Two weeks ago he’d been one of those swimmers. He’d spent more than an hour each day at the center, training hard for the race that would nearly kill him. He took a deep breath, held the air in his lungs, then slowly let it go.
“You okay?” Logan held the door open, waiting for Dylan to follow him.
“I don’t know if I can do it.”
“I thought you’d already decided not to swim?”
Dylan nodded. “I have.”
“What’s the problem, then?”
Dylan stared at the box in his hands. “I don’t think I can go inside.”
Logan moved away from the door and it closed quietly on its hinges. “Come and sit down.”
Dylan followed his friend to a wooden bench seat.
Logan put the box of presents on the ground. “I’d probably feel exactly the same if I’d nearly drowned.”
Dylan put the cake on the seat. He sat beside Logan, hoping the panic he felt would disappear as quickly as it had arrived. “Training in an indoor swim center is a lot different than swimming in a lake. It’s warmer for one thing. And for another, there are fewer people. The lanes keep everyone in some sort of order. Out on the reservoir, it was every person for themselves. It was cold, colder than I ever expected. I thought I’d prepared myself for what was ahead, but I hadn’t even come close.”
“When did you know you were in trouble?”
Dylan hung his head in shame. He should have left the water sooner, but he’d kept going. If he’d given in to what he was feeling, he knew he wouldn’t have finished the race. He’d been training for so long that there was no way he was giving up.
“About ten minutes into the swim I started to remember things, things I thought I’d dealt with. By the time I got to the second buoy, I knew I was in trouble. I tried to get help, but by then it was too late. I started swallowing water. The more I panicked, the worse it became. I don’t remember much after that.”
“What would make you feel better about going inside?”
Dylan dropped his head to his chest. “I don’t know. It’s complicated.”
“Frankie’s looking forward to seeing you.”
“Yeah, I know. He’s a good kid.”
Logan nodded. “He’ll understand if you can’t make it.”
Dylan knew that, too. Frankie had to be one of the most forgiving kids he’d ever met. He thought the best of everyone. He’d had a rough start to life, but he didn’t let it matter. Dylan thought about what it would mean to Frankie to have everyone at the party. He wanted to be there when Frankie blew out the candles on his cake and when he saw the skateboard for the first time.
Enough people had let Frankie down and Dylan wasn’t going to add his name to the list, not if he could help it. He glanced at the box he’d left on the seat. “I guess we’d better move. Pastor Steven will think we’ve eaten the cake.”
“Pastor Steven saw you through the window,” a deep voice said from behind them. “I’ve got fifteen supercharged kids swimming in the pool. Do you think you’re ready to help me supervise them?”
Logan looked closely at Dylan. “It’s up to you.”
Dylan picked up the cake box and stared at the doors in front of them. “Let’s go.” He strode toward the doors and pushed his way through. He’d stay here and help Pastor Steven. He’d make sure Frankie and his friends had enough food to give them a sugar high for the next month, and then he’d go home and worry about everything he was determined to ignore.
***
Two hours later, Dylan was beginning to understand why some people didn’t have large families. Trying to keep tabs on all of the kids from the youth group was impossible.
He glanced across the pool to where Tess and Annie had been standing. They’d brought the food in with Logan, set everything up in the party room, then stood back while the kids ate like there’d be no tomorrow.
Tess was still watching the pool with Logan, but Annie had disappeared. She’d probably gone back to her apartment to do some work on her website.
Yesterday he’d met Molly at Fletcher Security’s head office. As well as doing the publicity shots for his warehouse, she’d agreed to update Fletcher Security’s current publicity shots.
Molly had told him what she’d been working on with Annie. It sounded as though everything was going to plan. Annie had done her homework, identified the niche market she wanted to hit, and was doing everything she could to make the start of her business successful.
He hadn’t needed to pry too much to find out what else Annie had been up to. Apart from working at the café and bowling, her life seemed almost as riveting as his.
