No Shots Missed

Chapter Seven- Do We Hate Him?

(Taylor's POV)

"Thanks for coming out here with me, Auntie Tay Tay." A smile teased my lips at her sweetness. This morning when she had woken me up to tell me it was time to get in the lake and collect our golf balls, she'd been decidedly less lovely about it.

Sleep hating little demon child.

As if she could read my mind, Sassy gave an agreeable yawn from the paddle board that she was curled up on. I loved the fact that my large shepherd was as obsessed with my board as I was.

I dived down for another ball and when I plopped it in our bucket, I gave my god daughter a little nudge. "Thank you for making me get up there last night, I needed it." Surprisingly, I meant every word. I'd kept my promise after dinner and we'd gone to the range above our boat house, hitting two whole buckets before we stopped. It was the first time I'd picked up a club since my knee replacement and it had felt better than expected.

Not the golf, my swing was atrocious. But, embracing the fear that had held me in its grips for the last few months, was exactly what I needed. I'd been expecting golf to bring me nothing but pain. Predicting that not being able to use the power of my body the same way would bring forth an agony of defeat that I was too fragile to handle.

Instead, I felt rejuvenated. The competitor in me immediately loved the challenge of working to develop my swing, in a new way.

I was going to teach myself to be great again.

I caught movement on land and looked up expecting Zane to be bringing me down another coffee. I was going to need all the caffeine today to keep up with Gabby's little mini. The first day up here was always a Taylor and Janessa day. It gave Gabby a little break because being a single mom was exhausting and it gave me and Janessa time together, which we both loved.

I squinted at the beach. Praying that I was seeing a mirage, however the pounding of my heart said otherwise. I was ninety-two percent sure that the man standing next to Zane was Kalen fucking Sharp. Just as painfully attractive as he'd been yesterday.

They made their way over to Gabby and I worked at taking deep, even breaths and staying calm through the realisation that I was going to have to talk to him too.

He wore the surfing look well. There was something about a man in board shorts and a t- shirt with the sleeves ripped off. His hand ran through his longish hair and all of those dips and crevices in his arms, shifted, glistening in the sunlight.

He had no right to look that good. I dove back down into the water and got a few more balls, letting the cool water tame my thoughts. Nessa groaned, "There's so many."

I laughed, "Who's fault is that?"

She gave one of her sweet giggles and plopped two more in the bucket before looking at me seriously. Sometimes, it was as if she had inherited her mother's ability to read my mind. "We'll collect them all and do it again." I wasn't about to argue, she'd awakened the sleeping beast within.

"Absolutely." She swam closer and her little hand came up for a high five.

As our hands touched, she shrieked, "Oh my god, they're here." I'd hoped she wouldn't notice that two of our guests had arrived. It would have been nice to stay in the water for another hour or ten. Maybe by the time I had to interact with him again, I'd have given myself a decent enough pep talk. I'd be able to face him full of courage. But, Nessa was already gone, so excited to see another kid her age, that she took off, forcing me to follow.

Of course, he'd been invited to Zane's team weekend. I swallowed my frustration that I hadn't predicted this turn of events last night and then immediately explained that seeing so many people would be too much for me and went home.