Dear Meredith by Belle Kismet Read Free Book Online Page B

first.
                By the time he had dragged me towards the edge, I had been unconscious. They told me the lifeguard had given me CPR and that I had spewed out an amazing amount of water.
                For days on after that, I had tasted the chlorinated water in my mouth and I had never been able to venture into anything bigger than a bathtub since, not even if wild horses dragged me. Mike knew all this.
                "How could he do this to me?" I blurt out in disbelief. "He knows how much I fear the water."
                "Well, maybe that's just it, babe. Mike hopes you'll be able to overcome your fear," she says gently, coming over to me. "Think about it, you can't let this hang over you for the rest of your life. What if a tsunami happens? Or a flood? Mike's just looking out for you, like he always did."
                I am silent. Mike had tried coaxing me before, as had Laney. I had refused, point blank, once even growing so hysterical that he promised me he would drop the subject. Deep in my heart, I am still that little girl who lay at that poolside, vomiting water, the shock of nearly dying never leaving me.
                "I don't know if I can," I whisper, taking the letter from her.
                For the second surprise, check my study table, first drawer on the right. Remember, you can do it.
                I hear Mike's voice in my head, warm, strong and confident. My biggest fan.
                 Bandit's head peeks in the doorway, her fur all dry and fuzzy now from her tanning session. She ambles over to me and drops into a sit, her mouth open in a contented grin.
                Bandit. The bookstore. Mike's gifts to me. And now, swimming lessons.
                Laney's voice in my head. Mike's just looking out for you, like he always did.
                I sigh. "I guess I can try."
     
     
     
     

Chapter 6
     
                I stand six feet away from the edge of the pool, eyeing it suspiciously. It's the nearest I've ever gotten to such a big body of water in eighteen years.
                It's just like that day when I was ten. Even though that pool is now thousands of miles away, this pool is filled with the same rowdy children, clambering out continuously to dive back into the deep end.
                "Is it just me or does the water look a bit rough?" I anxiously ask my instructor, who is a bronze Adonis with the incongruous name Milo, and who would not look out of place in a Grecian vase.
                He laughs, with what I feel is an utter lack of concern for my apprehensions. His voice is a little high for his size and I'm secretly glad he isn't perfect. "No, the water in the pool stays the same every day. There's one more person coming but we can begin first."
                Milo heads over to the shallow end and looks back at me expectantly.
                I stare back at him with wide eyes, feeling like a trapped mouse facing a grinning cat.
                "Come on, Meredith," he says encouragingly, holding out a hand.
                Most girls would swoon, I suppose. His biceps do ripple wonderfully when he does that. I, however, feel distinctly nauseous.
                "I don't think I can," I squeak through gritted teeth, sweat breaking out on my forehead.
                To his credit, he doesn't lose his toothpaste-commercial smile. Taking one step closer towards me, he says, "Okay, let's just deal with moving two steps towards the pool. Don't think about getting into it yet, okay?"
                I look at him, decide he isn't going to trick me by grabbing me and throwing me in. I edge another two steps closer.
                Just then, motion at the side of my eye makes me turn my head. It's a little blonde-haired girl skipping towards us, clad in a polka-dot pink