Page 47 of Three Little Wishes

Forty minutes later, Cami watched as Riley stood at the foot of the dock, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “This is a really bad idea.”

“No,” Cami said. “It’s a great idea. You’re spending your summer at the beach, and you don’t know how to swim. I bet Noah will be even happier with me than he is now if I teach you.” Cami raised herself out of the water and rested her arms on the end of the dock. “I’m a really good swimmer, Riley. You’re safe with me. I promise.”

“You won’t throw me in or do anything crazy?” Riley asked, taking tentative steps along the dock toward her.

“Cross my heart.” She drew anxon her chest. “You can hold on to the ladder. You don’t have to let go unless you want to.”

“Okay. I guess I can do that.” Riley slipped off her denim shorts to reveal a navy one-piece bathing suit, dropping her beach towel on top of them.

Once she’d taught her to swim, Cami decided she was going to take Riley bathing suit shopping. “All we’re going to do is practice kicking for now,” she told Riley, who climbed down the ladder as if she were going to her execution.

As the water lapped at her calves, Riley shrieked, “It’s freezing!”

“Go fast and get it over with. You’ll get used to it,” Cami said, treading water beside the ladder.

Riley shot her a dirty look but did as she said.

“Now hang on to the bottom rungs and let your legs float out behind you and then start kicking.”

After about ten minutes of kicking, Riley glanced at her. “Is this all I’m going to do?”

“Would you be okay letting go of the ladder? Just try one hand for now if you’re not.”

“Okay.” Riley nodded and took her left hand off the bottom rung. “Now what?”

“Just keep kicking, and once you’re comfortable, we’ll tread water. Like this.” She showed Riley how. “Trust me, you’ll be fine. You’ve got a strong kick. But if you get nervous, you can just grab the ladder.”

Riley nodded. “I’m going to let go now.”

“Just keep kicking and move your arms,” Cami instructed, keeping a close eye on her.

Riley’s eyes got big. “Look, Cami. I’m doing it.”

“You are, and you’re doing great.”

“Can you teach me to swim now?”

“Let’s practice treading water for a while longer. It’s one of the most important things to learn. We’ll try floating next, and then we’ll go closer to shore, and I’ll teach you how to do the dog paddle.”

“The dog paddle?” Riley groaned, making a face.

“Hey, that’s the first stroke I learned.”

In the end, Riley didn’t care that she was doing the dog paddle. All she cared about was that she was able to swim six feet to where Cami stood in four feet of water. “You did it!” Cami cheered.

“I did it! I can swim!” Riley threw herself at Cami and hugged her. “Can you teach me how to swim like you now?”

“We’ll practice what you’ve learned for the next couple of days, and then you can try the front crawl. Okay?”

Riley sighed. “Okay.” Then her face lit up at the sounds of car doors shutting, and seconds later, Noah and Willow rounded the side of the beach house. Riley waved her arms. “Noah, Willow, come here! Come watch me swim.”

Cami felt like a proud mother watching Riley show Noahand Willow what she’d learned, but nothing compared to the feeling she got when they hugged and praised her for teaching Riley to swim. She didn’t think the day could get much better, but it did.

They had a picnic on the beach, and the lobster rolls were as amazing as Cami remembered. After they ate, they played beach volleyball. Noah had found a net in the garage. He’d found horseshoes too, and they played that later. Mostly because Cami and Riley got tired of Noah and Willow beating them at beach volleyball. They were so competitive!

The way they kept smiling at each other was annoying too. Cami didn’t know why, but she had the weirdest urge to pull Willow away from Noah every time they hugged after winning a game. Maybe she was just jealous that Willow had a boyfriend and she didn’t.

Cami watched Willow bend over to throw her horseshoe, and she wasn’t the only one watching. She narrowed her eyes at Noah. “Dude, stop checking out her butt.”

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