Page 34 of Family Bonds- Jarrett & Andi

“No,” she said, laughing. “I was walking the trail last week. Not fishing. Since the weather is so nice today, you should get your fishing in. Unless you don’t want to. Aren’t you supposed to be quiet while you fish?”

He laughed. “I’m not sure some low conversation is going to make a big difference,” he said. “I sit here in silence enough and don’t catch anything. Maybe some noise will help.”

“Do you often fish alone?” she asked. They were walking off of her front porch and Andi climbed into the passenger seat of his SUV. He had his canoe on the top and would bring it down once he parked.

“Most times,” he said. “I used to go with my brothers, but they’ve got other things going on.”

Once in a while Mac or Alex would give him a call to come out and sit, but his brothers had their hands full. Or Mac did. Alex, he’d rather spend some time at a pub or the casinoover fishingin silence.

“I used to fish with my father,” she said.

“Really?” he asked.

Jarrett was going to take it as a positive that she was thinking of her father twice now when she was with him.

“Yeah. My father and I loved doing things outdoors. There is so much to do. Skiing in the winter, though I wasn’t a huge fan of it.”

“Really?” he asked. “How come?”

“I did it when I was younger and enjoyed it. But my father stopped after a while. He always worried he’d get hurt and not be able to work. I went with friends, but then the older I got, I had friends that found other things to do. I realized that I went more because of my father than liking it.”

He wasn’t sure what to make of that. “Do you feel that way about fishing?”

“No,” she said, smiling. She reached her hand over and patted this thigh. “The thing is with skiing with someone, you’re not doing itwiththem. It’s just someone you know enjoying an activity. You can talk when you take the lift up,butotherwiseyou are just going down on your own. Fishing, you get to sit here and interact while doing it.”

Which made more sense. “What else did you do or like to do outdoors? I have to say of my brothers I’m the more outdoor one.”

“I like hiking, but we know, I’m kind of a klutz there.”

“I don’t think you’re much of a klutz,” he said. “Maybe you just tripped?”

“I did. Sort of. I know you know I broke my ankle not that long ago.” He nodded his head. He knew that from being in the hospital while they were trying to figure out who she was. “I was trying not to turn my ankle. I was only going for a walk and had sneakers on. It was a last minute choice to go on the trail and I shouldn’t have without proper footwear.”

“How did you break your ankle?” he asked.

“I fell down the stairs.” She started to laugh. “See, klutz.”

It was a forced laugh though and something told him to not question it right now. “We all trip at times. Besides hiking and fishing, do you like swimming?”

“I do,” she said. “Are there many places to swim around here? I don’t see any community pools unless you are in a hotel. I’ve been to the public beaches a few times, but that isn’t swimming to me. Not that the temperature right now is conducive to it.”

“No,” he said. “It’s not.”

They drove five more minutes until he got to the place he was before and brought his SUV down the dirt road to unload the canoe. There were a few more cars here as this was public parking.

“Do people launch a lot of boats around here?”

“Some do,” he said. “Those that live on the water on this side of the island have docks. Believe it or not, there aren’t a ton ofmotorboats on the island. Though the water is calmer on this side, the other side is more sailboats.”

No one in his family had boats that he knew of. No motor or sailboats. Not even the wealthy cousins. It was odd now that he thought of it.

He just figured they took the helicopter back and forth if not the ferry. Not many were going to drive a motorized boat that many miles to Boston or Plymouth. They would not have a lot of places to dock their boat either, and they would need a car to move around on land.

“I’ve never been on a sailboat before,” she said. “Not sure I want to be either.”

“The same,” he said. “I want to be able to control what I’m doing. The wind is out of your control. Yes, most have motors too, but still too daunting.”

“I have a feeling not too much is daunting to you,” she said as she got out of the SUV.

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