“Thought you were kayaking today,” I said with my eyes half squinting.
“Peeking at my schedule?” He winked. Then he looked over at his group playing the ball sport. “Actually, I need to get these kids using more muscles than their upper bodies. With their legs in the water, that should do it.”
I nodded, admiring how great his kids were playing together.
“Dillon, please no inching toward the water. You’ll get your turn to play after lunch,” I called.
Rick smiled and winked at Dillon. “I’ll see you guys later.” He ran back to his class.
Since today’s class was on the beach, my kids brought beach towels to sit on while they painted and sketched. I suggested it in case they didn’t want to get sand on their project or supplies.
“What if I do want sand on my project, Amy?”
“Then you’ll want to use glue to get it to stick and then hair spray to make it stay,” I replied, appreciating Kevin’s messy, artistic ways.
About forty minutes later, I circled the group as they were putting the finishing touches on their art. They knew this to be my reminder that time was almost up.
“I can’t get it right,” Kimmy called out, frustrated.
I walked over to see what she was working on. The sand, the water and the sky had been painted with beautiful watercolors. The boat was simpler than any of the ones out. But nonetheless, she basically had simplified her vision. The base of her single boat just off the shore was white with gray streaks. The rails were a darker shade of gray. Now she had her windows outlined, but they seemed incomplete somehow. I examined at the actual boats’ windows.
“This looks great, Kim,” I encouraged first. “Don’t you want to color in the windows?”
She looked up at me tentatively. “What color?”
I quickly scanned the nearest boats’ windows. They were somewhat black. But another one had a reflection of the sun and was a shimmering golden tone.
I sat next to her. “Kim, you see how the sun is starting to peek through the clouds?”
She nodded.
“And the boats’ windows’ tones are slowly changing with every turn of the cloud?”
“Yeah, I guess I see that. If I wait long enough. But which one do I choose?”
“Whichever you like best,” I said with a smile.
I spotted someone on the boat that Kim had been sketching. It was a familiar figure, so my eyes shifted to his face.
Chris.
I instantly started looking around as if I could have hidden somewhere. After I’d ran out on him the day before, I didn’t want to be within visible distance.
“Amy,” he called.
I turned back and saw Chris waving from the top of the boat. He hopped off, securing the anchor on the wooden plank. He walked over to me.
I gave a small wave. “Hi, Chris.” I glanced back at his boat curious, to see if anyone had been on it with him—or if Mr. Assertive had his name on it. “I have to get back to my campers.”
He glanced without a care at the kids. “Oh no, of course. Listen, this won’t take long,” he paused. “I just wanted to apologize for yesterday.”
Apparently, Rick had been within hearing distance because in my peripheral vision, I noticed him turn instantly in our direction.
I had to politely end this conversation—fast. Not to mention that apologies from guys I barely knew made me uncomfortable.
I waved a carefree hand at him. “What? That’s crazy. You don’t have anything to apologize for. We’re good.”
Chris gave me a dazzling smile that would make any girl on that beach melt. But it was Rick’s reaction that got my attention. He turned his head away, laughing to himself.
I couldn’t understand what he found funny.
“Are you sure, because you kind of ran out yesterday at the café.”
“Coffee does that to me,” I joked. “I actually had to run errands.”
“With Rachel?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Rachel. Right. Look, Chris, I’m sorry, but I have to get my group back.”
Chris shook his head. And for a second he looked a bit frustrated. He lightly grabbed my arm to get my attention. It got Rick’s too. “Amy. I’m sorry I was a bit of a pushy jerk yesterday. I’m really a decent guy if you give me a chance.”
“I’m sure you are.” I gave a small smile to ease his tension and started to pull away.
Rick looked as though he was one wrong move away from interfering, but he tried to keep his attention on the kids.
“Thursday night. There’s an outdoor concert at Boom Square over by the beach. The Cooper Street entrance. Will you meet me there at eight?”
“Okay,” I replied quickly, mostly just to get him to leave. “Eight. Thursday.” I started backing away toward my class. “See you then.”
He gave another smile, glanced over at Rick, then jogged away.
I was deathly afraid of turning around to find Rick giving me some kind of cold stare for dealing with Chris while in the middle of a session. But instead I found him kneeling and admiring some of the kids’ artwork as they started packing up. Rick caught my eye and gave me a wink, as if to let me know that it was okay.
After dropping off our groups at swimming, Rick and I walked over to Sarah’s office.
“Oh good, you’re both here.”
“What’s up, Sarah?” I asked.
“Guys, last week’s class went great! You handled the unexpected weather very well and—”
“Maybe unexpected for you,” Rick mumbled.
Sarah sighed. “Okay, Rick, next time, I will check with you. Now this Friday, I checked two different weather stations, I called in the experts, I even did a non–rain dance—”
“There’s no such thing,” Rick interjected.
“So, do either of you have a problem with an outdoor activity this Friday night?”
“Friday night?” Rick and I asked simultaneously.
“Sleeping under the stars is something that all campers should have the chance to experience during their summer,” she started. “And you two watching the sunrise this morning gave me the idea.”
