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self conscious to do that in front of Arabella, someone who had once called

her ugly and said she looked like a boy. Even if Arabella had changed,

comments like that had stuck with June. She wasn’t shaped like the glorious

women in the water already and they were watching her.

She buckled up her life jacket and leaped off the boat, flipping neatly in

midair like she and Summer used to practice. The water rushed up at her,

cold and an instant relief against the scorching summer sun.

She surfaced, shaking off the water droplets, swiping them away from

her mouth so she wouldn’t swallow the lake water.

“This is nice,” June admitted.

“It is.” Arabella sounded surprised. She treaded water easily, and

probably would have without the life jacket keeping her bobbing in place.

Summer swam by on her back. “Told you.”

They swam for half an hour, doing laps, chasing and splashing each

other, or floating lazily on their backs when they were tired. June had to

admit she was shocked at how easy it was for them to have fun. All of

them. Arabella included. She wasn’t even close to the same person she’d

been in high school.

June didn’t need any further evidence than Arabella leaping into the lake.

The old Arabella never would have done anything that could have ruined an

expensive blowout, and lake water would have been a total no-go. She

would have wrinkled her nose and snorted and said that lakes were for

people who couldn’t afford treated swimming pools that didn’t have mucky

bottoms, murky depths, leaches, and other horrible creatures like fish. Or

spiders.

When they got out, Summer went first, demonstrating how to use the

ladder. Arabella went next, while June hung back. She tried very hard to

keep her eyes busy and not watch Arabella as she got out of the water,

dripping wet, the water sluicing off her creamy skin, lush breasts, and

ample curves.