“You gonna come for a swim, Dylan?” The freckles on Frankie’s nose stood out against his pale skin. It was a wonder the kid didn’t get burned each time he set foot outside.
Dylan shook his head. “Not this time, squirt. How are you enjoying the party?”
Frankie’s wide grin brought an answering smile to Dylan’s face. “It’s awesome. Dad nearly had a heart attack when he saw all of the food everyone demolished. This is my best birthday ever.”
Dylan’s heart squeezed tight. From what he’d heard about Frankie’s life, there weren’t many times that would have made him happy. Every kid in the youth group deserved something to hold onto when their lives got tough. Dylan might be biased, but Frankie deserved all of that and more. The kid reminded him of all of the reasons he’d never given up on life in Afghanistan. He might not have had Frankie’s freckled face in mind, but the need to make someone else's life better had been there, hidden in a place where no one could touch.
Dylan had been watching Frankie at the pool, making sure he didn’t do anything stupid. “Why aren’t you swimming with your friends?”
Frankie shuffled on his feet. “Can’t swim.”
Damn. That would account for why Frankie hadn’t made it to the deep end. Dylan paid close attention to Frankie’s face. “You want to tell me what you can do in the pool?”
“I can float and kind of doggy paddle. I’m best at water bombs.” Frankie frowned at one of the lifeguards. “Davey got told off for jumping in the pool. But man, you should have seen the splash. It drenched everyone.”
“You want to make sure you don’t do any water bombs, then.”
Frankie nodded. He looked over at the obstacle course the pool staff had set up and sighed. “Davey made it to the end in twenty-eight seconds.”
“He must have been flying.” Dylan watched a kid cartwheel off the side of the inflated climbing wall. “You know the water’s deep out there?”
“Yeah. I can’t put my feet on the bottom without going under. Dad said I’m not allowed past the red line on the floor of the pool.”
Dylan was thankful that Frankie’s dad had already had that conversation with him. “Your dad knows what he’s talking about.”
“Sometimes,” Frankie muttered.
Another boy rushed up to Frankie. “You wanna come and drench Stacey? She’s sitting in the babies pool. I reckon we could get her with the cannon blaster.”
Frankie turned to Dylan. “Gotta go.” Both boys walked fast. Every now and then they looked over their shoulder. When they didn’t see a lifeguard, they took a few steps that could only be called running.
Dylan remembered doing exactly the same thing at Frankie’s age, except he’d been stalking girls and he knew how to swim. He guessed learn-to-swim classes were out of the question in Frankie’s house, but there were other ways to keep him safe.
He’d see Pastor Steven and sponsor swimming classes for the entire youth group. Frankie wouldn’t be the only kid who couldn’t swim. If he’d learned anything over the last week, it was that water could kill you. It didn’t matter if it was two inches deep or ten feet, the outcome was the same.
Dylan adjusted his sunglasses and looked at the kids in the pool. The swim center had added a new roof to the complex last year. Sunlight poured through the clear, bubble-like material attached to thick wooden beams.
He wasn’t sure how it worked, but it was a huge improvement on the standard ceiling that most centers used. The only problem was the glare ricocheting off the roof and directly into your eyes. On days like today, it was almost worse than standing outside.
Logan waved from across the pool and Dylan started walking toward him, until he saw who Tess was talking too. He stumbled, almost tripping over a towel someone had left on the ground.
Annie hadn’t gone home to work on her website. She’d gone into the changing rooms and wiggled her way into a swimsuit. And not the kind he could have handled. It was a bikini. A bright red, in your face, two-piece that made him break out in a cold sweat.
By the time he’d reached Logan, Dylan had almost convinced himself that what Annie was or wasn’t wearing made no difference to his life. She just had a fewer layers on. Layers that camouflaged a sexy body that would have made parts of him sit up and take notice. If he’d been interested. Which he wasn’t. Not yet, maybe soon…maybe sooner than he thought.
If he didn’t get himself under control, Annie would be running scared before he got a chance to make his mind up about anything.
