Lucky Lifeguard (River's End Ranch Book 28) Read online

  “Good thinking,” Mr. McAllister said. He turned to Chelsea. “And here you thought this place wasn’t going to be any good. This young man has thought of everything.”

  Joey flicked his eyes over at Chelsea. She just shrugged. She was using her “I’m too bored for words” face, but he knew that face well, and he knew it meant that she was protecting herself from something. What, he didn’t know. And he didn’t really care, so why was he even thinking about it?

  He unlatched the gate that led into the pool area. “As you can see, we have six lanes, and I’ve blocked off the one on the far right. I remembered that was always Chelsea’s favorite position.” He didn’t glance at her this time. “I’ll be here at six every morning for the requested two hours of private swim time. Occasionally throughout the day there will be other lifeguards on duty, but they’re all highly skilled, so if I’m not here for some reason, you’re still in good hands.”

  “I hope you don’t feel as though I need some kind of babysitter,” Chelsea said, turning toward him. “I’m not a beginner.”

  Joey pulled in a deep breath. “And because you’re not a beginner, you should know better than anyone how important it is to have a lifeguard present at all times when you’re in the water. Not only that, but this is a public pool, and by law requires a lifeguard to be on duty. We often have three on shift at the same time when we have young families staying with us—that’s just how it is, and those rules aren’t going to change for anyone.”

  Mr. McAllister gave Joey an approving look that he supposed was the equivalent of a slow clap. Chelsea opened her mouth as if to retort, but then she clamped it shut again, most likely knowing she wouldn’t win.

  “This pool has a nice wide deck,” Mrs. McAllister said, probably trying to ease the tension in the air. “And I love the little umbrellas over the tables. They’re so charming.”

  “We have towels over there, and a refreshment stand,” Joey went on. “The refreshments are included in the price of your room.”

  “Oh, that’s just wonderful.” Mrs. McAllister beamed at him as though he had something to do with that. “Nothing too heavy, though, I imagine—you shouldn’t swim right after eating!”

  “That’s right,” Joey said, giving her a smile and a nod. He’d almost rather deal with Chelsea than with this.

  “What do you think, sweetheart?” Mr. McAllister turned to his daughter. “Much better than a community pool, don’t you think?”

  “It’s fine,” she replied.

  “Let me show you the way to the spa now,” Joey said, thinking they’d probably seen everything there was to see at the pool. There was water, and sun, and lanes . . . not a lot to talk about. Instead, he led the way over to the spa. “This building houses not only a salon and makeup studio, but also trained and qualified healthcare workers who deal with injury and recovery,” he said. “The ranch is becoming well known as a rehabilitation center for all sorts of accidents, injuries, and things like that.”

  “That was the main reason we chose to come here,” Mr. McAllister said. “Of course, the fact that you also do horseback riding and fine dining and river rafting didn’t hurt a thing.”

  “None of which I’ll be doing,” Chelsea inserted. “I’m here to work.”

  “And we’re here to play,” her father said, lifting an eyebrow at her. “We’ll all get what we want.”

  She glanced away. Clearly, they’d had this conversation before, and she hadn’t enjoyed it then, either.

  Joey pointed out the way to the Copper Cabin, agreed to meet Chelsea at the pool early that evening for her first swim, and then said goodbye, exhaling with relief as he walked away. One awkward reunion—check. Now he only had three weeks’ worth of awkward swim sessions to get through and he was all set.

  ***

  “We’ll go with you to your first appointment with the chiropractor, but you’ll be mostly on your own the rest of the time we’re here,” Chelsea’s mother told her over lunch. “Your father and I signed up for so many wonderful activities, we’ll be busy every second, and we don’t want to interfere with your training schedule.”

