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She opened a door behind her markedOfficeand disappeared inside.
While I waited for my change, I glanced around the room. The walls were covered with framed pictures, some black and white, others in color, all filled with people. I walked over to one wall, taking a closer look at a photo that was more of a sepia color. The year on the bottom of the picture said “Deadwood - June 1943,” the girls’ swimsuits were modest one pieces with flaring mini-skirts and heart-shaped tops. Names were listed along the bottom of the picture, some of the last names the same as several current members of the chamber of commerce. Apples didn’t fall far from trees around here.
“Here you go, Ma’am.”
I winced at receiving the old-lady form of address from the teeny-bopper, resisting the urge to stick my tongue out at her as I grabbed the bills she held out for me.
After a quick shower and a full-face grimace at the sight of my body in my black-and-white polka-dot tankini in the locker room mirror, I pussyfooted out to join the girls.
The pool was alive with bobbing heads. Laughs and squeals echoed around me. I guess we weren’t the only ones trying to fill an afternoon with some splashing. I scanned the human buoys, searching for a familiar blonde head.
“Do a cannonball, Mom!” Addy yelled. She and Kelly clung to the side in the deep end.
No way!The fallout would drown the preschoolers dog-paddling in the shallow end.
“Now that I’d like to see,” said an all-too-familiar baritone voice behind me.
I closed my eyes and pulled my self-confidence up by the bootstraps. Of all the swimming pools in all the towns in all the world …
Smearing a smile on my lips, I turned around. Doc stood there, dripping in a pair of midnight blue swim trunks.
“Hello, Violet.” His gaze took its usual trip down to my toenails and back. “Nice knees.”
Trying not to stare at his bare chest, I zeroed in on the shallow cleft in his chin. “Hi. You come here often?”
“Often enough.”
That might explain the T-shirt and shorts he’d been wearing on Saturday, and the rigid contours of his upper body—which I was determined not to notice.
“I haven’t seen you here before,” he said.
“I’m allergic to exercise.”
He chuckled, water trickling down over his Adams apple. “My loss. I’d enjoy some one-on-one with you.”
My face baked as I took that straight into the bedroom.
“On the basketball court,” he clarified, his grin wide.
Nodding, I pretended I knew what he’d meant all along. “Sounds fun, but I haven’t touched a ball in years.”
No sooner had the words exited my lips than I wished I’d swallowed my tongue.
“Really. Not even one, huh? That’s too bad.”
I could hear the laughter in his voice.
“Are you coming in or what, Mom?” Addy came dripping up beside me.
A distraction, thank God! “Sure.”
Addy eyed Doc under her spiky blonde lashes. “Hey, I know you.”
“Yes, you do. How’s the chicken?”
Shrugging, she brushed her wet bangs out of her eyes. “Okay. Mom’s still making me get rid of her. Do you know of any nice chicken ranches around here?”
Out of the mouth of babes.
