Page 34 of The Other Half

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Jake

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“So, this is where we fish?” she asked after climbing out of my truck and meeting me on the causeway.

“It’s one of the places I like to go.”

Usually I fished Kangaroo Lake from my house just a little further up the lake. But the thought of bringing Cassie to my house had me thinking of bringing Cassie to my bed upstairs, so I opted to take her fishing on neutral territory. The fish biting from my dock would be the same fish that would bite over here. And over here there wasn’t a bed.

“Remember when I thought you were a serial killer and I hid in those bushes?” she asked, bursting into laughter while she pointed to the bushes just down the road.

“I remember it well.” I chuckled while I pulled the fishing poles out of the back of my truck. Man, she’d looked cuter than I wanted to admit climbing out of the ditch that night.

“You can use this pole. It’s a little shorter so it will be easier for you to cast.”

With Hank panting at my side, I handed her the pole.

“What do I do with it?” Nervous eyes looked at me as she held it away from her body, scanning it like it was the strangest thing she’d ever seen.

“Come here. I’ll show you.”

We stepped down the small embankment to the rocks jutting out along with causeway. After a quick assessment, I found the spot looking prime to snag a few walleyes.

“First, you can watch me. Then I’ll help you. Okay?”

Nodding, she watched me unclip my lure from the eye of the rod. The tension in the line disappeared, and I cranked my reel until the line was the right length. Before casting, I looked to make sure she was a safe distance away and saw her scratching Hank’s head. The way he stared up at her with stars in his eyes reminded me not to let myself stare at her that way.

She’s just a friend.

Trying not to lose my concentration and attempting to extinguish the stars that sparkled momentarily in my own eyes while she scratched my big dog, I focused back on the lake.

“First, you’re going to reel until you have about six inches of line hanging from the tip, just like mine.”

She nodded while I gestured to the rod.

“Then you’re going to place your index finger on the line right here and hold it tight. When you’ve got it secure, you’re going to flip the bail. That’s this thing.”

Astute eyes followed my movements while I went through the motions I could do in my sleep.

“Now, keeping your finger on the line, you’re going to look around you and make sure there’s no one nearby you can snag. Me and Hank included.” I smiled, and it prompted a giggle from her. “When the coast is clear, you bring the rod back to vertical, and in one smooth motion use your wrist and your elbow and cast it forward, letting go with your index finger when you’re about half-way down.”

“That sounds insanely complicated.”

“It sounds complicated, but it’s pretty easy once you figure it out. Just like this.” With one swift move, I sent my lure sailing into the lake. The sound of the reel whirring was like music to my ears. That same sound soothed my soul and set my world back upright when life knocked it down. The plunk of the lure in the water sent ripples of waves extending out around it. I turned the crank, and it snapped the bail back into place. Another melody providing the soundtrack to my life.

Turning the crank, I brought my lure in a little faster than I normally would. This cast wasn’t about catching the fish. I wanted to show her one more time.

I heard her crank spinning and turned to see her fumbling with her lure in a pile of line on the ground. Looking up at me, she sucked the air through her teeth.

“Oops.”

“What happened to waiting for me to show you?” Laughing, I hooked my lure to the eye and set my rod aside. “You forgot to put your finger against the line to stop it from dropping.”

“Well, shit,” she said, and the swear word sounded cuter than it should coming out of her mouth.

I unraveled the line piled on the rocks and helped her set up the rod again.