Chapter Twenty #3
Before she was ready, she was standing on top of the box and lifting her ass onto the swing. Her heart was racing, her hands were clammy, and it felt as if she was hyperventilating.
“You got this. Push backward, then lift your legs. You’ll swing out over the water, and when you come back, Lincoln will push you so you go a little higher. Around the fourth or fifth swing, at the highest part of the arc, jump off. It’ll feel just like you’re flying,” Chad coached.
Britt nodded, holding on to the ropes on either side of her with a death grip.
There was so much wrong with this, she didn’t know where to start.
She had no idea how deep the water was, but no one else seemed concerned, so she shouldn’t be either.
But what if momentum pitched her forward and she belly flopped onto the water or landed on her face?
What if the water was so cold she stopped breathing when she hit?
She couldn’t help but remember the story of the lobster attaching to Chad ... What if there was a giant lobster under the water, pissed because its home had been disturbed by the others who’d swung before her, and it attached to her ?
Britt was well aware she was being ridiculous, but she couldn’t help it. This was so far outside her comfort zone it wasn’t even funny.
Before she could get even further into her head, Lincoln was counting down.
“Three, two, one . . . go!”
Her body automatically obeyed, and Britt found herself flying through the air. The first swing, she didn’t breathe and she squeezed her eyes shut, but when she felt Lincoln’s hands on her back as he pushed her, she took a deep breath and opened her eyes.
The feeling of being weightless was exhilarating. She could do this part forever. Simply swing back and forth over the water, then back toward land.
“You’re high enough now, Britt! Next time, jump!” Lincoln ordered.
“You got this!” Evelyn shouted.
“Woooooo!” Kash whooped, obviously getting into the excitement of the moment.
“Do it, Britt!”
It was Chad’s words of encouragement—okay, his order—that had Britt taking a deep breath and letting go of the ropes as she propelled her body forward when she was over the water the next time.
For a split second, it really did feel as if she were flying—then reality hit as she plummeted toward the water. It was too late to change her mind now! Her arms and legs flailed as she struggled to keep herself upright as she fell.
It took only seconds to hit the water, and as she sank and her body felt as if it were immediately encased in ice ... Britt realized she was smiling.
Her head bobbed to the surface, and it felt as if her limbs weighed eight hundred pounds, but she couldn’t help but exclaim “That was fun!” as she saw Chad standing on the bottom step, waiting for her.
He smiled back and held out his hand. Britt made her way over to him and sighed in satisfaction as his fingers closed around hers.
Something came over her then. She had no idea what. Maybe it was his warm hand when she was so cold. Maybe it was his bossiness as he’d yelled “Do it” when she was swinging. Maybe it was the “I told you so” smirk on his face.
Whatever it was, she yanked his hand toward her, pulling him off balance and making him fall into the water with her.
Laughter rang out from the shore above them as a soaking-wet Chad emerged from the water.
For a split second she was afraid she’d made him mad, but then he laughed and shook his head, much as a wet dog might.
Water went flying everywhere, and Britt stopped breathing for a moment as her thoughts went right back to the last shower they’d shared, when his hair had been wet just like it was now, and he’d smiled at her while she’d been on her knees in front of him.
He’d just come all over her chest, and the happiness on his face had been just as clear as it was now.
“Hold that thought,” he murmured, as if he could read her mind. “My turn!” he called out as he climbed onto the first step and reached back to help Britt once more.
Some men wouldn’t put themselves in the exact same vulnerable position as he was doing now. But Britt had no desire to pull him into the water again. She gratefully accepted his help, as it wasn’t easy to get up onto that first step, and they climbed back up to the tree.
Chad took his turn on the swing, flying higher and farther than anyone else had so far. Which of course started a good-natured competition among the brothers. Britt even found herself wanting to go again, and now that she knew what to expect, she wasn’t as freaked out as she’d been the first time.
Evelyn didn’t jump again, just contented herself by sitting on the ground, her back against a tree, as she watched her boys enjoy themselves.
Eventually, Kash agreed to take a turn. The joy on his face and in his scream as he flew through the air was easy to see and hear. After that, he was insatiable. He swung twice as much as anyone else.
Two hours went by before the group decided to call it a day.
Lincoln knelt in front of Kash and put a hand on his shoulder. “You have fun today?”
The boy nodded enthusiastically, a big grin on his face.
“That’s great. You’ve now officially christened the lobster swing. But I need you to listen to me carefully. Are you listening?”
“Yeah.”
“Under no circumstances are you to come here and swing by yourself. Understand? I know you want to, because it’s fun.
But it can also be dangerous. The water current today is almost nonexistent.
And we swung at high tide. The rule of the lobster swing, and just about everything that’s done on Lobster Cove, is that it has to be done with a buddy.
Any one of us is happy to be your buddy, but you absolutely cannot swim or swing or do anything else on Lobster Cove without someone by your side. Got it?”
