Look at me, Dad, she said each time she got up on the board. Look at me.

Tarek and Maya got exhausted after a while, and switched to boogie boards in the shallow surf. Julie stayed out at the break. She was watching for the next wave when a shout caught her attention. There was lots of shouting, but there was something about this—a panicked edge. She straddled her board and looked around, but didn’t see anything other than swimmers and surfers as usual. Then a wave lifted her high, and she spotted something out beyond the buoy. A slender arm waving, a blingy wrap bracelet flashing in the sun.

Something in Julie kicked in—impulse, instinct. A lecture from the first day of surf rescue: Your gut doesn’t lie. And in this moment, her gut was telling her a swimmer was in trouble. She whipped a glance at the shore and saw one of the lifeguards jump down from his post and grab a rescue board. But Julie was closer. Her surfboard wasn’t a rescue board, but she was a fast paddler, and it would do. She popped up on her knees and dug in, and within moments, she was riding parallel with the panicking swimmer.

She knew instantly the reason for the panic. Beyond the shelf where the water turned dark, a rip current was swirling. The undertow grabbed at her, turning her board into an out-of-control raft. She had to undo the ankle strap and let it go. Then she grabbed for Vanessa. Yes, the swimmer was Vanessa, but at the moment she was just a victim of the riptide that wanted to tow her far from shore.

“I’ve got you,” Julie shouted, executing a rescue hold.

Vanessa gasped and choked, fighting madly. “Help me, oh God, I can’t . . . I’m gonna drown.”

“Quit fighting,” Julie yelled directly into her ear. “I’ve got you. Remember what they taught us.” The current felt like a powerful river, dragging them along. From the corner of her eye, Julie saw two guards paddling madly toward them on their boards, but the tide was faster. “It’s going to be okay,” she said. “Just don’t fight me, okay?”

A wave lifted them, but Vanessa’s head went under. She flailed, and Julie held on tight. When Vanessa came up again, she was choking and spewing seawater. “Okay,” she gasped, her limbs going limp. “Okay, I won’t fight anymore.”

Keeping their heads above water, they moved parallel to the beach for a few moments that actually felt like forever, and then the tide began to circle back toward shore. By then, one of the lifeguards reached them. “Take her,” Julie said. “She’s okay, just scared.” She made sure Vanessa was holding fast to the tow handles behind the rescue board, and the guard headed into shore, with Julie following until the other guard caught up with her.

At the lifeguard station, she and Vanessa were monitored. Vanessa was still gagging from the seawater. She shot Julie a glowering look. “I wasn’t in trouble,” she muttered. “Way to overreact, Julie.”