Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67468 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
“Here,” I said, trying to get him to take the pole.
“Nuh-uh,” he said. “You got it in on the line. You reel it in. That’s the way it goes.”
“He’s right,” I heard someone say.
I turned my head slightly, grunting when the pole gave another vicious yank, and saw Milton. Milton was one of the oldest men that still captained his own ship daily.
He took tourists out every single day on the longer eight-hour fishing trips. And I knew the moment I saw those people lay eyes on him that they thought ‘well fuck, this dude is old as dirt and this trip is probably gonna suck bad.’ But when they came back? Things were definitely different for them. They were believers.
Milton knew everything there was to know about our area and didn’t need Cassius to pilot his ship out of the inlet, because Milton was the one, apparently, who’d taught Cassius everything he knew.
“Milton,” I gasped as I got a single rotation on the reel. “This isn’t going to end well for me.”
Milton shrugged, then leaned back against the pier on the opposite side and watched.
For a full two hours, I ignored every single one of my responsibilities.
And I fished.
I reeled, one small rotation at a time, for two whole hours.
My arms and even legs were jelly by the time Cassius told me to stop reeling.
There was a crowd of boat captains, first mates, and random tourists at my back.
I was fairly sure that my dad was back there, too. Along with Silvy and my grandfather.
I’d semi-heard their voices earlier, but they hadn’t come closer.
Someone had probably called them to tell them there was no one manning The Marina.
Or called them to tell them that I’d caught a really big fish.
It was fifty-fifty on which answer it actually was.
“Hold tight, darlin’,” Milton said. “Danny’s down there with his boat.”
Danny was Milton’s grandson and his first mate in the summer while his actual first mate moved to their other boat. Danny owned a paddle boat that he putzed around in through the boat slips fishing on their odd days off.
I looked down and gasped.
Because beside Danny’s boat floated a fish with a small hook in his mouth and a massive hook in his side.
Danny was peddling for all he was worth and wasn’t getting anywhere.
“I don’t think this is gonna work,” Danny grumbled.
“Samson is tossing you a line,” Milton called out.
“Ewwww,” I said when I finally found my mouth. “That thing is ugly.”
“Groupers usually are,” the man who hadn’t let go of me once since this all started a hundred and twenty minutes ago said. “I can’t believe you did it.”
I blinked, then turned slightly in his arms as I stared at him in confusion. “What?”
“I didn’t think you had it in you,” he admitted. “I thought for sure that you were going to puss out.”
“Puss out,” I scoffed. “What did you think I did out here all day every day for the last fifteen years I’ve been working here? I didn’t sit there and look pretty like my sister.”
He gave my hips a squeeze and for the first time in a while, let me go.
I instantly felt the rush of sadness as he did.
I liked him holding on to me.
Which was weird, because before this morning, I would’ve said that I couldn’t stand him.
Over the last six months that he’d been home, he’d gone out of his way to show me his disdain. He didn’t like me. I didn’t like him. And that was the way of it.
Did that mean that I couldn’t find him attractive?
No.
It just meant that I agreed to admire the décor, but somehow knew that I’d never be displaying it in my own personal collection.
My brain took a lot of convincing daily to stay away from that direction of thoughts.
“You could’ve fooled me,” he said as he caught my belt loop and tugged me toward the dock. “Keep hanging onto that pole. It’s my favorite one.”
I looked behind me at the other ten poles.
“What?” I asked as I glanced at the one in my hands. It was literally the same damn kind as the other ten. “How can you tell?”
He looked from the pole in my hand to the look on my face and said something that completely shocked the crap out of me. “Because those others didn’t just haul in the catch of a lifetime… or have you holding it and planting a good memory in my brain for the last two hours.”
I would’ve choked up for real had my dad not arrived at my side then.
“So, we’re just going fishing during workdays now?” he asked teasingly.
I opened my mouth and then shut it. “Well, it’s not like I intentionally meant to do this. Then I had it on the line… and you know that you’re not allowed to hand off the pole to anyone unless you’re under the age of six.”