Page 73 of Passing Ships

His voice pulls me from my thoughts, and I realize he’s looking at me, a teasing grin on his face.

I nod. “Yeah, I’m ready. Just don’t expect me to catch anything big. I’m out of practice.”

He laughs. “Don’t worry, big brother. You stick with me, and we’ll land something that’ll make Gramps proud.”

“I thought we were all here because you’d already caught the big prize,” I say. And Avie is just that, as close to perfection as he could have asked for.

I’m the oldest, but it’s hard not to feel like I’m always a step behind, trying to catch up.

Dad cuts the engine, and the boat settles into the rhythm of the waves. The sound of the ocean surrounds us. I move to the edge of the boat, picking up one of the rods and fumbling with the reel. I’m not completely clueless about fishing, but it’s been a while since I’ve done any of this.

Wade, Anson, and Parker don’t even pretend to be here to fish. The three of them are eased back on one of the leather benches, each with a beer in hand.

I raise a brow at them. “Already?”

“It’s five o’clock somewhere,” Anson sings.

Gramps glances over at me, a small smile on his face. “Need some help with that, Lennon?”

I shake my head, trying to seem confident. “I’ve got it, Gramps. Thanks.”

He nods, but there’s something in his eyes that tells me he knows better. We’ve never been able to get anything over on him, even when I was a kid, trying to hide that I’d broken his favorite fishing rod. He always knows.

The first hour passes slowly, the sun climbing higher into the sky. We’re all spread out across the boat, casting our lines and waiting. Waiting for the fish.

Girls are so good at this shit. Everything they do is a bonding experience that ties them all together. That’s what this is supposed to be for all of us before Sebastian gets married.

I glance over at Dad, who’s standing at the wheel, staring out at the water. He hasn’t said much since we left the dock, and I wonder if he’s feeling the same pressure. The pressure to make this day special, to create memories.

“Damn, we’re a sad lot,” Anson says. “We’re supposed to be celebrating.”

He reaches into the cooler and starts tossing beers to all of us.

I catch the can and pop the top.

“I’m trying to wake up,” Wade groans as he rakes his hand over his face.

“That’s what happens when you hook up with a youngin. She wears your ass out,” Anson teases.

Wade cuts his eyes to him. “Damn straight.”

“I need to find me a woman half my age,” Anson mutters.

Parker twists the tab off his can and tosses it at him. “A woman half your age would land you in prison, dumbass.”

“Oh, right.”

After a few beers, the group perks up and starts placing hourly bets. Which has us all doing our best to pull in the biggest catch.

Gramps, Donnie Dale, and Dad spring into mentor mode and walk around the boat, instructing everyone as we wrestle the sea monsters that have finally decided to come out and play.

We break a lot of lines and share a lot of laughs. Sam, one of the cousins’ husbands, who’s never fished a day in his life, hooks a nearly seventy-pound cobia.

“I wish the girls were here. They’d get a kick out of helping us,” Wade says.

“Leia begged to come with me this morning. It wasn’t until Nana pulled out a poofy pink dress that the tears stopped,” Seb muses.

“As competitive as Amiya is, she’d be my only chance at winning any money from you guys,” I say.

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