  “That’s totally fine, Mom. I’ll be either swimming, sleeping, or having physical therapy all the time anyway—there’s no need to feel like you have to be there. Besides, this is your twenty-fifth anniversary. You’re supposed to live it up a little.” Chelsea took a sip of her water and smiled. She hadn’t really expected her parents to stick around much, but it would be nice if they wanted to. It was just all too typical of how things usually went. They paid the bills and came to her meets, and the rest of the time, for the day-to-day stuff, she was on her own.

  She knew they loved her—that was never a question. What she did wonder about was the way they showed that love. She only had to look back one generation, though, to start getting some insight. Her parents came from old money and had been raised at arms’ length by their own parents—no wonder they weren’t the warm and cuddly type. At least Chelsea hadn’t been sent away to boarding schools her whole life, like her mother had been.

  They finished eating, then went back to their cabin. Chelsea went through her suitcase and unpacked, devoting one whole drawer of her dresser to swimsuits because she’d brought so many. Then she decided to take a nap—the trip had worn her out, and her pain meds made her a little drowsy too.

  She had just gotten herself comfortable with her leg propped up on a pillow when she heard her parents’ voices coming from the kitchen area of the cabin. She should have closed her door tight. She was just about to get up and do that when she heard her name, and she decided that she’d do the oh, so mature thing and eavesdrop.

  “I think that lifeguard is the boy Chelsea was dating before she went off to college,” her mother was saying. “The way they were acting around each other this morning? It wasn’t natural. Something happened—I’m sure of it.”

  “You and those romance novels of yours,” her father said good-naturedly. “You turn everything into some kind of romantic conflict. Wouldn’t Chelsea have told us if anything had happened? We have a good relationship with her—she wouldn’t hide things from us.”

  “I suppose you’re right, but I still think it’s rather odd.” Her mother sighed. “Well, no sense in fretting about it. Let’s go visit the general store. I know I’m going to want a ton of souvenirs, and I want to see what they have available.”

  “A budget, my dear?”

  “Of course not! We’re celebrating, remember?”

  They both laughed as they walked out of the cabin, and Chelsea relaxed back against her pillows.

  Something had happened. Something had most definitely happened. It came in the form of a scholarship, one that she hadn’t even needed because her parents could easily afford to send her to college. But the university had sent out a scout, he’d seen her compete, and he’d done everything he could to entice her to enroll. In the meantime, Joey had been competing in the men’s division of that same competition and he’d had even better times than Chelsea. But the scout was looking to build up the women’s swim team, not the men’s, and he’d overlooked Joey entirely. Joey, who had actually needed a scholarship and could have benefited from it.

  She’d never been able to get over that guilt.

  She sat up, plumped the pillow under her knee, and lay back down. It was over. There was nothing she could do about it now. In fact, there was nothing she could have done about it then—it wasn’t like she could have asked them to give the scholarship to Joey instead because they already had enough swimmers on the men’s team. It was out of her hands. But the thought that maybe there was something she could have done, something she could have said, wouldn’t stop rearing its ugly little head.

  Chapter Four

  Joey frowned at his phone, studying the map of wildfires that had just been updated by the forest service. Every single summer, they started out green and lush, and then by mid-June, things had dried out and the fires started. It would only get worse throughout
July and into August. As a member of the local search and rescue team, he had to be ready to leave at a moment’s notice, so he kept the app on his phone updated at all times.

  “You ready to head back to town?”

  He looked up to see Jamal walking toward him, little bits of straw clinging to his shirt. Jamal worked in the small animal barn and also lived in the apartment one floor up from Joey, so it was easy to carpool together. Jamal’s roommates Nick and Reggie were pretty cool too, and they often grabbed pizza together. That sounded like a whole lot more fun than what he was about to do instead.

  “I’m sticking around for a while—I’ve got lifeguard duty for a special guest.”

  Jamal nodded. “No worries. Have you got a way to get home?”

  “Yeah, I’ll figure something out.”

  Jamal lifted a hand as he walked off toward his car, and Joey squared his shoulders. Time to go keep the ice princess from drowning.

