Читать книгу Instant Family - Donna Gartshore - Страница 14

Chapter Five

One of Ben’s first coherent thoughts was that he couldn’t believe he had forgotten just how cold a northern Saskatchewan lake could be. The icy shock of the water snatched away his breath and his reasoning, so it took a few panicked seconds for him to realize that the water wasn’t deep and that he could simply stand up.

His second coherent thought was for his father, and he got out of the water as quickly as he could, calling out for his dad.

Al had left the dock but, thankfully, he hadn’t gone far. His outburst had subsided as suddenly as it had come on and he looked at Ben, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth.

“Baptized,” he said.

“Very funny, Dad,” Ben mumbled, but it was one of those moments that both encouraged and confused him. On the one hand, his dad never would have done something like this if the disease wasn’t advancing; on the other hand, if he could still make the connection between water and baptism...? How was Ben supposed to know the right decision in the matter of putting his father in a home?

He heard the soft, smacking sound of bare feet on sand and turned to see Frankie as she hurried toward them.

“Are you okay?” she gasped out as she neared them.

Ben registered almost automatically how attractive she looked with her cheeks slightly flushed from her jog over and her sunrise hair tumbling around her delicate face. But what really caught his attention was the look of concern in her eyes. Was it possible that she wasn’t as guarded and aloof as she made herself out to be?

“I’m fine,” Ben assured her. “I was just caught off guard and that water is cold, with a capital C!”

“What happened out there?” she asked.