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“That’s fine. He’s actually a very good swimmer and has swim team three nights a week back home.”
She wanted a quiet word with Thomas about the diary so she turned to Lucas. “Why don’t you go and play your new Wii game for now while Thomas finishes his drink.”
As soon as Lucas walked into the living room, Thomas turned to look at her. “Something on your mind, Miss Mackenzie?” he asked while he took a sip of his coffee.
“First off, why don’t you call me Mack?"
“Done! Next.”
“You know who Rose is, don’t you?”
He abruptly stood up and placed his cup down on the table before he walked over to the window. He looked out, not really seeing the scenery beyond, as he remembered Rose and his love for her. “I haven’t talked about her in sixty-eight years, and I don’t intend to now. It’s time to go fishing,” he said agitatedly.
“Thomas, what’s in that tub?” Lucas asked because he could see something moving inside it.
“Bait.”
“I thought I was bait.” Lucas paused. “What’s bait anyway?” he asked baffled.
“Bait is what you attach to the end of the line, something fish like the taste of, and when they try to take a bite, the fish get attached to the hook that is holding the bait.” Thomas laughed when he noticed the horror on Lucas’s face.
“You’re not really going to use me as bait, are you?” Lucas backed away slightly.
Thomas roared with laughter, so much so that he had to sit down before he fell down. He had tears running down his face, and every time he glanced at Lucas, he set off again.
“Oh, my dear boy,” he managed to choke out. Then he took some deep breaths to try to calm down. “I can’t remember the last time I laughed so much.” Thomas managed to get himself under control. “You’re safe, Lucas. Come sit by me and I’ll show you how to bait a hook.”
Lucas sat down and spent the next ten minutes listening to Thomas explain about fishing and how to bait a hook. Lucas wasn’t too impressed that he wasn’t allowed to try it by himself, but Thomas didn’t want little fingers to become part of the hook!
Thomas offered Lucas a cheese sandwich and a drink of lemonade while they sat back and waited for the fish to catch.
“How long have you been fishing?” Lucas asked between gulps of his lemonade.
Thomas quickly glanced at Lucas, then relaxed back against a tree, thinking back to the summer that his father took the effort to purchase him something, instead of sending his mother or the housekeeper to do it. “My father bought me a fishing rod for my eighth birthday. That would be about seventy-two years ago now. I spent all that summer fishing with my two best friends, Levi and Walt.”
Lucas carried on munching his cheese sandwich as Thomas talked then, obviously having thought about what Thomas just told him, asked, “Are they still your friends, or have you had a fight? I fight with my friends all the time.”
Thomas chuckled. “Oh yes, we’re still friends, although, back then, we were more like partners in crime as we used to get up to all sorts of trouble. I used to get grounded a lot.”
Thomas walked to the edge of the river to check the line, and then looked back at Lucas, who still had his attention focused on him. “I remember after one fishing trip, we were walking back to my house, when we spotted my neighbor arranging some shoes on the porch. We hid behind some bushes, and when she went inside, we snuck up to her porch and put fish in three of the shoes. We caught about eight fish that day; don’t think we ever got so lucky again. I was grounded for a week, but it’s the only time my father ever found one of my antics funny. I heard him laughing as he shut my bedroom door on his way downstairs after telling me off.”
Lucas giggled. “That’s funny. I think I need to pee.”
Thomas looked rather startled and just hoped he didn’t need help. “Okay, Lucas. Are you all right going behind that bush?”
“You mean I get to pee outside?”
Thomas just nodded his head while he tried not to laugh.
“Yeah!” Lucas took off behind a bush.
“Don’t go too far, Lucas, okay?”
“I won’t. I’m peeing now.”
“Okay, buddy.” Thomas chuckled as he watched the fishing line stretch out across the water.
Lucas ran back to Thomas. “I feel better now. Please, can I have one of those chocolate bars?”
