’s wait for this one to break, and as soon as it does, we’re going to rush out before the next one reaches that point,” I explained, pointing to the area where the waves toppled over.
Jake’s hand tightened on mine as the wave approached, and just when it crashed, we both pushed forward into the onslaught of water.
The cold hit my chest, but it felt like it went right through me. I didn’t know how long I was going to last out here, but I was going to do my best.
We made it past the break point of the waves, and Jake happily tread water, laughing as each roll of water carried him high and then dipped him low.
“This is so fun!”
I wanted to feel his excitement, but all I felt was the weight around my chest. Each breath feeling like I was lifting a boulder from the bottom of the ocean rather than oxygen from the depths of my lungs.
I wasn’t sure how long we were out there; it couldn’t have been long though before I realized something wasn’t right.
I swayed with the incoming wave, my balance caving in a way that wasn’t normal. I tried to straighten, but I couldn’t. My heart felt like the crack of a mallet each time it beat.
Something was really wrong.
“Jake, we have to get out,” I said, my voice groggy, as the shore started to tip in my view. “We go in with the next wave.”
I had to get him to shore.If something happened to me out here and he was alone…I had to get him to safety.
It was my only thought as I moved us toward the beach. Thank God, he didn’t protest because I knew I didn’t have the strength to fight. The next wave hit me, and I lost my footing, sinking until the water submerged me for a second.
“Zeke!” Jake cried out as soon as I was above water again.
