Teagan
As clear as a bell she could see her dad and the girl she’d been before he left. Pushing herself as hard as she could on the erg, trying to hit whatever milestone the two of them had set.
“Sorry, Dad. It hurts too much. I have to stop.”
“You’ve got this, kiddo. I know you can do it.”
This wasn’t the first time she’d hit a wall. Wanted to give up. But Dad always seemed to know what she was capable of before she was. Believed in her more than she believed in herself.
“I know, kid. It’s the pain talking. Your brain is programmed to protect you from pain. But you know from experience, you’re in charge of what you believe. And when you believe something hard enough, your brain starts to believe it, too.”
Her brain believed her dad was a jerk. Had left them like a coward. Left them knowing how much they relied on him.
Her mom’s smile came to her. Bursting with pride and excitement, it hadn’t left her face since she’d gotten the party planning gig that meant she’d be able to pay for Teagan’s tuition. Her mom had succeeded. And done it all on her own.
The last person in the world Teagan had imagined inspiring her was her mom.
But Ella Tao-Emerson was scoring aura points left, right, and center these days.
Manifesting a way to survive this new, haphazard life they’d found themselves in.
Her mom was a lot stronger than Teagan gave her credit for.
And also? Her mom was here. The one waiting to cheer for her at the finish line.
Maybe channeling her mother was how she’d finish this.
She was a mile away from the final hurdle. What was that, a thousand steps?
It felt impossible.
She took one step forward, just to see if she could.
She could.
She’d convinced one out of eight rowers she was a good cox.
Did she have it in her to convince the other seven?
Nine hundred ninety-nine steps later…
Teagan hadn’t thought she would succumb to actual death doing the Iron Crucible, but she hadn’t willed her body to run/walk/lurch all this way only to find out there was a literal wall to climb.
It wasn’t even a normal wall.
It was a towering brick wall with two ropes hanging from the top. Presumably to hang on to as she scampered up like some kind of human squirrel.
On the plus side, at the base of the wall were three stepping stools. One shaped like Josh Regis. One shaped like Ryder Regis. And one shaped like Cam.
He was the only one smiling at her.
“Holy shit!” Cam grinned at her. “You made it.”
“How the hell did she get here?” Ryder asked.
She pointed at her feet. Cam snorted.
Josh just glared.
Asshole.
She caught the burst of anger and channeled it. She’d made it here to prove to herself she had what it took to cox the rowing team and, as importantly, to win the team’s respect. Because, yeah. She was going to find her inner squirrel and climb this freaking wall.
It was going to be hard.
So was rowing. It made your body ache the way hers ached now. It demanded commitment. Daily training. Hitting the water no matter the weather. Rolling out of bed when your friends were sleeping off a binge watch.
It was the best thing in the world. And she didn’t want to live in a world without it.
She walked up to the wall, gave it a pat (her mom probably would’ve hugged it), wrapped her hands around one of the ropes, took a deep breath in, and began to climb.
One hand after the other, one step at a time, she climbed that wall, then slid down the other side.
Gasping for breath, she stumbled the final handful of steps to the finish line where the astonished crowd waited. And she rang the Easton Bell.
She could hear her mom’s cheers above everyone else’s.
The bell sounded again and Teagan turned to see Ryder.
Wow. Good for him.
Cam was right behind him. He gave the bell a clang, then searched the crowd until he found her.
The hit of connection was better than sunshine.
The next thing she knew she was in his arms and he was spinning her around and around, not caring at all that he’d come second to Ryder.
He looked at her like he’d won, and she was the trophy. One to be proud of. One to—
The bell clanged again.
Josh.
Cam put her down.
Josh gave Ryder and Cam the guy chin-lift, acknowledging a job well done.
When his eyes landed on her, he winced, like seeing her there, being cheered by the crowd, gave him actual, physical pain.
There was a blankness to his expression she couldn’t interpret.
Britney ran up to him with a wicker basket full of energy drinks, but Josh’s eyes stayed glued to Teagan’s, like he was trying to burn a message into her. Too bad she didn’t speak Regis.
Her mom bounced up to her, waving a pair of pom-poms. “I knew you could do it, Teags.” She pulled her in for a tight hug and whispered, “I know this is normally Dad’s job, but I’ve always been just as proud.
” She pulled back, emotion glassing up her eyes.
“I am so, so proud to be your mother, Teagan Tao.”
Before she could get her brain to work, Coach Hayden appeared beside them.
“Good work, Teagan. Impressive. You really proved yourself today.” He nodded toward the lake, where the team was throwing Ryder and Cam in.
Josh had probably been whisked away by Britney in a helicopter. “You figured out what motivates them.”
“Daddy issues and spite?” Teagan quipped.
“Grit,” Coach said. “You coming to the school barbecue?”
She grinned up at Ella, who still hadn’t entirely released Teagan from their hug. “Nah. I think I’m going to hang with my mom.”
“Okay. Rest up. See you at practice. Good to catch up with you, El.”
“You too, Matt.” Her mom gave a weird fluttery giggle. “So good catching up.”
Okay, what was up with her mom and Coach? “Did you guys know each other when you lived here?”
Another giggle. “Yes. We grew up together.”
Oh, please no. “Were you more than friends?”
“No,” her mom said in a way that sounded true, but also wistful. “No. Hey, let’s get you home and into a bath. I’ve got these amazing Epsom salts with tea tree oil and lavender.”
Teagan was considering sliding down the banister to get downstairs when she heard her mom humming. This was new. Well, since they’d moved to Eagle’s Cove anyway.
She went down the normal way, her thigh muscles aching, and found her mom pinning pictures to a huge corkboard.
“What’s this?”
“My mood board for the birthday party I’m throwing. I still can’t believe I’m an event planner.”
Teagan couldn’t really either, but nor had she thought she’d be the first one ringing the bell at the Iron Crucible. She took in the pictures her mom had pinned. “Impressive. Are you sure you’ve got this?”
Ella gave her a surprised look. “I’ve thrown loads of parties for your father. And at the hotels. I’m pretty sure I can handle a teenage athlete’s birthday.”
True. She had thrown a lot of parties but never in an official role. Teagan had always taken it for granted. It was cool seeing her mom getting paid for something she loved doing.
The doorbell rang.
Teagan, in her jammies, froze.
“It’s my client.” Ella went into a panic, smoothing her dress and checking her hair in the hall mirror. She went to the door and threw Teagan a pleading look before she opened it. “Please, pretend you respect me?”
“I’m all good karma today, Mom.”
Her mom opened the door. A woman was standing there and next to her, of all the people in all of Eagle’s Cove, was Josh Regis.