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“Could your friend be any more obvious?” I murmur to Anna.
She rolls her eyes and laughs. “We are talking about Kayla, right?”
“Good point.” I wince. This is probably Kayla’s idea of subtle.
“So… How are you feeling?” I ask her.
“Fine,” she says, forcing a smile. I laugh because she looks like she’s about to throw up.
“You sure about that?” I ask. “If you’re worried about your dad, try not to be. He won’t find out.”
“It’s not that.” She makes a face and takes a deep breath. “I kind of have this unnatural fear of boats,” she whispers. I stare at her and then laugh.
“Are you kidding me?” I ask her. She decides to tell me this now?
“Nope. Not kidding,” she says, shaking her head.
“Why the hell wouldn't you tell me that when I told you I was hiring it?” I ask. I only went with a houseboat because I thought it could be fun for the kids and romantic for us.
“Because you were so excited about it,” she mumbles. “Like when my dad used to take me camping. Besides, it's too late now. I'll be fine. I'll just get a little sick if it gets too rough.”
“Unless it's in the bedroom, then you’ll be fine, hey?” Kayla chuckles from behind us. I groan while Anna hides a smile. I knew she was listening.
“Dad, come look at this,” Max says excitedly. I smile and walk up to the end where the kids are laughing as they watch the water spill out from the propellers.
“Having fun?” I ask him.
“Yeah,” he says with a smile. “But when can we start fishing?” he asks.
“How about we get out of the lake first?” I suggest with a grin.
He makes a face but seems to be okay with that idea. I watch as he goes back to join his sister, then I wander over to where the rest of the adults have gathered, near the entry into the living quarters.
“So, where are the rooms?” Dan asks, rubbing his hands together.
“Two up top and two down the bottom,” I explain. “The kitchen and a living area are on the middle level.”
“Okay, so why don't Dan, Mandy, and I take the two bedrooms up top, and Nick and the kids can have one room, and Anna can have the other?” Kayla suggests.
Everyone seems okay with that, and I have to admit, Kayla is already showing her worth. It wasn't exactly an arrangement that Anna or I could’ve suggested without arousing suspicion.
“Sounds good to me,” Dan says, hoisting his luggage onto his shoulders. “I’ll take all this up now, and then we can get onto some fishing.”
Ten minutes later, everyone is unpacked, the boat has moved out onto clear water, and we’re ready to catch some fish. Max jumps around excitedly, while Milly looks horrified at the idea of killing fish.
“Anna, remember the last time we went fishing?” Dan chuckles.
Anna rolls her eyes. “Yeah, if I recall correctly, I caught ten, and you caught…wait, how many did you catch again, Dad?” she asks sweetly.
Dan chuckles. “That would be a big fat zero. What?” he protests. “You were fifteen, and I wanted to boost your confidence.”
I laugh and sit down on the bench seat circling the front of the boat, helping Max thread his line.
“Let's see if we can improve on that today, hey?” I joke while Dan scowls at me. I finish helping Max set up his line, while Milly watches from a safe distance with her nose screwed up. Touching fish is yucky and killing them is cruel, so I was pretty sure Mills would be having no part of this. Once Max is set, I work on my own rod. The mood quickly changes to somber, because everyone is concentrating so hard on catching something.
I take that moment to watch Anna, impressed at how expertly she handles her rod. Almost as well as she handles mine. Her soft hands glide up and down the handle, her fingers gently turning the reel. Before I know it, I've managed to get myself in a bind when my pants begin to constrict. I groan internally. This is not what I need right now. I quickly sit down to hide my erection. Dan glances over at me, his eyes narrowing.
“Taking a break already, Nick?” he chuckles. “Maybe you need to work on your stamina.”
“No point standing there waiting for fish to jump on the line,” I retort. “And my stamina is just fine, thanks for asking.” Ask your daughter if you want proof. A few seconds of eye contact with him and there is nothing about me that is hard anymore. I stand up, stretch, and then walk back over to my line.
Kayla and Mandy watch from the side with Milly, neither of them wanting to get their fingers dirty, either. I couldn’t think of anything more boring than watching other people fish when you weren’t fishing yourself.
