The Summer I Learned to Dive

Chapter 4

I woke up early the next morning. The sun’s bright rays shined through the window earlier than I was used to. From the sounds of things, my grandparents had been up for a while. Dishes clanked. I heard them moving around downstairs. The floors creaked. My grandfather’s thunderous footsteps made the house feel like it was shaking. Their voices carried upstairs, allowing me to hear what they were saying. They were discussing me again.

“Do you think we should wake her?” he asked.

“Let her rest. She rode on a bus all the way from Tampa, Charlie. She’s exhausted,” Nana said.

“Well she can’t sleep all day either,” he grumbled.

I slowly got out of bed and put on a t-shirt and shorts, timidly walking downstairs toward the kitchen. Nervously, I walked in the kitchen, apprehensive about my grandfather’s reception of me. He intimidated me and I hadn’t even met him yet. He sat at the breakfast table, drinking coffee. He was enormous, definitely over six feet tall. His hair was full and stark white. His face was clean shaven but covered with wrinkles. Unlike Nana, he looked his age. He had green eyes like mine and the same small rounded nose.

“Good morning,” I said almost tip toeing precariously. I grabbed a cup off of the mug rack and poured myself a cup of coffee. The kitchen smelled good. Instantly, my mouth watered.

“Good morning, Finley,” he said. He continued to drink his coffee and eyed me skeptically. I felt his stare.

“Good morning, Grandfather.” It felt strange and too formal. I didn’t know if I should extend my hand, curtsy or try to hug him. I settled on shaking his hand. It was large and the size of both of mine. His skin was rough, not smooth like Nana’s. He shook my hand firmly, still looking at me. He was appraising me. My hand felt trapped in his firm grip.

“Nice to meet you. Why don’t you sit down?” he ordered more than asked.

I obeyed him and sat down immediately. I sipped on my black coffee. It was strong and bitter, not like the tea Nana had made yesterday. He saw the look of disgust on my face.

“The cream and sugar are right here,” he pointed to them.

His one index finger was almost the size of my hand. I added lots of sugar and cream to the coffee, hoping to make it as sweet as the tea.

“So, Finley, what makes you come to us now?” he asked looking directly into my eyes. I felt like cowering under the table.

I gulped. “I.... I just learned about you and Nana.” I said. My grandmother had told me she wanted to be called “Nana” instead of Grandma.

“And you thought you’d come all the way up here to meet us unannounced,” he said incredulously, his eyebrows arched.

“Yes. I would have called but it all happened so fast,” I said. I was talking fast because I was nervous. I looked to Nana for help. I chewed on my nails.

He didn’t say anything. He picked up the newspaper and started to read it, blocking me from his view. I was unsure of how to read his behavior.

“I wanted to get to know you both since we had been separated for so long,” I said. I couldn’t stop talking. “My mother kept you from me for so long and I was curious about you both. I just decided to come up here the moment I learned that you had been trying to be a part of my life.” I took a deep breath, needing the air.

He lowered the newspaper. “Well. We’re curious about you, too. It’s been a long time since we have seen you. Matter of fact, I think it’s been sixteen years.” He scratched his chin. “I hope we’re getting the full story here,” he said looking directly in my eyes, standing up. He was a giant. I instantly felt like a child. “You’re not in some type of trouble are you?” he asked, standing over me.

I gulped again. “No,” I whispered. He left the kitchen and immediately I felt relieved. I questioned whether coming here was a mistake. Maybe time can’t heal all wounds?

“Don’t mind your grandfather. He takes a while to warm to people. He’ll warm to you in no time,” Nana smiled wrapping her arms around me. I looked at her face instantly feeling better, feeling loved. “Finn, have you called your mama yet? She needs to know you’re alright.”

“I texted her last night and let her know I was here,” I answered her. I looked toward the front door as my grandfather closed it. “Where’s he going?” I asked.

“To run some errands in town. He doesn’t work on Sunday’s and Monday’s. Owning a diner takes a lot of hours and personal time.” She paused for a moment. “You may want to call her,” she said and seeing my uncomfortable expression, changed the subject and asked, “Are you hungry?”

I nodded a definite yes.

“How about some French toast?”

“Sure,” I said. I sat quietly. She could sense what I had on my mind.

“He’s a gentle giant, Finn. You’ll see that soon enough.” She hugged me and then walked away, dipping two slices of bread into egg yolk and then placing them in a frying pan.

