Rick burst out laughing and leaned back in the sand a little. It had to have been the first time I’d seen him laugh. Even when I’d watched him chuckle with the kids, it wasn’t anything like this. It made me smile.
“Just watch, or you’ll miss it,” I warned.
Rick straightened and obediently watched as the sun slowly started revealing itself. But it was me who wasn’t watching much of anything anymore. I was sure the sun was still slowly exposing itself before us. I could tell because of the blur of yellows, pinks, and reds that were blazing in the far distance and gradually brightening the misty morning.
In that moment, the only thing that I was aware of was Rick’s presence. I suddenly seemed to be very aware of my breathing. Mostly because I wanted to make sure it didn’t sound off. Then I focused on my shoulders, wondering if they looked stiff at all. This guy was notorious for noticing things like that.
I tried with all my might to fight off what Rick was doing to me and will myself to enjoy the natural wonders that I’d come here to immerse myself in. Instead, all I could do was pray that it ended quickly so I could get up and run. As if that wasn’t enough, Rick leaned in close to me.
“Come here often?” he asked in his most seductive tone.
I gave him a look, acknowledging his mocking cliché. “Not as often as I’d like. Been known to sleep in once in a while.”
“That’s right,” he realized, holding up an index finger.
I winced, realizing that I’d just justified yet another item on my “habit” list.
Rick smiled and turned back to the now fully exposed sun. He stood and held out his hand to me. I took it, but not without playfully rolling my eyes, since we both knew I didn’t need help getting up. The instant he pulled me to my feet, I felt a rush of déjà vu.
I didn’t need to search far to remember where this had happened before: when he’d saved me from my dangerously close fall into the pool after hours. I quickly pulled back my hand and bent to pick up my flip-flops. Unfortunately, I’d attempted to do it too quickly, because I fell forward, stumbling into the sand.
Rick laughed lightly. “And we have all three.”
I threw a handful of sand at him, irritated that now I’d proven the ‘clumsy’ part of his assessment of me. He shielded his face, still laughing.
“Okay, okay, but hey, aren’t you happy that we’re all out?”
“No! I have yet to prove that I’m not defensive.”
Rick raised an eyebrow and smirked.
I rolled my eyes and started walking up to the boardwalk. Rick was slowly striding behind me. I looked around at the beach in broad daylight, and as if on cue, people had started turning up. On the boardwalk, an elderly man in a baseball cap was walking his dog. I turned to the sound of the café’s storefront gate being rolled up. A short woman wearing a red cap was jogging along the street and stopped when she’d spotted us. When she turned, I noticed it was Sarah.
We approached her, since it was obvious she was looking at us and waiting.
“Morning,” she said with both eyebrows raised.
“Morning,” I replied.
“Good to see you two up early and starting your exercises.”
Rick caught up behind me. “Oh, we weren’t running. We were…watching the sunrise,” he said, giving me a wide smile.
“Huh.” Between her baseball hat and her frown from the sun’s bright rays, I couldn’t exactly tell what her look was.
“Yeah, I know.” He rubbed my head lightly. “Who knew our Amy was nostalgic?”
I shot him a look.
“Well, I’m glad I caught you both. Can you two stop by my office today after you drop off your campers at swimming?”
Rick nodded.
“Sure thing,” I said, trying to sound cheerful. But I couldn’t help but wonder what it was about. I looked over at Rick and his bubbly mood seemed to drop tremendously. He suddenly looked…agitated.
Here we go again, I thought. And guys say women are hard to read and go through mood swings. But this was Rick, after all, and nothing about him was consistent.
Sarah was still running in place. “Okay, great. I’ll see you two later.” She waved and jogged away.
