Take a Chance on Me by Megan Byrd

Author:Megan Byrd [Byrd, Megan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-09-12T16:00:00+00:00

“He’s a surfer!” The declaration startles me and I knock over some books I’m shelving in the children’s section.

“Brett, you scared me,” I say, clutching my chest.

He has the decency to look contrite. “Sorry about that. I didn’t recognize him before because he used to have longer hair, but that’s him.”

“Have you met him before?”

“No, but I used to follow his career. People thought he would be the greatest of all time.”

This is news to me. “The greatest of all time?”

Brett nods his head and looks at me like I’m an alien. “Yeah. He won the championship right before his career ended.”

“How did you figure out who he was?”

“The internet. Haven’t you Googled him?”

“No. I don’t look people up online. That’s kind of weird.”

Brett tuts. “He’s probably checked you out.”

“Well, he won’t find anything. I’m not famous or anything.”

“Does this mean you haven’t seen his surfing videos?”

“I didn’t know there were videos.”

He pulls his phone out and starts typing. “You’ve got to see him on a board.”

“You know you aren’t supposed to have your phone out while you’re working.”

“I’m on break. Besides, this is important.” Brett turns his screen toward me. “This one’s awesome.”

A huge wave fills the screen. A surfer, looking as small as an ant compared to the water below him, drops from the top of the wave and slices across it, his hand dragging along the wall of water. The curl of the wave closes over top of him. The wave appears to crush the man, but then he shoots out into open sky. I exhale, surprised to find I’d been holding my breath.

I turn to face Brett. “That was Tom?”

“Yep.”

“That wave was huge!”

“That’s the Bonzai Pipeline in Oahu. It’s known for its colossal waves.” He tilted his head and peered at her. “You really didn’t know?”

I shrug. Guess there’s more to Tom than I thought. “When he told me he used to surf, that’s not what I imagined. And he won the championship?”

“Yeah. Fun fact, they announce the winner after this competition in Hawaii each December.”

Hawaii. The word rings loud in my brain and memories flit through my mind. Tom went to Hawaii a month ago. He came into the store and bought a book for sightseeing. I lock eyes with Brett. “The book!”

My feet carry me toward the back of the store. Brett rushes to catch up. “What book?”

I don’t answer, but continue walking until I reach the travel section. I run a finger across the titles until I find it. Water Sports in Hawaii. I pull it out and turn to the table of contents. I flip to the surfing section and thumb through it until a photo freezes me. There’s a large picture of a man partially hidden by a wave. His right profile faces the camera, his chin-length brown hair plastered to his cheek. He’s grinning like he’s having the time of his life. The dimple in his cheek is unmistakable.

Brett gasps. “That’s him! How did you know about this book?”

“When I helped him find some travel books, he looked through this book before choosing another one.

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