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Finally, she reaches out and touches my hand, the surprising softness throwing me off. Sure, I held her hand the other day, but I was more focused on her physical health. The zing of excitement has me backing up a bit, almost losing my grip of the boat.

Once she’s settled in behind Whitney, I turn to head over to the seat by my date.

“If you don’t mind, I’m a little nervous of boats,” Kenzie’s date says. I turn to see his hand outstretched, as though he wants me to help him in.

I reach out for his forearm and help him into the boat. Kenzie is trying to keep a smile from forming and that makes it that much harder for me to keep a straight face.

The ride begins and I remember a time my mother brought all us kids down here to go on the swan boats. I’d been a pill about it, not wanting to be seen by my friends doing something as girly as this. Yet, here I am and I can guarantee that my friend group will be watching this docuseries, pointing out all the little things I’m doing wrong and making fun of me for months. I probably should’ve rethought my part in this.

“What do you like to do for fun?” I ask Whitney. If we’re filming, it will be better to look interested and engaged, even though I wish I were curled up on my couch watching a movie. As Kenzie pointed out earlier though, I’d have to hook the TV up to do that.

“I love crafting. I’ve been doing a craft blog for the past several years and finally set up a shop where I can sell some of the things I’ve made. My mom was getting frustrated at all the space my pieces were taking up in the basement.”

I nod. “I can relate to that. My mom was excited to get rid of all the stuff she’d saved for me over the past twenty-eight years. I have several totes stacked up in my garage and guest bedroom.”

“Yeah, and his organizer is still trying to figure out what to do with them,” Kenzie says from behind us.

Turning, I say, “Yeah, maybe she needs some monetary compensation. She’s doing a lot to help me right now.”

Kenzie rolls her eyes but I can see a glimmer of a smile behind the mask.

We make small talk until we get to the middle of the ride. Whitney is a little intense, but she’s good at conversations, which makes the ride a little easier. I haven’t checked on Kenzie and Mr. Vader in a while but I don’t have to.

“I’m sorry, I said I’m not a really touchy person.” I turn to see that Kenzie has scooted over to the edge of the boat.

Mr. Vader is smiling at her. “I’ve never held someone’s hand. Won’t you let me do that, just for the rest of the ride?”

Kenzie stands up, as if she’s going to be able to get away from him that way. Vader dude reaches out and touches her fingertips. As if seeing it in slow motion, she rips her hands out of the way, but the movement propels her backward and into the water.

Seconds tick by and there's no sign of her coming up for air. I have Whitney switch me seats, so I can lean over to see. The water is opaque, making it difficult to see anything. Taking a deep breath, I jump in, hitting the bottom a lot sooner than I’d planned. Instead of being submerged in the water, it’s waist high.

I bend over, wondering if I just swing my arms through the water if I’ll find her. Maybe she hit her head and is unconscious? I take a few tentative steps to where she fell in and don’t feel anything. A few more steps and the panic sets in.

“No jumping out of the boats,” the boat conductor yells, frowning at me.

“What are you doing?” Whitney asks, leaning over the side.

“Making sure Kenzie is all right.” This is too shallow to know if I need to worry about her ability to swim.

Just then, Kenzie breaks the surface, causing me to jump back in surprise.

I trip over a rock and start to go down when Kenzie leans forward and pulls me back up. We’re close, the water spilling off her causing the mascara to run. I stand up and reach forward, using my thumbs to wipe at the black smears.

“What are you doing?” Kenzie asks, in a harsh whisper. She uses her hands to push the hair out of her face.

“I wasn’t sure if you knew how to swim.”

Kenzie stands up and gives me a disbelieving look. “The water is all of three feet.”

“Trey, you’re all wet. What are we going to do now?” Whitney asks. The boat is five feet past Kenzie and I now.

The driver of the boat keeps pedaling. “Get out of the water and meet over by the dock. We have some towels in there to dry off with.”

The boat continues on, and Whitney and Mr. Vader turn to look at us like we’ve lost our minds. I’m not going to deny that.

25

KENZIE