Chapter 50
Mylie woke up the next morning with both Cassie and Stanley in her bed. The dog was at the foot of the bed, snoring, and Cassie
was asleep beside her, one arm thrown around Mylie’s middle.
“Orumph,” Cassie sighed when Mylie attempted to slither out from underneath her.
“I’m sorry,” Mylie replied to her sleeping sister. “I have to get ready for the tournament.”
“Mylie?” Cassie cracked one eye open.
“Yeah?”
Cassie sat up, holding her hand to her head. “Oh, God. I feel awful.”
“Good,” Mylie replied. She held out her bandaged thumb. “That makes two of us.”
“Wait,” Cassie said as Mylie turned to leave.
“What is it?” Mylie asked. She walked back over to the bed and sat down. “Are you seriously not okay?”
“No, it’s not that,” Cassie said. “I just wanted to say... well, I just wanted to say I’m sorry. About last night.”
Mylie smiled. “It’s fine, kiddo,” she said. “I’m not saying I love what you did, but I also can’t say I haven’t done it myself.”
“It’s what I said,” Cassie continued. “About you not being my mom.”
“Well, I’m not your mom.”
“You kind of are,” Cassie replied. “I mean, I know you’re not, but you are, you know? And I shouldn’t have said that.”
“It’s okay,” Mylie said, wrapping her arms around Cassie. “Besides, Granny is going to make you throw up the second you go
downstairs, so that’s punishment enough.”
“I thought you said puking last night was punishment enough!” Cassie called as Mylie got up and walked out of the bedroom.
“Mylie! Mylie, come on!”
Mylie laughed to herself all the way to the shower, until she had to put on one of the plastic gloves. That was less than
pleasant. Still, this was her favorite day of the year. She wasn’t going to let her shredded thumb or Dr. Benjamin Lawrence ruin that. She didn’t have time to think about any of that right now.
By the time she was out and dressed and headed downstairs, Cassie was up and looking miserable at the kitchen table.
“I couldn’t make her feel any worse,” Granny whispered to Mylie. “But I am going to make her stay home today. If she can’t
behave in public, she can stay in this house for a while until she promises that she can.”
“Fair enough,” Mylie said, leaning in to give Granny a kiss on the cheek. “But I’m glad I won’t be here when you tell her.”
The lake was chaos. Teams were preparing for the tournament; people were milling about, with their coolers full of beer already;
and the line to sign in for the competition was a mile long.
“I’ve already gotten us ready to go,” Jessica said, standing next to Louise. “I was here earlier than anyone.”
“Great,” Mylie replied, giving Jessica a thankful smile. “I slept later than I meant to.”
“I stayed at the hospital with the girls last night,” Louise said.
“How are they?” Mylie asked.
Louise looked down at Mylie’s hand. “About as good as you are, I reckon.”
“I’m fine,” Mylie said. “I just have to keep it from getting wet. Dr. Burton gave me some gloves to wear.”
“Maybe we aren’t meant to compete,” Jessica mused. “With Nevaeh and Angel, and now you... maybe we should just forfeit.”
“Absolutely not,” Mylie replied. “We’ve got our team. We’re doing this.”
“Where is Ben?” Louise asked. “I haven’t seen him yet this morning.”
Both women looked to Mylie.
“He’ll be here,” she said. At least, she assumed he’d be there. She didn’t think, even after their argument the night before,
that he’d bail on them.
Mylie walked down to the docks, where the majority of the boats were tied in, checking over their equipment. With everything
she’d had going on over the last few weeks, she’d paid little attention to the fine details of the competition, the way she
had before. She’d always made sure her team had everything they needed. She was thankful Jessica and Louise picked up the
slack.
Two boats over, Robbie and his team were packing their own boat. She ignored them, concentrating instead on the delicious-looking
sandwiches in the cooler. There was no beer in their cooler, thank goodness. They didn’t drink when they were in a tournament,
although part of her wished they could bend the rule. Spending the day with Ben was going to be an exercise in effort.
“I hope everyone else is ready to get their asses beat,” Robbie called to no one in particular.
Mylie popped her head up, and Robbie gave her a feral grin. “Morning, Mylie,” he said.
She resisted the urge to flip him off. “Good morning,” she said.
“I heard a couple of your teammates got hurt,” Robbie continued. “Sure is a shame.”
“They’ll be okay,” Mylie said.
“Heard about your thumb,” Robbie said as if he hadn’t heard her. “Seems like your team is cursed.”