Some of the pleasure on Kash’s face faded, but he nodded.
“I know it sucks, bud, but if something happened and no one was around to help, it could be bad.”
“Okay.”
“How about this ... how about if we plan to swing again in a week? You can come back and join us.”
“Yeah!” Kash’s face lit up once more.
“Great. It’s a plan. You gonna be okay going home in your wet clothes?”
He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt. He’d taken off his shirt to swing, but it was damp around the bottom where it had touched his wet shorts and around the neckline from his dripping hair.
“I think I’m gonna sit in the fort for a while,” Kash said.
“All right. Next time, we’ll bring towels. We were so excited we completely forgot this time,” Lincoln told him. “And Kash?”
“Yeah?”
“You need anything, anything at all, you come on over to Lobster Cove. To the house. I don’t live here, but my mom, Chad, and Britt do.
Not to mention Walt and Barry, who work at the auto shop.
Any of them will help you with anything, no questions asked.
You just need to get away ... if you’re hungry, bored, whatever .
.. come on over. Now that you’ve swung on the lobster swing, you’re a part of Lobster Cove. ”
“Cool,” Kash said, a little uncertainly.
“Yeah, it is cool.” Lincoln stood and ruffled the boy’s red hair. “Go on now. Off to the fort and your books. It’s a great way to wind down after all this excitement.”
“You like to read?” Kash asked, his eyes wide.
“Love it. I think I have about ten books stacked on the nightstand next to my bed right now.”
“Awesome!” Kash breathed.
The boy turned to head down the path, and Lincoln called out after him. “And make sure to check yourself for ticks before you go to bed! They’re awful this time of year, and being in the woods means you’ve probably got at least one trying to suck all your blood out.”
Kash’s forehead wrinkled in disgust, and Britt agreed with him.
Ticks were the devil. There was absolutely no point to them at all.
She’d read a story just yesterday about how baby moose—mooses?
meese? moosi?—actually died from having so many ticks attached to them that they literally couldn’t withstand all the blood loss.
And now that she was thinking about ticks, it felt as if they were crawling all over her. She was ready to go home, shower, and do a thorough tick check of her own body.
“I put some dog collars around the inside of Fort Bad Assery, and I usually put them around my ankles when I walk through the woods,” Kash told Lincoln.
“Don’t see them on you now, bud. So do a tick check when you get home, okay?”
“Okay! Bye, Lincoln! Bye, Knox, Zach, Chad, Britt, and Ms. Evelyn. You’re not mean like my granddad always says!” And with that, Kash disappeared into the trees.
“Glad I’m not as mean as Victor claims I am,” Evelyn muttered with a roll of her eyes.
Knox finished securing the rope swing to the large tree, and everyone began the trek back to the house.
Chad held Britt back so they were bringing up the rear, then he leaned down and whispered into her ear, “I’m going to need to inspect you verrrrrrry carefully for ticks when we get back to the house.”
Britt giggled. “I know you’re trying to sound sexy, but”—she shivered—“news flash. Any mention of ticks isn’t the least bit sexy.”
Chad snort-laughed. “Noted.” He held her hand as they walked back toward the house. “You had fun today.”
Britt nodded. “I wasn’t sure about this, and I was terrified that first swing, but it turned out to be fun. And your mom ...” She sighed. “I’m in awe of her.”
“She’s pretty awesome,” Chad agreed.
“Your whole family is. Did you see how great Lincoln was with Kash? I know he has history with the boy’s mother, and no one really likes his grandfather, but he didn’t take any of that out on Kash. Which I think is awesome.”
“You can’t choose your family. And he’s a kid. A lonely one at that. Lincoln would never be a dick to a kid. It’s not how he’s wired. How any of us are wired.”
“I know. I just think it’s great, that’s all. Do you think Kash will tell his mom about today? About what he did?”
“No clue. I hope so. Because the last thing we want is someone else from over there hating us.”
“I can’t imagine anyone hating you, or any of the Youngs. You’re all so ... nice.”
“We aren’t always nice,” Chad told her. “When push comes to shove, we’ll defend what’s important to us. Our family. Our friends. Our legacy.”
Britt nodded. “I can see that. You all have a huge sense of honor and loyalty.”
“Which was part of why we all made such good members of the military.”
Britt thought about that as they made their way back to the house.
Chad was right. He and his brothers would’ve made excellent lifers in their respective military branches, if circumstances had been different.
But the country’s loss was Rockville’s gain.
This little part of the world was better off because the Young brothers had come home. Britt felt that down to her toes.
They said goodbye to Zach, Knox, and Lincoln, and as Evelyn headed toward her room to shower and change, Britt gave Chad a coy look. “Coming?” she asked.
“Not yet. But we both will be soon.”
Britt rolled her eyes at the cheesy comeback, but her pulse sped up all the same just thinking about what the next hour would hold for them both. Ticks be damned, she was more than ready for a full-body inspection.