  She was already at the pool when he got there, sitting on the edge and dangling her feet in the water. “I saw that there’s another lifeguard on duty right now, but after your little speech this morning, I figured I’d better wait until you were here personally,” she said. “I don’t want to be breaking any of your rules.”

  He lifted both hands. “They aren’t my rules.”

  “Whatever.” She stood up and moved over to the side of the pool that he’d marked off for her, then started a series of stretches. He checked in with Catherine to see if there had been any emergencies or anything else he should know about, and then he climbed up the second lifeguard tower, tossing his T-shirt over his shoulder. The late-afternoon sun felt good on his back.

  Chelsea finished her stretches and moved to the end of her lane. “I’m about to dive in now,” she called up to him.

  “I see that.”

  “I just thought I’d announce it.”

  “It’s much appreciated. You wouldn’t want me to miss anything.” He figured she’d get tired of this silly game before long, and there wasn’t any harm in pushing her back.

  “No, I wouldn’t.” She positioned herself on the edge of the pool, assumed a start position, and pushed off. He could see that her knee was stiff, and he wondered if she’d had surgery or if she was just being treated with physical therapy. He also wondered how long it had been since her injury, and how she’d gotten hurt. He couldn’t help it—as a pre-med student going into sports medicine, he was curious. It had nothing at all to do with the fact that he cared about her well-being because he didn’t. That was over and done with.

  As he watched her slice through the water, he noticed that she did seem weaker on the right side, and he was glad that she’d arranged for extra swim time. She shouldn’t push herself, but she should swim often throughout the day to increase the mobility of that knee and to strengthen it. Heat packs would also help. But Dr. Michelle would talk to her about that, and so would Maddie, the massage therapist, and of course she had doctors at home. His opinion, which wasn’t even professional at this point, wasn’t important.

  “Well, hello up there.”

  Joey glanced down to see a well-tanned woman standing at the bottom of his tower, looking up at him. “Hello, ma’am. Was there something you needed?” He redirected his gaze back out to the water.

  “Ma’am? Oh, honey, I’m not that old. I just thought I’d come over and introduce myself. It must get so boring up there all by yourself.”

  “Actually, I’m quite busy, and I don’t have time to get bored while I’m on duty.”

  “I suppose I really shouldn’t be talking to you, should I?” She giggled, which sounded so odd coming from a woman who had to be in her mid-forties. “When you finally get to come down from there, why don’t you come find me? I’ll be under that red umbrella right over there.”

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, but it’s against policy to fraternize with the guests.” Not against ranch policy, as far as he knew, but it was definitely against his own policy.

  “Oh. That’s too bad. Well, you have a nice day now.” She wandered off, and Joey fought the urge to shake his head—she was probably still watching him, and that would be rude. He’d just met too many women like her who were looking for some adventure and thought that flirting with the lifeguard might be fun and harmless. But it wasn’t fun, and it wasn’t harmless.

  Chelsea swam several more laps. He noticed that she was kicking less and less and focusing more on her arms. She’d probably worn herself out and needed to rest. She finally pulled herself out of the water and wrapped up in a towel, then sat on one of the lounge chairs at the side. Because another lifeguard was on duty and Joey was primarily there for Chelsea, he climbed down, put on his shirt, and crossed the cement to sit on the lounger next to hers.

  “Tell me about your knee,” he said.

  She shrugged. “I was out jogging, hit some loose gravel, and went flying. It was very graceful, I assure you. Ended up tearing my meniscus.”

  “Surgery?”

  She turned her leg and showed him the scar. “I’m supposed to have a full range of motion by now, but it’s taking its time.”

  “Did it keep you out of any important meets this year? I was told you’re shooting for the Olympics.”

  “Just one meet, but I should be all right. I’ve placed in enough other meets that I’m in pretty good standing for the trials. I’ve just got to get back into condition.” She glanced over at him. “Who was your little friend just now?”

  “My little friend?”

  “That woman I saw talking to you. The faker baker. The oompa loompa.”

