26. New Kink Unlocked #2
“You’re right.”
“What do you know about it?” Kirk snaps at me.
I’m about to kowtow to his anger when Marina elbows him in the ribs. “Hey, lighten up. It’s supposed to be a peaceful night.”
I’m not sure how much Matt told them about the purpose of tonight. However, they’re here, and I’m here, and I haven’t yet been told to shut up yet. “It’s not fair,” I continue. “Because there are so many factors out of your control.”
“Yeah, it’s not our fault,” Marina says.
Not entirely, I want to say. But I’m looking to make friends, not lose allies. “I mean, you’ve got issues with habit deterioration and rising water temperatures and pollutants. And you’re the ones who have to deal with the fallout.”
“And we’ve got issues with pike,” Kirk grumbles, not agreeing with me but unable to keep silent.
“Yes!” I say with a smile. “And, you have the growing presence of elodea, which is?—”
“The hell is that?” Kirk asks with an upturned lip.
I snap my fingers, looking for the common name. “Waterweed!” I exclaim.
Marina and Kirk both make sounds of agreement.
“And what about the green crab? That’s not something to worry about yet, but given how they’ve infiltrated other bodies of water, it’s a definite possibility.”
Our conversation has gotten the attention of Baldy—sorry, Paul—and Rio who are seated by the fire. Now, I have an audience.
“Shit. I was just worried about pike,” Kirk says.
“Well, how can you worry about everything when you also have to do your job?” I say with an emphatic flair.
Kirk looks at Marina, who smiles lopsidedly. “She has a point.”
Yes, I have a fucking point.
“There’s a lot on your plate already,” I go on. “The last thing you need is an outsider coming in and making you feel bad when so much of this is out of your control.”
“So, what are you here to do then?” Paul grunts.
I take a step closer to the fire, opening up the conversation. “My job is to observe and record the data, so I can make recommendations to encourage the coho population to increase again.”
Paul and Rio exchange a look.
“But I understand it can’t be at the expense of the community here. At the end of the day, protecting the coho population means protecting Naknek. It’s a delicate balance, though, right?”
“Right!” Ian exclaims.
I give him a smile of thanks. Maybe he’s more on my side than I realized. “So, how do we encourage the salmon population without cutting you all off at the knees?”
“Sounds like it’ll cost money,” Rio mutters.
“Probably, yes.” I go over to one of the seats by the fire and plop down.
“Definitely will cost money. However, the more information I have, the better recommendations I can make. Do we get grants to curb invasive species? Do we enhance restocking measures? Or do we create jobs to make sustainable aquaculture to allow the natural environment to recover and give fishermen jobs here at home?”
A moment. Then two. I’m almost expecting someone to raise a pitchfork and run me out of town.
“Why do you care so much?”
I turn to see Jesse. His chin is raised, and he looks down his nose at me like I have something to prove.
“It’s my job to care,” I say.
“But you’ll leave here in a couple of months, right?”
My gaze flits to Matt. He looks away from me, suddenly very interested in whatever he has on the grill.
“It’s easy to say you care right now, but then you’ll be back in California, and all of this will be so far away.” Jesse shakes his head. “How are we supposed to trust that you’ll have our best interests then too?”
I look at Jesse when I speak, but it’s all for Matt.
“I’ve fallen in love with this place. I really have.
It’s utterly special. What happens when, um, or if, I go back to California?
Well, that I can’t possibly guess. But .
. .” I harden my jaw, staring Jesse down.
“I’m what you’ve got right now. And you can take my work as an opportunity, or you can keep pretending everything is okay until it’s too late. ”
Jesse remains stone-faced for a few more moments before his tension softens. I check on Matt with a fleeting glance. He’s still focused on flipping salmon onto plates, but he’s smiling.
And to my delight, none of the fishers are hoisting pitchforks.
Kirk saunters over to Rio’s lawn chair and leans on it. “Okay. Well, what do you want to know?”
Jackpot.
The night goes as well as I’d hoped. Better, actually. They listen to me. They talk to me. And then, we talk about other things. Like I’m not some outsider who isn’t deserving of small talk and joking around. I feel like I finally have an opportunity to make my work count.
Jesse is the last one to leave. He offers to help clean up, and the whole time I try to keep my smile at bay as I listen to the two brothers palling around together.
When it’s time for him to head out, Matt and I follow him to the driveway. “You wanna stay over?” Matt asks softly, leaning into my ear.
“Like a sleepover?” I tease.
“Exactly like that. I have nail polish and everything.”
“And rom-coms. Can’t forget the rom-coms.”
Jesse stops by his truck. “Okay, well.” He stares at Matt and me side by side. “Have a good night,” he says, looking away.
“Get home safe,” Matt calls out.
“Yeah.” Jesse climbs into the cab of his truck and revs up the engine.
Matt turns to go inside, reaching for my hand. However, there’s an impulsive burst inside me I can’t ignore. “Go ahead. I’ll be just a second.”
I start toward the truck, breaking out into a tiny jog before Jesse can pull away. I knock on the driver’s side window and wave.
Through the glass, his brow furrows, but he indulges me by rolling down the window. “What?”
“Thanks for giving me a chance,” I say. “Seriously.”
Jesse looks over my head to Matt. “Yeah, well, I did it for my brother.”
He still wants to put a wall up, I see. That’s fine. I can handle it. “Well, I appreciate it. I really do.”
Jesse smiles sadly at his hands on the wheel. “Listen, just don’t hurt him, okay?”
“I won’t,” I reply, meaning it.
“No, listen. You’re gonna leave eventually, right? That’s going to hurt him. So, don’t give him false hope.” Jesse glances up again. “He doesn’t deserve that.”
I pat the side of his truck and step back. “Noted.”
Jesse gives me a nod, rolls up the window, and drives away.