Twenty-Nine
Lola
My arms gave out, and I fell straight back into the water while Justice and the tandem board kept surfing. My head bobbed up in time to see him crouch down and stall the board.
The audience let out a collective gasp, and one voice screamed above the rest. “Go home!” Devin yelled.
Fire burned through my body, and I thought I’d die of embarrassment. Justice paddled to my side and extended his hand. “Come on, Lola, let’s go!”
River and Roxy caught six more waves. Had they been practicing for decades? They looked so graceful and balanced, not falling once. Meu Deus, did we even have a chance?
Justice and I caught five more waves, sticking to the easy to moderate moves. As the twenty-minute clock ticked down, Justice said, “Let’s try a foot-to-hand.” That was one of the more technical lifts.
I inhaled deeply through my nose and exhaled through my mouth. “Let’s do it.” No way were we going home this early in the game.
We caught a wave, and Justice picked me up, lifted me to his shoulders and hefted me up until his strong hands gripped my feet. I straightened my body and raised my arms in Victory. I felt balanced and strong. All my senses became alert as the wave pool and Justice and I riding our tandem board came into sharp focus. We’re doing it! Stealing a glance at the jumbotron, I nearly laughed when I saw the smile on our faces. All I needed was a doggone sparkler in each hand to complete the effect.
The crowd went wild, and my eardrums whined with the noise of applause.
“Look at that, folks. Where’s my camera? Lola and Justice need to go on the cover of a magazine with that move,” the announcer said.
Finally, the horn blared, and the heat was over. We exited the wave pool, my arms and legs like jelly. I plunked my butt on the sand, my arms circling my legs, and gave an easygoing wave and smile to Papaw, Ginger and Bobbie. I didn’t want anyone to know how uncertain I felt about our chance at advancing.
Justice sat down next to me and held my hand. “We did great, babe.” But his words sounded tentative, and confidence didn’t reach his eyes.
My heart pounded in my ears as I sat next to Justice, adrenaline working its way through my system, my body unable to relax.
After a few very long minutes, the announcer said, “And the winners are … Lola and Justice Hamilton! And let me tell you, folks, it was close. By the skin of their teeth close. River and Roxy tallied fifteen-point-three, and Lola and Justice slammed it with fifteen-point-four. Congratulations, Team Hamilton!”
Justice jumped up in one quick move, springing so high I thought he was trying out for the NBA. Then his arms raised in a “V.” “We did it!” He extended his hand, and the next thing I knew we were waving our arms in the air, our hips bumping each other’s. The adrenaline rush was so great I nearly lost my breath as he hugged me tightly to his broad chest.
But our celebration was short lived.
Justice took a step away from me, his body stiff. “Here comes Mr. Congeniality.”
Devin and Kristin worked their way into the wave pool, the videographer at their heels. Devin waved one arm toward the ever-freaking-faithful cameraman. “Make sure you don’t miss a beat. And remember those close-ups.”
Devin turned his body at an angle and shook his head. “Don’t get too confident, Justice.”
“Our next competitors are Lexie and Zach Morrison against Devin and Kristin Stonebreaker. The Stonebreaker’s are a team to watch, folks. They’ve taken a couple local contests that you’ll want to check out on YouTube. Lexie and Zach are all the way from South Africa. Let’s give them a warm Knight’s Ferry welcome.”
With a loud bleat of the horn, the heat began, and Justice and I stood on the beach. I kept a wary eye on my husband as he paced back and forth, hands dragging through his hair.
The crowd broke into wild applause as the two teams surfed in a tight race to the end. In a heat that I thought would never end, Devin and Kristin gave a performance worthy of the Olympics concluding with a flawless javelin.
Devin and Kristin exited the wave pool, Kristin looking flushed and happy, Devin walking with wide steps until he reached us.
The Stonebreaker’s were barely out of the water when the announcer declared the results. “And the winners are … Devin and Kristin Stonebreaker!”
They set their tandem board in the sand and Devin approached Justice with a mean-spirited smile. He lifted a hand to give Justice a high-five, but Justice’s hands remained pinned to his sides. Devin frowned. “Bad sportsmanship already? Contest’s barely started.” He jutted his chin toward his wife. “Did you see us out there? Just an appetizer, my friend.”
I willed Justice to keep his mouth shut because Devin’s videographer was in full swing. Justice crossed his arms, his stance wide. “We’ll see about that.”
Devin threw his head back for an arrogant laugh. “Oh, yes. We will at that, my friend.” Then he clapped Justice so hard on the back I thought my husband would pitch forward. “Good luck. You’ll need it.”
Our rivals picked up their board and sauntered away. “He hasn’t seen the last of us,” Justice muttered under his breath.
Several more teams competed, while Justice and I made trip after trip to the scoreboard.
Justice’s eyes grew wide as he counted scores on his fingers. “We’re doing great. We got this one, babe.” But I wasn’t so sure.
Finally, the last team competed, and the announcer wrapped up. “That’s it for today folks. I know you’re all waiting to hear who advances to tomorrow but first I want you all to check out the gift shop and the taco stand. A long pause as a murmur of disappointment ran through the crowd. “Just messing with you.” He was silent a few beats, and then he began to read the names of those teams that would move forward to day two.
Justice held my hand in a vise grip and then let go. I closed my eyes and forced a deep, calming breath. The announcer’s voice droned on in a hazy reverberation of names in my ears. Two names registered in my brain as I opened my eyes and saw Justice shaking out his hands, a worried look on his face. “Devin and Kristin Stonebreaker.” A lump formed in my throat as the announcer read so many other names that I thought for sure we’d been eliminated.
“Finally, he said, “And crowd favorite, advancing to day two, Lola and Justice Hamilton!”
I clasped my hands to my chest, and Justice turned around so fast that I felt the whoosh of air between us. “We did it!” He pulled me into a hug, and I felt his heart pounding hard against my breasts. He kissed the top of my head. “Oh, Lola, we did it.”
Next thing I knew, Papaw, Ginger, and Bobbie hurtled toward us from the stands. Cliff’s face bore a wide grin, Ginger’s throaty laughter filled the space, and Bobbie bounced on her tiptoes to kiss me. I bent over and held her tightly.
Bobbie pulled away from me and bounced from foot to foot in front of Justice. “You think that kiss’ll be on YouTube?”
“Oh, sweetie,” Ginger said. “I sure hope so.”
Justice picked Bobbie up and swung her around. “We are going to day two!” He set a squealing Bobbie down and became serious. “But we’ve still got another day to go, gang.”
Devin stormed over to our little party and brushed past Justice, knocking him forward. His voice was a low hiss. “Don’t get too confident, Hamilton.” And then he was gone.
Cliff’s face turned a dangerous color of red. “I’m going to kick his ass,” he said through clenched teeth. “That man thinks he can bulldoze his way into our life and take the shop and …” His hands clenched into fists.
I held his hand and gave him a reassuring smile. “Come on, Cliff. Let him go. Hey! Let’s try out some of those fish tacos.”
I was determined to enjoy the moment with my friends and family. Family. That’s what we were. At least for now.
The six of us celebrated in the snack bar, and just as the announcer promised, the fish tacos were delicious. We all raised our glasses in a toast. “To team Lola Justice!”
I was physically and emotionally exhausted.
But at least we’d see another sunrise at the Knight’s Ferry Wave Pool.