Page 63 of All In Good Time

Mark let go of Derek and reached out to grab Robertson’s hand and shake. “Thank you, officer. I really appreciate you finding him.”

Robertson puffed his chest out. “Just doing my duty, sir.” He tipped the brim on his hat and said goodbye.

Mark gave them a wave and shut the door.

Derek turned to escape down the hallway and to his room but was forced to stop by a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“Hold on.”

Derek met Mark’s eye and watched the false gratitude melt away. His father’s face grew hard, his brows folded together into a look Derek was disgustingly familiar with—his stomach sank.

A loud lock clicked into place, followed by Mark crossing the living room and pulling the blinds closed so no one could see into the house.

Derek’s hands started to shake where he held them helplessly to his sides.

“Derek.” There was an unsteady calm to his father’s tone, and he motioned for his son to approach. “Let’s have a talk.”

23

July 1985 | Before

Sandals swinging from one hand, the summer pavement burned at the soles of Becca’s feet as she used the wet path to guide her way to an open chair on the other side of the pool. She’d barely had time to visit the community pool since their junior year ended. Between summer assignments, researching colleges, and starting her new job with Marty at the theater, she didn’t have a ton of free time during the week.

Since the manager at the theater didn’t let her study while working slow shifts, it was great that she and Marty were able to make a new friend, a girl named Nicole, who rotated between ushering and concessions with Becca and Marty. Come to find out, she was in some of Becca’s classes in their coming senior year. Marty especially enjoyed the arrangement—a new pretty girl was nothing to object about. But when Becca was able to get away from her obligations, she was lucky to have a little empty time.

Left with a rare free day, Becca had a few options to fill it, but on a hot day like today, the pool never sounded better. Seeing Derek while he patrolled the pool as a lifeguard was an added bonus. They didn’t get to see each other as much as she would have liked—between both of their jobs and chosen extracurriculars, their only times together were often late at night.

Children screamed and giggled as they splashed in the water, and Becca laid her school bag on the chair to remove the shawl she wore over her single-piece bathing suit.

God, the sun felt amazing. She spent too much time indoors during the summer.

Maybe she should have given in to Derek’s attempts at persuading her to take the job as a lifeguard with him, even if she didn’t know how to swim.

Becca laid her towel over her chair and sat down, leaning back to bask in the heat of the sunlight bearing down on her. Based on his usual work schedule, Derek’s shift would start in about five minutes, so she shut her eyes and waited.

It was the long trill of the whistle that told her he was about to come out. The stationed lifeguards all moved to switch, and Derek emerged with a few others for his shift in his red swim trunks, white top, and sunglasses.

He didn’t notice her right away; his eyes were devoutly scanning the water where kids splashed and screamed playfully. It was fun watching him take his job so seriously. He enjoyed working there. He loved the sun, even though he couldn’t often take his shirt off, with all the bruises it was hiding, and he once said he liked having the security of his own income to distract from home.

Becca waited, amused, for Derek to notice her as he walked to his post, and when he did, she could pinpoint it to the second.

Even with his dark glasses covering his face, the change in his expression was noticeable from where she sat. His nonchalance grew into a beam, and he lowered his shades slightly so he could catch her eye above the rim of them. He sidetracked from his path to his post to approach her, and she sat up as he did, smiling up at him in greeting.

“I thought you were busy today.” Derek took his sunglasses off, so she could see his eyes clearly. They sparkled in the bright light.

“I was, and then I wasn’t. The new summer advisor at the school canceled my college application meeting at the last minute, so I figured I’d come and visit my favorite lifeguard, work on my tan, do a few laps perhaps.”

“Your favorite, huh?” He pursed his lips, hiding a grin. “Just try and stay in the kiddie section. I don’t feel like having to keep you from drowning on top of all these other little brats I have to watch.”

In the corner of her eye, two of those “little brats” were roughhousing behind Derek’s back—taking advantage of the brief unwatched moment. Becca laughed. “Speaking of which, you’re slacking on the job.”

She nodded in the kids’ direction, and Derek spun to see what she was talking about. He groaned and lifted the red whistle that was hanging against his chest to his lips, filling the air with its high-pitched ring.

A few people around them paused, then moved on when they realized Derek wasn’t whistling at them. The little boys both froze and sheepishly bowed their heads as Derek instructed them to never do that again if they wanted to swim there anymore.

With one final shake of his head and a wave at Becca, Derek situated his sunglasses back at the bridge of his nose and finished the short walk to his lifeguard post.

Even if Becca wasn’t at the school today to figure out what she wanted to do for her future, she still had other things she had to do—like summer assignments for her literature class. Just one of the curses of choosing advanced placement for her senior year.

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