Turtle Bay (14 page)

"How old is she?" Josh asked, running up to her.

"Three. She was playing in the sand while I put lotion on her baby brother, Mason," the woman cried, pointing to the toddler who was digging in the sand. "I looked away for a moment and she was gone," she choked out.

"Is it possible she went into the water?" Josh asked. His words made my heart sink as I took in the endless stretch of water.

"No! She knows she's not allowed anywhere near the water without my husband or me. She's just barely started swim lessons." Her face looked horror-struck at the idea.

Josh reached over and patted her arm. "I'm sure she's fine. She probably wandered off and got a little turned around. We'll find her. What's her name?"

"Jilly Ann. We call her Jillybean."

Before Josh could jot her name down, the loud squeal of a blowing whistle from the nearby lifeguard stand caught our attention. Josh and I turned to see the lifeguard on duty scrambling down from his stand. Our eyes moved to the water just in time to see a small head bobbing just beyond the point where the waves were breaking. Without pause, Josh dropped his notepad on the sand and sprinted toward the water. He stripped off his shirt as he ran and dove into the incoming waves without breaking stride. The small head disappeared from sight as Josh hit the water. It was obvious he had superior swimming skills when he quickly overtook the other lifeguard who had been ahead of him. A large crowd gathered and watched with bated breath as the two lifeguards swam to the spot where the little girl had been struggling to stay afloat. The girl's sobbing mother stood beside me at the water's edge, clutching her son tightly in her arms.

We watched as Josh dove into the relentless incoming waves. A few onlooking bystanders dove into the water to help, but it was obvious they wouldn't catch up before it was too late. I felt my own tears begin to surface, watching the worried mother who could only wait helplessly for any sign of the lifeguards and her daughter. All my problems and dumb mistakes during the past few weeks seemed minuscule in a moment like this. Just when I was beginning to think Josh was never going to find her, he broke the surface of the water with the small child in his arms. He had reached a point where he could stand and began running toward the shore. The girl appeared to be unconscious, which made her mom sway with grief.

"My baby!" she yelled as she ran toward Josh, who had reached the sand.

"Ma'am, please stay back. Let me help her," Josh insisted, slightly out of breath. His firm control of the situation took me by surprise.

"Jillybean, wake up, please," her mother pleaded. I placed a comforting arm around her shoulder as she sobbed uncontrollably. Josh gently placed the young girl's lifeless body on the sand and began administering CPR. My stomach was in my throat as hot tears rolled down my cheeks. The other lifeguard kneeled beside her body to perform chest compressions while Josh breathed into her mouth. I could hear the faint sound of sirens in the background and I silently willed them to hurry. Some of the people around us pulled out their cellphones, recording what was happening. It seemed classless, and I wanted to slap the devices out of their hands.

Jilly Ann's mom sagged against me as Josh continued to breathe into the little girl's mouth. The sirens became louder, but it was clear Josh and the other lifeguard knew what they were doing. We all watched in awe as the girl finally coughed out a mouthful of water. She began to cry as a collective cheer erupted from the many onlookers. The mother scooped her daughter into her arms, rocking her two children back and forth.

Within minutes, we were joined by paramedics who jumped into action, checking Jilly Ann's condition. Judging by her continued wailing, she would be okay. Josh had saved her. No wonder he had judged me so harshly. In his eyes I was a party girl who gave no regard to those around me.

The paramedics carefully loaded Jilly Ann onto a stretcher. Her mom threw her arms around Josh, thanking him profusely. I expected him to act nonchalant or even uncomfortable, but he didn't seem to mind at all. It was like watching a movie where the hero saves the day.

"Great job, guys," the paramedics proclaimed, shaking hands with Josh and the other lifeguard before carrying Jilly Ann to the ambulance.

The crowd began to disperse once the ambulance left. Some of the patrols from the office showed up, including Josh's boss, Mitch, who clapped him on the back as he congratulated him on a job well done.

I stood on the outskirts, watching as Josh gave his account of the rescue to his coworkers. What he did was heroic, but you would never think that listening to him tell the story. There was no bragging or arrogance in his words. He had done his job, plain and simple. By the time Josh joined me a few minutes later, my feelings were a jumbled mess. I couldn't help smiling at him after everything I had witnessed that morning. It seemed petty to be holding a grudge. I was relieved when he returned the smile.

"I could use a break. Are you hungry?" he asked as we headed toward the ATV.

"Absolutely," I answered, accepting the tentative truce.

"How about burgers?' he added.

"Works for me."

He steered the vehicle off the sand toward the beach access entryway. Within minutes, he pulled into the parking lot of a fast food restaurant that Butch and Buttercup would rather have poked their eyes out than step foot in. I would never admit it to them, but since we'd moved to Florida, I'd grown quite partial to some of the restaurants on the beach.

We ordered our lunch separately before carrying our trays to a table by the window so we could keep an eye on his beach patrol vehicle. "How's the community service going?" Josh asked before taking a big bite of his burger.

"It's been relatively quiet and uneventful," I smirked, attempting to interject a little humor to break the ice.

"I bet," he said, looking down and taking another bite of his burger.

I took a bite of my own hamburger before giving a more legitimate answer. "It's actually not that bad," I answered, taking a long drink of my soda. "And this morning was the most scary, amazing moment of my life. You saved that little girl's life," I said, more than a little awestruck.

"I was just doing my job." He shrugged, looking self-conscious for the first time since saving Jilly Ann.

"If we wouldn't have been there, she would have drowned," I said, thinking of the ramifications of my statement. "Buttercup and Butch would say fate brought you there at that moment."

"Fate?" he asked skeptically, popping a fry into his mouth.