“I’d be more concerned about your own team if I were you” came a voice from behind Mylie. It was Ben, wearing what she could
only assume was his grandfather’s old fishing gear.
She tried not to laugh.
“Hi,” he said to her. “Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s okay,” Mylie said. “You’re still here in plenty of time.”
“Do you think we could...” Ben trailed off.
“I don’t want to talk,” Mylie said, understanding what he’d left unsaid. “Let’s just get through today, okay?”
Ben nodded, a muscle in his jaw feathering.
Jessica and Louise weren’t far behind Ben. Melissa, who’d taken over the position of emcee from Morris a few years ago, gave
warning that it was time to board the boats.
“You just let us take charge,” Louise said to Mylie and Ben. “Especially you, city slicker.” She pointed a lure in Ben’s direction.
Ben held his hands up. “I’ll do whatever you tell me to do.”
“Whatever we tell you to do?” Jessica asked, a wicked smile on her lips.
Ben turned beet red and looked to Mylie for help, but she only shrugged as Louise started the motor and they moved out into
the lake, looking for the right spot to begin.
“The point,” Louise said, shooting Jessica a look, “is to catch fish. You want to catch a lot, for sure, but really quality
is what matters. We’ll throw the little ones back. The team with the fattest fish wins.”
“We need to find us a secluded cove,” Jessica said and then stuck her tongue out at Louise. “Let’s idle here and watch the other boats go. It’ll be easier to pick a spot after everyone else is concentrating on their catch. I don’t put it past Robbie and his gang to find us.”
Louise nodded her head in agreement. “I know the perfect spot.”
They had six hours to catch the fattest fish they could hook. Mylie wasn’t at all confident that they would win. There were
teams that had far more experience than hers did. She loved to fish, but her business was making the materials for people
to use, not catching fish herself. Jessica and Louise were seasoned, and they barked orders like captains. She and Ben did
what they were told, and it seemed to be working well. Still, she was nervous.
The first three hours went by quickly. They caught several fish worth keeping, Ben included. In fact, he’d caught the biggest
fish so far, and the smile plastered on his face made Mylie’s heart crack open.
“Good job,” she said to him as they sat waiting for the next nibble.
“Thanks,” Ben said.
Mylie looked down at her phone to see a couple of missed calls from Cassie. The reception out on the boat was terrible, and
she couldn’t call her back. Cassie knew where she was, and Mylie hoped it wasn’t important. She figured if there was something
Cassie needed at home, she’d call Granny.
“Everything okay?” Mylie typed into a text, hoping that it would send.
“I wonder how everybody else is doing,” Ben said, tugging on his line a bit. “Think they’re catching anything?”
“I don’t know,” Mylie said. “Sometimes the fish will bite anywhere, but maybe we’ve found a sweet spot.”
“Mylie,” Ben said. “I need to apologize for last night. What I said... I didn’t mean it. I didn’t mean to say or even imply that you or this town aren’t important. I don’t believe that. It’s just that sometimes I get so caught up in my own bullshit. I’m so sorry.”
Mylie closed her eyes. She didn’t want to talk about it. Not here, with two other people close enough to hear them. In fact,
she didn’t want to talk about it at all. It wasn’t going to change anything.
“I know you are,” she said finally. “I know you’re sorry, but you still said it.”
“I didn’t mean to say it.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Mylie said, looking at him. “You still said it, and I don’t think you were lying when you said it.”
Ben sighed. “I don’t want it to be this way,” he said. “Can’t we just go back to how it was before?”
Mylie wanted to. She wanted to so badly that it hurt. “I don’t think we can.”
“I got one!” Louise yelled. “Hell, I think it’s a big one!”
Mylie and Ben turned their attention to Louise. She was reeling in what looked like a huge bass.
“This is perfect timing,” Jessica said, helping Louise put the fish into their container. “We need to start heading back.
We’ve got about half an hour.”
“What do you think?” Mylie asked. “Do we stand a chance?”
“As good as any,” Louise said, starting the boat motor and heading back toward the shore. “I guess we’ll find out at the weighing
station.”
Mylie looked down at her phone. Her text sent, but she hadn’t gotten a reply from Cassie. She guessed she’d ask once they
got back in. Surely, she’d be there waiting with Granny.
“Let’s go win this shit!” Jessica shouted.
Mylie looked over at Ben, who gave her a tentative smile. She tried, and failed, to smile back.