“There’s no water sports involved,” Rick pointed out.
“Or art,” I added.
“Rick, you’re just as good at setting up a campfire as you are at rowing a boat,” Sarah insisted.
“You expect these kids to be up at five twenty-nine and ready to be creative?” I asked.
“Of course not, art is optional. They can bring their supplies, but if they only want to watch and enjoy nature at work, then it’s still a beautiful thing in their minds.” She smiled at her own sentimental comment.
“Okay, Sarah, what’s the plan?” he asked, pulling up a chair to look at her outline. He pulled one out for me and I joined.
CHAPTER 13
Chris picked me up right on time Thursday night, maybe even a minute or two early. I probably wouldn’t have noticed if Rachel hadn’t pointed it out. The plan had been to meet him there, but he’d heard the turnout might be larger than expected and thought it better for us to show up together.
“Guys should always be at least five-to-seven minutes late, so they don’t appear too eager,” she had criticized, a little too loudly, before I opened the door.
I gave her a warning look, then opened the door. Chris looked amazing. He was dressed in clean khaki pants and a short-sleeved black, buttoned shirt. His hair was neatly styled, and his smile turned on as usual. I wore a denim miniskirt and a pale-pink blouse.
We strolled onto the beach from the parking lot, then ended up around the same spot we had originally planned to meet near. The moon was at its three-quarter state, and the dark sky was clear. It was a little windy, and the salty ocean misted around us.
“Two please,” Chris told the girl in the portable ticket booth.
The dark-haired, college-age girl smiled at him then glanced at me. “Enjoy the show,” she said, handing Chris the tickets.
“Sorr
y about that,” Chris said as we made our way through the crowd and toward the main stage. It was barely lit while the band set up their equipment.
I looked around, confused, and gave him a questioning look.
“I tend to get a lot of attention from girls, like the one in the booth. So I apologize.”
I mentally shook my head. I still didn’t get it. Was he really apologizing for the girl smiling at him? I couldn’t decide what I didn’t like about that: whether he noticed her smiling at him or that he even brought that up. Yes, the girl was clearly flirting, but she could have also just been really polite. Regardless of her knowing his comment or not, I felt embarrassed for the girl.
“I didn’t even notice,” I simply replied.
“Would you like a beverage?”
“Only if it’s really cold.”
A minute later Chris returned with two large plastic red cups filled with cold beer.
“Thanks. Looks like they’re about to start.” I pointed to the stage and took a swig. The cool limey drink felt so refreshing.
Chris took my hand and led me through the forming crowd and closer to the stage.
“Couldn’t we hear just as well from back there?”
“I don’t like to stand behind people,” he stated, glancing back at me.
The band started loud and hard, then slowed to a softer, mellower melody. Chris was watching them without any sense of reaction or emotion. I wondered if he even liked them.
“You a big fan?”
He glanced at me and then looked back at the band, then around the crowd. “No,” he said flatly. Then he struggled and hesitated the rest of that thought.
Maybe he thought I might have enjoyed the music and atmosphere that the beaches of Madison had to offer. Maybe he wasn’t a big fan but would tolerate it for me. For a moment, I was flattered.
“My dad is part owner of the stage. Any events happening here need to be cleared with him. So he likes me to come to these things and check out the turnout, if things go well—and basically make sure no one’s smashing guitars on his newly renovated stage.”
I probably should have been impressed. Most other girls would have been. Instead, something about the fact that he had to be here regardless of whether I agreed to meet him or not, was disappointing.
“I see. So I’m basically here with you to babysit the band?” I asked abruptly.
He took my hands in his in a smooth, swift motion and looked into my eyes. “Let’s get away from all the noise.”
Disappointed that we wouldn’t be sticking around for the encore, I followed him toward the shore. As we got closer to the water, I glanced down at my feet, focusing on the sand between my toes rather than embracing the warm, misty breeze.
“Amy, is something wrong? You seem distant tonight.”
Something was wrong. I was not only offended that he didn’t ask me out on a date that was specifically planned for me, but angry that his interrupting my class turned out to be a matter of convenience rather than a desperate romantic gesture that couldn’t wait.
“I meant what I said earlier. I apologize if I came off judgmental the other day,” he continued when I didn’t respond. “You have a right to decide your own future without someone telling you you’re going about it all wrong.”
Wasn’t he basically saying just that? I shrugged and shook my head. I didn’t come on this summer excursion to over-analyze every word this guy, or any other, said. I needed to take a page out of Rachel’s book. Have fun now—think later. I sighed and forced a smile. “Thank you, and you don’t need to apologize.” Especially when he was going to contradict it in the same sentence. “I’m having a good time.” Although if I was honest, so far, the best part of the night was the band, but I’d decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
“I’m glad. I really like you, Amy. I feel that we have a connection, and I don’t know—maybe there was a reason that you ended up here of all places.”
He believed in fate? That was a good sign.
He took a step closer to me, and I felt my head tilt back to face him. “How so?” I had to ask. I may have been out to have a good time, but I wasn’t going to be a fed an empty line.
