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visibly, both at being outed and at my dad’s obvious inability to remember little details. I smiled tightly and snuck a sidelong glance at Tyler, who was fumbling for his composure. Funny, considering the way he had carried himself a few seconds earlier.
    “Yeah. Dad, this is Tyler. It’s actually his second year here, so technically he’s not a rookie anymore. He was just showing me around.” Tyler gave a nod.
    My dad looked at his red trunks, unimpressed.
    “Huh. well, if you’re gonna walk around here off duty, you need to change out of your uniform first.” Tyler stammered. “Oh, y-yeah…. Sorry. It won’t happen again.” We were all silent for a few awkward seconds.
    “Well, I’m headed home, hon. Why don’t you hop in and I’ll give you a ride back to the house?” He smiled broadly, but it wasn’t a question.
    “Nah. I think I’ll walk.” It was worth a try, seeing as we were being so civil at the moment.
    He cleared his throat. “Nah. I think you should get in.” still smiling … “We’ve got a few things to take care of this evening.” He looked at me straight on.
    Tyler shifted next to me. I was beat, unless I wanted to start a battle.
    I turned back to Tyler and rolled my eyes before putting out my hand. “Well, thanks for the tour. It was nice to meet you.” The faintest trace of a smirk crossed his face before he cleared his throat and shook my hand.
    “You too. Stay off the rocks next time, or your dad’ll kill me.” We all forced a little laugh, and I walked around the truck and hopped into the passenger seat, dropping my stuff beside me. My dad pulled a U-turn around Tyler, gave him a wave, and we trundled away. I waited until we were a short distance off.
    “Nice, Dad. Thanks.”
    “Don’t start,” he said flatly. “He’s a lifeguard. And you’re my daughter. That’s as good as it gets.”
    “And that makes sense how again? I don’t get it. I really don’t.” I paused. It was always right there, on the tip of my tongue when we had this talk. This time I said it. “You were a lifeguard when Mom married you. What was so bad about that?” I regretted it the instant I said it.
    He didn’t say anything at first. Just looked out the window. But I knew by his voice when he spoke that I’d hit a nerve. “Anna. Don’t .” The moment felt far more serious than I’d meant it to get. More than seemed reasonable. I looked at my lap. “Okay. I get it.” I didn’t at all, but I didn’t want to go any further than I just had. I waved my hand casually. “It wasn’t anything, anyway. I met a girl on the beach, too. She somehow talked me into joining the cross-country team. First practice is tomorrow.”
    He brightened a bit, but it seemed forced. “Really?”
    “Yeah. She seemed nice.” I watched him out of the corner of my eye as he steered us up onto the road in front of our cottage.
    He put the truck in park and turned it off, then looked out at the water, sparkling gold and glassy from the setting sun. “Wanna paddle out?” I knew that meant we were done and that we’d smooth over the surface I’d just tossed a rock into. But even the waves that crash down on the beach start out as tiny ripples, far out at sea.
    They just gain strength over time.

CHAPTER 5
    My dreams made the night long. It’d been a while since I’d dreamed of her, but the effect was always the same. I’d just gotten better at dealing with it. By the time my dad poked his head into my room, I had already taken enough deep breaths to calm myself down and appear sleepy rather than shaken.
    “Hey, Anna. Time to get up. Don’t wanna be late the first day of practice.” He was already in his uniform, coffee cup in hand.
    I rubbed my eyes, wondering why in the world I had agreed to go. Dad disappeared into the hall way, and I heard his feet make their way over the wood floor to the living room. I lay back and looked at the ceiling. Meeting Ashley the day before seemed far away, and deciding