Ominous words, but then, what did you expect from a Townsend?
It certainly wasn’t what Hurst said next.
“Now we go field surfing.”
Jogging over to his truck, Cole began pulling out small surfboards and leaned them against the tailgate.
“A few years ago, we were cleaning out one of the barns and came across these,” Cole explained to us. “They were the boards we all learned to surf on during our surfer’s paradise phase as kids. Unfortunately, thanks to cack-handed people, the fins were either broken or had completely snapped off.”
My head dropped when I realized where this was headed.
“So, after some humming and hawing, we put these on the fronts of them”—he pointed at an anchor point that’d somehow been attached to the boards—“and took off the fins completely.”
“How the hell are we meant to surf on the grass with them?” Heidi’s dad asked. “It’s not like the ground moves with us.”
“No,” Cole admitted, “but a rope attached to an ATV does.”
Alex, DB’s dad, held his hands up in the air in front of him while he shook his head frantically. “I’m out. I do not want, nor do I need, a brain injury or any broken bones.”
His girlfriend’s son, Cody, raised his hand hesitantly. The kid had been through a lot of emotional and mental pain from what I’d heard, and although he wasn’t totally confident right now, he looked a hell of a lot better than the boy I’d first met. And that was all thanks to Alex and DB, who’d taken on the role of big brother almost instantly. DB knew what it felt like to lose a parent, and even though Cody’s dad was still alive, he’d still gone through enough shit with him to make it feel like he didn’t have his dad anymore.
The truth was, he had something better with the Bells. They’d showed him unconditional love, given him their attention implicitly, and they’d also given him security. I had a lot of time for the kid, and his eagerness to be a part of things struck a chord with me that made me want to give him anything he wanted when he asked for it. Which wouldn’t be often, I knew that, but still.
“I don’t mind doing it in Alex’s place.”
Cole gave Cody a wink and thumbs up.
“Sold. Okay, we attach it to the ATV, and after you’re on it, my assistant here”—he pointed at Ren, who rolled his eyes—“will start driving. The person who manages to stay on the longest wins.”
“I already have a broken neck,” Dad shouted from his spot on the truck. “I’ll sit this one out.”
A length of rope appeared, coiled into circles like they were about to round up some bulls, and Tom began attaching it to the anchors on the surfboard and then the ATV. When he was done, he tugged on either end, then nodded with satisfaction.
“Ready to go when you are.”
Smiling widely, Cole stepped onto the board and held his fist in the air, letting out a battle cry. “Watch how a pro does it. Hit it, Ren.”
It looked fun for the first thirty seconds, but then Ren gunned the ATV, increasing his speed and aiming for any bumps and divots in the field he could find. Finally, after he hit the highest bump out there, Cole went flying through the air and landed on the grass with a thud. This was a ballsy move by the man, considering he’d only just recovered from dislocating his shoulder twice, but none of his family looked concerned as he lay there staring up at the sky.
Seeing our concern, his dad, Jack, explained, “The dismount can wind you.” Glancing back at his son, he added, “Especially if you go ass over tea kettle and land on your back like Cole did.”
Eventually, Cole rolled onto his side on the grass and got to his knees. Ren had brought the ATV back around to check on his brother, and hearing something his brother said, he yelled, “He’s okay!”
Like that put our minds at ease.
But then an unexpected voice came from behind us. The same one who’d just declared he already had a broken neck and would be sitting this one out—Dad.
“I’m in. Let’s do this.”
Holding the paper napkins to his head, Dad chuckled as we walked toward where we could see a swarm of kids playing. There was one that stuck out to me, though—Nemi.
She was an adorable little imp, running after one of the Townsend boys with a pool noodle in her hand and screaming like a banshee.
“That was a blast, but maybe don’t tell your mom,” Dad told us as we drew nearer to them.
“What, you think she’s not going to ask why you’ve got a bruised lump on your neck and bleeding cuts on your forehead?” Reid snickered, shaking his head at the stupidity.