THE WIDE WHITE beach of Cape Pursuit, Virginia, stretched as far as Laura Wheeler could see as she shaded her eyes with one hand. The first day of June had already lured summer visitors with hot sun and a just right ocean breeze promised a fresh new start to the season. Hundreds of people dotted the beach under umbrellas or on colorful beach towels, alternately dipping into the salt water and drying off in the heat.
Most people came to Cape Pursuit looking for fun and relaxation, but Laura had come for something else.
She took an assessing glance at the tall freshly-painted lifeguard chairs within her view and, satisfied that everything was under control, turned and walked across the soft sand to the Pursuit of Fun beach shack, which served as both the command center of the public beach and also a snack bar and surfboard rental.
“It’s hot,” the girl behind the service window said. “And we’ve already rented out half the surfboards.”
“Those are both excellent problems to have,” Laura said, smiling.
The girl, Rebecca, laughed. “Plus, I have this terrible view of the beach and ocean and I have to spend all summer here and get paid for it.”
Laura nodded sympathetically, her smile becoming lighter. “When you’re a famous singer someday, you can pour all this suffering into a song.”
Rebecca held a pen as if it were a microphone and belted out a line about killing time at a beach shack in the sun. They both laughed.
“While you’re waiting for your record contract and your throngs of adoring fans to come along, I’ll set up a few fans of the electric cooling kind,” Laura said. She entered the beach hut through a side door and found two big box fans. She plugged them in, then pointed one of them toward Rebecca and the other out the door to draw heat out of the small building. Growing up in a house with no air-conditioning and spending a summer working for a food vendor that traveled to all the county fairs in her home state of Indiana, Laura knew a few tricks for staying cool in the summer heat.
“Do you think I can make it as a singer?” Rebecca asked.
Laura leaned both elbows on the counter next to the teenager. “I think you can do absolutely anything you want to do,” she said. “You just have to believe in yourself and never give up.”
“That’s what my choir teacher said,” Rebecca commented. “But it sounds like something printed on one of those motivational wall calendars with pictures of sunrises and stuff.”
“I like sunrises and stuff,” Laura said as she moved to her small desk and pulled the lifeguard scheduling book toward her. “And teachers are always right when it comes to believing in people.”
Laura had spent the past three years trying to believe she was making a difference as a teacher, and she needed all the sunrises and motivational calendars she could get.
“Jason called off again,” Rebecca said, her scowl suggesting she didn’t like it.
“Did he say why?” Laura asked.
Rebecca snorted. “Something about somebody in his family being sick. Again.”
Laura shrugged. “Maybe somebody really is.”
“I asked for details last time we worked together, but he didn’t have much of a story,” Rebecca said. “I wish I was a lifeguard. I’d take his shift. I could use the extra cash.”
Laura scrolled through her list of lifeguards who might come in on short notice. Jason had disappointed her twice in the past week without much explanation.
“You should hire somebody else to replace him before summer gets really busy,” Rebecca said. “I was here last year and there was zero tolerance for workers who didn’t show up.”
“Maybe you’re right,” Laura said. “But I hate to give up on someone too soon.” She glanced up at Rebecca and smiled. “You never know who might turn out to be a hidden treasure with an incredible future.”
Rebecca shook her head and laughed. “This hidden treasure shows up to work.”
“Why don’t you become a lifeguard?” Laura asked. “I think you’d be great.”
Rebecca sighed. “I just turned fifteen, and even though I told my mom that was the minimum age, she thinks I should wait another year.