I shook my head. "Well, that’s a tragedy!"
Brenna laughed. "A tragedy?"
"Okay, maybe not a tragedy. But definitely a bummer. I would be so sad if I had to spend that much time away from surfing. Thankfully, you’re here now, and you can get back to it."
She nodded enthusiastically.
“Yep! I actually went and bought a board on the first day that I was back. My parents were still unloading things from the truck and into the B&B, and I ran out to the surf shop to buy a board.”
I examined her surfboard closely, pleased to see that she had chosen a longboard. It would make it a lot easier for her to get back into it.
"This is nice," I said, running my hand along the smooth fiberglass.
As I inspected the surface, I realized she did not have enough wax.
"Do you have more wax?" I asked. "You’re going to be slipping all over the place out there if you don’t get more on here."
She shook her head, blushing. “No, I left it at my house. I thought that I had put enough on.”
I smiled. “Don’t worry about it, I have some. I guess I never got to that part in our lesson: Never come to the beach to surf without your wax!”
Brenna laughed. “What’s funny is that during that summer when I was learning how to surf I was obsessed with having the wax. I felt so cool whenever I bought it, and I would always leave my bag open so that the wax could hang out and people could see that I was a surfer. I am so embarrassed!”
Brenna hid her face in her hands, but I found it absolutely adorable.
“You don’t need to be embarrassed,” I said. “I think that’s great. But the fact that you came without it today means that you have outgrown that stage!”
She looked at me and smiled. “I guess you’re right. So does that mean it’s a good thing that I don’t have any wax?”
“Only because I’m here to help you. If I weren’t here, you would have had a miserable day today!”
I finished helping her prep her board, and then I grabbed my own.
“Shall we?” I asked.
“Yes!” she answered, smiling broadly. “I’m so excited!”
“I’m going to keep an eye on you for your first few runs just to make sure that you pick it back up,” I said.
“You don’t have to do that,” she argued. “I’ll be fine!”
“I know you will,” I said. “However, once a lifeguard, always a lifeguard. I’m going to watch you.”
“Okay, fine.” She rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face let me know that she wasn’t too annoyed.
We paddled out and sat on our boards for a couple of minutes. As the first wave came, she caught it. Although she was a bitwobbly at first, she stayed up, and she pumped her fist in the air as she hit the shore.
“Well done!” I shouted.
She waved, and then paddled back out.
“That was awesome,” she said when she was next to me. “That felt so good! I didn’t realize how much I missed it.”
“You did great!” I said. “I have to admit, you did even better than I thought you would.”
“Must be because I had a great teacher,” she said.
“That must be it,” I answered, laughing.
