Page 105 of The Renter

She hesitates, probably unsure about me, this stranger who arrived. “Let me show you something cool. I’m going to dive in and not make a splash.”

I toss my cover-up off, revealing my family-friendly one-piece, and then dive in.

“Wow! How did you not splash?”

“Because I’m a really good swimmer. Can I teach you a couple of things?”

Her eyes light up. “Yeah!”

Eric looks relieved and grateful. “That would be amazing, Dani. Thank you.”

I nod and turn to Adam. “Why don’t you and Eric go inside? We’ll be fine out here. It will be girl swim time.” I smile at her.

“Adam, let’s get a beer,” Eric says, agreeing.

“Don’t have too much fun, girls!” Adam jokes. The guys go inside, and I’m in my element. It’s been too long since I taught a swim lesson. I loved that job.

“First thing, we have to lose the floaties.” She frowns. “I’ll hold you the whole time. I promise.” Lily nods, and I help her take them off.

“Sit on the edge.” She crawls up onto the lip of the pool with her feet in the water. “When I say green light, kick fast. When I say red light, stop.”

From the corner of my eye, I catch glimpses of Adam and Eric watching us through the window. I can see the pride in Adam’s eyes, and it makes me smile.

We play this game and then another, and before she realizes it, we’re practicing floating. Lily’s glowing, her earlier fear forgotten. After floating on her back all by herself, she yells out, “I did it!”

“You did it, Lily!” I extend my hand, and she high-fives it.

Splashing around with her, laughing, the stress of my morning is gone, and I feel proud to have helped Lily.

91

“She’s fucking hot,” Eric says, cheersing his beer with mine. I shake my head at him. “What?” he asks, in his quintessential annoying younger brother tone.

“Have some more respect, okay.”

He squints at me. “She’s twenty-six, right? Where do you see this going?”

“I see myself marrying her.”

“Good joke.”

“I’m serious.”

Eric pauses, beer mid-air, taking in my statement with skepticism and a growing look of concern. “You’re serious?” he repeats, eyebrows raised. “I’m forty, and I would never seriously consider dating someone in their twenties. Sleep with them …” He raises a brow. “Absolutely, but what are you talking about?”

“She’s different.”

“Adam, you’ve known her what, a few months? And you’re already talking about marriage?”

“I’ve never been surer about anything.”

He sets his beer down, facing me with an earnestness that’s rare for him. “You’re forty-four. Shouldn’t you be capping it at, like, thirty-two at the youngest?”

“Get to know her. You’ll see.”

“I see that she’s the hottest girl you’ve ever been with, but …” He shakes his head, I think, taking in how sure I am about Dani. “Look, I get that she’s a breath of fresh air, and today’s been great seeing her with Lily. But marriage is a big deal, man. You’ve been down that road before. What makes this different?”

“I can’t explain it. It feels right. Everything with Dani feels right.”