He quickly glanced at Tess and Annie. He didn’t want to be rude, but he’d be damned if he spent more than a few seconds beside Annie’s almost naked body.
“I saw you talking to Frankie. Is he enjoying himself?” Logan had an amused gleam in his eyes.
Dylan knew what Logan was doing. His best friend, the man he’d be a groomsman for, had just played him for a fool. A hormonal fool who’d turned his back on the only woman who’d made him believe he could be normal.
Dylan pushed his sunglasses down his nose, just enough to show Logan he wasn’t impressed. “Frankie’s fine.”
“Goodness, will you look at the time…” Tess nudged Logan. “I promised Sally I’d call into the animal shelter. Another litter of kittens was left there yesterday.”
Logan frowned. “You can’t let her talk you into looking after more cats.”
“You’ve got a big house.” Tess smiled at her fiancé. “A couple of little kittens won’t make a difference.”
Logan turned to Dylan. “This is your fault. If Tess hadn’t looked after your three kittens, we wouldn’t be visiting the shelter.”
Dylan couldn’t fault Logan’s logic. Except he hadn’t planned on leaving his kittens with Tess. Annie had reached out to her in an emergency. The rest was history. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ve decided to keep my three kittens.”
“You have?” Annie sounded shocked.
Dylan slipped his glasses over his eyes and stared at her. The surprise on Annie’s face made him cringe. She seemed to think he didn’t have a heart. He did, he just kept it safely hidden away. “I called Sally yesterday. I’m taking them for their next vaccination soon.”
He zipped his lips before he got to the spaying and neutering part of the conversation. He’d winced when Sally had lectured him about being a responsible pet owner. He’d lost any doubts about it being necessary when she’d told him how many unwanted kittens were left at the shelter.
“That’s very nice of you,” Annie said carefully.
Dylan felt a goofy grin spread across his face. He wiped it off fast when Logan gave him a knowing look.
“We’re going to be late,” Tess said. She gave Logan a semi-gentle nudge. “I’ll buy you a cup of coffee if you say yes.”
The grin on Logan’s face wasn’t something a man on the verge of panic wanted to see. “It will take more than a cup of coffee to convince me we need a kitten.”
Tess kissed her fiancé’s cheek. “I was thinking more like two or three kittens. And my terms are negotiable, if you know what I mean.”
Looking at the blush streaking across Logan’s face, he knew exactly what Tess was talking about. Their flirty talk was almost too much for Dylan. He was a man on the edge of reason. Listening to Tess and Logan was enough to make him forget all of the good reasons why he was an idiot.
Dylan cleared his throat and glared at Logan. “You’d better leave now before the conversation becomes x-rated.”
Logan winked at him and grabbed Tess’ hand. “We can negotiate the terms on the way to the shelter.”
Tess said goodbye to Annie, then grinned at Dylan. “Enjoy the rest of your afternoon.”
He watched the happy couple leave and wondered if they’d make it to the shelter before it closed.
Annie sighed. “They’re so happy together.”
Dylan didn’t need to look directly at her to know she’d bunched her hands on her hips. He had good peripheral vision. Too damn good. The way her body filled out her itsy-bitsy bikini was enough to make him growl in frustration. She liked him, he liked her. What the hell was wrong with him? Most men would jump at the chance of spending time with Annie. But not him.
He had to have a life-altering disaster, in the middle of a mid-life crisis, brought on by post traumatic stress. It was enough to make him curl into a ball and let the rest of the world disappear. Except he’d already done that, and it hadn’t worked. The rest of the world kept interrupting his ‘let’s feel sorry for Dylan’ moments.
So instead of focusing his outstanding peripheral vision on Annie, he looked at the pool. Two of Frankie’s friends were doing cannonballs off the end of the obstacle course. One of them jumped into the water, narrowly missing another swimmer. Two lifeguards walked across to tell them to quit what they were doing. Pastor Steven was on his way as well. He didn’t look happy, and Dylan knew the two kids might as well pack their bags now. They wouldn’t be getting anywhere near the water.
