The Counseling (19 page)

Just as Jess thought, there are vendors renting surf- and bodyboards, as well as flippers, masks, and even kites. Evan Christian opts for a large butterfly-shaped one and heads off to sail it in the breeze. Jess, Willow, Micah, Greg, and I all rent boogie boards, and I can't wait to get in the water.

The Puckett triplets slather up in suntan oil and spread out on their beach blankets, drinking in the California goodness. Ricky and Carl don't waste a moment and race each other into the surf, disappearing under the foam.

Oliver sets up some beach chairs and a large umbrella and makes himself at home in the shade. Sadly, Patrick joins him and sticks his headphones on. I want to invite him to come frolic in the water with us; however, I know that's an exercise in futility. The ocean is no longer amusing to him. Instead of seeing it as a humongoid playground, he sees it as a harbinger of death and injury. His totem animals, the dolphins, made it abundantly clear that they want him back in the water. They want to see him play and live life to the fullest. Maybe, as the day goes on, Patrick will remember what it was like to dive and swim, and he'll come join us.

Don't count on it, Kendall.

I look around and see him holding his headphones in his hands and staring at the water numbly.

What about the sweat and what we learned?

It was just a dream. Nothing more.

I don't believe that and neither do you.

All I know is that it will take a cataclysmic event for me to get back in the ocean.

I sigh, knowing I can't convince Patrick otherwise. He'll make the move back into the water when he feels like it. When he's motivated and doesn't dread it so much.

I peel my shirt over my head and squiggle out of my shorts, tossing them onto the towel I've laid out next to Maddie. Without even having to turn, I know Patrick's eyes are on me, checking me out. A blush covers me from head to toe and I smile in his direction. He pulls his sunglasses down for a moment and then, uncharacteristically, he winks at me.

Okay, maybe he will loosen up and have some fun at the beach.

"Come on, Kendall!" Jess shouts over the roar of the ocean. "You ready to learn?"

"As ready as I'll ever be. Oh, wait! Let's do the video first."

Jess grabs her phone and clicks Record. "We are standing at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, home to sea life from here to China, or something like that. Today, Kendall Moorehead, native of Chicago and resident of East Podunk, Georgia—"

"Radisson!" I interject.

"Whatever," Jess says with a laugh. "Today, Ms. Moorehead will be taking her very first dip into said Pacific Ocean. I am here to document this momentous occasion for all the world to see later on Facebook and YouTube."

I giggle as I edge forward to the sea. The sand crunches under my feet, and the warmth of the sun radiates down on me. "Here I go!"

A wave stretches toward me, inviting me into the turquoise water. I take several steps and then...
ahhhhhhh
...the ocean is so cooling and refreshing. Not bitterly cold like I was expecting, although it is going to take some getting used to.

"There we have it, folks," Jess says. "One small step for Kendall Moorehead, and one giant step for womankind."

We break down laughing and Jess stops the recording. "That was ridonkulous," I say.

"So what! Let me ditch this and we'll do some boogie boarding, baby!"

I wade out deeper, cringing a little as the crisp water swooshes around my bare middle. Remembering what I learned during the sweat, that I need to be braver when I face any challenge, I hold my breath and plunge under to get used to the temperature.

"Woooo!" I say when I surface.

"Attagirl," Willow says from behind me and then disappears into the surf. When she reappears, she says, "I can help Jess teach you to bodyboard."

"Thanks!" As my friend Taylor would say, this is going to be
très
fun.

We are totally having the time of our lives, kicking up water, splashing one another, and riding the massive—okay, to me they're massive—waves. In actuality, Jess says, they're only about four-foot waves, but the swells are coming about every eighteen seconds. That doesn't give us much time to swim out without having to duck under one of the waves as it rolls over us.

Micah and Greg are racing each other for each wave, both of them making it almost all the way to the shore by the end of their ride. I keep trying and trying to catch one, but my timing is off. I'm either too early with my jump and the wave crests by me or I'm too late and I never get on top of it.

Jess and Willow expertly ride almost every single swell into shore, like the boys. I'm getting wicked frustrated because everyone is catching waves but me and I want one worse than anyone.

