Page 40 of Love At The Shore
Words failed her again. Seeing Tank’s wagging tail and jaunty trot had thrown her off her game. The pup was her Achilles heel where Lucas was concerned. He loved that dog like a child. It was the most endearing thing about him.
She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to think about his scruffy little face or the way Lucas talked to the dog like he was his actual best friend. “I’m sorry. I’m rambling. But if you have anything, please let me know. Please?”
Chapter Eight
Lucas showed up early forsummer camp the following day.Tooearly. Every so often, Kayla ran the kiddos through track and field events out on the beach before swim practice. Nick was busy racing Grayson in a mad dash on the sand, and from the looks of things, he fared a good bit better on land than he did in water.
Lucas hung back at a distance and watched. Outside of the pool, Nick was like a completely different kid—brimming with confidence. So confident that he even engaged in some good-natured trash talking.
“You ready for this sandstorm?” Nick grinned at Grayson in the lane beside him as they struck starting poses.
“My feet won’t even touch the ground,” Grayson said.
Kayla let loose with her whistle, and Nick and Grayson took off barefoot down the beach alongside eight other kids. The two boys pulled easily into the lead while the other campers clapped and cheered.
Interesting.
All Lucas needed to do now was figure out how to tap into that easy self-assurance when Nick was in the water. There had to be a way.
Before he could formulate a plan, one of the kids standing and cheering on the sidelines of the footrace broke away from the group and sprinted toward him, arms waving wildly. “Lucas!”
He knew at once it was Ally. She had more intensity in her little finger than all the other children on Tybee combined.
“Hey there, you,” he said when she came to a stop in a flurry of sand.
“Here.” She dug something out of the pocket of her pink shorts. “I made this for Tank.”
Lucas stared at the thing dangling from her fingertips. It looked as if she’d scooped up every shell she could find and strung them together with bright blue nylon.
“What is it?” He wasn’t actually sure he wanted to know the answer.
“It’s a collar.”
Oh, boy.
“Well. You know, it’s very…” Lucas struggled for the right word. “…decorative.”
“It’s not decorative. It’s to help him stop pulling.” Ally gave the collar a little yank as a demonstration.
“Oh, okay. Now I see. That is…”Outrageously optimistic. “…very smart of you.”
“I know,” she said, so sure of herself.Just like her mom.
Was it crazy that Lucas found the mother-daughter resemblance kind of adorable?
“Nick helped, too.” Ally tucked her hair behind her ear with her free hand and rolled her eyes. “And he hates crafts.”
Lucas laughed. Just as he suspected, Nick was a kid after his own heart. “Then that’s very sweet. Of the both of you.”
She shoved the collar closer toward him, dangling it mere inches from his face.
He stifled a laugh. “Oh. It’s even pretty close up.”
“Will you give it to him?”
The odds of getting Tank to actually wear the thing were miniscule.
Still, Lucas couldn’t help but feel touched. He’d never been on the receiving end of a homemade gift from a child before.
