Hesitating, she agreed with a jerky nod of her head. Luke was guessing Kelly was beginning to sense the urgency of the situation, when she peeked around him nervously at the shore.
“You’ll need to let go of me–so you can lie back in the water.”
She looked ready to panic again, so pulling her more tightly into his arms, Luke rubbed her shoulders with his hand reassuringly.
Kelly spoke uncertainly into his ear. “Like doing the backstroke?”
“That’s right. I’ll be sure to stay underneath you, too, while I’m swimming–so that I’m holding up your head.”
Although she was obviously terrified, she allowed Luke to flatten his hand against her back while she followed his directives. Wrapping an arm around her neck, and holding up her chin, he propped up her body as her feet floated close to the surface of the water. With smooth, rhythmic kicks, Luke swam through the water effortlessly, until they were closer to the beach.
Luke felt Kelly being lifted from his arms. When he slowly stood up, and his feet touched the ground, he found himself staring into the eyes of Kelly’s older brother, Dan. “You should’ve been watching her,” Luke muttered reproachfully, expecting resentment.
But, instead, he saw gratitude. “I know. Thanks, man,” Dan said quietly, before returning his attention to his sister.
Luke was taken aback–he hadn’t expected Dan to agree with him. So he answered Dan with quiet reassurance, “Shit happens.”
“Not to me it doesn’t. Just because Jeff was hanging around with me, I shouldn’t have assumed Kelly was nearby too. I’ve been off my game lately.” Dan began searching the faces in the crowd. “And, besides, where’s that damned lifeguard, who’s supposed to be on duty?”
Luke began to notice the slew of curious onlookers lining up alongside the beach. When Kelly continued to remain quiet, he gazed down anxiously to where she sat in the sand, and realized she was staring hard at the bleeding wounds on his back.
“Oh, Dan,” she finally moaned. “Look how bad he hurt himself, while he was helping me.”
“I’m fine, Princess,” Luke muttered, still scoping out the beach nervously. “I didn’t get hurt pulling you out from the water.”
She continued to plead with her brother, “Dan–please–you need to make him better.”
Luke squirmed, while Dan stared at him grimly.
“Don’t worry, sweetie. I’m gonna start making him better soon,” Dan reassured Kelly.
Luke started. But his legs were getting wobbly, and he found himself sinking to the sand.
“Princess, huh?” Wearing a half-smile, Dan studied Luke keenly before turning back to Kelly. “Are you sure you’re okay, Kel?”
She nodded.
“I think that she just swallowed lots of water,” Luke muttered.
Dan stared at his sister with obvious concern. “Okay, Princess–we’re gonna have to talk this over with Mom and Dad later. Since you don’t appear to be suffering any side effects from nearly being drowned, why don’t you run over to the park with your friends for a little while? One of the moms took Jeff and the rest of the kids over there, when Luke, here, was pulling you out from the water.”
Just in case Kelly hadn’t been breathing. Dan didn’t need to complete the sentence when his eyes met Luke’s.
After glancing over at the park, Kelly hesitated, before stepping towards him, and gazing down to where he sat, hunched over in the sand. “Thank you for saving me,” she said, softly.
At that moment, the sun broke through the clouds. A beam of light shown down brightly on Kelly, leaving her backlit by a smoky-blue haze. But the strange thing about it was, Luke wasn’t seeing her as a pretty little six-year old girl anymore. He was envisioning her as the beautiful woman she’d undoubtedly be someday. Her white-blonde hair was dancing over her shoulders, but her fiery-blue eyes were staring accusingly into his.
Luke blinked, before shaking his head in disbelief. He was exhausted, and most likely delirious. He swallowed uncomfortably. But maybe it had something to do with the magic that he’d sensed here at Dragonfly Pointe?
Suddenly, he became aware of the soft, light brush of Kelly’s lips on his shoulder; like the touch of a butterfly, as she kissed him gently on one of his wounds. Luke felt a strange sense of longing. Her kiss made him feel like he’d been blessed–like its power could heal all of his wounds.
And unexpectedly, his eyes began to fill with tears.
When Kelly scrambled away, and began skipping along the beach, she was totally unaware that she was making Luke question his sanity. Reaching the bench where she’d left her beach bag and sandals earlier, Kelly dug through her bag for her hat, first, and plopped it onto her head, before covering her eyes with a pair of stylish sunglasses.
Luke raised a brow, turning to Dan.
Dan rolled his eyes upward and shrugged. “What can I say? Mom calls Kelly a six-year old fashionista.”
Luke found himself laughing along with Dan. They watched as Kelly strutted along the path, first glancing left and then glancing right, pulling down and peeking through her sunglasses like a celebrity on public display.
“I have no I idea where she gets that from,” Dan said dryly. “It must have something to do with those charity fashion shows, she and my other sisters participate in.”
Luke shook his head dazedly. The resilience of kids was kind of amazing. His little sister had behaved exactly the same way, too. “At least she seems okay.”
Dan silently nodded his agreement.
Kelly finally reached the park, and joined the other kids on the swing set, where she and Jeff remained clearly in view.
Dan suddenly turned grim, as he dropped down to the sand beside him. “Alright, Luke Bryant–I’m gonna stick to you like glue. I owe you, and I owe you big. I wanna know who’s responsible for knifing that