Two pieces of toasted bread were stacked neatly on a plate, covered in syrup, whip cream and butter. Not surprisingly, strawberries sat on top of the whipped cream. I devoured it within a matter of minutes.

“For someone so small, you sure do eat a lot.” She laughed looking at my empty plate.

“It was good.” I smiled. My mother could not cook like this. Breakfast made by her usually consisted of a bowl of cereal or a cup of yogurt. She was not a cook and never aspired to experiment in the kitchen. Most of my meals consisted of casseroles and other bland dishes.

“Well, if you like my cooking, then you’ll love your grandfather’s. We’ll have to eat at the diner sometime.” She took my empty plate and walked over to the sink to rinse it off and clean it.

“I can do that,” I said and got up, standing next to her. She handed me a towel to dry off the plate. I looked out the window and saw a very tan boy about my age. His hair was dark and wavy and he was very muscular, having no problem carrying the heavy ladder. When I looked more closely at him, I saw that he was the same boy I had seen diving at the community pool. I tried not to stare but couldn’t help myself. I didn’t realize Nana was watching me.

“That’s Jesse.” She smiled looking out the window. “He works in the diner and is helping your grandfather out by painting the house. It’s long overdue. Thank you,” she said motioning to the dried dish.

“It’s no problem,” I shrugged.

“I’ll introduce you to Jesse if you’d like to meet him.” She nudged me, grinning broadly.

“What? No, that’s okay,” I said, my face turning beet red.

“Nonsense. He’s your age. You should make friends your age while you’re here, especially if you stay a while,” she said almost questioning.

I read her tone and responded, “I’d like to stay as long as you’ll have me.” I smiled at her.

“Good. How about I introduce you to Jesse?” She touched my arm.

“I’m fine.” My face turned even redder. It always did when I was nervous. Having porcelain white skin didn’t help matters.

“Don’t be shy. He’s nice,” she said and I relented. She grabbed a hold of my hand and we walked out the front door.

He stood on the ladder chipping paint off of the wooden beams. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of shorts and shoes. His legs were tan and his calves were muscular. Beads of sweat ran down his back.

“Jesse!” Nana shouted from the bottom of the ladder looking up at him.

He immediately stopped scraping and walked down the ladder, jumping off the last step, standing within a few feet of me. He towered over me, standing at least a foot above me. His wavy brown hair was wet from perspiration.

“This is my granddaughter Finley, I mean Finn,” she said smiling at me. “She’s going to stay with us for a while.” She put her arm around me.

“Hi,” he said and extended his hand. His handshake was firm, not weak. The sun shined in his light blue eyes as he squinted at me. His eyes were beautiful and clear, like the Gulf of Mexico.

“Hi,” I said nonchalantly, shaking his hand delicately.

“Well, I’ve got a phone call to make. You two get acquainted,” she said and started walking away.

I froze in fear, looking at her in disbelief. I couldn’t believe she was just going to leave me there to talk with him when I didn’t even know him. She ignored me and kept walking inside the house.

“I didn’t know Charlie and Lilly had a granddaughter,” he said. He smoothed his wet hair out of his face. He looked like a Roman soldier, with his long nose and strong jaw line. His lips were full and a beautiful shade of mauve.

“Yeah. We’re just getting acquainted,” I said. My heart beat rapidly. I wondered if he noticed how nervous I was.

“Where are you visiting from?” he asked smiling. His teeth were white and perfectly straight. I could feel him looking at me, but I was too nervous to look at him.

Sweat fell down his chest. I didn’t want to look directly at him, especially at his beautifully sculpted muscles. His accent wasn’t as strong as my grandparents, it was barely noticeable. There was a slight twang, sounding pleasant to my ears. My nerves were shot and I could not think, let alone utter any intelligible words.

“Tampa, Florida,” I said quickly, still moving my head in every direction but his, which I am sure made me appear disinterested.

“Florida. I’ve never been there.” He paused. “I hear it’s nice though,” he said and smiled again. He was trying and I was failing, miserably. This was no surprise to me.

“It is,” I said wondering what else to say. I had never lived anywhere else and didn’t have anything to compare it to. Talking to boys is difficult for me. Conversing with a gorgeous boy is impossible. I wanted to think of something to say to him, but couldn’t.

Silence. Awkward silence. He looked around, about to say something but stopped himself.

“Well, I’m going to get back to work. It was nice meeting you, Finn,” he said and walked back up the ladder, leaving me alone on the grass, pondering how stupid I must have seemed to him.