The Calling (6 page)

And then a wall of water crashed over her head.

The swell buried her under its crest, driving her to the sandy bottom. She flailed about furiously as salt water burned her nostrils. When she finally oriented herself, she pushed off the sea bottom with a thrust of her legs and surfaced, clearing her nose as soon as the cool breeze brushed her cheeks.

Justin chuckled behind her.

“I need help,” she whimpered.

He waded toward her. “They come in sets of three or four. All we gotta do is wait for a big set to head in. Then, when you feel the ebb of the wave, get on your board and start paddling like mad.”

“You make it sound easy.”

Justin dove under the water and popped up next to her. “It is.”

He wrapped an arm around her waist and pushed her into deeper water. At six foot two, Justin had half a foot on her, and suddenly, her toes didn’t touch the sandy bottom anymore.

A wave slapped her in the face. She swallowed a mouthful of briny water and coughed it up. “Can’t breathe,” she protested, treading water.

He turned to face the open ocean, his back to her. “Wrap your arms around my neck, shorty.”

With a wave swelling underneath them, she grabbed his shoulders first, to keep from swallowing more ocean, then clung to his neck.

Pressing her chest against his warm back sent a tingle sprinting up her spine as it had on the beach. Instead of chastising herself, she wondered how she’d been blind to Justin all those years. Sure, they’d been good friends, talking about his woman woes, or who served the best cheese fries in Corpus Christi, but she’d never considered him as anything more than a pal. The way her body vibrated where their skin touched made her question why. She shook her head at her overstimulated hormones. She was here to catch a ride, not ogle the teacher. Trying to be a good girl, she looked back toward the beach where the waves broke on the sand. “We’ll never snag a wave out here.”

“I know, but deep water gives me an excuse to get close to you.”

She flushed. He wasn’t making her good-girl status easy.

He grabbed her hands and unwrapped her arms from his neck. “You can touch now.” She pushed her legs down and, sure enough, they’d reached a sandbar. Waves broke on the other side, leading toward the sea. “Now, we can hit two waves with one ride.”

Twice the fun for the effort of one. The man was a genius.

He pushed her to just past where the waves broke. “Remember what I told you?”

She nodded.

“Start paddling.”

The water ebbed. She thrust off the bottom with all her strength, jumped on top of her board, and paddled until her arms sizzled. Just when she wanted to give up, the wave caught her and zipped her through the water as if she were riding a roller coaster. The air whipped against her face, the salty ocean sprayed her neck and chest, and the sea whizzed by as if from a flowing spigot. For a joyous moment, she was a part of the sea, harnessing its energy, pulling from its endless supply of motion.

Reaching deeper water, the wave turned into a swell. She paddled forward, following the rising crest. She couldn’t keep up and soon landed in a small trough. But she didn’t give up. If Justin was right, there should be a second wave coming behind the first. She watched her first wave crash on the beach ahead. The water ebbed as the second wave gained on her. She paddled, harder and harder, determined to feel the freedom again.

The wave caught her, enveloping her feet and lifting her body on its crest. She propelled forward, faster and faster, freer and freer, the beach coming closer and closer. In an abrupt release, the wave crashed on the beach, and her knees dug into the silky sand.

She giggled like a preschooler on a playground as she stood. “That was
amazing
!” Smiling so wide her face hurt, she glanced over her shoulder. Justin had just caught his second wave and was quickly gaining on her. When the wave crashed, he went under but popped back up with a grin as huge as hers. The water seemed to swirl around him in opposition to the waves and currents tugging at her, as if the surf sensed his presence and parted to make room for him out of respect.

“Sure you don’t want to stay longer than an hour?” he asked.

“I could do this all day.”

“Then, why don’t we?”

In response, she dove under the water with her boogie board attached to her wrist and headed for the sandbar.

* * *

Justin lugged the cooler to their towel on the beach. His stomach growled as he set it down. After four hours of using his powers to create larger waves for Mandy, he had been ready to start gnawing on seashells when he forced her out of the water for sustenance.

“Glad you thought ahead,” Mandy said, as she lunged forward. “What’d you bring?”

He blocked her attack on the cooler with his body and opened the lid. “Hungry?” He reached inside, fiddled around until he found an apple, and handed it to her.

Mandy stared at the piece of fruit as if she held a rotting flounder. “Are you kidding me?” She glared at him. “This ain’t gonna cut it.”

He chuckled and pulled out something he knew she’d enjoy—a pastrami sub.

Her expression lit up. She didn’t look like the same woman he’d seen at the hospital the day before. Her cheeks were a rosy pink from the sun and water, and her smile hadn’t budged since she’d caught her first wave. The way she glowed, he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.

She unwrapped the sandwich. “That’s more like it! Got any chips?”

“Weren’t you the girl who always ordered a salad at Moe’s?”

“And cheese fries, can’t forget those.”

He pulled open a small bag of potato chips and handed them to her. “Ah, yes. I still think Sally’s Crab Shack has the best.”

“No way. Moe’s puts more bacon on theirs.” She chomped down on a big bite of her sandwich. “Mmmm. Black olives,” she mumbled through her mouthful. “You’re a man after my own heart.”

He mentally patted himself on the back for remembering her favorite food. “I’ve got beer if you want one.”

“I don’t do alcohol, except for red wine. Polyphenols are supposed to lower the risk of cancer.”

Justin reached into the cooler and pulled out what looked like a juice box. “Merlot.” He winked. “It’s even got a straw.”

Mandy stared at him with awe shining in her sparkling blue eyes. “I’ve never seen you drink wine.”

He pulled out a beer can and popped the tab. “That’s ‘cause I don’t.”

Her eyes widened. “You brought these for me?”

