Page 36 of The Wedding Twist

She rolled down the window and pulled off her sunglasses. “I’m okay to park here?” she asked. She was wearing a thick gray wool sweater and faded blue jeans, a light blue knit hat over her dark hair, which was loose around her shoulders. She was also wearing makeup, he noted, an unusual choice for a day on the river. But he wasn’t complaining. She looked dynamite.

“Yeah, just pull in over by my truck,” he said, then stood back as she did.

Celeste stepped out of her car and surveyed the area, then looked at Jack, an amused but slightly weary expression on her face. “Okay, teach,” she said, pulling an envelope from her pocket and holding it up. “Which one of my creations are we putting to work today?”

Jack chuckled. “Those are for you to keep. I brought a few that we won’t mind losing.” He indicated to the pile of gear he’d set up by the river. “We need to get you outfitted first.”

“Hold on,” Celeste said. She moved to the passenger side of her Jeep, where she deposited her envelope of flies made in class, and removed a small blue cooler, then joined him on the path.

“What’s that?” Jack said.

“In case we get hungry.” She opened the cooler to reveal an entire picnic tucked inside. “Turkey-and-sweet-onion-relish sandwiches, kale-and-Parmesan salad, and fresh-baked oatmeal cookies. Just in case.”

“You must be gunning for an A+,” he said, grinning. “Or trying to distract me from what we’re here to do.”

“Always,” said Celeste. “And never. All right, what do I do?”

Jack passed Celeste a pair of navy-blue waders that looked about her size. “Put these on,” he said. He smiled to himself as she inspected the waders, then struggled to keep her balance as she slid into the legs of the pants. He held out an arm, which she grasped on to.

“Thanks,” she said and stood up. “How do I look?”

She looked like someone he wanted to scoop up into his arms, carry over to the back of his truck, lay out a blanket, and spend a day under the sun with. Not many people could make fly-fishing waders look sexy. And yet there was Celeste, her green eyes sparkling and her hair cascading down the back of the suspenders like she was about to walk down a runway. “Like you stepped right out of the latest issue ofAmerican Angler,” Jack said.

She raised an eyebrow. “I’ll pretend you just saidVogue.”

He inspected the fit. “May I?” he asked, indicating to the straps, which hung a bit loose and would likely slip off her shoulders. Celeste nodded, and he adjusted the length so that they fit snugly. “Here,” he said and clicked the waist fastener together, doing his best to avoid brushing his hands against her chest, even though there were many layers of fabric in between them. His mind flashed to the incredible silvery dress that had draped so perfectly over her body the other night, in a way that had made it impossible to prevent his gaze from grazing over her gorgeous figure several times over the course of the evening.

Celeste smiled, and the light of her expression made Jack’s stomach do a tumbling routine. “All right, let’s do this,” she said. “Wait.” She stuck her hand down the side of her waders, feeling around for something in her pocket. She pulled out her phone and passed it to him. “Can you take a photo of me? My dad won’t believe it unless he sees it.”

“Of course,” said Jack. He passed Celeste a fishing rod. “Here, hold this. Gotta look the part.”

He laughed to himself as he took a picture of her, holding the fishing rod so awkwardly and incorrectly. “Hold on a sec,” he said. He took her right hand and placed it on the handle, then angled the rod so that she wouldn’t poke her own eye out with the hook. “There. That’s better.” He paused for a moment before stepping back, a thick magnetic current almost begging him to stay as close as possible to Celeste. She cocked her head to the side, the delight in her eyes keeping him under her spell.

“Do I look authentic now?” she asked.

“Perfect,” he said. He meant it in every sense of the word.

The conditions were ideal for a beginner, and Jack had purposely chosen this part of the riverbed for the shallowness as well as the lightness of the current.

“It’s actually really pretty out here,” she said, following him into the river.

“You sound surprised,” said Jack. “Maybe you’re more outdoorsy than you thought.”

“I’m notnotoutdoorsy,” said Celeste. “I’m just more of a…domicile devotee.”

Jack couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. “I like that. Okay, time to get you in touch with your inner ‘alfresco aficionado.’”

It was Celeste’s turn to laugh, and the way her eyes lit up made him fall for her even more in that moment.

He spent a few minutes showing her the basics and then letting her try a few casts on her own. It didn’t take long before Celeste had a tug on her line.

“You got one. Steady, steady now.” He helped her pull the line in, then cupped the small trout in his hands and held it out for her to inspect. It flopped in his hands a little.

“Poor thing,” said Celeste, frowning. She looked down at the trout. “I apologize. Let’s get you back out there.”

Jack gently dislodged the hook from the trout’s cheek. When he looked up, she was wincing. “He’ll be all right,” he said.

“I’m not sure I believe you that that doesn’t hurt them,” she said.

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