“Holy crap, that’s freezing!” Olivia squealed when her foot hit the cold ocean, stopping dead in her tracks as Cam pulled away.
“Come on. Stop being a baby!” he shouted back. He was already up to his knees in the water.
She took a deep breath before running into the ocean, knowing that once she was fully submerged, she would feel better.
“Here. Grab onto the other end of the board,” Cam said when she finally caught up to him.
“Thanks.” They swam out to just beyond where the waves crested.
“Hey! Cam-Bam!” a guy on a surfboard yelled.
“Come here. I want you to meet the guys,” Cam said to Olivia.
“Hey! Who’s this?” one of them asked.
“Everyone, this is Olivia. Olivia, this is Chris, Benny, and Jason.” Cam gestured to the three men bobbing on their surfboards.
Olivia waved with little enthusiasm. “Hi.”
“Are you going to try surfing today?” Chris asked, trying to spark up a conversation with her.
“Yeah. Might as well.” She shrugged. “I’ve surfed before so I’m not totally useless.”
“Why don’t you catch the first one? I’ll hang back here on one of the guys’ boards,” Cam said as he swam over to Benny’s board and hung on to it. He grinned while he watched Olivia swim away with the board.
“She’s hot, man,” Jason said, nudging toward Cam in the water. “Is she the one you’ve been talking about?”
“Yeah. That’s her. I’m glad I worked up the nerve to finally talk to her.”
“You’re such a pussy,” Benny laughed. “For a guy pushing thirty-five, you have no balls when it comes to talking to women.”
“Suck it, man!” Cam joked back. “There's just something kind of sad about her. I couldn’t help it.” He returned his eyes to Olivia as she climbed on the board, throwing her legs on either side, getting ready to catch a wave.
After a few minutes, she saw a wave coming in that was ideal for her. She positioned her hands and quickly hoisted her legs onto the board, balancing perfectly as she rode into the shore.
Along the coast, a few people were milling about collecting shells. As the sandy beach got closer, she started to space out and thought she saw Alexander. She saw him everywhere lately. Her heart began to race and she panicked, losing her balance. The board slipped out from underneath her and she toppled off, hitting her head as she sank below the water.
“Shit!” Cam exclaimed when he saw Olivia sink beneath the surface. He swam quickly toward where she went under, desperately searching for her. He was worried that, in the few minutes it took him to get to her, she hadn’t resurfaced. He dove into the water, his eyes stinging from the salt. A few feet away, he saw her, her eyes closed, bubbles coming out of her mouth.
He reached her and grabbed her around the waist, kicking toward the surface. “Come on, Libby. Stay with me.” He pulled her toward the shore and laid her on her back. The rest of the guys finally joined him.
“I think she hit her head pretty hard.” Cam leaned his ear down over her nose and couldn't hear any breathing, but she still had a pulse. He started rescue breathing, frantic for her to cough up the water that appeared to be stuck in her lungs. After a few long moments, Olivia gasped, coughing. Cam helped roll her onto her side, getting the water out of her mouth.
“You scared me there, sweetheart,” he said softly, gazing down at the woman lying on the sand.
Olivia looked around, trying to get her bearings. She went surfing. She tried to make a new friend and now she looked like an idiot. She stood up, but her legs were weak, causing her to lose her balance. Cam caught her. “Hey. Take it easy,” he said softly. “You bumped your head pretty good. Let’s get you back inside your house. You should probably go lie down.”
Cam led Olivia up the beach to her house, helping her to the couch. Once she was settled, he walked through her living room and into the kitchen, searching the freezer for some ice. He put some in a plastic bag and brought it to her.
“Here,” he said, leaning down and placing the ice pack on her forehead. “You should probably keep this on your head. There’s a little bit of swelling.” He brushed a piece of hair out of Olivia’s eyes.
“Thanks.”
“Anytime.” He looked around the house, noticing how minimalist everything looked. It was as if she had just rolled into town with a suitcase. There was nothing personal, aside from a guitar case leaning up against a wicker chair. He walked over and sat down. “Do you play?” he asked, gesturing to the case.
Olivia took the ice off her forehead and sat up, facing Cam. “Yeah. A little, I guess. In a former life. I really haven’t played lately, though. Since I got here. The guitar’s just been sitting there, collecting dust.”
Cam looked into her eyes. She seemed so empty.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large, orange long-haired cat walk down the stairs and into the living room. The cat stalked to Olivia, jumped on her lap, and curled up in a ball. “This is Nepenthe,” she explained.
“Ah,” Cam breathed. “The ancient elixir of depression.”
Olivia turned her head. “How did you know that? Not a lot of people know what 'nepenthe' is.”
“I have a brain full of useless information.” Cam laughed. There was an awkward silence. He was attracted to the woman sitting across from him, snuggling up with her cat, but she seemed so distant and uninterested in anything. He didn’t know much about her, but he wanted to learn more.
“Can I take you to dinner tonight? There’s this great place right on the water on the other side of the island.”
Olivia looked around. “I don’t know. I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Come on. It’ll be fun. I promise. Just as friends. No pressure. I just want to get to know you, be your friend.”
Olivia had been avoiding all social situations for the past several weeks. Certain things set her off, triggering a panic attack. Looking out her large front windows at the ocean, she hoped for some guidance about what to do. She was getting to like her new home. If she got involved with Cam, she would just leave him, too. That’s what she did. She ran. Always. That was all she knew.
“Hey, Libby. The answer isn’t there in the ocean.”
She looked back at Cam, a smile still on his face, but also something else. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it was almost like a look of compassion.