Page 21 of The Wedding Twist

“I mean alcohol.”

Jack blinked. “This is a bachelor party, isn’t it?”

“The bachelor party was in Nashville. This is a ‘groom’s day out.’”

“So, it’s basically a daytime bachelor party.” While it was a bylaw infraction to drink in a national park, Jack turned a blind eye to the occasional tall can or bottle, as long as everyone took care of their garbage.

“Groom’s day out.” Celeste gave him a stern expression. He liked being told what to do by her. He just hoped she didn’t really expect him to listen. There was no chance he was searching bags or giving a predeparture lecture to a group of grown men.

“There’s nothing wrong with a can of beer or something on break, is there? I mean, I don’t supply anything, but—”

“No.” Celeste pursed her lips and looked behind her. “I’m not kidding. Kassie’s a little…particular,” she whispered.

“Is that code fortight-ass?”

Celeste looked over her shoulder again. “Shh,” she said, laughing a little. “It’s code fordon’t let it happen. I was in some of the rooms yesterday for turndown service, and the best man seems to have brought an entire bar cart’s worth of liquor on this trip. And Jeff gave all the guys inscribed stainless-steel flasks as gifts. So, you need to keep an eye on things.”

Jack opened his mouth to shoot back something at Celeste. As much as he didn’t like her setting parameters for how to run his business, the McCarthys were paying him for this last-minute booking, and he was in no position to be difficult. “All right,” he said. “I’ll keep things dry on the river.”

“Promise?”

He grinned, enjoying the expectant expression on her face. Clearly she ran a tight ship at the lodge, and this was her MO. “Promise.”

Celeste appeared satisfied. The door opened behind her, and she moved aside as one by one, the groom and his best man, another friend, the fathers of the bride and groom, and a lanky old man with a goatee and a ballcap on who introduced himself as Uncle Jasper, filtered outside.

“There they are!” Celeste exclaimed with a tone change that was clearly practiced but still genuine. “Everyone had enough to eat?”

Uncle Jasper patted his belly. “Your mother is a sweet angel from heaven,” he said. He looked at Jack. “You the guide? I’m known for my trick casts, but I’m a drowning risk today after those cinnamon buns. I hope you have good insurance. Or maybe I’ll just go to bed so I can wake up in the morning and experience that all over again.”

“We’re happy to deliver them directly to your room tomorrow morning, if you’d like,” Celeste said.

Jasper opened his arms and looked up at the sky. “Thank you, Lord, for bringing me to this place!” he exclaimed.

Jack grinned, then turned to the group. “All right. Who’s ready to bring home tonight’s dinner?”

*

An hour later,the group of six were outfitted, given a quick lesson on casting and how to wade safely, and were standing out in the gentle currents of the Bow River awaiting their next instructions. Jack demoed what he’d shown them on land again in the water and watched and gave small corrections as they tried their hands at their first casts.

“Fly-fishing is a two-handed sport,” he said. “Cast with your right hand and use your left hand for line management. I want everyone to check the drag on your reel. If it’s turned off and loose all the way and you pull line, it’s going to overspool and you’ll be dealing with a bird’s nest.”

The group caught on pretty quickly, and Uncle Jasper hadn’t been kidding when he’d bragged about being an expert at trick casts. Jack did an internalhell yeahwhen a bald eagle swooped down to the river right where the group was practicing casting and snatched a whitefish right out of the water, causing a raucous cheer to erupt at the creature’s majesty and dominance.

As predicted, the weather was stunning, and while Jack did catch a glimpse or two of the sparkle of a flask tipping back in the sun, everyone seemed to be behaving themselves. Celeste didn’t need to know. It was a guys’ day out, for goodness’ sake.

The guys were having fun, joking around, and Jack felt confident that the day was already a success.

Around noon, about an hour before Celeste was scheduled to arrive with lunch, Jeff sloshed through the river to where Jack was standing. “Hey, Jack, how much you wanna bet I’m going home with the biggest catch today?” he said.

Jack squinted. Now that he was paying attention, Jeff’s speech might’ve been slurring just the teensiest bit. He’d have to do a better job at keeping their hands full.

“I’ll tell you what,” Jack said, passing Jeff his rod. “If you hold these two rods and manage to keep the casts from tangling for at least two minutes, I’ll give you twenty bucks.”

The groom laughed. “A challenge! All right fellas, come on over and witness greatness!”

Two minutes later, Jack was down twenty bucks but the group was very much into the idea of contests and betting, and a simple introductory workshop had morphed into a series of made-up competitions and feats of physical endurance, including a sprint race through the river with waders on that Jack was mildly concerned would end in someone falling and getting their clothing soaking wet (he had some extras in the truck) and a longest-cast contest. Uncle Jasper introduced them to an old challenge that involved trying to cast to flick a cigarette out of someone’s mouth, and when Jasper put a cigarette between his lips and the guys started egging Jack on, he caved and gave it a shot, succeeding in one go.

It was actually pretty fun, although he had to shut down a couple of unsafe ideas, especially given the fact that there might have been some tippling involved. He could play dumb about that to Celeste, but an accident or injury would be less forgivable.

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