Nate stood up and took the ornament out of her hands. “You’re drawing attention to it.” He quickly wrapped it back in the cloth. “Where was this kept?”
“In the hall closet in the top. How valuable is it?”
“Very. I’ve seen ones like it in palaces. You should have it appraised, insured and keep it in Brody’s safe.”
Stacy, sitting on the cloth, was looking up at the two of them. Both were tall and strong. And they were standing very, very close. Turning her head, she saw the twins watching her. It was as if they expected something from her, but she didn’t know what.
Terri took a step backward, away from Nate, then held out her hand. He gave the bowl to her. “We’re going,” she said. She looked at Stacy. “I’ll see you tomorrow and good luck on your booth. I hope you get twenty commissions.” Terri was walking backward, both twins beside her. “If you need anything, you have my number. Thanks for the info on Billy. I’ll call him tonight.”
“I think it’s time you did, don’t you?” Stacy said.
“Yes!” Terri grinned. “I do think now is exactly the right time.” She gave a wave, then headed toward the road. She was almost there when the lifeguard began blowing his whistle loudly and urgently.
Terri didn’t hesitate. She tossed the silver bowl at a twin and started running, her long legs eating up the distance. She slowed at the picnic cloth and tossed the cover-up down.
Nate was waiting for her. “Man overboard. Probably drunk.” He nodded toward a boat, turning about in the water, its motor going.
When Terri started running again, Nate was beside her.
Behind them, the twins stayed with Stacy. “Why is Nate doing this? Shouldn’t the lifeguard be going out to help?” she asked them.
“He’s just a kid and he knows to leave this to them,” Brent said.
“To them?” Stacy asked. “I don’t understand. Why is Nate doing this? He’s not a lifeguard. He’s a diplomat. He talks to people. He—” Her voice was rising.
Brett slipped his arm around her shoulders. “Nate will be fine and he knows what he’s doing. He’s had a lot of practice.”
His twin looked at him sharply.
“I mean, Nate learns fast and he’s good at swimming.”
“He’s spent the last twelve years in a desert,” Stacy said. “He can ride camels. He can—” She broke off as Nate and Terri hit the deep water. They were swimming together, side by side.
The lifeguard’s tower was empty since he was by the lake getting everyone out. She ran to it and climbed up the side so she could see. Nate and Terri were swimming—exactly alike, she thought. They looked like the swimmers in the Olympics, their faces under the water most of the time, their arms extended, their feet making only small movements.
Heavens! but they were beautiful! Like human dolphins. Slicing through the water like they’d been born in it, their movements synchronized, perfectly in time with each other.
The twins had climbed up the other side of the tower. “I had no idea Nate was so graceful in the water.” When Stacy looked at them they gave weak smiles. She got the idea she wasn’t supposed to see something. But what?
When Nate and Terri reached the boat, Stacy drew in her breath. Everyone on the beach was watching in silence and they could hear the motor running. It was like a multibladed guillotine in the water. If any of them hit the whirring rudder they would be cut into pieces.
Brett was hanging onto the tower with his arm through a rung. He was still holding the silver bowl.
Stacy watched as Nate put his hands on the side of the boat and pulled himself up. Looked like all those muscles of his were being put to use. But Terri swam t
o the far side of the boat, out of sight of the people on the beach. “What’s she doing?”
“He knows Terri can find the guy, but she can’t lift him into the boat. That’s what Nate does.”
“What he does? How many times have they rescued people?”
“Four,” Brett said, then backtracked. “I think, but I could be wrong.”
Nate and Terri rescued four people together, Stacy thought. But he’d not mentioned that in any of their phone calls or emails.
She looked back at the boat. Nate had turned off the motor and he was leaning over the side, pointing to Terri. He went to the other side of the boat and Terri swam around.
“Shouldn’t someone call 911?” Stacy asked.