Steel found himself between Daniel and Eric Holden at the starting line, Ned a little farther down. They were supposed to dash into the water, swim around a buoy positioned far out in the lake and swim back again. The first one out of the water to touch the finish line would win.
“Someone might think you’re the one luring these teenage girls to their deaths,” Daniel said. Steel knew he was joking—trying to throw him off to get an advantage in the race. They joked all the time at the station. On his other side, however, Eric snapped his head around to look at them.
“What the hell does that mean?” he asked just as the teen in charge blew the whistle again.
“On your mark, get set—go!”
Steel didn’t bother to answer Eric or acknowledge Daniel’s tasteless joke. He raced to the water, splashed a few more strides and dove in, coming up to swim with a practiced crawl toward the buoy.
At first trying to swim in the pack of racers was an exercise in warding off stray elbows and kicking feet, but Steel had always been a strong swimmer, and soon he found himself at the start of the pack. He caught a glimpse of Eric’s face to his left. A flash of Daniel’s orange swim goggles to his right. Steel dug in for all he was worth. He was not going to lose to either of these men in his very first race.
His muscles were screaming by the time he passed the buoy. Heading back to the beach meant swimming with the waves rather than against them. It wasn’t that choppy, but every bit helped. Refusing to be distracted by the other swimmers, Steel went for a steady pace rather than a frantic one. When he judged he was halfway back to shore, he glanced around, located his competition and increased his speed. He passed Eric in the last fifteen meters and saw the man had drained his reserves and was barely making headway. Daniel, on the other hand, was still going strong.
Time to dig for all he had, Steel decided. He put his head down and went for it, his motions crisp and precise, drawing on all the years he’d spent swimming in lakes like this. Soon the sandy bottom was under his feet, he raced back out of the water and surged past Daniel to reach the finish line first.
A cheer went up from the crowd, which warmed his heart as Daniel reached the finish line just moments after him. Several other racers joined them before Eric staggered up and crossed it. The look Eric sent him should have struck him dead, and Steel allowed himself to smile back. Eric stiffened. Glowered at him.
Steel turned away and caught Stella’s eye. She was talking to yet another volunteer, and he knew he’d be hard-pressed to get another moment alone with her, but she nodded, affirming she’d seen his victory, and flashed him a small thumbs-up. He didn’t need to look back at Eric to know the effect that would have on the man.
This was going to be fun.
Someone was going to get hurt before this day was through.
Stella had to admit to herself it had been humorous at first to see Steel beating the pants off Eric—and everyone else—in the competitions, but as the day went on, and she took in Eric’s rising fury, she began to worry. It wasn’t like Steel won every event. A Silver Falls deputy, Daniel Ortiz, was giving him a real run for his money, and several of the other cowboys had managed to win some of the competitions.
Not many men had signed up to compete for the all-around award, however. There were plenty of athletic men in these towns. Heck, a number of ex-military men had won handily in the competitions in which they took part. But those were family men who wanted to cheer on their wives and children, too. Only a handful of single guys and one or two married men were in every event.
Meanwhile, she was kept on her toes helping to make sure the contests went off on time, the volunteers knew where they were supposed to be and what they were supposed to be doing and keeping track of a million details in between. Olivia flitted around like a madwoman, trying to keep watch over the food vendors and drink tents, reunite lost children with worried parents and make sure the evening program was ready to go at the end of the day.
Stella was grateful for all the volunteers. So many teens, men and women had donated their time and energy that there always seemed to be a pair of hands to lend some help when she needed it, but still, there was an energy to the day she wasn’t entirely comfortable with.
With each of the men’s events, a bigger crowd was accumulating. Most of the younger kids’ contests had been scheduled early, and those families were now hanging out near the beach on blankets they’d spread, kids playing among them, little ones taking naps in portable cribs in the shade.
The events for teenagers were scheduled through the day, many of them later in the afternoon, since so many teens had been involved in supervising the younger kids’ events. Now they were happening one after the other, leaving amorphous clumps of teenagers hanging around in between their events.
The women’s events concluded with a diving competition that got a lot of attention, especially since Ella Hall, who used to be a movie star, had taken part. She turned out to be a fantastic diver, and Stella had heard more than one teenage girl talking about wanting to be just like her when they grew up.
Now it was down to the final events for the teens and men.
Stella would
