Page 36 of The Other Half

“Can you feel it?”

“I think so.”

“Now, I’m going to cast, and I want you to pay attention to when I release my finger. Just keep yours soft and it will move with mine.”

“Okay.”

Together we cast out the line, and her finger released with mine. The lure dropped into the water and disappeared beneath the ripples.

“We did it!” she shrieked, turning her head up and beaming at me. That smile almost sent me tumbling in after my favorite lure.

“We did.” I smiled back.

“Now what?”

“Now we crank. Put your other hand on the handle here.”

Holding the pole tight, I braced while she turned the handle.

“Like this?”

“Perfect. Now it’s all in the pace. Slow then fast. Keeping it changing, pause sometimes. You never know when a fish may be down there chasing it.”

“Sounds like sex.” She laughed.

Like I need any more reminders of sex right now.

“Yep.” I swallowed hard. The tip of the rod wiggled. “We got a nibble! Keep it slow and steady now.”

“A fish? There’s a fish?” she squealed.

“Slow and steady.” I cupped my hand over hers and together we turned the crank. “Get ready.”

The tip dipped low, and I popped up the rod. The reel whirred as the fish ran and that sound normally got my heart racing. This time having Cassie in my arms had it pumping at full tilt before that fish even bit. It wasn’t possible for it to hammer any harder unless I planned on dropping dead on the side of the road.

“We got one!” she screamed while she bounced in my arms.

“The key now is the tension. You need to keep the tension just right. Too much and you’ll break the line. Too little and he’ll slip free. When he runs, we let him. When he tires, we crank.”

“Okay. This is way more fun than I was expecting!”

“Just help me keep the tension.”

Something told me she and I would have no trouble keeping the perfect tension... as much as I tried to ignore it, God knows we had it in real life.

The minutes ticked by while we fought the fish. Together we held the pole and Cassie reeled it in.

“What kind is it?” she asked as the line got closer and closer.

“Probably a walleye. But could be a pike. And there’s at least one huge sturgeon in here. Though if it was a sturgeon we would know. I caught it once. Son of a bitch gave me a serious run for my money.”

With the sun setting and the darkness settling in, I wished I had my headlamp to shine on the water and get a glimpse of the struggling fish. As much as I was dying to see what was on the other end of our line, I didn’t want to catch it and have Cassie’s sounds of joy stop. Every time the fish ran, she squealed with excitement while I coaxed her into pausing her reeling and letting the fish get tired. The pitch of her squeals rose when the fish gave up and we started cranking again. As much as I enjoyed fishing alone, I had to admit, it was pretty fun reeling this one in with Cassie wrapped up in my arms.

There’s a moment in every battle against a fish when I could feel it surrender. When I felt this one succumb to his situation, regret plucked at my heart that soon I’d have to release her from my embrace. Just as I predicted, the fish came in without any more of a fight. Taking a deep breath and one more inhale of her hair, I released my grip on the rod.

“Hold it steady while I bring him in.”

“This is so crazy!” She laughed as I reluctantly backed away.