Devil's Pawn (Devil's Pawn Duet 1)

“You love her, huh?”

She nods. “I’m her mommy. She gets scared when she can’t see me. She thinks I’m leaving and won’t come back.” She turns her face up to mine and I glimpse a sadness that I’m weirdly not surprised to see even though it doesn’t belong to a child her age. But before I can ponder her words, she speaks again. “Do you think we can bring the chair closer to the pool, Isabelle?”

“I think we can definitely do that. We’ll put it under that umbrella, so she has some shade. What do you think?”

“That’s a really good idea.”

Once we get Baby Bear situated and I’ve lathered us both in sunscreen, I take her hand and we take the first step into the swimming pool. When we get to the second, she hesitates, and I look back at her.

“All right?” I ask.

She squints her eyes against the sun. “Maybe I should sit with Baby Bear so she’s not scared.”

“She’s fine,” I say, waving to the bear. “She’s not scared, sweetheart. And I won’t let go of you, so you don’t need to be either, okay? I promise.”

She looks over the sparkling water. “Okay,” she finally says, and she sucks in a breath at the next steps which brings the water up to her stomach.

I take both her hands and face her as I walk backwards down the last two steps. She stays where she is as I dunk my head under. The water feels great on this hot, sticky day. I shake out my hair and splash her, making her giggle.

“Come on, you just hold on to me,” I tell her. I take her in a hug and carry her into the pool.

She wraps her arms around my neck seeming amazed as I bob us around, staying in the area where I can stand, not yet going into the deep end. Whenever I test if she’s ready for me to loosen my hold on her, she only tightens hers and glances at her bear.

“Have you ever played starfish, Angelique?”

“What’s that?” she asks.

“It’s when you lay on your back in the water and pretend you’re a starfish. It’s easy. Want me to show you?”

She nods.

“Okay. I’m going to put you down on the edge of the pool, okay? You don’t come in without me, understand?”

She nods as I set her down, her tiny feet in the water. I stay within arm’s reach and float on my back, extending my arms and legs to make a star shape.

“See, like this?”

She watches me and I make sure to keep one hand on her as I float.

“Do you see that?” I ask, pointing up at a cloud. “I think it looks like an ice cream cone. Do you think so too?”

She turns her face to it, and I watch her squint, wondering if she’s even been in a pool before. Wondering how any five-year-old is more afraid of the water than she is excited to get in it. I blame Jericho St. James for her fear.

“I see it!” she exclaims. “And look at that one. It looks like Baby Bear!”

“Oh my goodness, it really does! Want to play starfish and find shapes in the clouds?”

She looks me over and nods.

I straighten, collect her in my arms again and pull her into the water.

“Belle?”

I smile down at her. “Yes, sweetheart?”

“I’m a little scared.”

I hug her. “I’ll be right here. I won’t let you go for a second. I promise, okay? You’re safe with me. Do you feel safe with me?”