Page 117 of Jay Bird

“Momma!”

Willow looked toward Lily, who was smiling at her.

“Swim!”

Alex stood up. “Come on.”

Willow looked up, and Alex held out her hand.

“I’m hot, you’re hot, and your daughter has yelled ‘Mommy swim’ approximately forty-seven times.”

“Alex...”

“We’ll do it together.”

Before Willow could respond, Alex untied her cover-up and removed it. The scars across her back were visible.

Willow glanced around instinctively, but no one had stopped talking or turned to stare. Nobody seemed to care.

Alex tossed her cover-up onto a chair and held her hand out again, and Willow’s heart pounded as she looked across the yard.

Jay Bird sat beneath the covered patio with several of the guys, but his attention was already fixed on Willow. When their eyes met, he didn’t gesture toward her cover-up or encourage her to take it off. He just flashed her that grin of his as if quietly letting her know that the choice was hers.

Here goes nothing. Willow stood. Her hands trembled slightly as she untied the cover-up and slipped it from her shoulders.

For one terrifying second, she felt completely exposed, but then Alex reached over and took her hand, grounding her with a quiet, reassuring squeeze. “Ready?”

Willow took a breath. “Yeah.”

They jumped. The cool water closed around Willow, and when she surfaced, Lily’s delighted scream filled the air.

“MOMMA!”

Willow laughed as Lily tried to swim toward her, kicking her little legs with all her might but barely moving an inch.

“Come on, bug.”

“Swim!” Lily said.

“You’re not moving, bug.”

Lily kicked harder.

Alex laughed. “She’s got determination.”

“Unfortunately, she has no propulsion.”

Willow moved toward her and scooped Lily into her arms.

Lily squealed and immediately wrapped both arms around her neck.

“You swim, Mommy!”

“I did.”

Willow kissed her wet cheek. She relaxed into the moment, laughing and playing with Lily as though nothing else in the world mattered. It wasn’t until later that she realized she hadn’t thought about her scars even once.

Looking down at her daughter, Willow smiled.