Chapter Ten
“Who’s up for paddleboarding?” Stevie asked, after everybody’d had their fill of pancakes, coffee, juice, and whatever else there’d been for breakfast.
Hands shot up amongst a chorus of “me,” mainly Rowan, Sara, Justine, and Evie.
“I’m taking the boat out again,” Lizzie said, and Claire immediately asked if she could go as well. She didn’t look at Evie, and Evie didn’t look at her, and Rowan thought, well, I guess that answers the question of whether they’re still fighting.
“And we’re gonna have some alone time,” Becca said, then waggled her eyebrows lasciviously at Jasmine, who rolled her eyes with a laugh.
“Subtlety has never been your forte, Becks,” Stevie said with a laugh.
To the others, she said, “Okay. There’s a place on the other side of the lake that will rent us paddleboards and give us a quick lesson.
I suggest wearing stuff you don’t mind getting wet because balance is everything on one of those, and we all know that Sara has zero. ”
“Hey,” Sara whined, but also shrugged because she knew it was true.
Rowan caught a quick look pass between Claire and Evie—worried on Claire’s part and annoyed on Evie’s—but neither said anything.
“Meet out front in fifteen?” Stevie asked, and everybody agreed and scattered to get ready.
Rowan was excited to try something new, and also a little leery that Evie was coming along, especially given all the crazy circumstances from the night before…
the ambush kissing in the dark hall, the fight with Claire she’d overheard, the vague recollection of sharing the bed—which she still wasn’t sure was real or imagined.
It was a lot for a head that was already taxed with recalling memories and having extra aches.
Her doctors had recommended she stay as stress-free as possible, and this certainly wasn’t that, was it?
Vacation was supposed to be relaxing, and for the past day or two, she’d felt like a child’s toy that had been overwound, everything inside her tight and ready to bust apart in pieces.
Sara had arrived in her own SUV, and it had more room than Stevie’s truck, so they piled in, Stevie and Sara in the front, Justine, Rowan, and Evie in the back seat.
It wasn’t crowded, but there also wasn’t enough room to sit three adults in a row without them touching one another, so Evie’s thigh was pressed against hers, and she was super aware of it.
She made a valiant effort to talk about anything else.
“Hey, I thought you had a paddleboard,” she said to Stevie as they pulled out onto the road. “It’s a cool teal color, right? Or am I making that up?”
“I do. Bought it last year. I had a brain fart while I was packing for this trip and like an idiot, didn’t even think to bring it.” There was a beat of silence before Stevie’s voice went up a notch. “Ro.”
Rowan met her eyes in the rearview mirror, and they were wide. “What? What’s wrong?”
“I bought my paddleboard last year.”
Rowan frowned, confused about the statement. “Yeah. That’s what I said.”
Evie picked it up faster than she did. “That’s in your amnesia window!” she said excitedly, using the same phrase Lizzie had.
Rowan turned to her and blinked, and it took her a moment to understand what they were saying. But then she got it, and she couldn’t help the grin that burst across her face.
“Another memory recovered,” Stevie said, and smacked her hand against the steering wheel. “Whoop!”
Sara clapped her hands and Justine leaned into her, shoulder to shoulder. Evie put a hand on her leg and squeezed.
“Little by little, baby,” Stevie said. “That’s what the doctor said, right? They’d come back little by little.”
“That’s right. He did.” That stress she’d felt pressing down on her earlier seemed to ease up the slightest bit, and she sat there grinning, feeling lighter and happier, all because she’d remembered a stupid paddleboard.
“I think we were meant to go paddleboarding today,” Sara said. “Just for this reason.”
“Maybe.” Stevie reached out for her wife’s hand and entwined their fingers. Rowan gazed at their linked hands resting on the center console and felt a little squeeze in her chest. Joy for them, envy for herself.
In a short time, they arrived at a marina on the opposite side of the lake, and Stevie parked the SUV.
“I’ll go get us checked in.” She hurried off after it was agreed she’d pay and they’d all Venmo her money.
She came back out with a young guy who looked like he was straight out of central casting: shaggy, sun-bleached hair, bronzed skin, bright orange swim trunks, flip-flops, and a friendly smile.
He was definitely going to be a Bodhi or a Keanu or a Slater, she was sure of it.
“Guys, this is Henry. He’s gonna give us a quick lesson. ”
“Henry was not on my bingo card,” she murmured, and she followed him and Stevie as he led them to a rack of paddleboards, paddles, and life vests. They each donned a vest—Rowan’s was lime green. Evie’s was red.
