Page 17 of The Good Guy on My Porch

He scoffed. “Jumping in all at once is the only way to do it. Why drag out the agony?”

He wiggled his fingers and I took his hand, his warm palm wrapping around my much smaller hand. “Just don’t be surprised if I try to climb you like a tree to get warm.”

He smirked. “I would never complain about you stealing my body heat.”

Then he pulled me forward and I was forced to leap with him into the pool. The water closed over our heads and Oscar kept a tight grip on my fingers. It was every bit as freezing cold as I’d expected, but it felt delicious, like silk over my skin, and so refreshing after a morning spent sweaty and dusty.

Under water, Oscar released my hand and we swam back to the surface. The pond was surprisingly deep. As soon as my head broke the surface, the cold water went from refreshing to downright cold. Treading water helped me stay somewhat warm, but my teeth were chattering in a matter of moments. Even so, I didn’t want to get out. It was so beautiful there with the trees towering over us and the blue sky above. The surface of the water was coated with fallen blossoms from the budding trees and the sweet smell was invigorating.

The waterfall was so loud it was hard to hear Oscar, so after I asked him to repeat what he’d said three times, he held up one finger and then pointed toward the waterfall. When he took off swimming in that direction, I followed.

He led me around the splashing, falling water and into a sort of carved-out area behind the falls. The water was shallower there and we sat, shivering, only our bottom halves in the water. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. A natural wonder that was more than a little overwhelming, too loud, too cold, too chaotic as water splashed onto us from the wild, roaring falls.

Somehow, though, I found myself smiling, a simple joy rushing through me. I looked over at Oscar to see him smiling at me like we shared a secret and I guess in a way we did. He’d given me an experience I’d never had before. I let my head fall back and I screamed into the roar of the water. It felt good to let it all out, to empty my anger and frustration and guilt, along with the helplessness I’d been feeling lately about my mother. When I was done, I looked at Oscar, expecting to see confusion or dismay on his face, but he was still smiling. He released a masculine roar of a scream and I couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up. Some moments were just so perfect there was nothing to do but laugh.

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