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“She fell in. She c-can’t swim,” I panted, breathless.
“You’re okay, little mouse. I’ve got you. You’re okay,” Cam told her as he held her and walked over to the edge towards me.
“Give her to me!” I cried as I leaned into the pool and held my arms out. Sam quickly placed a hand on my back to stop me from tumbling in too.
“Mommy!” Willow cried as Cam reached up and lifted her to me. Sam ran to get a towel from the chairs at the side, then he wrapped it around her as she clung to me and sobbed hard. She was shaking and coughing up water.
“It’s okay, peanut. Mommy’s got you,” I soothed as I sat back on my butt and settled her on my lap. She pressed against my front and took deeper breaths as her cries subsided little by little. I just clung to her too as I fought not to cry, constantly reassuring myself she really was okay.
“Is she okay? Should we take her to the ER?” I looked up, squinting through the bright sunlight and found Cam stood over me, his t-shirt gone and his shorts dripping wet. He pushed his soaked hair back from his face as he looked Willow over with concern.
“I th-think she’s okay,” I gasped, then I looked to Sam who was crouched beside us, rubbing Willow’s back comfortingly. In the two days we had been there, he and Willow had become good friends, largely due to the fact the man always had baked goods to delight Willow with. “Do y-you think she’s okay?” I asked him shakily.
“She was only under for a moment. I’m sure she’s fine,” Sam assured me with a gentle smile.
“I don’ts like the pool no more!” Willow wailed as she lifted her head and looked to me with teary eyes.
“That’s because you tried to swallow it all up, trouble. You’re supposed to swim in it, you know?” Cam told her playfully as he leaned in and brushed some more of her wild hair back out of her face. For a moment, as I looked up and met those azure eyes, I saw the boy I had once known. Even in the chaos and terror of that moment, it was such an amazing feeling to know he was in there still.
“I didn’t!” Willow pouted as she sent him her best glare. “It was all Dozy’s fault. He tripped me up and I fell in.”
“This is why mommy told you not to go close to the pool though, isn’t it honey?” I reminded her.
“How about we go to the kitchen and get you a juice box to wash that nasty pool taste away?” Sam suggested. “I might even have some of the chocolate chip cookies, that we baked yesterday, left.”
“Can I, mommy?” she asked with a sniffle.
“Okay, but just one cookie. It’s almost dinner time,” I gave in as I handed her into Sam’s open arms. He smiled at me and gave a nod, reassuring me she’d be okay. I watched as Dozy happily followed behind them into the house, his tail wagging. No doubt Sam would spoil him with a treat too.
“Oh God,” I gasped to myself once Willow was out of reach. I lifted my trembling hands to my face and covered my eyes as I took a deep breath. I was so angry with myself for taking my eyes off of her. I should have known she’d be straight over to the pool as soon as I wasn’t watching her.
“Are you okay?” I looked up and found Cam still stood over me, looking nervous and unsure as he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck.
“I should have been watching her. I’m really sorry,” I told him as I moved to stand. I got my feet underneath me and tried to push up, but I was shaking more than I realised and, as always, lightheadedness consumed me. I was grateful when Cam slipped his huge hand around my forearm and steadied me as I got up. “Thanks,” I said as I straightened up my dress “And thank you for getting to her so quickly. I’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again. I still can’t believe I was so stupid. I should know better. She has such a knack for getting herself in trouble,” I rambled, feeling nervous and unsure now he was before me.
“Mads, just stop. You can’t watch her every second of every day. She’s fine,” he told me. He still held my arm and he used it to guide me back over to the lounger I had been sitting on before.
There was a hint of a smile on my face as I sat. He had called me ‘Mads’ just like he used to. Just like they both used to. That thought had the smile disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared. I looked up, squinting through the bright sunlight to see him. I wanted to tell him how sorry I was about Everett, but I knew nothing I could say would soothe the agony I could see in his eyes.
There was an awkward silence between us as we just took each other in. I tried to think of something to say, but I was scared of it being the wrong thing and upsetting him.
“Were you working?” I asked as I nodded towards where I knew the huge workshop building sat just out of sight. It was in the back corner of the property, tucked away behind some trees. I hadn’t seen the inside, but Willow and I had walked past it when we were exploring the day before. It seemed to be a barn which had been converted.
“Just making some new shelves for the library in town,” he shrugged as he looked away from me and started fidgeting a little with his hands.
“The shelves you made for Willow’s room are beautiful. Your work must be in high demand.”
“I don’t sell it,” he clarified. “It’s just a hobby; something to keep me busy.”
“So you’re not charging the library for the shelves?” I asked.
“Nah. Kai set that up. The library is being revamped, but they didn’t have enough money to update everything. Kai asked me to help and I got nothing better to do,” he shrugged.
“That’s kind of you, Cam.” I reached out to touch his arm, but he stepped back out of my reach so suddenly it startled me. I looked up at him again, confused by his reaction. Cameron and Everett had always been tactile, always hugging and touching me when we were together. The almost anxious way he was glancing to me now, suggested that had changed since.
I opened my mouth to apologize to him, hating how uncomfortable he looked, but stopped when Kai came running outside.
“Maddie! Are you okay? Sam just told me what happened. I’m so sorry. I should have been out here with you,” he said all at once as he hurried over and dropped to his haunches beside me.
