Cody for dear life. His pole went over the side, and even as Jenny was yelling at him to forget it, to let it go, he was bending over, trying to reach it. Both their weight went to the left side, and water sloshed over the side. Panicked, she pulled Cody back and forced him to sit. By the time it was all over, they were both panting hard, and the fishing pole was sinking away. And an oar was floating off.
Jenny groaned. This. Could. Not. Be. Happening. Was it possible for this day to get any worse?
And then she heard laughter coming from the shore. She closed her eyes and groaned again. She didn’t need to look to see who it was; she’d recognize that deep baritone anywhere. Maybe if she sat here long enough, the sun would just burn her up and end her misery.
“Jared!” Cody hollered, waving madly, starting to stand up again.
Jenny felt the boat rock, and her eyes shot open just in time to pull Cody straight back down. “Don’t you dare,” she said as she snuck a peek toward the shoreline. Jared stood there with his feet planted a shoulder’s width apart. No wonder she hadn’t heard him leave. He was dressed in running shorts, a T-shirt, and tennis shoes. Remembering her earlier thoughts, she blushed all over again.
“We need his help.”
“No, we don’t.”
Cody pointed to the oar that kept floating farther and farther away. He crossed his arms across his puffy orange chest and let out a loud “Huh.”
Jenny looked around. She didn’t need to be saved, no matter what Cody or her family thought. She could manage on her own. She picked up the one oar she had left and stretched out as far as she could, hoping she’d be able to nab the other oar. But no matter how far she stretched, the oar stayed out of reach.
“Need any help?” The deep timbre of his voice easily carried across the water to them. And so did his amused arrogance.
“No,” she hollered back, shooting Cody a keep quiet look. Using the one oar, she began to paddle, but no matter how many times she kept switching the oar from side to side, she ended up going in more of a circle than a straight line.
“You sure you don’t need help?”
She gritted her teeth and dug in, determined to reach that damn oar if it killed her. “Positive.”
But no matter how hard she rowed, she didn’t make any forward progress. Finally, she gave up and dragged the heavy wooden oar back into the boat.
“How much longer are we going to be out here, Aunt Jenny?”
As long as it takes. “Don’t worry. I’ve got everything under control. We’ll be back on shore in no time.”
“Good. ’Cuz I really need to get back.”
A terrible suspicion stole over her. “Uh, you don’t have to use the bathroom do you?”
“No. I’m thirsty. And I gotta finish my homework before we leave for my game.”
“You’re not done with your homework?”
“No.”
She didn’t want to ask the next question, afraid of the answer. “Have you started?”
“No.”
“Cody . . .”
He didn’t say a word.
“Cody Adams, I’m—” But she was fresh out of threats and fresh out of ideas on how to retrieve the oar. She had the sudden urge to throw her nephew over the side and tell him to swim out and get it, then she wondered just how old that life vest was and would it even still float?
“Looks like we won’t be stuck out here much longer.”
She looked in the direction he was pointing.
Jared was shrugging off his shirt and pushing off his running shoes and heading for the water.
“No way.” A girl could stand only so much humiliation in one day.
Without pausing to fully think it through, she dove over the side. Icy cold water sucked the air straight out of her lungs, and she surfaced, gasping for breath.
“Aunt Jenny!”
“I-I-I’m f-f-f-fine.” Goose bumps ran up and down her body, and she couldn’t stop shaking. She bobbed in the water for a moment, trying to catch her breath and sight of the oar. Just when she spotted it, she heard the long, even strokes of Jared swimming toward her. She spared a glance his way and gasped—not from cold—but from surprise. The man swam like a fish.
Determination fueled her on. Her breaststroke was awkward and choppy, and she refused to put her face in the freezing water. Slowly she gained on the oar. But Jared was right behind