“Okay,” Henry said, raising his voice a bit so they all paid attention.
They each had a board and a paddle. “You’re going to adjust the length of your paddle.
” He showed them how to adjust the length to be just a bit taller than they were.
“Then you need to attach your leash to your ankle so you don’t lose your board when you fall off. ”
“When?” Evie said quietly. “Well, that’s not very encouraging.”
Rowan gave a soft laugh.
Henry picked up his board and carried it into the water until he was about knee-deep. “Okay, get on your board on your knees. We’re not standing up yet. It’s too shallow. Falling here will hurt.”
They did as instructed, everybody on their knees on their boards, and they began to paddle out into deeper water, following Henry who, unsurprisingly, was a million times faster than any of them. Except maybe Stevie. She was right behind him.
“Stevie, you have to show off already? You can’t even wait until we’re out farther?” Sara said it with a grin, teasing her wife.
“Keep up, bitches,” was Stevie’s reply.
They paddled on their knees until they were in deeper water, and Henry taught them how to stand up on their boards. “One foot at a time, then…up,” he said, and there was a splash and then another and a third as Sara, Justine, and Evie all ended up in the lake.
Rowan stood, paddle in hand, watching the three of them laughing.
“If you’re struggling to get back on, take your board back to shallower water and get on there.”
Evie got back on hers and sat while Justine and Sara swam back the way they’d come.
“How’s the water?” Rowan asked with a grin.
“Wet.” Evie squinted against the sun as she looked up at Rowan. “But not bad.”
“Well, Stevie’s leaving us in the dust.” Rowan’s eyes followed Stevie as she paddled farther out. Even Henry seemed impressed.
“She’s good at every athletic thing she tries,” Evie said to him. “We all hate her.”
“True story,” said Sara, who had rejoined them, still on her knees. Justine glided up behind her.
They told Henry they were fine, that they weren’t there to become pros, just to have a fun few hours, and he left them with a grin and a “good luck, then!” They spent the next hour on their boards.
Rowan mostly just floated and enjoyed the feel of the water under her board, using her paddle to move her along every so often.
Evie kept close to her most of the time, falling twice more until she decided to simply sit on her board.
“Your hand hurt?” Rowan asked, sitting down on her own board as she noticed Evie clenching and unclenching her right hand.
“It’s a little achy.”
“You’re probably holding your paddle too tight.”
“Probably.”
They were interrupted by a large splash, and Sara was back in the water. She surfaced, muttered, “Fuck this board,” and then climbed on and stayed seated. “I think you’ve got the right idea, Evie.”
Justine paddled up to them from the shallows, on her knees. “I’m not standing,” she said, her lips a thin line. “This is fine.” And the four of them sat on their boards watching Stevie paddle herself all over the damn lake. It was amusing, to say the least.
“No wonder this was her suggestion.” Evie shook her head, but with a grin.
None of them were mad at Stevie. They were used to being left in her wake when it came to sports.
Evie was floating next to Rowan, their legs hanging off the sides of their boards, and Rowan felt Evie’s leg against hers.
Then Evie hooked her leg around Rowan’s so they didn’t float apart.
Rowan didn’t acknowledge it. She also didn’t pull away.
Why not?
The question bounced around in her head, but she refused to stop and think about it because honestly?
Evie’s skin felt good against hers. Evie actively reaching for her in some way felt good.
No, she shouldn’t allow it. She should yank her own leg away and paddle, putting some distance between them. But she didn’t. She couldn’t.
Justine had lain back on her board until her whole body was stretched out on it, her eyes closed like she was sunbathing.
“Oh, that looks comfy,” Sara said, started to lie back, and slid right off her board.
Rowan and Evie both burst out laughing.
“Oh my God, she didn’t even make a splash,” Evie said as she cracked up. “She just slid right in like an eel.”
“I’m just gonna stay in here.” Sara held on to her board and used it as a floatation device, remaining in the water, which just made the others laugh harder.
Eventually, Stevie made her way back to them.
She took note of Justine on her back, Rowan and Evie sitting on their boards, and Sara in the water, and her brow furrowed in question.
“Suffice to say, paddleboarding is not for us,” Evie said. A beat of quiet went by before they all started to laugh once again.
They floated for a bit longer until they had to return the boards, and then they piled back into Sara’s SUV. Sitting up against Evie again, Rowan found herself starting to feel more comfortable around the proximity and less freaked about it.