Page 53 of Head Over Heels

Katie is playing with some of the bright-colored fishing lures. “They’re fairies,” she says.

They do look an awful lot like fairies.

“Where’s your dad?”

“Helping a guy.”

I round a corner to spot him chatting with a wiry dude. I hang back a ways, not wanting to interrupt.

“…best rental out that way is probably Jake’s. And you can stop at the Lutenberg Market for sandwiches and ice. They open at five thirty a.m. on Saturdays. Even have some nice lures if you’re in a pinch.”

The guy is keying stuff into a note on his phone as fast as Chase can talk.

“If you want to bring your rod by beforehand, we can take a look and make sure everything’s shipshape.”

“Gosh, thanks,” the guy says. “It’s been a while, so that would be incredibly helpful.”

“Feel free to text me, too, if you’re out on the water and have questions.” He gives the guy his cell number.

The guy thanks him profusely, they exchange a manly handshake, and the guy strides off.

“Nice boots,” Chase says, nodding down at the box in my hand. “I bet those’ll make you look like youlikecamping. They’remagicboots.”

I can’t help my snort of laughter.

He takes the box from my hands and I follow him to the cash register, where he rings them up.

I hold out my credit card.

“Nope,” he says.

“Oh, comeon.”

“I’m making you go camping. Supplies are on me.”

There’s a certain logic to that, and I don’t fight him. I accept the box back from him. “If I take a look around, think a little bit about marketing stuff, will Katie be okay?”

“Is she playing fairies?”

I nod.

“She’ll be good for hours.”

“You know what I’m thinking?” I ask him. “I think we should stake out Big Win. Pretend to be customers, go in looking to buy stuff. It’s always a good idea, when you’re trying to come up with marketing ideas, to really understand the competition.”

His face brightens. “Okay.”

“We’ve even got a legit excuse. We’re going on a camping trip and we need some help about what kind of backpack would be good for me—”

“I’ve got a rental pack here you can use—”

“No, I know; we’ll be pretending. But legit pretending.”

“How is legit pretending different from real pretending?”

“Legit pretending is when it’s real underneath even though it’s pretend on the surface.”

He rolls his eyes. “That’s not a thing.”

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