Heaven's Touch by Jillian Hart Page B

instead of sweet.
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    â€œDo I have to drag you outta here?” Peggy Jennings called from the office door, her voice echoing in the near silence of the lapping pool waters. “I mean it. I’ve got a rope.”
    â€œSure you do.” Cadence ignored her friend and mentor to concentrate on the teenage girl perched on the edge of the springboard.
    Ashley Higgs was a swim team member with hopes of a college scholarship in athletics—not easy to get for those sports outside the big three of football, basketball and baseball.
    Since Cadence knew what it was like to work so hard and hope so earnestly, she ended the hour-long session as she always did. “This is the last dive of the day. We worked on some hard stuff, but this one is for fun. Just enjoy.”
    Ashley huffed a breath, lost in concentration. Fun wasn’t so easy. Cadence knew about that, too. Not when everything seemed to be at stake. She backed down the deck, keeping one eye on the girl as she went. The farther away she was, the more likely the student would dive for the love of it. For the sheer joy.
    Not today, apparently. Tired from her hardwork, Ashley sprang from the board. Once airborne, she wobbled a little too much, didn’t keep arch in her back and hit the water with a splash that sent droplets onto the deck. Ashley broke the surface and flew up the ladder, shaking her head, going over in her mind everything that was wrong with that dive.
    â€œIs your family going up to your lake cabin for the rest of the weekend?” Cadence waited, trying to distract the girl. For there was more to life than finding fault with a less than perfect dive, and more to life than diving.
    â€œYeah. Dad brought the boat up last weekend and wants to go on this lame boat ride.” Ashley, the teenager she was, rolled her eyes. “But I’m gonna stay and work on my dives. My uncle cleared beneath the dock—there were some rocks and stuff—and so now it’s safe to dive. I’m gonna practice until I can do a back dive pike as perfect as you did in the Olympics, Cadence.”
    â€œThat was one dive that was right at just the right moment. Besides, in a few years you’ll be off at college and away from home all the time. You might want to think about that lame boat ride. You can have fun and still find time to practice, you know.”
    Ashley rolled her eyes again in that way teenagers had of saying “I know.” “Thanks for everything and stuff. I’ll have that dive nailed by Monday. Ipromise!” Ashley hurried off, snagged the towel from the bench and slipped past Peggy at the door.
    Peggy’s huge key ring jangled. “Hurry. We’re gonna be late for the game, and you heard me promise to drag our star pitcher to the field on time.”
    â€œDo we have a game today?” Cadence bit the side of her mouth to keep from smiling and watched as Peggy’s jaw dropped.
    â€œHow could you forget? This is the big game. Against those uptown city pool girls. The ones who trounced us last year because you forgot about the game.” Peggy locked the door behind them and followed Cadence through the dim office. “You didn’t really forget, did you? Not this time. Not with our relief pitcher in San Diego on vacation.”
    â€œI didn’t forget.” Cadence checked the lockers and the cabinets. She then stole her things from the top of a file cabinet and locked the private office up tight. “And I’m not officially late. Yet. Can we get to the field in four minutes and forty-two seconds?”
    â€œNo sweat, but you have to let me fix your hair. You aren’t gonna attract a nice, decent man with your hair looking like a gopher’s taken up residence in it.”
    â€œMy hair isn’t that bad.” Bad-hair days were an occupational hazard of working at a swimming pool. Between lessons and swim team and private lessons and guard duty, there wasn’t much