Page 70 of The Forever Christmas Tree

A short time later, with Wendy guiding her slim body into the various positions, Cassie was giggling with delight. “I can do it, Dad. I can do it!” And she did, many times.

Finally, Ethan got out of the pool and held out a towel for Cassie. “Time to take a break, princess. Your body is starting to protest.”

Wendy could see that the girl was overdoing it, the exhaustion showing in her heavy breathing and the trembling of her muscles, not to mention her bluish lips. She hadn’t noticed until Ethan had called it to her attention. She supposed it was the kind of thing a parent would notice, but not an outsider. Which she was, she had to remind herself.

Ethan sat down on a bench and pulled Cassie down beside him. “Maybe Wendy can give us a demonstration of how the big girls dive.”

“Oooh, yes! A swan dive!”

“Okay. I’m a bit rusty; so, don’t expect too much.”

She climbed to the high dive and prepared herself mentally with a few deep breaths, reminding herself of all the aspects of the dive, just as she had in her old competition days. Starting stance. The approach, using no more than three steps . . . the clank, clank, clank of the springboard like music to a diver’s ears. The forward hurdle from the last step. The take-off, making sure to be a safe distance from the board. The flight—the best part, in her opinion—which should be smooth and graceful with arms outspread, easing into one of the four positions: tuck, pike, straight, free. Then, arms overhead, and a clean entry into the water, as close to vertical as possible.

When she came up to the surface, she heard applause. Not just from Ethan who was whistling and clapping at the same time, but from Cassie, and all the others in the pool at that time.

It hadn’t been a perfect dive, but not bad after all this time. She did six more, one after the other, enjoying herself immensely. When she came out of the water for the last time, a guy wearing a shirt with a Sunset Dunes Health Club logo came up to her and introduced himself as Mike Sullivan, the manager. “I saw you teaching that little girl to swim and dive earlier. Any chance you’d be interested in giving lessons?”

She laughed and informed him that she was only visiting the island.

They chatted a bit about the club and about her history of competitive swimming on the island. He asked her to give him a call if she ever changed her mind.

When she got back to Ethan—Cassie was in the water again, dog paddling around with another little girl she’d become friendly with—he said, “What was that all about?” He motioned toward Mike who was talking to an elderly woman who was about to enter the pool.

“Job offer. Swimming instructor.”

“Really?”

“What? You thought he was hitting on me?”

“Why not? I’d like to.”

“Don’t you think you’ve done enough hitting on me already?” she teased, casting him a flirtatious sideways glance as she towel-dried her hair.

“Not nearly enough,” he whispered, leaning forward to nip at her ear.

They left soon after that, Ethan saying that Cassie had had enough exercise for one day. In fact, after a quick late lunch—at McDonald’s, at Cassie’s urging—the little girl fell into an exhausted sleep in the backseat, her head nestled on a small pillow and burrowed under a fleece blanket, both of which Ethan carried in his trunk for just that purpose.

“She’ll probably have to use her crutches this evening and maybe tomorrow at her bell choir practice,” Ethan said. “Rehab and too much exercise has that effect on her.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make her overdo.”

“It’s not your fault. She loved it.” He reached across the seat and took her hand in his, squeezing. “Thank you for taking your time with her.”

“It was my pleasure.”

“I only wish . . .” He stopped himself from saying more.

But she knew what he’d been about to say. He wished she would be around to help her more. “I’ve told my aunt that I’ll come back more often. If . . . when I do . . . I’m willing to work with her again.”

He nodded, but she could tell that wasn’t enough, both for his daughter and for him.

“I know you want to spend some time with your aunt and your friends from California, but would you go to the dance they’re holding at Gabe’s house with me tomorrow night?”

“You mean, like a date?” She turned in her seat to look at him directly.

“Don’t look so worried.” He chucked her under the chin, playfully. “We probably won’t have another chance to be together, like we were last night. But I’d like to spend some time with you before you go back to California.”

That sounded harmless enough.