Chapter 2 #2
Emma stared out over the back of the boat.
The wake they created mesmerized her. She thought about Jonathan.
How could he dump her two weeks before their wedding?
And without a proper explanation. Just some bullshit about not being ready for this kind of commitment and the timing being off.
Why didn’t he think of that before he proposed?
It wasn’t like she pressured him into the proposal.
In fact, it surprised her how early it came in their relationship.
Six months in, he popped the question. That was all on him.
Her eyes watered. She was utterly humiliated.
Thank goodness her mom offered to contact their three hundred guests to let them know the wedding was off.
She wouldn’t have had it in her to say the words out loud to everyone.
Many of the guests were business associates of her father, whom she’d never even met.
In the social circle her parents were in, the one she grew up in, weddings were an event in which you invited the elite, no matter how well you knew them.
Recalling part of the reason she took this trip, she glanced at Jonathan’s black duffel bag full of fishing equipment. She looked for Preston, who a moment ago had ducked into the cabin. As if Morgan read her mind, her friend stood, grabbed the bag, and handed it to her.
“Do it!”
Emma stood, took the heavy bag from her friend, and tossed it overboard.
“There. Now the jerk will have to buy all new stuff.”
Her friends clapped.
She’d just hurt Jonathan where it counted. His pocketbook. He was obsessed with money. Why, she wasn’t sure. He had a good job as a commercial real estate lender and was building a great portfolio with her dad’s help.
Preston returned to the deck.
“What’s so exciting?” he asked.
They all stopped clapping.
“Nothing really. We’re just cheering for the awesome fishing to come,” Morgan said.
The young guy shrugged. “I’ll do my best for you.”
The boat slowed to a near stop, and Cap and Preston grabbed poles from their holders and went to the back of the boat, letting out line and hooking lines to small, red boards.
She didn’t know what that was all about, but figured they knew what they were doing, so she wouldn’t move until they told her what to do.
Cap looked at her, holding one of the red boards in the air.
“This is a planer board. We clamp lines to them. The more lines I let out, the farther from the boat it will go, allowing us to have a bunch of lines out on each side of the vessel. It keeps the lines from tangling. We’ll start with three on each side. ”
She nodded even though that meant little to her.
“More lines, more fish,” Preston added with a smile.
Once all the lines were set. Cap popped back up into the wheelhouse and adjusted the boat’s speed.
“Now we wait,” Preston told them.
“Wait?” Carly asked.
“Yes. Wait for a fish to take the lure. The pole will jerk. I’ll grab it and hand it off to one of you, and you’ll reel in the fish.”
“Okay,” Carly replied.
“So we just sit here until then?” Hailey asked.
“Yep. Just enjoy the pleasant day,” Preston responded.
“I can do that,” Hailey said as she sat down, twisted sideways, and stretched her legs out on the bench seat.
“Anyone want a beverage?” Morgan asked.
“I’ll have one,” Hailey replied.
“Me too,” Carly added.
Morgan reached into their cooler and pulled out four black cherry-flavored alcoholic seltzer waters.
Emma took hers. She preferred the lemon lime flavor, but it didn’t really matter. They’d packed several flavors, and with the mood she was in, she’d surely sample them all.
She took a sip of her drink and glanced up at Cap.
He wore tan cargo shorts and a sage colored T-shirt with his business logo on the back.
His broad shoulders led to a slim waist. The sleeves of his shirt pulled taut around his slightly bulging biceps.
His skin was tanned. The baseball cap he’d pulled onto his head covered most of his short, Marine-looking haircut.
She wished he would turn around so she could see his amazing eyes again.
The ones that earlier had captured her attention.
It wasn’t so much the chestnut irises; it was more those amber flecks that flashed when he looked at her.
It was like the spark in them jolted her heart rate up a notch.
Good heavens, what was she thinking? She’d just been dumped by her fiancé, and now she’s letting herself have feelings for this guy. A guy who obviously has no use for the institution of marriage.
Feelings already? Was she just rebounding?
“We’ve got one on the line!” Preston said excitedly, as he lurched toward the back of the boat, pulled the rod from its holder, and gave it a yank.
He looked over his shoulder. “Who’s up first?” he asked.
