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John took the pole, studied it for a moment, then cast the lure in the water. He let it sink for a moment, then slowly reeled it in.
Scott grinned. “I think you’re a fisherman,John.”
It felt right. He knew what he was doing, and it gave him a sense of peace. He definitely liked to fish. And he somehow knew he’d spent a fair amount of his life doing it.
After an hour and three nice trout, Scott traded John his fly rod for the fishing pole. “Let’s see what you can do with this. I’m not having any luck.”
Once again, John took a few moments to get the feel of the pole in his hands. Then he pulled off a perfect cast and laid the fly in the water. The first cast was unsuccessful, but with the second one he caught another nice trout.
Scott laughed. “Shit, John. You’re a natural. I think we’ve got dinner here.”
“It would seem so.”
Scott put his pole down and opened an ice chest. “Would you care for a beer?”
“Sure.”
“Have you had a drink since…”
“No. Are you worried I might be a recovering alcoholic and you’re pulling me off the wagon?”
“I don’t know. Just asking, I guess.”
“Well, I haven’t shown any signs of withdrawal. And I haven’t been craving it. So, I think I’m good. Besides. I was at a bar when they found me. At least behind one. Seems I hadn’t had a drink yet. But maybe I just hadn’t gone in.”
Scott handed him the beer. “Seems we’re safe to have a beer together, then.”
John took a sip of the beer. It tasted good and, like so many things, familiar. It wasn’t the first beer he’d drank. He knew Scott wanted to talk to him, and was probably trying to find the right words, so he decided to help him out.
“I know you probably have reservations about Ember being so trusting. I have them too.”
He smiled. “I see why she is. Why she trusts you. You give off an honest vibe.”
“If it helps at all. I feel like I’m a decent person. If I wasn’t. Wouldn’t it show up? If I was an asshole, I don’t think losing my memory would change my personality. Once an asshole, always an asshole, right?”
“That seems reasonable to me.”
“This is new to all of us. And I’m just trying to wrap my head around the possibility I may never know who I am. And I could probably live with that. But it’s the not knowing if I have a family out there. That’s the hard part.”
“I imagine it is.” He took a moment. “I can only stay here until the end of the week. I need to get back and help with Aaron. And I imagine Ember can’t take unlimited time off. But you’re welcome to stay as long as you need to, John. The house is yours to use. All I ask is that you clean up after yourself.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it. I’ll get myself a job in town. Start feeding myself, at least.”
“Take your time. Em and I have you covered for a little while.”
John shook his head. “I feel like a freeloader. I need to pay my own way. At least partly.”
Scott nodded. “Okay. I leave a truck up here. You’re free to use it. I suppose driving will come back to you, too.”
“I think so. All the stuff you have stored in your head that you don’t even think about. Stuff that comes naturally to you. It’s in my head. And it seems to come out when I need it to. It’s just the details of my life that allude me.”
“It must be damn weird.”
John nodded. “Yeah. Damn weird alright.”
Scott finished his beer and put the bottle back in the ice chest. “What do you say we head on back and grill up these trout for dinner?”
“Sounds good.”
