Page 26 of Five Mountain Daddies

He shrugs. “Boats are big. Alwaysimplied.”

“That’s not how thatworks”

“That’s my understanding,” Henry says, nodding seriously. “Big things are always justimplied.”

I sigh and roll my eyes. “You guys are going to team up on me all day, aren’tyou?”

Henry turns around to meet my gaze. “Yes, yes, weare.”

I laugh and sip my coffee again as he turns around. I catch a little smile from Ryan as he turns and starts heading up into thehills.

It’s another ten-minute drive until we reach the lake nestled in the hills behind their workshop. It’s in a little valley, and it’s probably man-made, but I can’t be sure. I don’t see any feeder streams but I’m not exactly walking around it, and besides, I don’t really know how lakes are formed anyway. Probably something about glaciers and allthat.

“Here we are,” Ryan says, parking his truck in a little gravel clearing. “Best spot intown.”

“I’m sure a lot of people would argue with that,” I say climbingout.

Henry laughs. “People really do take fishing seriously around here, don’tthey?”

I groan and nod. “It’s so absurd. I mean, you’re outsmarting a fish. You shouldn’t be so proud ofthat.”

“Good point. We should make this harder for us, shouldn’twe?”

Ryan nods as he reaches into the truck bed and grabs a tackle box and three rods. “Maybe we should use bows andarrows?”

“Perfect,” I say. “I’m really good at arrowfishing.”

“I bet you are,” Henry says and we all laugh as we head down toward thewater.

We walk for a few minutes until we come around a bend. Up ahead, in a break in the trees, is a little dock jutting out onto the water. Tied up is a boat, bigger than I thought it wouldbe.

“This is actually nice,” I say as we climb aboard. “I thought we’d have torow.”

“We?” Henry asks and laughs. “You mean, Ryan and I would have torow.”

“Yeah, exactly,” I say,grinning.

“Fortunately the water’s pretty damn deep out here,” Ryan says. “No need for allthat.”

That boat’s relatively stable and big enough to fit the three of us plus our tackle comfortably. We could have probably fit another person or two in here if we wanted. The boat slowly pulls out, with Ryan at the wheel. Henry unties the ropes, kicks it off, and hops in just as we start away from thedock.

I lean back in my seat and enjoy the leisurely ride toward the middle of the lake. The sun’s starting to come up, but it’s not too hot yet. It’s a nice morning and although I’m not exactly a fisherwoman, I feel really good, sitting on this boat with these twoguys.

Ryan stops not far out and Henry sets everyone up. He hands me a rod and I head over to the side, casting off a few feet. The guys take up their spots, casting out, and the waitingbegins.

It takes me a whole two minutes before I start to getbored.

“Do you guys do this often?” Iask.

“Shh, you’ll scare the fish,” Ryansays.

“I think your ugly mug is doing that already,” Henry says, before looking at me. “Nah, we rarely do this. The twins come out most days, but we normallydon’t.”

“Do they catchanything?”

“Sometimes,” he says. “But mostlynothing.”

“So this is going to be really excitingthen?”

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