“Really,” Jess said. “And if you could stop crying, I bet it would make the lady on the dock feel a lot better. She’s really worried, and now that I’m here, there’s nothing to worry about. Right?”
“G’amma’s worried?” Ben asked, his breath hitching as he looked over her shoulder.
“She is, but it’s all okay now. Right?” Jess continued to rub circles against the boy’s back and, slowly but surely, his breathing evened out and slowed down. Finally, he heaved a big, tired-sounding sigh. “You ready?”
“I dunno,” he said, fear plain in his voice.
“I’m gonna do all the work. All you have to do is hold on to my arm,” she said. “Can I show you how we’ll do it?” Just when she was sure Ben was going to refuse, he nodded. “Okay, great. You’re being really brave, Ben. I’m gonna turn you around and hold your back to my front. But I promise I’m not gonna let go.”
“Promise?” he said, the strain of tears returning to his voice.
“I totally promise.” Jess hooked her arm around his neck and across his chest, her hand finding a hold under his arm. She hadn’t used her teenage lifeguard training in years, but when she was younger, she used to love to swim. Of course, after her dad died, she no longer had access to his gym, and Jess had sorta let the swimming go…along with so much else. When Ben finally relaxed against her again, she shook away the thoughts and looked at Sam. “Will you be okay while I take him back?”
“I can swim back myself,” Sam said.
“Are you sure?”
He looked toward the shore, the doubt clear in his eyes.
“I’ll come right back for you, Sam. You were holding Ben up all this time, so you’ve got to be tired.” Jess ignored her own growing exhaustion. Suck it up, buttercup.
“O-okay,” Sam finally said. “I’ll wait.”
“Good man. All right, Ben. Here we go, nice and easy, okay?” She lay back in the water, using her free arm and her legs to propel them shoreward. It was slow going, to be sure. Jess’s lungs burned and her shoulder muscles felt like Jell-O. Ben whimpered and sniffled and occasionally lifted his head to see how far they’d gone, but Jess was impressed by how he’d managed to calm himself down. He really was a brave kid. They both were.
When Jess had nearly reached the dock, the low whirr of an engine reached her through the sounds of her own splashing and heavy breathing, but she couldn’t divert even a moment’s worth of energy away from getting Ben to safety. As it was, she was already starting to worry about how she’d get Sam in, too. But one thing at a time.
The aluminum of the ladder against her palm felt like the biggest victory ever. “Here we go, Ben,” she said.
“Oh, thank goodness.” Ben’s grandmother extended a hand down to the little boy.
“Don’t worry, G’amma,” he said, clutching the metal and hauling himself up.
The woman laughed and hugged the boy into her arms, getting herself soaked in the process. It didn’t look like she minded one bit.
“Okay,” Jess said, clutching the ladder with cold fingers. “I’ll go get Sam now.” Heaving a deep breath, she pushed off the dock.
“Wait,” the grandmother said. “That’s my husband and Doc coming.”
A few feet out, Jess treaded water, her gaze scanning for the incoming boat. Sure enough, a small motorboat was making its way toward the overturned rowboat. The older woman yelled and gestured, and Sam swam around the end and waved until one of the men waved back.
Jess looked up at the other woman. “I’ll still go out if you think I should.”
“No, hon. You’ve done enough. Come on out of there now.”
With a glance back at Sam, Jess returned to the dock. Climbing the ladder took way more effort than it probably should’ve, but she forced herself up and out of the water until she was finally standing. A puddle of water formed all around her bare, ice-cold feet.
As they stood watching, the motorboat pulled up along Sam. One of the men hauled him out of the water and wrapped him in a towel, and then it took both of the men to right the rowboat. They slid it alongside them and slowly towed it back to shore.
The older woman put her arm around Jess’s shoulders and hugged her in. “I can’t thank you enough. I’m Bernie, by the way, but everyone calls me Bunny.”
“You’re welcome, Bunny. I’m Jess,” she answered, and then she mentally kicked herself for revealing her real name. Maybe it didn’t matter, or maybe it did. Either way, that was the exact moment it occurred to Jess that she’d pretty much broken every one of Ike’s rules in about a fifteen-minute time span.
Oh, shit.
Chapter 4
Ike unlocked the front door then scooped up the bags of groceries he’d dropped at his feet. Hands full, he made his way inside and headed straight for the kitchen.
“Yo, Jess. I’m back,” he called, settling the bags on the counter. He inhaled to call her name again when he noticed something that shot ice through his veins—the back door stood open. “Fuck!” He darted out the door and onto the small back porch, but the yard was empty. “Jess!” he shouted. “Jessica!”