Carly scooted toward him and reached for the rod.
“Hold tight. He’s a fighter,” Preston said.
He released his grip on the rod and then stood behind Carly.
“Start reeling.”
Carly looked confused.
Preston reached around her, placing one hand back on the handle of the rod, slightly above where Carly held hers, then he reached around her other side and started reeling.
“Just like this.”
“Okay,” Carly replied and then took over reeling.
“Keep the tip up,” Preston instructed.
Carly reeled and reeled and reeled. Then, the fish made a run. Emma could hear the hiss of the line as it let back out, undoing all the progress Carly had made.
“Do you want someone else to take over?” Preston asked.
“I think so. My hands are sore.”
Preston grabbed the rod and handed it to Morgan. “Bring him in.”
Morgan reeled and reeled and reeled. It felt like it took forever, and then suddenly the fish jumped out of the water right behind the boat.
“It’s a nice rainbow,” Cap said as he leaped down from above.
She wasn’t sure his feet even hit the rungs of the ladder.
“Huh?” Emma asked.
“It’s a rainbow trout on the line. Good eating.”
How on earth could he tell what kind of fish it was when he’d only seen it for a second?
Cap grabbed the large net from its holder and moved to the back of the boat as Preston helped Morgan with the rod.
With ease, Cap scooped the fish out of the water and onto the deck, where the large fish flopped around.
Effortlessly, Cap pulled the lure from the fish’s mouth and, in one swift movement, held the fish in the air with one hand supporting the lively fish under its belly and the other hand wrapped around the fish near its tail.
“Come here, Morgan. Hold your fish, and we’ll get a picture,” Cap said.
“I’m not touching that slimy thing,” Morgan replied as she stepped farther away from Cap.
Cap’s smile widened, showing his nice, straight, white teeth.
“Are you sure? Last chance before I put it in the live well.”
Morgan nodded. “Oh, I’m sure.”
Cap spun and put the fish in the live well at the back of the boat.
Preston reset the line, and they waited for another bite.
“Got another one!” Cap yelled as he yanked the rod from its holder.
He stepped toward her.
“Have you ever reeled in a fish before?” he asked.
“No,” Emma replied.
“Then this is your lucky day,” Cap said
He stepped around her, then moved the rod in front of her. His scent was citrusy with a hint of cedar. She remembered it well from when they were in the wheelhouse together. She couldn’t seem to get enough of it.
“Hold tight. I won’t let go until you tell me.”
She reached for the rod.
“Okay. I got it.”
When he let go, her arm lurched forward with the rod, and he grabbed it again.
“I wasn’t expecting it to pull so much.”
“That’s okay,” he whispered into her ear.
“I think I have it now.”
He let go, and she held tight and started reeling.
“There you go. You’re a natural.”
She wished he hadn’t backed away from her. She liked the feel of his body heat. Not to mention the scent that surrounded her when he was near.
Like with Carly, the fish made a run after what felt like an eternity of reeling.
“Do you want someone else to take the rod?” Cap asked.
“No, I’m good.”
His warm smile encouraged her to keep reeling, sweaty palms and all.
When the fish got close to the back of the boat, Cap netted it, and when he handed it to her, she held the slimy bugger proudly as Morgan snapped a photo.
Cap informed her it was a salmon before he put it in the live well.
He spun around and smiled at her. “Nice work.”
“Thank you. And this is turning out to be a great day.”
“I aim to please.”
Preston reached for the rod. “I’ll reset the line.”
“I got this one. Why don’t you hop up top and take the wheel?” Cap said to his first mate.
The young man cocked his head to the side and furrowed his brow. “Drive?”
“Yes. You know how.”
“Okay.”
“I trust you won’t hit any other boats or tangle the lines.”
Preston climbed up the ladder.
It suddenly occurred to her that the entire time she reeled in the fish, nobody was driving the boat. How was that safe?
“You okay?” Cap asked. “You look a little peaked.”
“With both of you down here, nobody was driving the boat.”
Cap grabbed the small wand that dangled from a leather strap around his neck. “I was driving with this. It’s a remote. It’s all good.”
“Wow.”
“Oh shit! Cap, you better come up here.”
Without hesitation, Cap flew up the ladder.
“What in the hell?”