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Johanna slipped down the steps and rechecked the doors and windows.
It was that guy. That uncle guy. He’d thrown her for a loop without so much as an “excuse me.” He’d been seriously cute. Seriously cute. Her initial response had been to avoid him. Twice before single fathers on the swim team had seen that she related well to kids and thought she’d be the perfect replacement mother figure for their own little darlings.
Been there, done that. She’d been raising her siblings while her mother worked long hours ever since her dad died. Though she wasn’t a mother herself, at twenty-five she’d already done the mother thing.
But had she known Uncle Hunter was only their uncle she might not have dived into the pool quite so quickly. All evening long while she’d swum, checked homework, diverted squabbles and tried to read, he’d been there, just out of reach in her thoughts.
He couldn’t have been that special. Probably it was because she’d never seen him before and he’d spent an awful lot of his time looking at her. She’d just been uneasy, that was all.
So maybe he’d be back again tomorrow.
Chapter Two
He was.
Johanna watched him out of the corner of her eye as he settled himself on the hard metal bleacher bench. Two little boys, really little boys—like around four and maybe two years old—accompanied him this afternoon. Hunter handed them each a small bag, and the twosome immediately began dragging tiny cars and trucks out, vavooming them over the metal bench and flooring, up Hunter’s legs and across his wide chest. Hunter never even flinched.
Johanna was impressed.
She directed her eight-year-olds and unders in a stroke drill and observed while trying not to look as if she was observing.
He was just as good-looking as she remembered. Better. Yesterday her perspective had been clouded by the fact that Johanna had thought Robby and Karen belonged to him, which would have put him right off limits in her book. She’d done everything in her power to convince herself he wasn’t all that hot. His eyes were not bluer than blue flames, his chest was not wider than wide and the only reason he probably looked tall at first was because he was standing on the bleachers.
She’d mostly failed.
Johanna lined up her crew behind a starting block after they finished their drill. “Okay, we’re going to practice starts now. Marcus, you’re up first. Take your mark…hup! Let’s go, Rebecca. Take your mark…hup!”
Now that she knew the children were his only temporarily she felt far more comfortable with that funny feeling she got in the pit of her stomach when Hunter was in the immediate vicinity. She could even admire the ease he displayed around his niece and nephews, in a detached sort of way. Karen and Robby waved in his direction frequently. He was always paying attention and responded. The littlest one had crawled up on his shoulders for a better view of the pool. Hunter held his chubby little legs while small fry pulled his thick, dark hair, bounced up and down and crowed at his older siblings.
“Meet coming up in a few days, my friends. Let’s try some relay starts. Aubrey, come into the wall full tilt. Kimmie, get on the block and follow her in with your arms. When she touches, you take off like lightning, but make sure Aubrey’s actually touched before you leave the block. Okay, Aubrey, jump into the water halfway down the lane and head on in.”
Someday when Johanna was ready to settle down, provided that day ever came once she finally achieved her freedom, Johanna would look for a man like Karen and Robby’s uncle.
Someone rock steady.
Dependable.
And sexy as hell.
The sexy as hell part was good enough for now.
“Karen, walk over and ask your uncle if you and Robby can stay after for just a few minutes, will you, honey? Let’s see if we can get you two to do a flip turn. Okay, Robby, you want to try going off the block?”
“It’s too high.”
“Once you get used to it, it won’t seem so bad.”
“Why can’t I just go off the edge like before?”
“You can. It’s just easier to hold on to the edge of the starting block and you get a better start that way, go out farther right at the very beginning.”
“I’m scared.”
“Coach Jo, Uncle Hunter says okay, but it’s gotta be quick ’cuz the natives are getting restless and he’s all out of Cheerios.”
Johanna understood the cryptic message perfectly, having used the same cereal many times herself during church services, choir and band concerts and assorted other programs requiring attendance by the care providers of small children.
She acknowledged receipt of his acceptance with a wave to the stands.
Hunter waved back and Johanna’s heart flipped. Stupid, but no longer alarming. Without a care in the world, Johanna asked Robby, “How about if I hold your hand?”
Robby thought about it. Hard. “Okay,” he finally reluctantly decided. “But you’re not gonna let go or anything, are you?”
“Promise.” Johanna made a crisscross motion over her heart and extended her hand. “Ready?”
Robby took her hand with all the enthusiasm of a French nobleman ascending the steps to the guillotine. Slowly he climbed the two steps to the top of the block and stood there, well to the rear of the small platform.
“So,” Johanna said, “how’s the view?”
“Okay,” Robby allowed.
“Good. Come on down.”
“I don’t hafta dive in?” Robby questioned suspiciously, sure he was missing a trick somewhere.
