Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(13)

“I discovered an insightful, hard worker. I think it was Tory that made the monster.”

“Yeah, true. He said he would mold me and he wasn’t kidding! You could learn a thing or two from that guy.”

“I have.”

Before Krista could ask about that comment, he was paddling. “See you down there!”

Sean smoothly got to the sweet spot and perfectly grabbed the coming wave. He hopped up on his board as if he’d been doing it forever, and away he went. It looked easy when he did it. His body cut and sliced through the water, his arms keeping balance. He got to the end of the wave and hopped off his board into the water again.

Apparently that meant it was Krista’s turn. And she was no pro! She saw a wave coming and started paddling. She gave it everything she had for a quick burst of speed as the wave started to get ahead of her, and then she caught up just in time. She jumped onto her board, nearly lost her balance, but stuck it! Her mind went into sharp focus as she fought for balance.

Near the end, she crashed into the water, tumbled a second, and then came up sputtering. Sean was there to help her up.

“Nice work, Marshall! You look great out there!” Sean said, light infusing his eyes.

Krista smiled like a kid that got a gold star. It meant a lot coming from him. He patted her on the back like they were buds, and he headed back out to the water. With a groan, Krista followed.

For the next couple of hours, they didn’t get to talking again. Sean was a machine once he got going. He paddled out, caught a wave, rode it, then paddled out again. Krista could see where all his arm strength came from.

In contrast, she paddled out, sat on her board for a while to catch her breath, caught a wave and fell as many times as she made it, sat on the beach for a second, then started paddling again. Toward the end, her arms were rubber and she was exhausted. She got out beyond the waves, sat on her board, and decided to give up.

Sean caught up with her—not that it was hard—saw her immobility, and sat up on his board as well.

“What’s up?” he asked, not even winded.

“I’m tired. I give up.”

“You going to surrender to the sharks?”

“Yes, if they’ll have me.”

Sean smirked and looked around. The sun was well up and more people lined the beach. It was still an ugly, cold day. Krista missed the sparkle off the waves on the clear mornings in L.A. It was the one part of her new life, besides her job, that she loved. Except for the new life part, Krista said as much.

“You planning on staying down there?” Sean asked evenly.

Krista shrugged, wanting to lay down. “I guess. I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”

“How about your family?”

“They’re in Seattle. Seattle is a no fly zone. So…”

“Have you heard from Jim at all?”

“About a year back he messaged me via Twitter; I hadn’t closed the account with the old name. He sent threatening messages every day until I closed the account—all networking accounts, actually. He even got on LinkedIn. He’s apparently visited my parents and a few of my college friends in Seattle, and I heard he tried to find me in San Francisco, twice. But after that he disappeared—my sister said she heard that he got caught for stealing and went back to jail. That infraction is strike three, so...”

Sean nodded.

“Hey,” Krista said louder than she intended. “You’re selling your house?”

Sean looked out over the waves. “I am, yes. Probably. I’m still not sure. I have a job offer.”

“Oh, wow. Doing what?”

“Well, it is still being determined, actually. But hopefully I will have control of a region.”

“Sales?”

“Actually, I hope to get out of sales. But it is all up for debate right now. The money is good. And the new responsibility seems more up my alley. I will have more resources. It’s the job offer I’ve been working toward.”

Suddenly Krista felt left behind. He was a rising star, as always, and she was still earth bound. He had all these prospects and a glamorous life, whereas she was alone in her small two bedroom.

“That’s really great, Sean. I’m happy for you. Are you moving locations?”

“I might be, yes. But again, it’s all up in the air right now.”

“You won’t be as close to this frigid water. What will become of you?”

“I’ll have to find a group of hippies to include me in their drum circle.”

“Where are you moving?”

“That is also up for debate. Everything is in the air right now.”

In other words, mind your own business, Krista. This doesn’t concern you.

“Well, I’m going to head in.”

Sean was looking at her. It seemed like he expected something from her. Either that or he was debating whether to say something else. All she knew was that her heart hurt. She needed a good cry and a dark room. Also a hot tub. She was freezing!

Without saying anything else, and not wanting to cry over him in front of him, she started paddling. She heard her name, but it was too late, she was already reaching for the next wave.

On the beach, she crawled up a ways, threw her board down, and laid in the sand until Sean came in. He crashed and burned on the wave he rode after Krista’s, so he wanted one more wave. His belief was that he had to end each surf day on a high note. It set up the day with positive energy, or some such nonsense. All Krista knew was, she was not moving a muscle unless it was to head back.