Page 46 of Catch a Wave

When I got home, Kai asked where I’d been. I just said, “Surfing.” And he nodded with this slow, knowing bob of his head, and smiled. He never said another word about me turning a corner. But he asked me out to surf whenever he went, and I started going out with him. And I’ve been going out ever since. About six months after that evening on the sand, Kai asked me to start teaching lessons. But that’s a whole other story.”

Bodhi steps into the dressing room and pulls the curtain shut behind himself. “I never would have gotten over this if Kai hadn’t pushed me. I owe him so much.”

I stand next to a rack of T-shirts bearing various surfboard brands. My mind swirls with everything Bodhi said, and what he’s implying. If he were anyone else, I could chalk his story up to a great redemption rising up from tragedy. I’d be inspired, but I could walk away unchanged.

“I’m so proud of you,” I finally say.

The curtain to the dressing room opens and Bodhi emerges holding his wadded up towel. He’s wearing a T-shirt and shorts with flip flops, and he’s never looked better. I have an urge to go to him and hug him. I start to move in his direction despite my better judgment.

There’s a bark outside the back door.

“Ah. Breakfast time.” Bodhi winks at me. “Better feed my little buddy.”

15

BODHI

You can't buy love, but you can rescue it.

~ Unknown

I’m playing with fire. And I might get burned. I can’t seem to help myself, though.

I’ve seen Mavs there on the shoreline, hiding among the loungers every morning. As if she could hide. This morning I had to show her I saw her—that I’ve been seeing her. I had to get close to her. I couldn’t go one more day, resisting the pull to look at her when I came in off a wave, acting like I believed she had been back home, snug in bed. Not when I knew she was there, watching me surf every single day.

Something made me push the limits. I’ve been itching to tell Mavs that story about Kai, and how I returned to the water. I see it in her eyes. She thinks she’s finished—thinks she’ll never ride again. She’s wrong. I’m going to show her how wrong she is. If I could bounce back from my tragedy, she definitely can. She’s always been more buoyant than me—more full of life and beauty.Kalaine’s zest for living is a part of her essence, and I’m going to help her remember who she is and what she’s made of.

There’s this sadness clinging to her that’s new. It’s totally understandable. I know. If anyone knows, I do. But I can’t let her stay stuck in a spiral of resignation.

It’s killing me to be around Mavs without touching her. But I have to respect her—and Kai. I wasn’t kidding when I said I owe him everything. I don’t know where I’d be without his persistence and devotion. He knew just how to push me. He always left the final move up to me. His gentle relentlessness finally wore me down. And I intend to return the favor by paying it forward to Kalaine.

We walk out of the shop, and I grab a small ziplock full of shredded chicken and rice I saved from last night. I cooked the meat in salsa for our bowls, but I kept a portion unseasoned for my buddy.

“He needs a name,” Mavs says while I dump the contents of my baggie into the bowl out here.

The dog goes to town, scarfing down the food like it’s going out of style.

“You think?” I lean back against the wall of the shack, watching the dog lick the bowl he just emptied. “You said feeding him makes him mine. The way I figure it, feeding him makes him my friend. Naming him makes him mine.”

“Would that be so bad?”

Mavs walks over to join me and the dog. She squats down to rub his head. It’s a movement she wouldn’t have been able to do a week ago. She’s healing. I bet in a week she could try to get out on a board. Maybe two weeks tops.

“It wouldn’t be bad for me.” I smile down at Mavs. “It’s Kai we have to think of. I share that house with him fifty-fifty. And he’s always been the more practical of the two of us. I thinkwe could handle a dog. He thinks it’s too much work. And you already know his thoughts on how much we’re out and about.”

“This dog is different,” Mavs says, looking up at me with an expression that makes me want to raid the pound for her. If she wants a dog, or twenty, I’m going to get her what she wants.

“He is,” I agree. “The way I figure it, my little buddy already hangs out here without causing a fuss. What’s the difference if we give him a cozy place to stay at night? If he likes living with us, he can stick around. If he doesn’t, he’s a nomad. I won’t force him.”

“You won’t have to,” she says, looking up at me again. “He wants to be with you.”

The look in her eyes could make me imagine the dog’s not the only one who wants to be with me. But I know better than to read too much into this situation with Mavs. Besides, she needs to heal. Then we can see what she wants—when the playing field is level and she’s not leaning on me for a place to stay or a tether to the life she lost.

“I’ll talk to Kai,” Mavs says, giving the dog another scratch behind the ears. “What about Barney?”

“No. What? You want to name my dog Barney? Like after that purple dinosaur that sang that song that could drive a sane person nuts?”

“No. Not that dinosaur.” She smiles up at me. “You know. A Barney.”

---