CHAPTER 8

DAY 7

Sunday

AN: I'm going to continue posting daily, so keep reviewing. Thanks everyone for all the love.

I stood in line at the Tasty Pastry, gazing longingly at the display case. I was lost in a sugary fog, happily waiting my turn.

"Sorry, but we're closing," my old boss, Betty, said from behind the counter. "You'll all have to come back tomorrow."

I was devastated. I had my heart set on a Boston Crème. Unwilling to leave my beloved haven of sweetness, I hung around, hoping Betty was playing a cruel joke and would shout just kidding. One by one, everyone departed the bakery until I was the only one left. Hunching my shoulders in misery, I pushed the door open to leave, too.

"Not you, Stephanie. Today is your lucky day. You can have anything in the whole bakery."

I paused in my tracks. That was unheard of. No one was allowed to eat all the goodies they wanted. Deciding not to question my good fortune, I began making selection after selection, daring Betty to cut me off, but she never did. I ate cannoli, chocolate chip cookies, and fudge brownies. I was happily stuffing my face with birthday cake when I heard an annoying banging. It became more persistent until I was pulled from my beloved bakery.

I sat up in bed, groggy and disoriented, and looked at my empty hand. What happened to my cake? The banging started again, and I looked around. This wasn't my bed… or even my bedroom. Slowly, it all came back, and I realized I was in the wilds of North Carolina, getting trained by a stoic mountain man.

"Are you awake?" Finn's gruff voice came from the other side of my door.

I wiped drool off my chin and checked the time on my phone, 0530. He usually ignored me, so having him wake me up this early was concerning. Was he hurt? Was there an emergency? "Is..." I began, but it came out hoarse. I cleared my throat and tried again, this time with more force. "Is everything okay?"

"I'm going to town for supplies. Do you need anything?" I sagged in relief that he or Maggie wasn't hurt.

"No. I'm good. Thank you for asking." He was being thoughtful, even if he sounded a bit impatient.

After he left, I hoped to slide right back into my decadent dream, but my internal clock had other ideas. Realizing that getting back to sleep was futile, I dressed for the day. Since he left so early, I figured he hadn't cooked breakfast, but I was wrong. There was a note on the kitchen island. Waffles and bacon are in the microwave. Don't go out on the water alone or wander too far from the cabin. The waffles more than made up for waking me from my bakery dream.

I shuffled around the cabin, my curiosity humming now that I was alone and free to do what I wanted. I could snoop in Finn's bedroom, desk, or even the garage. Nah, I rejected the idea of invading his bedroom. That was his personal space, but I wanted to see what was in the file he had on me. As I reached for the desk drawer, Maggie let out a long sigh and walked away. Her disappointment in me was loud and clear. I let out a sigh of my own. She had a point. Finn trusted me enough to leave me alone in his house. The least I could do was stay out of his stuff.

I grabbed my current book and headed to the porch. Finn would need help carrying things inside when he got back. Forgiving me for my momentary lapse in judgment, Maggie followed and lay at my feet. She raised her head every few minutes to look longingly down the road for her dad.

Two hours later, crunching gravel had me looking up to find him pulling into the driveway. Boxes of produce and grocery bags filled the truck bed. He handed me the more manageable items and carried the heavier things himself. We worked silently until everything was inside and put away except for one last box with a sporting goods store label. He took that to the garage, entering through the side door so I couldn't see inside. I was curious about the box's contents and what kept him in the garage for long hours. He came out carrying a blue kayak with a red life jacket tucked under his arm. "You can borrow these." I smiled, thrilled that I could get out on the water today.

After lunch, I helped him carry the kayak to the lake. While I put on the lifejacket, he knelt beside the dock and pulled on a submerged rope. "What are you doing?"

"I put out a bait trap this morning." From the water came what looked like two metal mesh wastebaskets clipped together with several tiny fish swimming around inside. "I bait the trap with bread or sometimes Maggie's dog food." He pointed to a small hole at each end of the contraption. "The minnows swim through these and can't find their way out." He emptied the little fish into a bowl he'd taken out of his tackle box and put a lid on it. In one deft motion, he seated himself in his kayak. "Come on, Maggie," he said, inviting her aboard.

