Page 98 of Healer's Call

I pocket my phone and head out into the hall, almost running into Amber and Paige. “Wose!” Paige says excitedly.

“Hi, Paigie.” I take her free hand.

“I love your swimsuit,” I tell her, and she giggles.

“You need anything?” I ask Amber.

“Nope. We are good to go.”

“Are Cade and the others around?” I ask, trying to sound nonchalant.

She shoots me a grin. “Mav’s not here, since we both know that’s really what you’re asking. But Cade knows how important this party is for our pack; he won’t miss it. Now Mav, on the other hand...Normally, I wouldn’t count on him to make it back.” I can’t help the disappointment that creeps in at her words. “But I have a feeling this year will be different,” she adds. “I’m thinking our beta will make it back in time for this party.” And just like that, my heart skips a beat.

After checking in to see if the kitchen staff needs any help, we head out the back door and towards the path that will take us to the pool party. I can tell it’s already in full swing before we even get close. The music is cranking. I hear the sound of happy voices long before I see them, and I can smell the meat cooking on the grill. When we step into the opening, my breath catches in my throat.

“Amber, it looks so good.”

“You helped,” she reminds me. She gives me a second glance. “Is this the first pool party you’ve ever been to?” I nod. “Well, let’s make it memorable then.”

Hesitancy hits me as we get close to the first pool. It’s already full, as are the chairs all around the pool. I take a deep breath and push my anxiety down, refusing to cower in fear.I willenjoy tonight. “Rose!” My head jerks at the sound of voices, and I’m suddenly caught in a group hug that I think is made up of Sabrina and Sara. I shriek because they’re both soaking wet.

“You got me all wet,” I say, pulling back.

“That was the plan,” Sara says, grinning wickedly.

“She wanted to push you in, but I thought that this was a little less traumatic,” Sabrina adds.

“Thank you for not shoving me in,” I tell them, shaking my head.

“Come on. You're all wet now. Come jump in with us. It’s so fun!” Sara says, tugging my hand forward.

“Do you need anything?” I ask Amber as the girls pull me away.

She waves me off. “Go have fun.”

They tug me down to the deep end to the diving board. “We’ll all jump in together,” Sara says, taking the lead.

“How deep is it?” I ask, looking down cautiously.

“Can you swim?” Sabrina asks, looking at me with worry.

“Enough not to drown, but I’m not like good at it or anything,” I admit.

“Let’s just start with jumping off the side,” Sara suggests. We line up three-across. “Don’t think about it,” Sara says. “Just jump.” They both jump off the side and into the pool. I take a deep breath and plug my nose. I refuse to be a coward and miss out on life anymore. And with that, I take the leap. I plunge into the water and let myself sink for a moment before I start swimming up to the top. When my head breaks the surface, I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of me.

“That was amazing!”

Sara grins back. “Right? I told you! Come on. Let's go again.” I follow her lead and swim over to the side of the pool. My movements are rusty, because I haven’t swum much in my life. But I make it to the side just fine and follow the girls out.

“The water feels so good,” I tell them as we walk back to the end.

“I know. It’s so refreshing in this heat and humidity,” Sabrina agrees. We get to the end of the pool again.

“One, two, three...” I hold my nose and make the jump into the pool at the same time as the other girls, laughing when I resurface. They help me with my stroke for a little while, and I’m soon swimming with a whole lot more confidence. Then we try the diving board. “Okay, now it’s time to try out the water slide,” Sara says with a huge grin. We swim over to the side and climb out, stepping gingerly on the hot pavement as we make our way to the waterslide. I’m pretty sure I scream the whole way down.

“Can we try the lazy river next?” I ask. I never knew what I was missing in life until I experienced the lazy river. We float round and round in the lazy river for nearly an hour before Sabrina convinces us to go back to the other pool.

It’s Sabrina that counts us down this time, and then we all plunge into the pool. Sara does some ridiculous form of something that was maybe supposed to resemble the splits in the air. I come up out of the water laughing. “What was that?”