“Yep.”

“How are you still single?”

He shrugged, though he knew exactly how. He compared every girl he dated to Mandy. None of them ignited a spark in him the way she did. The entire time she’d been with Ty, he’d denied having a thing for her. Now that Ty was out of the way, he was surprised how easy it was to admit his feelings—to himself, of course, not to her, because Mandy overanalyzed everything.

If he came right out and told her he had the hots for her, she’d find some way to convince herself that dating him was a mistake. He needed to get into her head before making a move. With her emotions in play, she’d have a tougher time turning him down.

He scooted closer to her. “So what’ve you been up to the last year, besides being sick?” He bit into his sub. The jalapeños he’d loaded on his sandwich burned his tongue, and he savored the sensation.

Mandy’s brow furrowed as if she had to think hard about what her life entailed besides cancer. “Working.” Her face lit up with a soft smile. “I’ve been babysitting for my niece a lot. And when I find time, I hang out with Lori and Kirsten.”

Justin flinched at Kirsten’s name. He took a big swig of beer to tame his hatred of that girl. “What’s Lori up to?” he asked, hoping Mandy blamed his grimace on the jalapeños.

She still smiled, but her shoulders lowered, and she sighed. “She’s signed up for a nursing stint in Colorado.”

Well damn, that just left Mandy with Kirsten. “When’s she leaving?”

“In a couple of months, but it’s only for a year while she trains for neo-natal. She’s always wanted to work with preemies.”

He wished all of Mandy’s friends were as straight and narrow as Lori, and he wondered if she’d have anyone else to hang out with besides Kirsten the tramp. “You still hang out with that redhead… what was her name?”

Mandy’s shoulders sagged even further. “Addie?”

“Yeah, that one. I ran into her last week and called her Abby. She looked pissed.”

Mandy shook her head. “I set you up with her. You dated for a month. How can you not remember her name?”

“She didn’t make much of an impression.”

Her gaze dimmed while she stared toward the breaking waves. “Figures. No, we’re not friends anymore. She was more of a goodtime girl, and when things got… not so good for me, she bailed, along with other people.”

A knot formed in his stomach. If she thought he and Ty were still friends, she probably didn’t want to offend him by lumping Ty in with the people who’d bailed. But he had a feeling she was referring to him.

Though he knew she’d rather not discuss her ex, he figured Ty would come up in the conversation eventually, so he might as well get it over with. “You ever talk to Ty?”

She placed her sandwich on her empty potato chip bag as if she weren’t hungry anymore and stared at her hands. “No. We run into each other occasionally, but only say hi.”

Justin mentally chastised himself. He should have kept his mouth shut. The chemo had stolen a good fifteen pounds from her frame and, though she was still smokin’ hot, some of her curves had disappeared. He looked forward to seeing them again soon, but they weren’t going to reappear if he made her lose her appetite.

He eyed her solemn expression. “We don’t have to talk about him.”

“I don’t mind.” She picked up her sandwich and took another bite, then chewed slowly. “He didn’t tell you about his run-ins with me?”

The poor girl was apparently clueless about what had happened in the aftermath of her breakup. “We’re not friends anymore.”

Her brow furrowed. “You two were as close as a nut and bolt. What happened?”

“I wasn’t impressed with the way he handled your diagnosis.” Or that he had been out banging every girl he could get his hands on less than a month after they’d broken up. Ty was a selfish bastard, and not for one minute had Justin regretted throwing him out on his ass.

She set her sandwich down and rubbed her temple. “He’s not your roommate, anymore?”

“No.”

She winced. “Please tell me you didn’t end your friendship because of me.”

“You want me to lie?”

Mandy squeezed her eyes closed and rubbed more vigorously. “Does he know the reason?”

Considering Justin had kicked Ty out after catching him in bed with Kirsten, he knew. “Yep.”

Her eyes popped open wide. “You’re not supposed to ditch your best friend over a woman, especially me.”

He thought she’d be flattered, knowing he was on her side. Apparently not, but her response didn’t change how he felt about what Ty had done to her. “You deserved better. You knew that. I knew that. Ty knew it, too, but he didn’t give a damn.”

“He told me we’d been growing apart,” she said in a quiet voice. “He was planning to end things even before I got sick.”

Of course Ty had used that excuse. He had been looking for the easiest way out. “You believed him?”

She cringed. “You think he left because of the cancer?”

“What does your gut tell you?”

She pulled her legs to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. “He didn’t want to deal with my diagnosis.”

Christ, he hated doing this, but she needed to accept the truth—Ty wasn’t any better than Addie. Actually, he was worse, because he’d put a ring on her finger and promised her forever before he took off. “He’s a prick, Mandy. How could I stay friends with someone who left you when you needed him most?”

“He was a jerk to me, not you. I never wanted our breakup to affect you two.”

How could their breakup not have affected him? Hell, because of Ty, he hadn’t known if she was going to live or die, and the fear of seeing her name in the paper had eaten at him. “For the last year, I’ve read the obituaries every morning, praying I wouldn’t see your name.” He swallowed hard. “Maybe I didn’t mean much to you, but you meant a lot to me.”

Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes as she hugged her legs tighter and stared at him. “Oh, Justin.”

He groaned and ran his hands down his face. The conversation had gone too far, too fast. “I shouldn’t have brought up Ty.”

A teardrop snaked down her cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

If there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was waterworks from the opposite sex, especially Mandy. “Christ. I didn’t mean to make you sad. No one’s supposed to cry at the beach.”

She sucked in a shuddered breath. “You were a great friend to me. I loved hanging out with you. I just always thought your friendship with Ty trumped ours.” Another tear escaped her eye. “I wasn’t going to get between you two.”