"Can she ride with me?" I asked as I looked down at my kayak gently bouncing on the water. I wondered how I was supposed to get in without getting wet.

"You might want to wait and see if you can actually board the kayak first."

Smartass.

It was now or never. Finn wouldn't wait around for me. Grasping the dock, I knelt and very carefully lowered myself into the kayak. It wobbled but held steady. "Come on, girl," I called Maggie. She looked at me as if debating the wisdom of getting on board with me. I knew the feeling. Deciding to risk it, she gently jumped on and positioned her body between my legs, looking toward Finn. I held the paddles, not sure what to do. "Do you have any tips?" I asked Finn as I pushed off the deck.

"Don't flip over." Despite finding this funny, he showed me the different strokes before paddling off without looking back. Nice. I copied his movements and found it wasn't that hard. As we glided over the water, the cool air on my face, I could see why he loved it up here. This place was the definition of tranquility.

We rowed for a while before he edged closer to the bank, where trees hung over the water. He picked up one of the fishing rods and opened the bowl of minnows. He was holding the line so I could see him stick the curved piece of metal in the tiny fish's mouth and out through its nose. I looked away, finding the whole thing gross.

I wanted to let Finn do his thing while I rowed my little boat down the stream, but Finn had other plans. He held out the second rod and bowl of minnows. I took the rod but not the minnow. I couldn't put one of those wiggling little things on a hook. I pointed at the tackle box. "What else do you have in there?"

He put the bowl of minnows down and reached into his tackle box. He pulled out a metal lure that looked as realistic as the live minnows and attached it to my rod. After a quick tutorial on casting and reeling in a fish, he left me to it. I rowed further down the bank and cast my line. When nothing happened, I kicked back and got comfortable.

This was boooring.

A flock of birds took off from the tree above our head, startling Maggie. The kayak shifted, but I managed to hold on to my rod as I counterbalanced the sudden movement. "Don't do that," I scolded her when the kayak settled. I barely had time to take a breath before my rod was almost pulled from my hand. I yelped and tightened my grip, causing the kayak to rock again. This time Maggie gave me a look that said, see, it could happen to anyone.

I started reeling in the line, just like Finn had shown me. Maggie watched me with excitement because she knew what was on the other end of the line, but she was also bracing herself for any number of things that could go wrong. Clearly, she doubted my capabilities. "Have a little faith, girl. Us ladies are supposed to stick together." It kinda looked like she rolled her eyes.

Tucking the rod's handle against my lower stomach, I leaned back until it bowed. It was getting harder to crank, which meant this was the big one. Probably the biggest fish in the lake. I started freaking out. What if it was bigger than Maggie? Or me? Or the kayak? Shit!

"Hold it steady." I yelped and almost let go. Why did Finn keep sneaking up on me? "Let the fish tire itself out, then reel it in nice and easy."

A quick look over my shoulder showed him holding a net, waiting for me to bring home the grand prize. I gestured frantically to the rod in my hand. "We're going to tip over. I need you to take this."

"You've got this."

"No! I don't got this!" Struggling to get away, the fish jumped out of the water. The kayak teetered. Maggie's eyes got really big. I reeled harder, taking in the slack. This meth-twitching fish was going to tip us over. I was not getting dumped into that water. It was freaking cold.

"Keep reeling. He's a big one." Finn sounded proud. My fear receded as happiness took its place. Finn scooped it up with the net when the fish was close enough. "Feels like a two-pounder. Very respectable first catch."

I breathed a sigh of relief, content to let him unhook the fish from the line and put it in his bucket. I didn't want to look into the fish's sad face and know I was the reason for his imminent demise.

Finn seemed content to stay now that the fish was secured. I wasn't so foolish to believe it had anything to do with my company. He was probably hoping to catch a big fish in my lucky spot, but I wasn't sticking around. I looked over my shoulder as I paddled away. He stared after me with what looked like hurt, but that couldn't be right. Since I met him, he's acted like it was a pain to have me here.

