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"You. Are. Standing. You've got this!"
I'm laughing and trying not to rock the paddleboard too much. He hands me the paddle. I slowly dip it into the water and move it about two inches. The board glides forward.
"I'm doing it, Damien," I yell.
"You look great, girlie," he responds.
Emboldened, I take a bigger swipe through the water with the paddle. I propel forward, and pass Damien. It's easier than I thought.
"Should we race?" I ask with a giggle.
His chuckle reaches my ears. "Probably not quite yet."
Somehow, I manage to paddle myself in a straight line. I don't fall, I don't manically steer myself into shore, I don't hit myself in the face with the oar.
As I get the hang of the rhythm, Damien paddles about five feet behind me, on a diagonal. I speed up a bit, then lift my oar so I can glide through the water. I tilt my face upwards and the breeze hits my skin, drying my perspiration. There's something freeing about skimming over the water like this.
"This is the best," I say. "Why haven't I done this before?"
Damien glides his board parallel to mine. "I knew you could do it."
kate
. . .
I'm drippingwet when I pull open the back door to Mom's little beach house. Even though it's November in Florida, it's warmer than some summer days in Chicago. There was a time when I was used to heat and humidity, but I'm clearly out of practice because I'm sweating buckets.
"Hey," I holler over the sound of the talk show host's voice coming from the television.
"How was your run, dear?" Mom's voice is creaky even though it's nine in the morning. There was a time when she'd have been up for hours by now. Not this year.
I take a few steps and stand in the doorframe of her bedroom, panting.
"Excellent. Jeez, I've missed running on the beach. Feels really good." I take a deep breath, trying to regulate my heart.
Mom's propped up on pillows, wearing a silky, green kimono robe I bought her a couple of years ago. Even now, with her short, brassy blonde hair and cat-eye glasses, she looks glamorous. At least to me. She's always looked that way, quirky, with old-Hollywood sparkle. There was a time when she was the most sought after woman on the island—a fact that embarrassed me when I was a teenager.
Now, my heart swells with pride over what she's been able to accomplish and overcome in her life. Carolyn Cooper is a fighter, a fact I'm reminded of as she loses that beautiful blonde hair in clumps.
We're a pair, all right, with our health woes. Maybe because I got used to doctors when I was little, or maybe because Mom is unflappable, it feels like we're managing okay.
She raises the remote to turn the television volume down. "I'm surprised you got up so early, after working late and being out so late." A little smile plays on her lips. "You've had several late nights over the last couple of weeks, haven't you?"
I can't help but laugh at the memory of last night with Damien. We've been seeing each other every night since our picnic. Sometimes we make out in his car, other times we walk hand-in-hand on the beach in the dark and talk. "Nothing slips by you, sharp lady."
"Now, Kathryn. You're twenty-eight and I'm not going to ask you to account for your time. You want to go out and party, you go right ahead. But when you're home and you don't return as expected, I'm going to stay up. And worry."
I sit on the edge of her bed and grab her free hand, bussing a kiss on the pale skin of her fingers. "Sorry. I'll text you next time I'm planning on being late. Damien Hastings and I have been hanging out. He came into the bar one night last week, and we ended up..."
Talking and making out like teenagers.
Mom's green eyes go wide. "Hanging out."
"Yeah. That. He's home for a few months before his next assignment."
She nods thoughtfully. I never told her that I crushed on Damien hard in high school and certainly never mentioned our kiss or the fallout from it. But Mom has an uncanny sixthsense—probably all moms do—and I suspect she knew then that something was up.
"How's his mother? I heard that the Hastings were considering selling the resort so she wouldn't have so much stress."
