Timmy:That sounds ominous. What’s going on?
Lilly:I think Keller and I broke up. Well... more like I know we broke up.
Timmy:WHAT? WHY?
Lilly:It’s such a long story, but something spooked him, and instead of working it through with me, he ghosted me.
Timmy:What? That doesn’t seem like the man you talked to me about. I thought he was attached to your hip.
Lilly:So did I, but things turned awkward once we got to the capital. It was like the bubble we were in burst, and he didn’t know how to handle it. He felt weird about staff knowing about us being together, even though Theo and Katla didn’t care. It still doesn’t make sense to me. I’m just... sad.
Timmy:Ugh, I wish I was there to hold your hand. Maybe he just needs a second to get his head on straight. From what you told me, the man was infatuated with you, and an infatuation like that doesn’t just wash away. Plus, he still has to work with you, right? That means he’ll see you every day.
Lilly:Which will make things incredibly awkward.
Timmy:Or it’ll make him realize what an idiot he’s being. Let me ask you this, would you take him back?
Lilly:I don’t know, honestly. I love him still. I’m not sure that feeling will ever go away, but the trust we built vanished in the blink of an eye. He truly hurt me, Timmy.
Timmy:Then you have to think about whether or not the pain he caused you is greater than not spending your life with him. And that’s something only you can figure out.
* * *
“I feel weird,”I whisper to Lara in the car.
“Why?”
I tug on the hem of my floral dress. “Because I’m all dressed up, looking like a garden in this fabric, and I’m about to meet a bunch of anglers. Doesn’t that seem weird?”
“No, that seems normal, but I understand that this is still new to you. At least it’s the only thing you have scheduled today. It’s nice that they’ve stretched out your schedule, so you aren’t bombarded.”
“Yes, I agree. But I still feel weird.”
“You’ll get used to it. These people are excited to meet you.”
“I’m excited to meet them as well, to be honest. They’re the top anglers over the last few years?”
“Winners of biggest fish caught over the last five years,” Lara says. “Quite an accomplishment. Every year, they record the fishes caught and their size for that year, and around Christmastime, they’re crowned.”
“Wait, is that where the name the Crowned Cod comes from?”
“Yes. The owner who opened it was crowned back in the nineties. There’s prize money associated with the crown, and the woman who won took that money and opened the Crowned Cod. Since she passed about seven years ago, management hasn’t been great, and it’s more of a risky place to go if you’re not a regular.”
“Well, that’s sad.”
The car pulls up next to a bright yellow boathouse, the color a beautiful contrast to the green mountains behind it and the blue water just at the edge of the rocky foundation.
“This is so cute,” I say.
“Kirkfell is one of our biggest tourist attractions, besides the capital, because of all the brightly colored buildings, trails to hike, and small-town feel. Great food here as well.”
Kirkfell, that’s where Keller planned his fake story about the angler’s wife, and being a romantic at heart, I want to know what would’ve happened to the angler’s wife and who she chose. I know, it was made up, but it’s like your favorite author writing two books in a series, ending it on a cliffhanger, and never writing that third one for you to find out what happened to those characters. Oh, they make promises, they tell you one day, but it never... ever... happens.
“Are you ready?” Lara asks.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I answer.
Lara steps out of the car first and holds the door open for me as we practiced at Harrogate. I swing my legs out, keeping them shut, because... you know, Britney showed us what not to do, and then I stand, the sun beaming down on this warmish day. Either the weather has given me a break, or I’m starting to get used to it. Either way, I’m not a shivering icicle.