Since he had no luck in his previous spot, that's where I headed. I was done catching fish today, and probably forever, but to keep up appearances, I let my line fall into the water while Maggie and I relaxed. I ate fig newtons and tossed her bites of homemade blueberry oat doggie treats. Oh yeah, this was the life.

I leaned back and stretched my legs. I was almost asleep when I felt something tug at the side of the kayak. I sat up and grabbed my rod. Damn it! Not again! This time I had a better idea of what to do.

Maggie barked, letting me know that she had confidence in me.

Finn paddled over and got the net ready but offered no instructions this time. When the fish surfaced, he scooped it up and shook his head. "I don't know how you did it, but this is even bigger than the other one."

"Do I have to fish anymore? I really just want to row around the lake."

"We have enough for dinner. Hand me your rod."

I gladly handed it over and grabbed the ores. "Hold on, girl," I told Maggie as I took off rowing. I found my rhythm, enjoying the cool breeze blowing on my face as we glided over the water. My steering wasn't great as I paddled around the island in the middle of the lake. The kayak rocked a little, and Maggie's head came up, giving me an uncertain look. "I'm getting the hang of it. Don't worry."

If I were going to hide away, I wouldn't mind doing it in this peaceful place. I looked back at Finn each time around the island. He kept casting his line, trying for his own fish. He said we had enough for dinner tonight, so I figured it was about the sport, or he didn't want to come back empty-handed. Men and their pride.

I saw Finn strapping his rod to the kayak and turning toward the dock. I peddled hard to meet him. We put the life jackets and kayaks away. He carried the bucket of fish and his knife to the fillet table, but I walked right on by.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Damn! So close.

"I'm going to take a shower. I'm all sweaty and fishy."

He held up a flapping fish. "You're about to get fishier. You catch it, you clean it."

He had to be joking. "I don't remember how to do it, and you do such a good job. Maybe this can be one of those division of duty type things?"

He put the fish on the table. "I'll do the first one, and then it's your turn."

"How many did you catch?" I peered into the bucket. There were only the two I caught. I bit my lip to keep from laughing. His response was to whack the fish in the head with the handle. I winced and felt guilty that I was responsible for catching the poor things.

"You don't want to cut into the bones," he explained as he cut into the neck and down both sides. He put the other fish on the table, whacked it on the head, and handed me the knife. "Your turn."

There was no getting around this. If I refused, Finn would think I was weak, and his opinion mattered to me. I wanted him to respect me. To think of me as a capable woman. Resolved, I took the knife and put my left hand on the slimy head of the dead fish to hold it still while I used my right to cut behind the eye and down its spine. I did my best to ignore the slimy feeling of the fish, and the sounds the knife made. I wasn't sure I'd be able to eat dinner tonight.

Finn held up the carcass and nodded before throwing it in the water. "You did well. You got most of the meat and none of the bones."

While he rinsed off the table, I took the fillets to the kitchen and jumped into the shower. The brutality of what I'd done hit me, and I wondered if Finn hunted. There were no mounted animal heads on the cabin's walls, but that didn't mean anything. What if he brought home a rabbit or… Billy or Judy? Would he expect me to skin them or… eat them? Tears filled my eyes.

Quickly drying my hair to rid myself of my curls, I dressed and went to the kitchen just as he came up the deck stairs. Taking in his damp hair, I realized he must have showered downstairs. I walked right up to him. "If you kill Peter cotton tail or Bambi, I'm outta here."

I think I saw respect in his eyes as he nodded solemnly. "I only catch fish. I don't hunt."

"Good… because I'm not ready to leave. I haven't gotten to drive the jet ski or the boat yet." I spun on my heels and went to the kitchen to prepare the fish packets. By the time dinner was ready, I was in a better frame of mind. Instead of going to the sunroom, he ate with me on the deck.

"What do you think of the walleye?" he asked.

"What's a walleye?"

"The fish you caught today are called walleye."

"It's the best fish I've ever eaten."

It seemed like we'd turned a corner in our friendship. Only time will tell.