Page 91 of Tides That Bind

“I already bothered you enough,” I say. It’s true. I’d love to think I’m set to do something big entirely on my own—like sue the police department—but I do need the guidance of my sister who is far smarter than me even though I’ll take that bit of information to the grave before I let her know it.

She pushes the gate open. “Speaking of which, try to avoid the police for the foreseeable future. I’m sure you’re not going to be high on their list of favorite civilians to help once you file everything.”

“What about the fire department?”

“Them too.”

“And if I need an ambulance?”

Caroline shrugs. “Try Uber first.”

“Damn. Over a dog. To think this all could’ve been avoided if people weren’t such insensitive assholes.”

I look over my sister’s head when I see Harper walk up the path. She folds her arms over her black one-piece suit.

“What are you doing here?” Caroline asks.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Harper says and they both look at me.

“I’ll explain later,” I tell Caroline as I motion for Harper to go through the gate I hold open. “Come on. We’ve got work to do before snoopy neighbors catch us.”

Caroline shakes her head. “Make sure they don’t call the cops, Riley.”

Harper tosses a striped towel on an empty lawn chair and looks around. “What are we doing here exactly?”

“I told you, you should show Lucas how cool you are. Do you know what tandem surfing is?”

Harper shakes her head.

“Surfing.”

“Well, obviously.”

“And.” I hold up a finger. “Acrobatics.”

“So you want to enter a competition and show off even though we don’t know what we’re doing?”

“Why not? We just need one good trick.”

Harper raises her face to the sky. “Riley, we—

I step forward, stealing back her attention. “I don’t want to tell you how to feel about how you grew up. I don’t think there’s anything to be ashamed about. I think it’s actually cool.Reallycool. And I think the only one who would think it’s cooler than me is Lucas.”

“Riley—”

“Surfing,” I interrupt. “It’s magical for me. It always has been. But Lucas is scared and I think we need to make it extra magical. And look. Getting Tides back? It’s kind of on me. It’s my thing to deal with. Teaching him to surf is going to beyourthing and I respect that. It might just be nice if we do something together, you know?”

Harper gazes at the pool hesitantly.

“Alright, look. The first time I met Nate, he saved my life.”

Harper whips her focus back to me.

“I was… the point is, after that day? Nate was the most important person in my life. He got me in the water. Hekeptme in the water.”

Harper’s face softens instantly.

I step closer to her. “You. You’re the most important person in Lucas's life now. I know you have a hard time believing it, but you’re his superhero, Harper.”

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