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I wasn’t finished cooking breakfast anyway, and I still have to pack the soft side cooler. Can’t fish with my brother all day without a cooler full of cold beer. And I definitely need some bacon before we head out. I get to work with my favorite cast iron skillet and brew some coffee as I go. Mom shows up in the kitchen a moment later, breathing in the smells of the kitchen.
“Do I smell bacon?” She looks like she’s in heaven.
I smile. “Yes, you do.” I pull the strips out of the pan and set them on a paper towel lined plate on the counter. “Next up, pancakes.”
“Made with bacon grease?” She pours herself some coffee.
“Of course. Just the way you taught me.”
She sits down and looks at me as I work. After a few moments, I can see she’s gearing up to say something.
“What, Mom? You don’t have to walk on eggshells with me. Say what you want to say.”
“It’s about Julia.”
“Oh,” I turn back to the stove, “forget it then.”
“Ryan, please listen,” she pleads.
“No,” my voice is firm. “I’m not talking about her anymore. We’re done. It’s over. We all need to move on from the concept of me being with Julia.”
“Fine.” She sips her coffee and says the next words into her mug, “For now.”
Parker comes back into the kitchen in khaki shorts and an off-white button-down polo shirt that looks like it’s made for the beach. I look him up and down and see he’s also wearing sandals.
“Better. Boy, for being outside all the time, you’d think you’d know how to dress to go fishing,” I tell him.
“You know I don’t fish. That’s your thing. I’m just going along to keep you company. Can we go now?” Parker heads for the front door.
“You don’t want breakfast?”
“You cooked?” He practically grimaces at the stove.
“Pancakes and bacon,” Mom says from the table, her mouth full.
“Gross, Mom,” Parker says.
She swallows her food. “Sit down and eat, now.”
Parker knows she won’t take “no” for an answer. We all sit at the table and have a quiet breakfast. It’s a bit tense, but I’m also kind of glad to have them there. After breakfast, Parker and I head out to the lake.
As I hit the engine on the boat and get us out to the fishing spot, he stays quiet while we prepare our bait on the hooks and cast our lines into the water.
“It’s silent out here. Not like back at the dude ranch.” Parker looks around the lake.
“Yes,” I say, “that’s the point. Peace and quiet.”
“Well now that I have you out here and you can’t run away…”
I lay my rod down on the boat. “Parker, I swear to God, if you bring her up, I will throw you in this lake and make you swim home.”
“Mom would kill you,” he responds with a smug smile on his face.
“I’ll take that chance,” I remark, knowing full well I’d hear from Mom about how unhappy she is with me about being mean to my brother when he was only trying to help.
“Come on, Ry.” He turns away from the edge of the boat to face me. “You’re really gonna turn away and never look back by ending things with her?”
“Why do you care so much?” This is so unlike him.
