After parking in one of the beach’s public lots, I walked past afew closed shops, too early to be open, and made my way down to the sand, where I spotted Jazmine’s first paddleboard class of the day doing warm-up exercises on the beach. Bright sun glinted off the lake, dazzling me for a moment. When I held up my hand to block the light, I spotted her.
Tall and brown-skinned, Jazmine Neely stood in the sand wearing a shirt that readInstructorin big letters. Red bikini strings peeked from under the shirt, along with more muscle than half the dock bros. Her natural brown-and-dark-honey curls were pulled up into a high puffy ponytail, and much like her older sister, a galaxy of freckles covered her nose and cheeks.
Her left arm was bound in an elastic bandage and cradled inside a black sling.
She’s hurt her arm... ?
“Hold up. There’s only eight of you,” she was telling the class. “Someone’s missing. Where’s Sheila? Did she get locked in the changing room again? You kids are about to test my last nerve. Who knows something?”
Several children shrugged their shoulders in answer. One of the kids pointed in my direction.
Jazmine turned around, and her face lit up. She beamed at me before her smile faltered—just slightly, just for a moment. But I caught it.What is going on?
“Paige!” she called out, running toward me. “Oh my God, look at you!”
Frustrations forgotten, I embraced Jazmine while trying to avoid the arm in the sling, inhaling the familiar scent of her favorite sweet almond lotion. “Missed you so much.”
“Missed you more,” she said, pulling back to smile at me. “When did you get bangs?”
“Ugh, I cut them in a moment of weakness, don’t ask.”
“Why? I like them.”
Crazy that her approval made me feel a little better, but when she smiled at me, I smiled back. I gestured toward her arm. “And when did you dothat? What happened?”
“Sprained it,” she said, deflating a little as she held the arm against her body. “Was racing out at Harbor Point and my foot slipped. Fell wrong, hit the board...” She shrugged.
“Racing? Who?”
She sighed heavily, lifting her warm face to the sun. “Fine. I wasn’t racing. It happened a couple mornings ago. I was hungover at work after a long night of trying to outdrink Bill Chesney. I was showing off for those brats over there, trying to impress them—which is impossible, just for the record. My ankle twisted, and I fell off the board.”
I winced. Now thatdidsound like her. Jazmine was highly competitive at anything physical, even partying. I flicked a look at the brown bandage wrapped around her ankle, then leaned to the side to glance around her and found the kids staring back at us.
“Tough class this summer?”
“The absolute worst,” she whispered.
“So sorry, Jaz. Are you in pain?”
She shook her head, looking sheepish. “It aches, but nowhere near as a bad as it did when it happened. You know what the doc told me? ‘Take some Tylenol.’ I nearly strangled him.”
“I’ll bet.” I smiled.
“Anyway, hopefully I’ll have to be in the sling for only a week or so. Then I’ll be able to get back on the board.”
I nodded encouragingly, then after a moment, dared to say,“So, hey. I really missed seeing you at the airport. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, it’s fine. Just was in a little pain, and my boss called me in to talk about my performance, and I thought I was getting fired—I’m really sorry, Paige. I know it was shitty, but I just couldn’t make the drive to Grand Rapids yesterday.”
“Oh God, of course. I wouldn’t expect you to drive all the way there with one arm...” It was just that... “Why didn’t you just tell me?”
Her shoulders dropped. “I don’t know. I guess I was embarrassed. Silly, huh?”
“Ridiculously silly. I thought you were mad at me, or something.”
“Then I guess that explains those voice messages you left...”
“Sorry, Jaz. I was upset. I’d just flown in and found the cottage trashed, then I ran into Seb down the beach at a bonfire.”
