“But we have a float,” Dax complained.
If Katie weren’t petrified of the murky water, she would’ve taken a turn swimming with the boys. Maybe she could volunteer to play with Joel on the shore.
Joel squirmed out of Carla’s arms and waddled toward the ocean at breakneck speed for such squatty legs. Carla scrambled after him and scooped him up. “Gotcha!” She swirled him in a circle giggling and kicking his legs in the air.
“I take it Dax is still pouting.” Katie moved to join Carla on the damp part of the sand.
“Yep. I’m the evil aunt who’s ruined his life. Evidently, my sister would’ve happily let him fall off the boat and drown.”
Carla sat down with Joel, keeping an eye on Dax and Cade who had decided to collect shells
“Are we making a sand castle?” Katie knelt beside Carla who was using her hands to shape the sand while Joel mashed it into a blob that bore no resemblance to a building.
“I think it’s going to be more of a post-hurricane sand castle,” Carla replied, as Joel added an impression of his foot to the un-castle.
“I have a proposal,” said Katie, “but you’re welcome to turn it down. Gary and Steven offered to take Dax sailing if we rent a lifejacket for him. They’ll be back here in about twenty minutes or so to pick him up, if you want them to.”
“Really?” A smile bloomed on her face. “That would be awesome!”
“Are you sure you want him out there?” Katie’s stomach churned. “He might not be safe, even with a life vest on.”
“Why not?” From Carla’s frightened expression, she must’ve been thinking the guys were child molesters.
“I’m just worried about sharks.” Katie’s cheeks burned. “I guess I’m the only person around here who has a shark phobia. I know it’s silly, but I can’t help it.”
Carla brushed her self-criticism away with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about it. Plenty of people are afraid of sharks, but most of them don’t come to the beach for a vacation.”
“Well, you don’t see me getting in the water,” said Katie. “I know I’m overreacting. I’ve read the statistics that more people are killed by stray corks popping into their heads than by shark attacks, but it doesn’t matter.”
Carla chuckled. “That’s okay. I’m terrified of roaches to the point of screaming and standing on a chair in the middle of the living room, but I’m pretty sure it’s impossible to die from a roach attack.”
“Thanks. That makes me feel a lot better.”
“Ha! I’m glad.” Carla worked on digging a moat around their pile of sand.
“Do you want me to go get a vest from the beach rentals? I’m pretty sure I can just add it to our charges.”
“Yes, if you don’t mind. I’ll pay you back when we go up to the cottage. That way, when the guys come back, I could surprise him.” Carla smiled as if hope had been pumped into her bloodstream. “Maybe I can do something that makes Dax happy, for a change.”
Dax and Cade ran up behind Katie and emptied their pockets, dumping a haphazard collection of shells, mostly broken.
“Can we swim now?” asked Dax.
“Not now,” Carla said, with more patience than Katie could’ve mustered. “But I brought a football for you to throw. It’s on the blanket in my beach bag.”
Both boys seemed excited by this idea. Katie hurried toward the rental shop, up the beach, with the sound of Cade singing “football— nah, nah, nah, nah, nah…” fading in her ears. About fifteen minutes later, she returned with the child-sized life vest to find Carla wrestling on the blanket with a twisting and screaming Joel.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, running to help, thinking Joel might’ve cut his foot on a broken shell.
Carla stood up, holding him in front of her, naked from the waist down, emitting an ear-piercing wail that rivaled that of his big brother. “He got sand in his diaper and started crying. He’s too wet to get it all off and put a new diaper on. I wish I had some baby powder or something like that.”
Behind her, covered head-to-toe in sand, Cade was tossing the football and diving on top of it, all the while singing the same inane song he’d started before Katie left.
“Where’s Dax?” Katie asked, looking to see if he was playing with the slightly-older group of kids in a nearby family.
Carla gasped, whipping around, her eyes scanning the beach. “Dax! Dax!” She bellowed over the top of Joel’s screeching cries.
Dax was nowhere to be seen.