His gazed skimmed along the other kids on the obstacle course. They were doing what they were supposed to do, even if they ended up in the water. Something about one of the kids made every cell in his body go on alert. He moved closer, focusing on the green swim trunks, the long skinny body carefully navigating along the slippery plastic surface.
Frankie made it to the top of the climbing wall. He was ten feet in the air, holding onto the narrow ledge like someone who’d made the worst decision of his life. Shit. He was in trouble and he needed help.
Dylan looked around for a lifeguard, but the two closest were distracted by the idiots at the end of the pool. He ran toward the obstacle course, but before he got a chance to yell for help, Frankie fell. His body hit the water with a resounding crash.
Dylan knew Frankie wouldn’t be able to come up for air. He didn’t think, didn’t consider what he was about to do. He kicked off his shoes and dived into the pool, swimming as fast as he could toward the place Frankie had fallen into.
He heard someone yelling and headed beneath the obstacle course. He saw Frankie, grabbed him around his chest and with everything inside of him, pushed off the bottom of the pool.
They broke the surface. Frankie was gagging, sucking in air around the water he’d swallowed. Another pair of arms grabbed Frankie and a voice cut through Dylan’s panic.
“It’s okay. Let me help.”
Dylan focused on the lifeguard, released his death grip on Frankie’s chest and helped pull him to safety.
Pastor Steven and another lifeguard hauled Frankie out of the pool. Dylan was close behind, watching what was going on.
A towel landed on his shoulders and Annie rubbed his back. “Are you okay?”
Dylan nodded. He was too concerned about Frankie to pay much attention to himself. He heard one of the lifeguards say they’d called for an ambulance.
Frankie sat on the floor, coughing up water. He was so pale that Dylan swore he could see the veins in his neck pump blood around his body. Someone wrapped a silver survival blanket around Frankie’s thin shoulders and a lifeguard ran toward them with heat packs.
The rest of the swimmers in the pool had stopped what they were doing. Silence hung over the swim center like a bad omen, waiting to see what happened next.
Dylan started shaking. He pulled the towel closer, tried to stop the spasms turning his muscles to jelly. He knew what was h
appening, but he couldn’t do a damn thing to stop it. He looked around. He needed to get away, find somewhere to sit until the worst of it had passed.
Annie grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him away from the pool. She pushed him into a room, said something to another person, then closed the door.
She pulled a dry towel out of a bag and started rubbing Dylan’s hair. “We need to get you into dry clothes.”
The door opened and someone walked inside.
“They’re not your style, but they’ll have to do.” Jeremy dumped a pile of clothes on the table beside Dylan. “Arms up.”
Dylan frowned at Jeremy until he realized what he was doing. “I can change…myself.” He was shaking so much that he could hardly talk.
“If I believed you I wouldn’t be standing here. Arms up.”
Within minutes, Jeremy had stripped Dylan’s wet t-shirt off his body. Annie dried him as best she could, then pulled a clean sweatshirt over his shoulders.
Dylan was still dealing with the shock tearing through him, when Jeremy leaned down and looked him in the eyes. “We need to get your wet shorts off. Annie’s going to turn her back, but unless you want her helping you, you’re going to have to help me. Do you understand?”
Dylan nodded. He didn’t wait for Annie to live up to her side of the bargain. With Jeremy’s help he stood up, dropped his pants and dried himself off. The thick sweatpants Jeremy pulled over his hips were warm and comfortable.
As soon as his sweatpants were up, Annie threw a pile of towels on the seat for him to sit on. She found some socks from who knew where, and pulled them onto his feet. More towels ended up on the concrete floor. He had no idea where they’d gotten so many towels from, but he was glad they weren’t wet.
The door opened and another lifeguard brought in two heat packs. “Put these under his armpits. Is he okay?”
Jeremy nodded. “Getting there. How’s Frankie?”
Loving You (The Bridesmaids Club Book 2) Page 23