“Well then, as far as I’m concerned, you two are married. It’s none of my business what you do or don’t do behind closed doors.” He lifts his head and grins at me.
“Wha-a-a-t?” I nearly choke on the word.
“You seem to like that word a lot.”
“I guess I’m just a little confused.”Understatement of the year.Why isn’t he angry at me?
“I like you. And sometimes, it’s good for the family to get shaken up a little bit.”
I let a long breath out and rest my elbows on my knees. My blurting out the truth isn’t going to hurt Miles. And strangely, I feel better that Felix knows.
“Marriages have started for stranger reasons than this, you know,” Felix says thoughtfully.
“I don’t think Miles really wants to be married.”
“Personally, I think Miles is just now figuring out what he wants in life. And I hope you’ll be at next year’s camping trip.” He reaches behind him and produces another fishing pole, passing it to me.
“Um, I’ve never fished before.”
“Then it’s about time you learn.”
THIRTY-FIVE
Miles
I’ve lost Lucy. I went to Mom and Dad’s car to look over the new manufacturing contract they secured for their wall tents. While I was busy talking numbers with them, Lucy disappeared.
And I can’t believe how panicked I feel now that I can’t find her. She’s not by the bathrooms. She’s not hiding in our tent or in my FJ Cruiser.
Maybe she’s on a walk. I take the trail that leads to the lake, and as I turn a sharp corner, I stop abruptly.
Lucy and Grandpa are walking up the trail together, each holding a fishing pole in one hand and a fish in the other. Grandpa has a string of four trout. Lucy has one small one, and she’s grinning ear to ear when she spots me.
“Look what I caught!” She holds the fish up as though it were a record-breaking salmon. It’s maybe enough meat to put on a cracker.
I grin anyway. “Nice work! Did Grandpa share all his fishing secrets with you?”
“Yes! It’s the first fish I’ve ever caught!”
Grandpa is smiling at her like she’s some fishing prodigy.
“Next time, we’ll go to my secret fishing hole,” Grandpa promises.
“Hey, you’ve never taken me to your secret spot,” I complain as I take the fishing pole from Lucy so she doesn’t have to carry it the rest of the trail.
“That’s because you’d scare the fish away. Lucy’s like a good-luck charm. I didn’t get any bites until she came and sat with me.”
“I couldn’t find you, so I went on a walk and found Felix instead,” Lucy explains.
“Sorry about that. I got caught up talking to Mom and Dad.”
“You can’t hog her all the time, you know,” Grandpa interjects.
I grin at him. “I can try.”
He chuckles at that, and we make our way back up the trail, toward camp.
“Are you ready to head into Sisters to meet your friend?” I say.
