by Jenna Mindel
Bree dipped her net with one hand while holding on to his waders with the other. She wasn’t taking any chances. She pulled up a few smelt and laughed at the squirming little fish.
“It’s as easy as that,” he said.
She looked up at him smiling. Her golden eyes looked darker at night, and the creases of her dimples faded with her smile. “Now what?”
His gaze strayed to her mouth. He wouldn’t mind smearing that lipstick. “We put them in the buckets.”
She let go of him. “I think I can do this.”
He loosened his hold. “I know you can.”
It wasn’t that hard to stay upright, but then, Bree had never done this before. He watched her make her way back to shore, where she emptied her net. Then she carefully trudged back to him, refusing his offer of a steady hand.
Neil and Kate were in the water ahead of them.
“So, what do you do with all of these smelt?”
“We clean and then fry them.”
“Are they good?” She looked doubtful.
“You’ll have to find out for yourself.” A fish fry meant another outing with Bree, unless she declined. But seeing the rapt expression on her face, he realized that wasn’t going to happen. She clearly enjoyed this.
“But they’re so small.”
“You liked the venison, right?”
“Right.” Bree dipped her net again, bringing in a few more. “Hey, look at that load.”
They dipped and dumped until they’d nearly filled a gallon bucket. Bree’s teeth chattered, but she hadn’t complained. Not once.
“Ready for a break? We can warm up by the fire.”
“Yess-ss.”
He held out his hand to help her back to shore. She took it, letting go as soon as they were safe and sound on the river’s bank. Kate and Neil were already seated around the fire, roasting hot dogs on sticks.
“Want one?” Kate offered him the package. “Bree, there’s also pop and water in the cooler.”
“Thank you.” Bree stood close to the fire. Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out from deep within the waders. Her mouth formed a grim line when she looked at it.
“Everything okay?” He grabbed a stick, skewered a dog onto it and then offered it to Bree before fixing a double for himself.
“It’s nothing.” She slipped her phone back where it came from and held her stick over the flames. “How often do you guys do this?”
“Once a year. Maybe twice, but it’s a short spawning run. There are not nearly as many smelt as when my dad brought me here years ago,” Kate said. “And with the DNR’s limit of only two gallons per person...”
Darren laughed. “I don’t write the rules. I enforce them.”
“But not tonight.” Neil poked his stick downriver at the other smelt dippers.
Darren shrugged. “Not unless I see something troubling.”
Bree’s eyes widened, but she didn’t say anything.
He didn’t look for trouble, but if he saw it, he’d do something about it. It was what he did. It was who he was.
Bree turned to Kate. “So, you grew up here?”
“I did, yes. What about you? Just here for the summer?” How’d Kate guess that? But then, one look at Bree confirmed she wasn’t a local. If the red lipstick wasn’t a dead giveaway, it was everything else about her. The way she moved, dressed, even talked with that slight lilt in her voice.
“My family owns a summer cottage in Bay Willows. I’m staying for a few weeks before moving out west.” Bree rolled her hot dog and watched it sizzle.
Kate flashed him a look of concern.
Yeah, okay, maybe he was a glutton for punishment.
“How’d you two meet?” Kate asked.
“My mom organized a wild edibles class and Darren is our facilitator.” Bree reached for a bun.
“Oh, nice.” Kate handed over the mustard.
With his hot dogs roasted to perfection and nestled inside buns, Darren offered Bree a seat on an overturned bucket by the fire. It didn’t take him long to wolf down his first dog. He glanced at Bree. She squeezed a dainty line of mustard along the center of her hot dog and ate with precise, ladylike bites.
“Back in the pond, I see.” Neil stood next to him.
Darren splattered mustard on his second hot dog and took a bite. “Not even testing the waters.”
“Right.” Neil laughed at him.
Before Darren could protest, he spotted a beam of light that bobbed along the path they’d come down. A fellow conservation officer stepped through the brush, checking smelt limits. Stan nodded toward him. “Hey, Darren. How’d you guys do?”
“Just a couple of buckets. Not much, but enough.”
“No trouble this evening?”
“Tame crowd,” Darren answered.
“Good. I’m hoping for an early night.” Stan hesitated. “When will you hear about Teri’s spot?”
“I don’t know. Soon.” Darren finished his second hot dog.
“We’re pulling for you.”
“Thanks,” Darren said.
Stan gave them a wave. “Good night.”
“So, you’re going for the area supervisor position again?” Neil asked.
Darren nodded. “Yep.”
“It’ll steep you pretty deep in town. You sure you want that?”
Like he needed a warning. “I know.”
“Wait, what’s wrong with in town?” Bree asked.
“The summer crowd drives him nuts.”
“Oh? And why’s that?” Bree cocked her head in challenge. She looked about as tough as an angry kitten.
Darren shrugged. “I don’t like crowds.”
“Not to mention he hasn’t set foot in downtown Maple Springs in over a year and a half.” Neil gave him a teasing shove. “That right?”