His head cocked, and he glanced over my head for a second. Then he seemed to recover. “I don’t know, maybe it was your independent, go-getter, self-motivated attitude that attracted me to you. Or it’s something that neither you nor I understand about you yet. But whatever it is, I hope that we can figure it out after a few more dates.”
You had to hand it to the guy. He was quick on his feet. I didn’t question any of it and just gave him a small smile.
He put his hand on my waist. I expected butterflies when the sexiest guy on the beach was about to kiss me, but instead, his possessive hold on me just made me uncomfortable. I ignored it and looked up at him. He pulled me in and bent his head to kiss me. It was the first kiss I’d had since the guy I’d dated a little less than a year ago.
“You believe in things happening for a reason?” That I had to question. It just didn’t seem like something someone who planned every moment of his life would believe.
He stared into my eyes. “Not usually, no. Actually, not ever. I mostly believe in coincidences, in the philosophical sense.”
I nodded slowly then turned in the direction of the concert. “I think we should go listen to the rest of this great band.”
CHAPTER 14
Friday morning, I woke up to an eager knock on my door. I jerked up from my bed and turned to Rachel. She was out cold and didn’t hear a thing. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could sleep through that. I imagined a child screaming for help in the pool and Rachel daydreaming away on her lifeguard chair.
Glancing at the alarm clock on our shared night stand, I saw that it was 7:20 a.m. I got out of bed and slipped into my thongs. I pulled open the door to find Rick standing on the other side of it with a goofy grin on his face. I blinked a few times to make sure I wasn’t imagining things.
“Hi,” he greeted with a big grin.
I stared at him in disbelief. Since our morning class was combined and moved to the evening for a sunset camping class that Sarah had talked us into, Rick and I had the luxury of sleeping in until ten today. He gave me a once-over. I followed and realized I was wearing my pink sleeping shorts and a black bra tank.
“Throw something on. I want to show you something,” he said excitedly.
I blinked once. “Wait here.” Not bothering to question his eagerness, I simply shut the door and switched my pink shorts for a pair or leggings and threw my white college sweatshirt over the black tank.
We drove for only seven minutes. I hadn’t bothered asking him where we were going. I was just glad he had a cup of hot coffee waiting for me in his black Jeep.
He pulled out of the highway and circled around a secluded circular driveway that seemed like a lookout. From the looks of it, it wasn’t very popular this early in the morning, but the sun was out, and it had a decent view.
Rick dashed around the car to open the door for me. I regretfully placed my coffee back in the cup holder and jumped out. He led me toward the edge of the elevated highway, where there was a lineup of large rocks over the rusty silver-metal railing. He climbed over and reached for my hand. I peered over to check the distance from where we stood to the river below us and, without hesitation, followed.
“What did you want to show me?”
“That.” He pointed to a city across the river. And it didn’t take me long to see what he was pointing at. It so vividly stood out from its bright surroundings.
Gray mists of rain fell across the plains in somewhat of a funnel shape. You could see the storms miles away. There were three visible from where we stood. Each one seemed as if it could have been sketched with a pencil and then smudged onto a perfectly painted landscape. The light coming from behind the clouds almost contradicted what was happening on the surface. It was bright and close, as if the sun was waiting to make its entrance. Ab
ove those three dark clouds, you could see a brand-new day waiting to unfold. I looked from one to the other, without ever settling on which seemed more intense or which more incredible.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed Rick was watching me instead of the clouds. His look mirrored what I felt over the panoramic view spread in front of me. “It’s amazing,” I said, unable to peel my eyes off the section of rain.
“I thought you might like it.”
“Like it? This is incredible. I feel silly for never having noticed this before.”
Rick laughed, breaking his gaze off me. “I’ll have to warn Sarah to vet her applicants more thoroughly.”
I shot him a look and turned back to an unbelievable part of nature unfolding in front of me. But I was still curious about one thing. “Why did you bring me here?”
His eyes drifted to the bright sun hiding behind some clouds in the distance. His eyes narrowed. “I don’t know. I guess I knew you’d appreciate it.”
“Well, thank you.” My eyes somehow managed to pull away from his shimmery green ones and went back to the view. “Wow, it’s amazing how something like that just… happens.”
Rick took a sip of his coffee. “It’s always happening… somewhere. You just have to be in the right place to see it.”
Later that night, I fastened the strings on the half-open tents while Rick was doing the same on the other side. He was tall enough to check that all the rails were sturdy. I scanned the campers to ensure they were all zipped up in their sleeping bags and a safe distance away from one another.
I grabbed my backpack and walked back to the bonfire Rick had successfully built hours earlier. I glanced up at the clear night sky. The stars were evenly spread out. There was truly an endless number of them. Rick piled up more wood and threw it into the fire.
“I thought we were waiting for it to die down,” I said, sliding onto a rock about three feet from the fire.
“Nah, we could always put it out when we’re ready.” He shrugged, and I eyed him, warily.
“I like to stay up later. You don’t have to,” he added after a moment. He picked up a large log, placed it sideways, and sat on it about two feet from me. He pulled a familiar looking backpack to his feet and withdrew two sodas. He tossed me one.
A Summer of Chances Page 8