"May I give you some advice, Kendall?" Jess asks.

"Sure thing. I need all the help I can get," I say, exasperated.

"You've got to get up on top of the wave, g'friend. Try going just a few seconds earlier and really push off the bottom, propel yourself forward. Once you get on top of the wave, hold on to the board, pressing it down some so you can ride it out."

"That's what I've been trying to do."

She shakes her head. "Not really. You're getting pounded out here. You don't want Oliver to have to come out there and rescue you, do you?"

I chuckle. "No worries. I'm a good swimmer."

I paddle out farther because I'm not going to give up. How hard can this be? Practice makes perfect.

A few failed attempts later, I'm ready to karate chop this boogie board.

"You almost had that one," Willow says as we wait for the next swell. "The waves are coming even closer, only about nine seconds apart."

"Is that good?" I ask.

"Yeah, it helps you with your timing."

Micah zooms past me, high above a wave. "Wooo-heeee!"

I slap my hand on the water. "Damnit! I want that!"

Willow smiles. "Then come with me. I'll get you on one."

Jess whizzes by in a blond flash as Willow and I continue out just past where the waves swell and peak. I sit perched on the bodyboard, facing the beach. The wind whips around me, blowing my wet hair into my eyes.

"Okay, get ready!" Willow adjusts on her board and comes over to me. "When I say go, start kicking and paddling your ass off."

I feel the sea move underneath me and feel the wave about to crest. Giving one amazing shove on the back of my board, Willow screams, "Go!" I push off the ocean floor and propel myself forward onto the board and onto the swell, kicking like I never have before. I realize I've done it. I'm on top and I'm riding in like I'm on a flying carpet.

"Oh my Gooooood!" I scream in glee. This is like nothing I've ever done. I'm skidding along on top of the water holding tight to the board, headed to the beach. Absolutely amazing! That's when I remember Jess saying something about pushing the board down ... right? I put all of my weight forward on the board, pressing it into the water. Holy crap! I push it too far and I'm suddenly pulled under and flipped over. The water overcomes me and I don't know which way is up. Where am I? Where's the surface? I hold my breath and try to get oriented without panicking. My foot hits sand and I know that's the bottom. I thrust myself up, stretching until I finally explode to the surface.

Gaaaaasp!

No sooner do I refill my lungs with precious oxygen than another wave hits me and slams me to the bottom again. The rolling water churns me over and over like clothes spinning in the dryer. I'm totally running out of air again, but I float up just in time to gulp in more. Then another wave slams me. And another. I close my eyes against the stinging salt water that goes straight up my nose. Racking coughs hit me, as does another wave. I'm flailing around like a fish out of its tank, just waiting for that last bit of air to leave my body.

"Kendall!" Willow screams to me. "Swim, Kendall!"

What the hell does she think I'm trying to do? All I'm
doing
is swimming.

I hear Jess yelling at me as well, but I can't do anything about it.

"Help me!" I manage to screech before the next wave consumes me. I have no power over the churning sea that wants to make me part of its underwater world. Down, down, down I go again ... bubbles smearing my vision. Something is tugging me backwards and sideways and not letting me surface.

Oh. My. God. I've already had one brush with death; am I having another? Is this the vision I saw days ago?

Seriously, this can't be how it ends for me.

W
ATER RUSHES UP MY NOSE
and I cough, losing precious air.

The next thing I know, someone is next to me. A hand joins with mine, and I'm tugged into the strong chest of the swimmer trying to rescue me. Jess? Willow? Maybe even Micah. Whoever it is, I'm mondo grateful.

Through the powerful kicking of my rescuer, we burst to the surface like a rocket ship. I take a deep breath, relishing the precious air inside me once again.

A muffled voice behind me says, "Hold on and don't fight me."

Like I have the strength to battle anyone, much less a person who's saving me.

I curl my hands around the muscular forearm towing me to the beach. Okay ... so it's not one of the girls. Whatever. I don't care at this moment. I'm just glad God answered my prayers and sent me some help. I glance down. On the rippled biceps of my knight in shining armor is a small tattoo of a smiling ghost. It's both odd and soothing, and I grin because of it. Funny someone should have a tat like that.

