“Put them on.”
He stared at me stupidly. “Come again?”
Ooh, he was making it too easy today. “I’d have to come once to come again,” I said teasingly. Alex’s blush was almost as dark as my sweater. Taking pity on him, I got to the point. “They’re waders. To keep you dry. Just slip them on over your jeans.”
Eventually, he toed out of his shoes, glancing in my direction to see how they should fit and adjusting his straps.
Once I had mine on, I grinned and snapped the elastic on my shoulders. “What do you think? Do these make me look sexy?”
“Oh, trust me, you don’t need waders to look sexy, Vaughn. You do that just fine every day.”
I hadn’t been expecting that little truth bomb and my expression of shock only made him laugh harder. “Well, minus the drool at the store. That wasn’t very sexy.”
I shoved him playfully. “Shut up.”
Reaching for my tackle box and the bag of goodies from the store, I turned toward the shore.
“Hey,” Alex said to stop me. He ran one hand along the rubber of the wader at his thigh nervously. “I… uh… shit, hold on.” He shoved his hand deep down the inside of the waders, as if searching for the pocket of his jeans and, finally, after a long battle with the waterproof gear, managed to pull something out. With a shaky hand, he held it out to me, palm up. “This is for you.”
I stared at the silver lure in his palm in stunned, confused silence.Where had that come from?I tried not to worry about where he’d gotten it, but my mind was already three steps ahead, jumping to the only logical explanation that Alex had stolen it. How could it not? Alex had lived on the streets for nearly two months, surviving on nothing more than pennies and handouts. Something like that lure, even from the discount bins, would have been well out of his nonexistent budget.
Was that what he’d gone back for?
“Where did you get that?” I asked, unable to hide the disbelief in my voice.
Alex furrowed his brows, then dropped his hand and turned away, guilt covering his face.
My heart pounded in my ears as I waited for him to respond. I could tell it wasn’t one of the most expensive lures, but that didn’t matter. If Alex had stolen it…
“Alex?”
He flinched. “It’s not what you’re thinking,” he said quickly. “It was in one of those buckets at the checkout.”
“The clearance ones?” I asked, barely remembering the small pails sitting by the register.
He nodded, then shrugged. “It only cost me a nickel, but I thought… Sorry, I know it’s stupid. Especially with everything you just bought. It probably isn’t even the right kind. Never mind. Let’s just go.”
In that moment, as Alex turned away and tried to pocket the item, I’d never felt more ashamed for how I’d misjudged someone. It wasn’t guilt I’d seen on his face at all; it was embarrassment. Alex was embarrassed. He’d tried to do something for me, and I’d practically called him a thief. On top of that, he thought his token of appreciation was lame and beneath me.
But itwasn’t. At all.
I lunged for Alex before he could walk away, ignoring the way he jumped from the unexpected contact. When he still didn’t look at me, I stepped in front of him so he had no other choice but to meet my eyes.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have jumped to the wrong conclusion. Please forgive me.”
When I trusted that he wouldn’t try to leave again, I let go of his arm and gently pried the small piece of metal from his fingers, admiring it carefully. The five-cent lure was only about two inches long, with simple red-and-yellow markings, yet it was more beautiful than any of the things I’d just bought.
Because it came from a man who had absolutely nothing to give.
I looked up to see him studying me warily. “This is… I don’t even know what to say, Alex. It’s truly the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you.”
Alex gave a small smile as though he wasn’t quite sure if he should believe me or not. “I just thought, after the week you’ve had and with Beethoven and all, I just thought it might cheer you up. That’s all.”
“It did. Truly.” I wanted to kiss him—god, how I wanted to kiss him—but once again, I wasn’t sure how it would be received. The last thing I wanted to do was ruin the feeble bond that was developing between us, so I gave him a quick but certain hug instead. “Thank you. Spending the day with you will cheer me up too.”More than you could possibly know.
He finally relaxed. “Yeah, I hope so.”
Alex was a surprisingly quick study when I taught him how to tie some of the lures, managing to do them on his own after only a couple of tries. Our bait secured, we spread out along the bank and got lost in our own thoughts as we cast our lines into the water.
