CHAPTER 1
Nick
The water’s edge laps my toes before running away to join the surge of the next growing wave. The irony is, I kind of want to do that, too…
Run away.
I close my eyes and lift my face to the early morning sunlight, hungry for its warmth. Lately, the sound of the ocean—something that used to always bring me peace—sounds more like a roaring crash that spikes my pulse. With a deep breath, I wiggle my toes in the nearly white sand, and as the next wave builds, tempted to give into that urge, to step back…to not let the water touch me, but that’s crazy. I’m a lifeguard. The ocean is part of my job description.
Yeah, tell that to my shoulder.
It’s been over two months since the accident that took me out of commission and six weeks since my rotator cuff surgery. I don’t regret doing my job. When I realized Isaac—one of the first kids to go through the youth lifeguard program—was about to get tossed out of the speedboat, I did what comes naturally. I reached out and grabbed his life jacket so he wouldn’t hit the engine.
Talk about the worst mix of me reaching from an awkward sitting position and the boat making a sudden turn. Next thing I knew, we were both treading water, and my right shoulder felt like it was on fire. Thankfully, Issac was okay. Shook up but fine.
Now I need to regain full range of movement of my arm, which my doc can’t even guarantee, despite his mad skills repairing what he called an ‘unusual tear.’ Not something you care to hear when all you want is to get your life back on track.
Could have been worse…much worse. I have no regrets about doing my job. But if physical therapy doesn’t bring me back one hundred percent, my lifeguarding days might be over.
And that terrifies me.
“Hey man, how’d your shift go? Any turtles?” Zane’s voice reaches me first before he stops next to me. I’m still on medical leave from the team, but I’ve walked the beach almost daily to stay active and connected to what I love. Plus, I’m doing Turtle Patrol one, sometimes two nights a week, since I can sleep during the day. This has given me some sense of purpose as I wait for my shoulder to heal enough to start physical therapy.
And today is that day. Finally.
I exhale, then force a smile. I’ve got this—I can do this. That’s what I keep telling myself. “Not yet, but it won’t be long.”
The concern in Zane’s eyes may be shielded by his sunglasses, but I sense the shift in his stance. He has a way of knowing what state of mind every member of his team is in. Part of what makes him such a great director of operations.
He rests his hand on my good shoulder. “You’ll be back.”
I sweep my gaze back to the ocean, ignoring the tightness in my chest. “That’s the plan.”
Zane chuckles, but I can tell he’s putting on a brave mask. “You know I’m right.”
A soft snort lifts my shoulders, making me cringe. Doc said the tear was complicated, which delayed physical therapy. Eachday I’ve lost has felt like a ticking time bomb about to blow up my lifeguarding career, which I’m sure would make my parents very happy. “You usually are.”
And he is, so I’ll take his words as the truth I need right now. I’m a career lifeguard, just like Zane, who built the program into what it is today. And now, he and his fiancée Callie—another career lifeguard—have officially launched the new year-round youth lifeguard program here on Mango Key Beach.
Something else I’m missing out on. Sure, I’ve been able to help with some of the day-to-day admin and organization, but it’s not the same as being out in the thick of things.
“PT starts today, right?” Zane crosses his arms.
We’re both staring out at the ocean that can be a friend one minute and a foe the next. I shift my attention from the twist of apprehension in my gut to the throb in my shoulder. “Heading there now. Doc finally cleared me to start.”
“Need a ride?”
I shake my head. “Got it covered. Graham’s taking me.”
Graham McCarthy’s also a lifeguard and my best friend. Ironically, he’s the one insisting I see his sister, who’s a physical therapist, even though he’s been very clear about me keeping my hands off of Hannah.
Which is totally fine. Not a problem. I saw Hannah last right before she moved upstate to go to vet school. She’d tamed her curls into pigtails, cradled a squirming puppy in her arms that peed all over her jeans, and wore the biggest smile I’d ever seen. She loved animals and spent most of her time working at their oldest brother Liam’s pet shop, Where the Tame Things Are.
Side note. Graham told me once that Liam loved Maurice Sendak’s book so much as a kid that he carried it with him everywhere, like a security blanket. Obviously, that love influenced his decision to open a pet boutique with a name that nods to his favorite book.
As far as Hannah is concerned, I’m not up to speed on the entire story, but somehow, she wound up switching her studies to physical therapy after a couple of years and then landed a position at a medical center that specialized in sports physical therapy.
I haven’t seen her since she moved back a couple of months ago, so I don’t even know where her new office is. Only that she relocated back to Sarabella and opened her own practice. Guess she decided she enjoyed working on people more than pets.