“Pretty much sums it up.” Darren stretched. He wasn’t getting into any of his reasons why. Not here, not with Bree. “I’m going to dip some more.”
Bree stood. “I’ll go, too. I want to get that limit.”
“You going to clean them?” Amazed that she was into this, Darren had thrown down the challenge.
She picked it right up. “If you show me how.”
“Tomorrow night, my house. We’ll clean and fix what we catch here.” He gestured toward Kate and Neil. “I’ll invite them, too.”
“Deal.” Bree waded in next to him without any assistance.
She dipped like a pro. Not that it was hard, but he hadn’t expected her to take to it so quickly. Raleigh would never have done this. She wouldn’t have tried venison, either. Bree had nerve. He’d give her that.
The night wore on, and when they finally packed up to head for home, Darren noticed Bree huddled in the passenger seat, looking frozen. “It’ll take a minute or two before the heat kicks in.”
Bree considered him. “Is it true that you haven’t been in town for almost two years?”
“I go to church, and that’s downtown.” Instead of expanding, Darren joked, “It’s better not to listen to what Neil says.”
Bree kept digging. “Is it because of Stella’s granddaughter?”
“Something like that.” He didn’t want to come face-to-face with her and Tony and react. He didn’t want to talk about it, either.
“Oh.” Bree’s brow furrowed, but she got the message and let it drop.
He drove the rest of the way home in silence. It wasn’t far, but Bree had put her head back and closed her eyes. Surely she hadn’t fallen asleep that fast, but then, it was after one in the morning when he turned into his driveway.
Bree sat up straight and looked around, getting her bearings. She had fallen asleep.
Nice. He put women to sleep. That was about right
. Boring local yokel. Nothing exciting here. He cleared his throat. “Be careful driving back to town.”
She looked confused at his sharp tone. “Don’t you want help unloading the smelt?”
“No. I got it.” He was confused by his sudden irritation, too. He suddenly didn’t like the idea of her driving alone in the wee hours, but unless he followed her home, there wasn’t much else he could do. He couldn’t offer that she stay here. “Keep an eye out for deer and drive slow.”
She narrowed her gaze, looking offended, as if he’d told her she couldn’t take care of herself. “Would you like me to text you when I get home?”
Her sarcasm wasn’t lost on him. “Yeah, do that. I’m serious. Deer move at night.”
“Okay, okay. See you tomorrow.” She slid behind the wheel of her small Subaru and rolled down the window as if she’d forgotten something. “Thanks, Darren, for taking me smelt dipping.”
Surprised at her sincerity, he gave her a nod. “You’re welcome.”
He unloaded the truck as she backed out. Placing the smelt in the extra refrigerator he had in the garage, he couldn’t believe he looked forward to tomorrow night. Would Bree surprise him yet again by cleaning their catch?
Twenty minutes later, he got his answer when his phone whistled with Bree’s incoming text.
Made it home fine. Thanks again for tonight. I had a great time off the beaten path.
He smiled and texted back, It was fun. He meant it.
Really fun! Looking forward to cleaning 2morrow. Good night.
Good night.
He slipped his phone in his pocket.
Bree might be cut from the same cloth as Raleigh, but her pattern was completely different. Bree had treated Kate and Neil with warm respect, and they’d jumped on the fish fry invitation. They liked her.
He did, too.
Maybe all Bree wanted was to have fun, plain and simple. Nothing complicated. There was no reason they couldn’t keep things that way. Maybe if he showed Bree a good time, he’d learn to have fun again, too. He needed that more than he cared to admit. It didn’t mean anything had to change. He wouldn’t have to change.
He could be friends with a woman without having to date her. Without needing to kiss her. Even Bree. Most especially Bree.
Chapter Five
“I’m heading out.” Bree slipped on a cotton cardigan sweater over her T-shirt.
The warm day had dissolved into a chilly evening. Tonight she’d head to Darren’s for their smelt dinner, and she’d pick up something at the store on her way to take. Maybe he’d build a fire in that huge fireplace of his and they could hang out and watch the flames dance.
Or maybe not. Really, where’d that idea come from?
“Philip called while you were out walking,” her mother said.
Bree’s good mood took a nosedive. She’d had her cell phone with her the whole time. Odd. Why didn’t he call or text her? “What did he want?”
“He wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Bree narrowed her gaze. “I’m fine.”
“Maybe he’s reconsidering.”
“Reconsidering what?” Being an idiot? Bree didn’t voice that thought.
“Breaking up. We had a long chat, and he’s concerned for you.”
“Concerned?” Bree should have set the record straight, but what was the point? If Philip wanted to think he’d ended it, fine. As long as he truly ended it and left her alone.
“What if you regret this decision? Seattle is a big move, and two years is a long time.”
Bree gritted her teeth. She didn’t need Philip stirring up more doubt in her parents’ heads. The music residency couldn’t have come at a better time. If she didn’t spread her wings a little, she’d never know if she could fly. “This is the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Her mother didn’t look convinced. “But men like Philip don’t grow on trees.”