  Joey tried not to smirk. Yeah, that tan had been something else. “I don’t know. A guest here at the ranch. She didn’t say her name.”

  “She seemed pretty interested in you.”

  “It’s the whistle.” He lifted it from his chest, where it had been dangling on the end of its cord. “It’s a chick magnet.”

  “Or a cougar magnet.”

  “Yeah, that too.”

  She bent and flexed her knee a few times. “So, what are you doing these days? I mean, aside from lifeguarding.”

  “I’m here all day, every day during the summer, and then I’m in college during the fall and winter. Pre-med.”

  “You are?” She raised an eyebrow. He couldn’t tell if she was impressed or surprised. The idea that she might be surprised somewhat annoyed him, and he had to tamp down that emotion. He didn’t even know if that’s what she meant.

  “Going into sports medicine.”

  “That’s a good discipline for you.” She leaned back and closed her eyes. That seemed to signal an end to the conversation, so he stopped talking too. His gaze shifted back to the pool. It was a reflex. Even though he knew someone else was in charge, if he was by water, he had to be on alert.

  The young families were starting to pack up for the day and go inside, so the overall noise levels of the pool became more manageable. With the new quiet, Joey wondered if Chelsea had dropped off, but then she stood up, placed her towel on the chair, and dove back in.

  “No fair!” he called out, trotting back over to his tower.

  She turned in the water and laughed at him. “Should I have announced it?”

  “Yes!”

  She laughed again as she lined herself up and began her next lap.

  Joey wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or amused.

  ***

  Chelsea took a hot shower when she got back to her cabin, then called down for room service. She was a little stiff, which frustrated her, and she really didn’t feel up to being social, especially with complete strangers. While she waited for her food, she did some stretches, pushing herself until it was painful, then pushing even a bit beyond that. She was not going to let this beat her.

  Her first appointments with the chiropractor and massage therapist weren’t until the next morning. She was both excited and apprehensive—maybe they’d give her better news than she’d gotten from her doctors back home, but then, maybe th
ey’d just confirm that she might never compete at a world-class level again. She’d been at the doctor’s office by herself when she’d heard that news, and she hadn’t told her parents yet. It couldn’t be true. She refused to let it be true.

  When her dinner arrived, she pulled up a movie on her laptop and sat down to eat. She had some new emails, but she’d check those later—she was pretty sure they were from Sandi, lamenting the fact that she’d been gone twenty whole hours already.

  When she did open them after the credits rolled, she wasn’t expecting to find one from the university.

  Dear Ms. McAllister,

  Greetings from the office of the dean.

  We were saddened to hear of your recent injury and subsequent surgery, and we hope that your recovery is going well.

  As we must do from time to time, we have been going over our student files, and we noticed that as of this last semester, your grades have been falling off. It has been noted that you met with a counselor to discuss this a week before your injury, so we trust that it’s well in hand.

  The difficulty we face is the fact that you’re one of our scholarship students, and with the decline in your grades and the injury, we are forced to reevaluate your standing. You were offered the scholarship because of your outstanding swimming skills, and you have maintained it academically. If both standards are not met, we will need to revoke the scholarship. It would sadden us to do this, and so we hope that both situations can be remedied.

  You are invited to visit the office anytime to discuss the matter.

  Chelsea didn’t bother to read the signature at the bottom. She pushed the laptop away and stared at the wall, numb. Yes, her grades had been failing. Yet another thing she hadn’t told her parents. Wasn’t part of being an adult learning how to solve your problems yourself? But it went deeper than that, and she knew it—she didn’t want to tell them because she knew how they would react.

  Like she was a failure, a disappointment.

  Her parents lived in a world where prestige was everything. It was one thing to say that their daughter was on the swim team at college—it was quite another to say that their daughter had been hand-selected by a scout from the college and given a scholarship. If she lost that extra edge of specialness, she would let her parents down, and that in turn meant that she was worth even less of their time. The better she performed for their friends and important colleagues, the more they valued her.