Page 74 of Big Island Summer
Fern watched shamelessly as he jogged down to the water. His broad shoulders were the same lightly toasted color as the sand underfoot, and she couldn’t help but admire the strong lines of his back.
Theo grumbled in a way that said he was about thirty seconds from a full-blown meltdown, and Fern gave him her full attention. She settled cross-legged in the sand, held him in her lap, and pulled a silicone spoon from her backpack. Theo grabbed at it with both hands.
They had started him on solid food recently, and he’d taken to it like a starving man. His favorite was a beef and sweet potato puree, and Fern had packed a jar of that for his lunch.
Ethan wasn’t gone long, but Theo had finished a full serving by the time his dad strode back onto dry land.
“I feel like a new man,” he said as he joined them in the shade. “That was amazing.”
“Worth the hike?”
“Every bit of it.” He pulled a travel towel from the pack and scrubbed the saltwater out of his hair. His eyes met hers when he brought the towel down to his chest. She’d been staring again.
Quickly, she turned her face away and fixed her eyes on the turtles down the beach.
“You should jump in.” Ethan bent down and picked Theodore up off of her lap. “The water’s perfect.”
Fern unfolded her legs and rose to her feet in one motion.
She might be awkward, but at least she wasn’t clumsy.
The hot sand burned the bottoms of her feet as she walked down to the waves, where the water provided instant relief. She waded in carefully, weaving around the rocks that littered the shore, until it was deep enough to swim. Then she dove under, letting the Pacific cleanse the heat and sweat from her skin.
She stayed out in the little bay for a long time, floating in the cool water as gentle waves rolled beneath her. The sky was impossibly blue, dotted here and there with fluffy white clouds. When she let her legs drop again to tread water, she noticed that a baby fish the size of her thumbnail was circling her.
She stayed out a while longer, kicking her legs in a leisurely way and watching the tiny fish disappear beneath the glare of the water and reappear on her other side.
Finally, when her body temperature started to drop despite the summer sun warming her head and neck, she swam back to shore.
“Enjoy your swim?” Ethan asked when her feet hit the sand.
“It was delicious.”
“That’s what Theo said about the squash puree.”
“Oh yeah?”
“He ate it all.”
“Man, that was a big lunch!”
“He’s a growing boy.”
“I swear he’s twice as big as he was when you moved in.”
“It’s crazy how fast they grow.”
She sat down next to them in the sand. Ethan knelt in shallow water, holding Theodore out in front of him so that his bare feet could splash in the ocean.
“We should leave sooner than later, if he’s out of food.”
“Sorry,” Ethan said. “I should have packed more.”
“No big deal. Better to hike back before the day gets too hot anyway.”
“It’s already blazing.”
“Want to jump in and cool off before we start back?”
