Willy was almost always somewhere on the pier fishing whenever I did. Later in the spring, though, he saw Sam with me and had a proposition.
"Sam, is it?" he asked. "You're always out here, watching Rachael fish. Would you be interested in learning how to fish, per chance? I would be more than happy to teach you."
Sam paused for a moment. It was as if he'd never thought about fishing before.
"…I'll think about it," he eventually said. "Fishing seems like a relaxing hobby, but I'm just not sure if I'd like digging hooks out of slimy fish."
"Ah, you get accustomed to it quickly," Willy replied. "But if you don't wanna, I won't press. I would love to see more young people learn the art of fishing, though."
Sam, fishing… Well, that was a thought. This guy, becoming a regular fisherman… partaking in this hobby with me… Somehow, I could see it happening, and it made me smile.
Maybe another minute of silence went by. Well, silence sans the flounder Willy managed to reel in.
I then realized that something super important had slipped my mind for way too long.
"Hey, uh, Sam?" I said. "I'm gonna be away at a wedding for about a week, starting the 11th of Summer. I need someone to feed Laslow while I'm gone."
"Say no more," Sam answered with a smile. "I'd be glad to take care of the little guy."
"Oh, thank you so much," I said with relief. "You're the best."
Then, Willy said "The 11th of Summer? That's funny. Yesterday, Elliott was just telling me that he was going to a wedding around the same time."
Wait, what?
"He… He did?" I asked.
I briefly looked at Sam. He had the same reaction I did.
"How…" I asked, looking back at Willy. "How is he related to either the bride or the groom?"
"I guess the groom is a friend of Elliott's family," said Willy.
"What was his name?" I asked.
"I think he said it was Eric," said Willy.
Everything froze for a second, even time itself. Willy finally seemed to know what I was trying to figure out, and his face developed a look that was almost as shocked as mine.
"Would this 'Eric' happen to be marrying an 'Amy'?" I asked.
Willy didn't answer for a second, which told me all I needed to know.
But when he did answer, it was a simple "Yes." The most powerful "yes" I'd probably ever heard.
"So…" Sam said, summing the whole realization up, almost as dumbfounded as I was. "You and Elliott are going to the same wedding."
"I guess so," I answered, not really sure how to feel at first.
Willy started to laugh the heartiest laugh I'd ever heard from any man, let alone him.
"What a coincidence!" he said. "What are the odds of that? That two people from our little valley would be going to the same wedding?!"
"This is insane," I said. "Not in a bad way, just in, like… what you said. What do the odds have to be of that?!"
"Probably one in a trillion," said Sam. "That's incredible."
"You know, though…" I said, finally deciding how to feel. "That also makes me happy. This isn't just a wedding. They've paid for everyone to have a week-long vacation in the mountains. With Elliott there, there'll be someone I know aside from my immediate family, which is always a good thing."
The entire rest of that day seemed to race by. The shock of what I'd just learned frazzled my mind to the point where I was fishing on autopilot.
I also couldn't help but think about whether or not I should have told Elliott. Something didn't feel right about waiting for him to see me there and be surprised… but at the same time, would there really be any harm to that? For all I knew, he intended to enjoy this vacation on his own, and telling him I was going to be there as well was ultimately unnecessary.
I'd heard he was a writer. Maybe he saw this vacation as a golden opportunity to gather some inspiration.
I ultimately decided not to tell him. It wasn't any big secret I had to keep, but I didn't have to tell him outright.
Most importantly, someone I could get along with was going to be at the wedding. Someone I'd always had a desire to get to know better.
Well, now, this was going to be twice as fun.