Page 35 of Every Bit As Perfect
Iwaiteduntiltheywereboth in their office to approach them.“Daire came by my office at lunchtime today.”
My mom perked up and swiveled her chair away from her laptop.“Oh, yeah?What for?”
“The school asked him to coach the swim team.Apparently, he swam competitively in university.”
“You have that in common.You’re an excellent swimmer,” she commented.
“I heard he beat you,” my dad laughed.A huge bear of a man whose presence filled every room he entered, when he laughed, the effect was multiplied.
Hunter would have been just like him.
“He did!He also neglected to tell me he was a competitive swimmer before we raced.”
“Are you being a sore loser, Harley?”he teased.
I held my thumb and forefinger a smidge apart.“A bit.”
“Why did he come by?”Mom asked.
“Okay,” I held out my hands.“I’ve spoken to you about this before, but this is the exact type of opportunity I was talking about.I want us to be more involved in the community.”
“We already do the fundraisers—”
“I know, but this is a bit different.The rec center pool is shut down for the next six weeks.If the kids don’t have a place to swim, they won’t be able to compete in their annual meet.”
“When’s that?”
“The week before Halloween.It’s our year to host.It’s only four schools.”I paused to pull my notes from my bag.“We’ve got two pools, and we have already reduced hours in preparation for the fall.The lap pool is open from six to eleven am, the main pool from eleven to ten.I figure we can use the main pool if I can get the kids in and out by 1030 am.If we keep practice times to weekdays when we have fewer bookings, it will not interfere with our guests.Alternatively, we can use the lap pool after school hours.And for the swim meet, we simply advise any guests who are booked that the lap pool will be unavailable that day.”
“I don’t know, Harley,” my dad petered off.
“We’d need to have an extra lifeguard.”
I took a deep breath, wishing Hunter was still here to go to bat for me.“I’ll be the extra lifeguard.”
“Work out the details with Mom.I’m good with it.”
I blinked.“You are?”
He looked surprised.“Well, yeah.You’ve never failed yet.”
My smile hurt my cheeks.“That’s great!And can we talk about the fundraiser as well?”
“Next week, Harley.”He dropped a kiss on my head.“I’m ready for the weekend.”
“Mom?Can we talk about this now?”
“I trust you to work out the details, honey.”
I sat back, flabbergasted.With every single other project, they micromanaged every last detail.Handing me the reins gave me a confidence boost I sorely needed.
“There’s just one thing.”She paused and picked an invisible piece of lint off her sweater before continuing.“I don’t want your whole life to be about work.”
I deflated.Not this again.
Every few weeks since Paul and I broke up, she found the occasion to grill me about my love life.
Or lack thereof.