“Not unless you want to.”
“I don’t.”
“Then climb down. That’s enough for your first try.”
“Karen will think I’m a baby.”
“Who cares? She’s living in a glass house and I don’t think you’re a baby. I think you’re very brave for getting up there at all.”
The youngsters who’d been packing up paused in their tasks and one by one came to stand by the edge as they became aware of the drama being enacted.
In the stands Hunter rose and edged closer after instructing Aaron and Mikie to stay put. “Aaron, don’t let Mikie move. I’ll be right back.”
Karen was getting jealous of the attention Robby was getting. “Get down, Robby,” she directed. “I want to try it.”
“No. You had a turn before and you wouldn’t do it. It’s my turn now.”
Karen began to whine. “But I wanna try now. You had long enough. It should be my turn again.”
It was all Johanna could do not to roll her eyes and ask if Karen wanted a little cheese with her whine. Had it been one of her own siblings, she probably would have, but as it was, she kept her mouth shut and focused on Robby, waiting to see what he would do. Instead, Hunter handled it.
Quietly, so as not to distract Robby, he gently pulled Karen back from the starting block and whispered for her to keep an eye on Aaron and Mikie.
“I don’t want you to hold my hand no more. You can let go.”
The child’s knees were knocking together. “You don’t have to, Robbie.”
“No, it’s okay. Let go.”
Johanna did so, but stayed close, ready to step in if Robby lost his newfound courage.
Robbie took a deep breath and straightened his thin shoulders. He stood there, maybe two feet up over the water, looking very much as if he were about to attempt walking a plank.
Hunter took Karen’s place, eyes intent on his nephew.
“I’m gonna do it,” Robby announced.
“You don’t have to,” Johanna said. “I just wanted you to see what it was like this first time.”
“I’m gonna,” he insisted.
“Do you want me to get in the pool and catch you?”
Robby thought about that but evidently decided that, too, would make him a wimp in his sister’s eyes. He shook his head. “No,” he said.
“All right. If you change your mind I’m right here.”
Robby stood there, staring down into the three feet of clear water. Johanna was sure it might as well be a hundred feet deep and shark-infested. Aubrey took her hand on one side, needing the comfort an adult could provide as she remembered her own terror the first few times off the block. “Do you think he’s gonna really do it, Johanna?” she whispered.
“Shh,” Johanna hushed. “Let him concentrate.” She reached out to take Karen’s hand with her free hand in a silent signal to remain quiet. What she found was a hand quite a bit larger and hairier than she anticipated. The hand squeezed hers in silent communication, and Johanna about jumped out of her skin. She squealed. Robby startled, lost his balance, windmilled, then fell into the water. He came up sputtering.
“That was fun. Can I do it again?”
“My turn!” claimed Karen.
Hunter whirled around. “Where are Aaron and Mikie?” he asked, his heart suddenly in his mouth.
“Aaron’s showing Mikie the other pool. I wanted to watch Robby.”
The other pool? The diving well? Johanna took off at a run, Hunter, who’d been frantically sweeping the area with his eyes, in hot pursuit. “Oh, my God,” he said. “Oh, my God.”
Johanna could see the two little ones leaning over the edge, marveling over, what, the depth of the water? The design on the bottom? Who knew? The swimmers in the other lanes were so involved in their workouts no one else had noticed the tykes, either. Hunter broke into a sprint, passing Johanna as she detoured by the lifeguard stand and grabbed a rescue tube. Hunter had almost reached the pair when Aaron, the four-year-old, slipped on the wet tile and went in, taking little Mikie with him.
“Damn,” he said, and dived in, shoes and all. He overshot the pair, who’d already begun to sink and had to turn around, flailing a bit as he trod water and furiously swiped chlorinated water out of his eyes. “Aaron! Mikie!” There! He dived down, but missed and had to come up for air.
Johanna, meanwhile, took the time to kick off her shoes so she wouldn’t be so weighted down, tucked the rescue tube under her arms and used a stride entry. Bedlam was rapidly breaking out with shrieking seven-and eight-year-olds alerting the rest of the coaches to the problem. She positioned herself over the children and, holding the tube by its long strap, let her hands come down to her sides, then raised them rapidly up over her head and torpedoed straight down. Coming up behind Aaron, she slipped an arm around him and kicked hard, propelling herself to the surface. She handed him off to Hunter, took a deep breath and went back down.
The smaller one, Mikie, was already limp. Johanna brought him up, then, on her back, pulled him over to the side. The coach of the nine-and ten-year-old group leaned over the side and took the child from her. Johanna put her hands on the pool’s edge and lifted herself out.
