"If you hurt her," he starts.
"I won't."
"Dakota." His voice drops, and what I hear under it is not a threat, it's a plea, the real thing, the one that has nothing to do with anger and everything to do with how much he loves his sister and what it would cost him to watch someone he trusted do damage to her. "Don't hurt her."
"I won't," I tell him again, and I hold his eyes when I say it. "I promise you that."
He exhales long and slow through his nose, and then he bends down and picks his rod back up off the bank and looks out at the water. "Pick your rod up."
I pick my rod up.
We fish in silence for a few minutes, and my jaw aches and my mouth still tastes like copper, and the river keeps doing what it does. I told my best friend I’m in love with his sister, and the world is still turning.
"You're going to have to tell Dad," Levi says finally.
"I know,” I laugh ruefully, shaking my head.
"He's going to be worse than me."
"I know that too."
He glances over at me, and there's the ghost of something at the corner of his mouth that isn't quite a smile, more like a smirk. "I'd tell you I want to be there for it, but I think I'll let you have that one on your own."
"Thanks," I say dryly.
"That's what you get for waiting for months to be honest with me." He reels in and casts again, clean and easy. "You're still an idiot."
"Yeah," I agree, and I mean it, and somewhere underneath the aching jaw and the taste of blood and the adrenaline that's going to work it’s away out of my system, I feel the relief of having done one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do.
We stay for another two hours.
It's the best fishing we've had all year.
Chapter 20
Caleb
M: Family dinner on Wednesday? It's been way too long, Dad.
This isn't the first I've heard about it. Ruby mentioned something about it on Saturday when she came home from having breakfast with Molly. I love having my kids around, especially now that they've both moved out and have lives that don't involve me all the time.
C: Yes, I'll be there. Maybe it'll be warm enough we can grill.
M: Dad. We grill regardless of how cold it is. I think we've grilled in the snow.
C: So true. Love you Moll.
M: Love you, too.
Today has been a slow Monday, which is scary, because slow days mean that anything can happen at any time. I'm riding along the backroads of Laurel Springs, and haven't seen anything worth my attention yet, but at the next pull off, I see a Laurel Springs Fish & Wildlife truck.
They're parked, so I park next to them, happily surprised when I see it's my son and Dakota.
"Hey," I greet them, after I roll down my window. "How's it going?"
They share a look, and I wonder what in the world they're hiding from me. I don't get a chance to ask, because two cars go screaming past us at a high rate of speed. "Holy shit!"
"Go on, Dad. We'll follow," Levi says as he flips his lights and sirens.