Page 58 of New Day at the Beach House

Kat made a face. “I am never surfing alone.”

Miles nodded. “Most of us don’t. It’s just safer with company, for a lot of reasons.”

“Okay,” Alex said. “Other things you need to know. Don’t ever let go of your board. Look at the nose. How pointed it is. Under the pressure of the water, that thing can become a missile. It’s hard and got some weight to it and the last thing anyone wants is to get rammed.”

Trina grimaced. “But that’s why we have the leash, right?”

“Yes, but leashes can break,” Alex said. “Doesn’t happen a lot, but it’s not unheard of.”

Miles continued. “The ocean is a powerful thing. Do your best to hang on to your board. Not just because of the people around you, but also because surfboards float. A wave can’t push you to the bottom if you’ve got hold of your board.”

Trina glanced over at Kat. She looked a little unsure. Trina shot her a smile. “We’re going to be just fine.”

Kat smiled back but it was tight. “I know.”

Alex looked at Miles. “I think they’re ready for pop-ups.”

“Definitely.” Miles nodded. “Let’s get you guys doing some pop-ups so you’re comfortable,” he said. “Then we’ll hit the water.”

Trina had no idea what pop-ups were, but she was ready to go.

Kat glanced down the lineup several yards away where Trina and Miles were on their boards. Trina was smiling and laughing and looked like she was having a ball.

Kat wasn’t. Not exactly. She knew she was getting wound up in her own imagination too much, but she couldn’t help but wonder if every little thing that touched her foot wasn’t something with a lot of teeth and sandpaper skin. She was thankful that Alex was close by on his board, but she kept hearing the theme song to Jaws.

“Hey,” Alex said. “You okay?”

He’d noticed, so there was no denying it. She took a deep breath. “I’m not as comfortable in the water as I thought I’d be.”

He reached out to take her hand. “If you don’t want to do this, you don’t have to. I’m not going to like you any less.”

She laughed. “That’s good to know.” Then she shook her head. “I do want to do this. The whole shark thing just kind of got into my head.”

“They’re really not all out to eat you, you know. They’re actually pretty beautiful creatures. Kind of misunderstood, too. They’re killed by humans in far greater numbers than they kill us.”

She felt a tiny pang of sympathy for the creatures, even though she was still afraid of meeting one. “Have you ever seen one? When you were out here, I mean.”

He nodded. “Sure. Dolphins, too. Occasionally a sea turtle. All kinds of cool fish. That’s one of the things I love about being out here, is being surrounded by that kind of nature. It’s pretty epic.”

She loved how he looked at things. “I guess it is pretty epic.”

“Also, I have no doubt that a shark would go for me before it would go for you.” Alex grinned. “I am much tastier.”

She snorted. “Oh, is that right?”

“Heck, yes. Who wants a skinny girl for dinner when they could have a tasty hunk of muscle like me?”

Laughter bubbled up inside her, taking away a lot of her fear. Didn’t hurt that Alex thought she was skinny, either.

He glanced over his shoulder at a rising swell coming toward them. “All right, let’s paddle. We’re getting this one.”

She went flat on her board as he did the same, cupping her hands and using them to push through the water.

As they began to separate, Alex called after her, “Just do everything like you did it on the beach.”

She nodded, knowing he probably couldn’t see her, but focusing on what he’d taught her, trying to match the speed of the wave with her paddling. She felt the board lift. The wave was under her. She gave an extra hard push, her heart thumping with adrenaline.

Pop up, hands in the center, curl your toes, land with bent knees. She did all of those things as they went through her head, pushing up with her front foot and planting her feet, knees bent.

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