No need to check the older one. He wailed loudly and hiccuped while squeezing Hunter’s neck and being squeezed in return. In true parental fashion, Hunter alternately comforted and berated. “It’s okay, you’re all right. You ever do anything like that again, I’ll drown you myself. Are you sure you’re all right? When I tell you to stay put, you need to stay put, hear me? It’s okay, calm down. You’re strangling me. I’ve got to check Mikie. Oh, God, something’s wrong with Mikie.”
Mikie had swallowed a major portion of the pool, Johanna suspected. The other coach had him flat on his back on the pool deck by the time Johanna had lifted herself out of the water. Together they tipped his head back to open his airway. Johanna put her face down close to the toddler’s and listened hard while she watched his chest.
“Anything?” the other coach asked.
She shook her head. “I don’t think he’s breathing.”
There was a communal sharp intake of breath.
“Not so close, people,” the other coach exhorted. “Give us some room here.”
Hunter pushed his way in and knelt by Mikie’s head, wanting to do something but feeling helpless. His eyes followed Johanna’s every move as she pinched Mikie’s little nose and breathed gently into him twice. Hunter watched her face while she searched the side of Mikie’s neck with two fingertips.
“He’s got a pulse,” she announced, and everyone simultaneously sighed. “Call an ambulance, though. He’s not breathing.” Johanna pinched Mikie’s nose and took a breath. Just as she was prepared to deliver it, Mikie began to gag. Moving quickly, she rolled him onto his side, where he proceeded to upchuck what appeared to be a major portion of the water from the diving well all over her, and began to cry. Johanna propped him there on his side so he wouldn’t choke, then sat back and closed her eyes.
Hunter scooped up his nephew and held him tightly against his chest. The pressure of the hard squeeze had Mikie upchucking once more, this time down Hunter’s back, but Hunter didn’t care, he just didn’t care. His inexperience and ineptitude hadn’t killed anyone. That was what counted.
“Thank you, God,” he prayed.
“Amen,” whispered Johanna.
Hunter stood up, dripping water, shoes squishing. He had Mikie in his arms and Aaron very quickly attached himself to one leg like a little leech. Karen claimed the other leg and Robby grabbed him from behind. He stood there like an oak and let his heart settle back down into his chest.
“Thank you,” he told Johanna gravely, very impressed with the way she’d handled the crisis. She was not just good with children, she was also an incredibly competent woman. Also sexy. Let’s not forget the sexy. He became more determined than ever to get to know her.
“You’re welcome,” she said every bit as gravely.
The coach of the eleven-and twelve-year-olds began to usher people away. “All right, everybody, excitement’s over. Let’s go finish up. I think tomorrow it might be a good idea if we did some pool safety stuff.”
Johanna rose, patted Mikie on the back and turned to leave.
“Wait,” Hunter said, grabbing her arm. There was no way he could follow her with the little limpets still attached. “I, uh, wanted to thank you one more time.”
“I’m glad we were in time,” Johanna returned. Looking into his eyes, she was struck again by just how handsome he was. She shivered and didn’t know if it was the sodden clothing dripping down her legs or the sight of gorgeous Hunter covered in children. She took off her shirt and shorts while she thought about that and wrung them out.
Hunter’s blood pressure skyrocketed as the woman unselfconsciously stripped. Damn, but he’d forgotten she wore a bathing suit under her clothes. These sudden adrenaline rushes couldn’t be good for a man. He was going to be dead long before his time at this rate.
“I’m sorry this happened. It won’t again. I’m still getting used to them.”
Johanna nodded. The crisis was over. She was suddenly exhausted. She also wished he’d touch her arm again. There’d been a connection then, almost like a circuit being completed. Maybe his electric blue eyes really were electric. Weird. But Johanna definitely wanted to feel that tingle again. “They move fast, don’t they?”
He nodded. “You can say that again. I’m beginning to think they’re also at their creative best when they’re thinking up new ways to do themselves in.”
Johanna laughed weakly. “Yeah. I could tell you some stories about my brothers and sisters that would turn your hair gray just listening.”
“I’d like to hear them,” he said quietly, and looked directly into her wide eyes. Now he was in danger of drowning in them.
Johanna swallowed. Hard. Oh, God. He wanted to hear her stories. Suddenly she couldn’t think of a one.
“I’d also like to thank you properly, take you out for dinner or something, but I’m afraid it’s too soon to leave the unholy crew with a sitter just yet. They need to settle in a bit and feel more secure.” Did they ever. The kids still had nightmares sometimes. Hunter had yet to truly grieve his brother’s loss himself. He’d been too busy making it through one day at a time.
“I understand,” Johanna said. And she did. Understanding didn’t prevent a feeling of disappointment, however.