"Well, Butch and Buttercup say a lot of crazy things, but listen, if I wouldn't have been at the party that led to me being here doing community service, you wouldn't have been at that exact spot, and that little girl might have drowned. It makes sense."

"That's not necessarily true," Josh said modestly. "Chris is the one who spotted her and probably would have reached her in time."

"Maybe, but it was you who dove under and found her," I pointed out, taking another bite of my burger.

"That's an interesting theory, but it still doesn't make everything right."

"That's not what I was saying," I said defensively.

"Rain, there's nothing cosmic about what happened. I did what I was trained to do today. You and your buddies trashed public property and now you're paying the consequences, that's it."

"Seriously? How many times do I have to say it? I DID NOT TRASH THE BEACH," I bristled. "I got invited to a party, so I went."

"And like I told you, I had no way of knowing that. Anyway, it wasn't like I broke the case for the cops. Evan had been pulling that shit for a long time. The cops were going to bust it up even before I called, so your friends were screwed no matter what."

"They weren't even my friends," I said, exasperated. "As soon as I saw the idiots throwing the bottles, I was going to bail. That was the time your buddies decided to show up."

He kept his head down, swirling a fry around in ketchup.

"I planned to clean it all up the next morning," I added, which was the truth.

His head snapped up immediately in response. "By then it would have been too late. That whole area would have been covered in water at high tide, which means all those bottle caps, broken glass, chip bags, and other trash you guys had thrown around would have been swept out to sea," he said, angrily dunking a fry in ketchup.

"Okay. I get that, but again, I did nothing wrong."

"Except stand by while a bunch of assholes trashed a beautiful beach."

Clearly we were at an impasse. If Josh wanted to continue to judge me for a crime I didn't commit, there was nothing I could do but work my community service hours and accept that he and I would never be friends.

We finished lunch in silence and worked the rest of the afternoon in much the same way. Josh attempted to start up a conversation while we drove back to the station, but I shut him down. I couldn't act like everything was all fine and dandy when he thought I was something I wasn't.

I left Josh to rinse off the ATV while I headed inside to talk to Vanessa.

"I heard you had an exciting day," she commented.

"Yeah, it was crazy. Josh and Chris were like superheroes. I can't believe how they didn't even hesitate," I marveled.

"That's what they're trained to do."

"It was amazing."

"I agree," she said proudly. It was clear that Vanessa was fond of all the guys at the station.

"I better head out. I'm sure my dad is waiting. See you tomorrow," I said as the phone rang. Vanessa waved to me as she picked it up.

I found Butch out front waiting for me, but he wasn't alone. Josh was standing next to the driver's side window talking to Butch animatedly like they were long-lost pals. I had no idea they had ever met. Go figure, Butch gets the animated Josh while I got Mr. McJudgy Pants. I sighed, opening my door to climb into the passenger seat. I slammed the door a little louder than necessary, but neither seemed to notice as they continued their conversation about some eggs Butch had found in our yard.

They wrapped up their conversation and Josh's eyes met mine as Butch thanked him and pulled away."What's the matter, Dewdrop?"

"Nothing," I mumbled, embarrassed to admit what my problem was.

"You know it causes constipation to keep things bottled up."

"So you've said. How do you know Josh?"

"I met him there in the parking lot. He came over and mentioned that he worked with you for your community service hours. I bent his ear to see if he could suggest someone to help me identify the eggs I found in the backyard. Seems like a nice kid."

"You think so?" I asked. Josh approaching Butch on his own accord wasn't something I had expected. Now he really had me confused. It wasn't two hours ago we had pretty much agreed to disagree over the party incident and now he was introducing himself to my father.

"Something wrong with him I should know?"

"Nah. I was just curious as to why you guys were talking," I said, dropping the matter.

We pulled into the driveway and I headed to my room to shower the day's worth of sand and grime off me. Once I was clean I pulled on a pair of comfy shorts and my favorite T-shirt. I grabbed a fresh journal from my shelf. It had been weeks since I'd written anything, and I was having withdrawals. Writing had always soothed me, which was exactly what I needed to get Josh out of my mind. I scooped up Player and went into the house to grab a drink before heading out to the gazebo. There was still plenty of daylight left, which was my favorite part about summertime.

An hour later I was knee-deep in a story when the sound of voices broke my writing trance. I nearly choked on my own breath when Butch and Josh walked around the corner of the house from the front yard.

"What are you doing here?" I demanded, jumping to my feet. Instinctively, I did a quick survey of my attire to make sure I looked okay.

"Rainbow, don't be rude," Butch chastised.

"Rain," I said through clenched teeth as Josh's lips twitched into a half smile.

"Don't be rude, Rain-n-n," Butch repeated. "Josh here came over to help me identify the eggs I found back by the shed. He's an expert in that area."

"Well, I wouldn't go as far as
expert
. I just know a little more about the animals in this area than your average person," he said, never taking his eyes from mine.

"Why didn't you tell me he was coming over?" I asked, glaring at Butch through the screen.

"Didn't I mention that part? Huh, my mind must be slipping in my old age," he said, shaking his head. "Anyway, I bow to the expertise you have, Josh. Florida wildlife is a whole lot different than what you'd find in Kansas," he continued, guiding Josh to the far corner of the yard where the small gardening shed sat.

I sank down on the chaise lounge as Player swiped at the pen in my hand. My swift reaction to Josh had caused me to feel slightly out of breath. I swear I needed to seek medical help where he was concerned. The constant hot and cold feelings I had for him were more than a little disturbing. He did look hot in regular clothes. Not that the red lifeguard muscle shirt I was used to seeing him in didn't suit his physique well.