Give Me a Sign(29)

I assume I’m going to be doing more than my fair share of the paddling, but Blake surprises me. As soon as Oliver pushes us out, she starts tearing through the water. We’re soon in the middle of the lake, with Mackenzie far behind us.

We stop paddling and sit still on the water, letting the ripples fade away. The morning air is fresh and crisp; the sun beats down on us.

Back at the enclosed swimming area, Bobby and his boys are sitting on the edge of the pier, fishing. My guess is Max will join their group when he gets here. Simone and her girls are building a giant sandcastle. Natasha, Jaden, and their campers are in a war, trying to bounce the opposing group off the giant trampoline. Meanwhile, Isaac and his young kids are climbing the giant inflatable iceberg. He leaps off the top, cannonballing into the water.

Blake’s growing impatient. “Let’s go out there.” She points to the far end of the lake.

“I don’t think we’re supposed to go that way,” I say.

“So what.” Blake starts paddling again.

“It’s hot,” I say. “We can go back to the beach and swim.”

“No,” both girls protest. Blake grins, eager to have an ally in Savannah.

At the beach, Oliver raises both arms above his head, getting the attention of a few people. He points to Isaac and signs, “No.” Through a chain of waves, Oliver gets Isaac’s attention and repeats his no, making sure it’s clear that the cannonball launch from that height is prohibited. Isaac shrugs half apologetically and returns to helping his campers climb up the iceberg.

I reach over the edge of the canoe to cup a handful of water and splash it up onto my arms. I run my wet fingers through my burning hot hair. “Much better.”

“I can’t reach ——。” Blake climbs onto her seat and stretches her arm to touch the surface of the lake. Savannah does the same.

Oops. I should have realized the campers would copy me. Unfortunately, they both choose to lean over the left side.

“Wait—” I shout, but it’s too late. Mackenzie’s canoe is just catching up to us when we topple into the lake.

Water shoots up my nose—an uncomfortable sensation getting a little too familiar with how much time we spend at the lake. My life jacket bops me back to the surface, as do the girls’。 But our canoe is still floating upside down.

“Whoa, that was fun!” Blake shouts. She adds something else about swimming out here, but I’m too busy trying to flip the canoe back over to respond.

Mackenzie shouts something. “What happened here?” she continues, signing.

Isn’t it obvious?

“Uh, we flipped,” I say.

Mackenzie frowns. “You’re not supposed to do that.”

I do my best not to roll my eyes. “It wasn’t intentional.”

Mackenzie kneels and reaches out to push the hull, helping me flip this thing upright. Oliver is paddling his way out to us on his lifeguard board.

Blake keeps swimming farther away, so Oliver goes after her. I try to climb back in, since it’ll be easiest to get myself in first and then help the girls up. Maybe. I’m not really sure of anything, except that I’m definitely bruising my stomach flopping back into this canoe.

Oliver guides the campers back. I pull Blake in, but Savannah is frantically searching the water. “I don’t see it!” she shouts.

“See what?” Mackenzie asks. Oliver looks around, following Savannah’s gaze.

Savannah starts to panic. “I don’t see it!”

“Your cochlear?” Mackenzie looks at the camper, then directly back at me. “I told you ——。”

“She didn’t want to leave it,” I say nervously. Why did the magnet detach so easily? Isn’t it supposed to be on the surface somewhere near us? “It floats. Campers wear them in the pool all the time.”

“That’s the pool,” Mackenzie says and signs, emphasizing the word. “A clear body of water where we could grab it from the bottom if it sinks.” She groans. “What color was it, Savannah? Here, get back in the canoe. We’ll keep looking. I said, what color is it?”

“Black.” Savannah reaches her arms up to me, and I help her up.

With the dark-green lake water and plenty of leaves on the surface, it’s going to be a difficult search.

“What are ——，” Oliver asks me, but I’m unable to read the end of his question. Mackenzie decides to answer anyway.

“Her cochlear implant receiver. Like a hearing aid, but it’s a magnetic attachment, and she wears it like this.” Mackenzie points along the side of her head.

Oliver paddles off, searching a wide perimeter. He reaches down and fishes out what ends up being a twig, before coming back to us empty-handed.

“It’s not caught in the canoe, right?” Mackenzie asks me.

I take a peek under the seats, but there’s nothing there. “Shit,” I mutter. Mackenzie glares at me, but none of the campers heard me swear or paid any mind. I’m grinding my teeth, hating that Mackenzie is going to see this all as a sign of her superior counselor status.

Eventually, we have to give up and return to the beach. Mackenzie finds Ethan, and the two of them go back out on the lake with the camper to search again until lake time is over.

On the walk to lunch afterward, Ethan falls into step next to me.