The pool is beautiful and is so much more luxurious than what we normally swim in at the Y. Rocks cluster together to create a fountain that drips into the deep end of the pool.
Saul tears his tank top and shorts off before kicking off his flip-flops and cannonballing into the deep end. He’s not at all shy about his tiny neon-green brief underwear.
Ruthie and Hattie undress without ceremony. Ruthie wears black boy-shorts underwear and a pink sports bra while my sister struts her stuff all the way to the pool in a pink lacy thong and a turquoise push-up bra.
“She’s still got it, y’all!” calls Saul.
If she weren’t pregnant, I might wonder what Freddie thought of her. Hattie’s always been the hot and sexy one, and she would be the first one to say so.
Freddie turns his back to all of us as he pulls off his shorts and T-shirt to reveal a pair of blue boxer briefs. He’s got nothing to be shy about, but I like that he is anyway.
The water is colder than I expected, but my body is quickly adjusting. Hattie floats on her back into the deep end, where she sits behind the waterfall with Saul while Ruthie does handstands in the shallow end.
I lean up against the side of the pool with Freddie, and everything from our chins down is under water, but I still catch him peeking down at my bra and underwear. I write it off as plain old curiosity.
There’s something about the air around us that is absolutely electric. Maybe it’s because I know we’re not supposed to be here.
“Up for an impromptu race?” I ask.
Freddie shakes his head. “I don’t think so. I don’t think my ego can handle the possibility of losing in my underwear.”
I blow a few bubbles in the water. “Hey, it’s a lot more coverage than what you swim in during the week.”
“Yeah,” he admits, “but at least then everything is... secure.”
I nod vigorously. “I think I’ve heard enough.”
He grins wickedly. “I’d be up for a cannonball off the waterfall, though.”
I nod. “Let’s do it.”
We run along the side of the pool and up the back side of the rocky waterfall, which I don’t think is meant for climbing. As we stand there a few feet from the edge, Freddie takes my hand. “You ready?”
I squeeze his fingers, and we run, flying into the air before crashing into the deep end.
I let myself sink down to the bottom and open my eyes, even though it burns. Freddy’s blurry figure swims toward me, and his hand brushes my waist as he reaches for my arm, pulling me to the surface with him.
As we emerge, my hair fans out around us like blue lava. “That was fun.”
“You’ve got a mean cannonball.” He grins, displaying the gap in his front teeth. “If only your dive off the blocks was as good.”
I splash him in the face with his mouth wide open and swim away as Ruthie, Saul, and Hattie climb up the rocks.
Freddie chases me to the shallow end and walks through the waterfall to where I’m sitting on a little underwater bench. “Truce?”
I grin from the shadows. “For now.”
He sits down beside me. “Do you ever miss Grace?”
“I do. But it’s not as constant as it used to be. Now I just remember her every once in a while. And it’s weird things that remind me of her. Like, certain canned soups and doughnuts with sprinkles and vampire movies. But it feels manageable all of a sudden. It wasn’t always like that.”
Freddie leans his head back on the rocks. “I just feel stupid all the time. Like, when I remember Viv, I miss her. But I feel sort of embarrassed, too, like I should have known better. Everyone saw this coming except me. Even Viv. I wouldn’t listen, though.”
“I don’t know. I think that’s part of it. Sometimes you’ve got to live through it yourself.” Because the mood has grown so somber so quickly, I splash him.
“I thought we called truce!” he shouts.
“It was temporary, sucker!”