At twenty-nine, Bree was old enough to make her own decisions, but her parents still wanted her tucked into a prestigious marriage like the one her sister had. She grabbed her purse. “He’s not for me.”
“Surely you’re not enamored with this DNR fella you’re going to see.”
“No, Mom, I’m not.” She’d explained that Darren’s friends would be there, too. This wasn’t a date or anything. Besides, attracted wasn’t even close to enamored. She’d be safe. “For the next twenty-four months, I won’t have time for any fella.”
Bree meant that, even though her heart skipped at the thought of Darren near that fireplace. “I’ve got to go.”
“Oh, one more thing. Jan Nelson called. She wondered if you’d play next weekend for the Mother’s Day brunch at the Maple Springs Inn. They need a cello.”
“Sure, I’ll call her.” Jan was a board member of the Bay Willows Association and the driving force behind starting a summer music school. It was probably going to be some kind of music camp for kids, but Bree wouldn’t mind finding out if there were future plans for anything more intensive.
“And Philip?”
Bree let out a sigh. “I’ll let him know I’m fine.”
Her mother smiled. “Thank you and be careful.”
“I will.” Careful might as well have been her middle name.
As a teen, Bree had never roughhoused or played sports like her sister for fear of any injury keeping her away from the cello. As a college student, she’d buried herself with a double major in performing arts and music composition. Then there’d been overseas opportunities and getting her master’s while making her way up within the strings section of the symphony orchestra. Where was the fun, frivolous stuff?
Tonight she’d clean fish with Darren and his friends. She’d clean fish! That’s something she’d never done before. She might not like it once she saw what it entailed, but Bree wanted no regrets and no missed opportunities. She needed to do fun stuff before focusing every ounce of her energy on music once again.
Could she compete at the level she was about to step up to? She had to. Bree wanted more than playing someone else’s music all the time. She’d create her own, have it heard and somehow make an impact.
With God’s grace, she’d figure it all out. But she had to be proactive. That meant cleaning the small silvery fish she’d helped catch the night before while standing in a freezing-cold river with a burly man she barely knew. That kind of gumption was what she needed to practice more of if she wanted to succeed.
* * *
“So, what’s with you and Bree?” Kate cornered Darren in the kitchen.
He shrugged. “She wants to experience new things, and I offered to show her the area.”
Kate looked skeptical. “Uh-huh.”
“Hey, you’re the one who said I should start dating.”
That made his friend’s wife look even more concerned. “I meant someone local, not someone who’s moving away in a month. A lot can happen in a month.”
He knew all about that. “Nothing will happen at all. We’re just having some fun.”
“Leave him alone, Kate.” Neil carried in a bucket of the smelt and set it on the table, followed by Darren’s brother Cam.
“Who’s Bree?” Cam asked.
Darren clenched his teeth before he snarled at all of them. “No one. Look, it’s no big deal. She’s not looking to get involved and neither am I. Besides, she’s not my type.”
“She’s exactly your type,” Neil said with a laugh.
Darren looked at him sharply. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“She’s different, and you like different.”
Cam laughed. “He’s got a point.”
That much was probably true. Darren had dated his share, not finding anyone he’d wanted to settle down with until Raleigh had knocked him for a loo
p. His ex-fiancée had been nothing like the girls he’d gone out with before. Nothing like his sisters either, who’d grown up knowing how to take care of themselves out-of-doors.
“No one from Bay Willows is my type,” Darren grumbled. He’d been there, done that. And he wouldn’t do it again. Not if he was smart.
A knock at the door scattered his thoughts. Glancing toward the storm door, he saw Bree standing on the other side, and his pulse picked up speed. Was she truly different? Probably not. She might look different, but where she came from made her the same as everything he didn’t want.
He opened the door. “Hey.”
Bree looked around. “Where are your dogs?”
“Downstairs until after we eat.”
She lifted a brown paper bag. “I brought a few things for dinner.”
“Great.” He peeked inside at a container of coleslaw next to chocolate bars, marshmallows and graham crackers. “S’mores?”
“I thought maybe later by the fire—” She looked a little flustered. “They make good dessert.”
“Yeah, sure.” He backed away to let her pass. Her hair had been twisted into a knot at the back of her head, and she wore a soft yellow sweater and jeans. She looked great. Much too nice to scoop the guts out of smelt.
“You sure you want to do this?”
She stopped walking and looked up at him, wrinkling her nose. “Is it really bad?”
He chuckled. “No. It’s just...”
Her gaze narrowed. “What?”
He glanced at her shoulders. “That looks like a good sweater.”
“No worries. I’ve got a T-shirt underneath.” She turned and headed for the kitchen.
Darren scratched his head and followed her. She might change her tune once they got the assembly line set up. But then, something about the determined line of those narrow shoulders told him she was on a mission.
He wasn’t sure what that was all about, but hearing her give Kate and Neil a warm greeting did something to him. Something scary. He got the crazy impression that his house felt more like a home with her in it.
“And this is my brother Cam. He’s staying for dinner, too.” Darren was glad for that. It made the night less like a double date.