When we reach the shore, I hear Oliver's voice. "Is she okay?"

"She'll be fine."

I sit in the shallow water and try to stop panting. I glance at the arm wrapped around my chest ... a gloved hand holds me tightly.

Patrick.

"Ho. Ly. Shit."

He just looks at me, trying to catch his own breath.

Whoa. He overcame his fear and swam out to get me.

Patrick saved me.

Yes, I did. On both counts.

But ... but ... you said...

Your almost drowning was a cataclysmic event, Kendall.

I twist in his arms until we're eye to eye. Heart to heart. Soul to soul. Then, without caring what he—or anyone else—will think about me, I throw myself around him and hug him with the remaining ounces of strength that I have. He pulls me in tightly and squeezes back.

Thanks
sounds incredibly lame ... but thanks.

De nada.

He sets me back away from him and smiles. It is both heartbreaking and liberating. His eyes soften and I read pages of concern from him. He cares about me and risked everything by jumping into the water. I'm lost in the complexities of his face, and thoughts of Jason Tillson up in Alaska fade into oblivion.

I realize that although Patrick saved me from the water, I'm totally a goner over him.

"I really do think we should call the doctor to come check on you, dear," Chris says when we're back at the inn. She ladles another gigamonic mound of her homemade beef stew into my bowl. Apparently the rule is starve a fever, feed the nearly drowned.

Blowing on the molten stew, I say, "I'm fine. Seriously. No doctor, please."

Maddie tilts her head to one side. "Doctors make house calls out here?"

Chris nods. "They do when they're your brother-in-law."

I smile sweetly at the innkeeper. "That's awfully nice of you, Miss Chris, but I'm okay. I just won't need sodium in my food for a while after all the salt water I consumed today."

Everyone around laughs. Even Patrick.

I'm still in shock that he jumped into the water and saved me. I'm forever in his debt.

He lifts his head up from his food and fixes his gaze on me. No sentences pass between us. Not even thoughts. Nothing needs to be said. Words don't matter. Only feelings. I'm all atingle and it's not from the seawater buzz I've had all afternoon. It's from Patrick. We share ... something. Souls that were meant to cross? I don't even want to think about what might have happened to me if he hadn't jumped into the water. I might have been fish food for all of the Pacific Ocean's marine life.

Oliver lets out a sigh of relief. "I think, considering the physical exertion of the day, we'll call it an early one. We'll reconvene in the morning, okay?"

"It's only seven thirty," Greg says in a slight whine.

I feel like a buzz kill on the retreat, but all I want to do is crawl into the cool sheets of my comfy bed and try not to think about the close call I had. If it weren't for Patrick...

Well, I don't want to think about it. With one last look tossed at my rescuer—and a wink from him—I go over to Jess, she wraps her arm around my shoulder, and we head off to cabin 14.

Sleep doesn't last long, though.

Tap, tap, tap.

I roll over in bed to see what Jessica is up to. She's sound asleep, her leg slung over the covers and hanging off the bed.

Tap, tap, tap.

"What the—"

The clock reads 11:11, and I am so not happy to be awakened. Whatever spirit is messing with me right now needs to understand the physically and emotionally exhausting day I've had.

Kendall ... it's me.

Patrick?

I slip on my RHS shorts and grab my blue sweatshirt, then creep over to the door. The moonlight streams into the room when I crack it open. Patrick is standing on the porch in a long-sleeved shirt that reads "I Love the Smell of Neoprene in the Morning." I have no earthly clue what that even means.

"It's a diving reference," he says in response to my thoughts. "That's not important, though. I need to talk to you."

Crossing my arms over my chest, I follow him out into the night. He's not wearing his hat or sunglasses, but the leather gloves are still on.

He spins to face me. "Look, I got a visit from Hailey a little while ago."

"My Hailey?"

"Unless you know of another teenage spirit that's hanging around here tapping on both of our minds."

"Sorry," I say. "What did she want?"

"She told me she's been missing for months. Her parents are still holding out hope, but it's false hope, since she's a ghost. We've got to help her ... somehow."