Waves - Book #2 [completed]

54 ~ Finale

Finale
noun
the last part of a piece of music, an entertainment, or a public event, especially when particularly dramatic or exciting.

NOVEMBER – eight months later

Orange beams of sunlight glimmer across the stirred ocean – the water dark and more green than blue. It's a cooler morning with a bristle wind going. But we all know it's not going to stay this way. It's going to be sweltering hot later when the sun hits the meridian. But for now, I'm glad I brought a hoodie which I can throw on over to stay warm whilst sitting in the sand at the beach by our house where I plopped down after giving up on surfing for the day when my lungs squeezed, and my glutes started to scream at me.

I experienced my first winter in Connor Head when we came back from seeing my parents in New York after my dad had a heart attack. But let me tell you, winters in Connor Head are a joke compared to the blizzard-plagued winters in New York we had to endure when I grew up. Mild twenty degrees Celsius during the day and nothing lower than nine degrees during the night are perfect living and working conditions for me. It's perfect so you're not cold during the day and the ideal excuse to snuggle up in bed every night.

Oh yeah, I know Celsius now.

I mostly got the metric system down too.

So, ha!

Digging for my phone in the wet bag next to me, I smile down at Baby. She's sprawled across my pink surfboard, paws stretched out in front of her, but alert with one of her usually floppy ears sticking up as if she's about to join her mama in the waves.

I turn back to where Riley glides through the water like she's a part of the ocean herself – smooth and steady. Graceful.

She's so freaking talented. Fluid and elegant and able to stand stunts and tricks that should be impossible. She's unafraid and training hard to start competing again come next year. After showing off her skills at an all-female team surf event for charity, her return to the league is highly anticipated. Needless to say her team won and she'll now have to compete against her coachee Emma.

I've gotten pretty good on my board myself and have the best private teacher one could wish for. However, I won't win any prizes anytime soon. That's Riley's job. She's made for it. And I like being the man on the sidelines, cheering her on and falling for her more with every wave she masters. I transitioned from being always in the limelight to being the one behind the camera, the one in the background, and I couldn't enjoy it more. Especially, when Riley's feeling high and giddy and needs me to "take the edge off" after dark. Do I ever enjoy that!

Baby lets out a huffed doggy sigh and wiggles her tail when I drop my palm on her head before returning my gaze to where Riley performs a risky Cut Back. I grumble, hitting the record button on the camera I brought too late, but continue watching her with fascination. Riley whoops, throwing her arms up as she rides out the wave. I pump up my fist in response and make Baby jump from my sudden burst.