Friday I'm in Love by Mari Carr Read Free Book Online

of casting her line successfully. Once she had her hook in the water, Ewan followed suit with his own.
    “Now what?” she asked.
    “Now, we wait. If that bobber goes under the surface, you’ve got a bite and that’s when you want to reel it in. Until then, we sit down and relax.”
    They both claimed a chair. Glancing over her shoulder, she could see Pat and Moose had done the same, the two old friends settling into a quiet conversation.
    “How long do we have to wait?” she asked after watching her bobber float for several minutes.
    “Who knows? Could be five minutes or five hours or not at all.”
    “Not at all? Are you seriously telling me we’re going to wait for hours even if we aren’t catching anything?”
    Ewan nodded. “That’s just fishing, Nat. Some days are diamonds, some are stone.”
    “You expect me to sit here for hours on end watching that little ball float on the water? Where’s the fun in that?”
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    “Close your eyes,” Ewan prompted.
    “I thought I was supposed to watch the bobber.”
    “Close your eyes, smartass.”
    She obeyed after rolling said eyes. “They’re closed.”
    “Now listen,” Ewan said, his voice soft. “Listen to the light slapping of the water against the side of the boat. Listen to the birds singing. Feel the gentle sway, rocking you like a mother rocks her baby. Feel that warm breeze as it strokes your face. Take a deep breath of that sweet, fresh air, Nat. Let it fill up your lungs and clean out all the dark, dirty worries creeping around inside you.” After each direction he paused for several moments, letting her do exactly as he suggested.
    She listened to his words, letting the sounds, the smells, the feelings fill her up until she felt as if she were asleep, though wide awake.
    “How do you feel?” he asked.
    “Relaxed. Peaceful.” Boneless, content, comfortable, calm. A multitude of words flowed through her mind—each one more gentle, more soothing than the one before.
    She felt…good.
    Ewan’s hand lightly stroked the skin at the back of her neck. “Now open your eyes and watch the bobber. It’s not a difficult thing to do, so while you do it, you can let your mind wander. Let it go. Why not enjoy the scenery? There’s a heron over there on the shore. See it?”
    “Yes.”
    They sat together in quiet contentment for nearly half an hour. Slowly reeling in their bait, only to cast it out again. She listened to Pat and Moose talk about family and work and past fishing trips as she studied the quiet serenity of their surroundings.
    None of them had had so much as a nibble, but she could see the attraction of the outing. No wonder Moose and Pat looked forward to this day each month.
    “Nat,” Ewan said, sitting up quickly. “You’ve got a bite.”
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    She’d been so distracted by a flock of birds on the shore she’d forgotten to look at her bobber. “I do?”
    The older men turned excitedly.
    “Okay, here we go, sweet stuff,” Moose instructed. “Reel him in nice and slow.”
    She followed his instructions, amazed by the strength of the fish on the other end of her line. “He must be huge,” she said. “I can barely move this reel.”
    Ewan moved behind her, placing his hands on her waist but letting her do the work. He whispered directions and praise as she continued to pull the fish in. Finally Moose bent over the side of the boat with a net as she lifted her rod. A gleaming silver fish floundered in the net as Moose lifted him into the boat.
    “Well, will you look at that,” Pat said. “That’s not a bad effort for your first time fishing.”
    “Not a bad effort?” she repeated. “That fish is huge!”
    Pat and Moose laughed while they worked together to pull the hook out of the fish’s mouth.
    “Fish tales,” Moose muttered, but she wasn’t dissuaded from her opinion. He was just jealous, she thought with a delighted grin.
    Moose held the wriggling fish out to her and curiosity drove