“Sure, I’ll take a look. Has she ever been married? Maybe this time’s different.”
“No. Not even to my dad. She wants to, believe me. Maybe that’s part of her problem. Maybe she pressures the guy too much, and that’s why he finally bails. Really though, I think she just keeps attracting total losers.”
“That’s too bad.”
“Look, Kate. There’s something I should tell you about my mom’s boyfriend. I barely know him, so it doesn’t seem like a big deal to me, but—”
She interrupted with a gasp. “Oh. My. Gosh. I’m going to die of cuteness overload. Look at our dogs.”
He glanced over to see that Duke had laid down on Luna’s bed, which he dwarfed, and Luna was snuggled up into a little ball between Duke’s paw and face.
“She’s so tiny,” he said. “And she really does look like one of his chew toys. I hope he doesn’t get confused.”
“Hold on. I have to take a picture.” She ran into the house and came back with her cell phone. After snapping a few pics, she sat back down.
“I’m sorry I interrupted you. What were you saying about your mom’s boyfriend?”
He knew he should tell her, but felt like the moment had passed. It wasn’t that big a deal. He’d bring it up again later. “Nothing. Hey, you wanna go out on the lake with me? We could try out the fishing?”
“I’ll go out on your boat with you, but no thank you on the fishing.”
“How did I know you’d say that? Come on, then.”
She moved to head down to the dock, and he stopped her. “Kate? You can’t wear those shoes.”
Her sandals looked to have heels about three inches high. “Why not?” she asked.
“Oh, whatever.” He whistled for Duke, and the three of them got into the boat. He puttered over to his place and took Duke with him to grab the gear while she waited in the boat, sipping on the glass of lemonade she’d brought along.
He returned with two poles and a small tackle box. Duke stared longingly after them from the dock with an incredulous look on his face.
“Who says dogs can’t talk?” she said. “He clearly cannot believe you are leaving him behind.” Duke barked in agreement from the dock.
“I’ll take you next time, buddy.” Duke laid down on the dock, not taking his eyes off Adam.
“Good thing he’s not a lab. He’d be swimming out after us.”
“You ever been fishing?” he asked.
“Uh, yes. I’ve done my fair share.”
His eyebrows rose in surprise.
“By the time I was nine and had four sisters, my dad realized he wasn’t getting any sons and figured I’d have to do. He took me fishing, hunting, camping. All that stuff.”
“Really. Well, aren’t you full of surprises?”
She raised both eyebrows as if to say, you have no idea.
Sunny and in the mid-eighties, it was a beautiful day to be out on the lake. Kate had shed her sandals, stretched out her long, slender legs, and had her feet propped up on the side of the boat.
“It’s a little warm, but we’ll head over to the shade and see what’s biting.”
“I can’t get any sun if we’re in the shade,” she complained.
“We’re fishing, not sunbathing.” As he approached a reeded area, he shut off the motor, and used the oars to get closer to the tall grass. He got out a small container of worms, and she squealed when he opened it.
“It’s gonna be hard to catch fish if you’re making so much noise.”