Page 77 of Daydreaming at the Boathouse Cafe

‘Battling on,’ said Maud, with a smile.

She was at least seventy years old and Alex knew that she had a number of health issues. And yet she had already told him that she had slept better after last week’s swim out on the lake than she had done in years.

Dotty had also told him that Maud had been widowed the previous summer and had become somewhat of a recluse in her grief. With Dotty’s gentle encouragement, Maud had finally joined what they had named ‘The Old Girls’ Swimming Club’ and was promising to keep coming twice a week.

‘Water looks perfect,’ she told him.

‘A balmy 22 degrees,’ he replied.

‘And clean as a whistle too,’ she said, peering down at her feet in the water.

As Maud waded into the lake, Alex steadied himself with the paddle and, with Tiny sprawled on the front of the board as a fluffy mast, they headed out.

It really was a glorious day, thought Alex. He had the headspace now to be able to enjoy it and not think about timings and training and all the pressures that had smothered him when he had been competing.

He had had no idea how tense he must have been all those years. But day by day, he could feel how relaxed he had become. How much he was enjoying each and every day. How much time he had to take for himself.

He paddled out past the shallow water and on to deeper depths where the water became a little bit darker. He wanted to check the rope line to ensure that both the paddleboarders and swimmers were safe and kept separate.

A few swimmers had already completed a couple of laps, their bright swimming caps and floats highlighting where they were. Alex knew them and that they were more than competent but still he kept an eye on both them and Maud as she began a more gentle circuit.

Noting some rope had become tangled with a bit of weed, he paddled over and bent down to correct it. Carefully standing back up again, he thought back to how unsteady he had been in those first early practices and how much Hannah had laughed with him.

He was still enjoying her company and yet there seemed to be a distance between them that he couldn’t understand.

He was still puzzling over what might have happened when Tiny suddenly barked and sat up, almost unbalancing Alex, who just about kept his balance to stay standing on the board.

Imagining it was a duck or goose nearby, Alex glanced around. But Tiny barked again and all of Alex’s attention was focused on Maud, who Tiny was barking at.

Instantly Alex could see her struggling to breathe and paddled quickly over to where she was splashing around in the water, looking panicked. He jumped in next to her, reaching for the lifebuoy that he had placed on the back of the paddleboard and placing it over her.

‘Hang on,’ he said, letting go of the board and holding on to both the buoy and Maud to start to take her towards the shore.

‘Can’t breathe,’ she gasped.

‘It’s OK,’ he told her, gently turning her onto her back and pulling her back quickly across the water towards the beach.

On the beach, he could see Dotty and some other swimmers had gathered by the shore in a group and were looking concerned.

When his feet finally reached the sandy bottom, Alex continued to pull Maud out of the water.

‘What is it?’ asked Dotty, as Alex removed the lifebuoy from her to lay her gently on the sand.

‘Inhaler,’ gasped Maud, lifting a finger to point at a bag nearby.

‘She’s got asthma,’ said Dotty, rushing over to feel around in the bag.

When the inhaler was produced, they gently sat Maud up a little, with her leaning on Alex, and she took a couple of puffs from the inhaler.

As Maud held up a thumbs-up to say that she was beginning to feel better, Alex suddenly realised that he had abandoned Tiny on the paddleboard.

He looked back at the lake to check the dog was OK, figuring that he would still be cast adrift where he had left him.

But to his amazement, Tiny was in the water and had the long lead of the paddleboard in his mouth and was gently pulling it back to the beach.

‘Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle,’ muttered Walter, who had just joined them and had noticed Tiny as well.

As Tiny reached the beach, he let go of the paddleboard, which one of the other swimmers brought ashore.