Page 39 of The Gentleness of Rage

“A master fisherman?” Slate teased, and Jaelynn tilted her hand back and forth. “Ten bucks I beat you!”

“Oh, you’re on!” Jaelynn grinned.

“Help me make a picnic, and then we’ll head to the boat shed. The rods and gear are down there,” Slate added.

Half an hour later, Slate was steering them out to where there were usually good fish to be found. Jaelynn was relaxed back in the small boat with cushions behind her and rods by her side.

Slate was beginning to realise he might have bitten off more than he could chew. Jaelynn was the most chilled he’d ever seen her. There was a twinkle in her eye that warned him he was about to get his ass kicked.

???

Four hours later and twelve fish to his four, Jaelynn was crowing as they headed back to the cabin. Jaelynn had been thoroughly amused at his lack of fishing skills, according to her. Slate kept his mouth shut that he was one of the better skilled fishermen in the club and wondered if he could set up a contest. He’d make a killing betting on Jaelynn.

He steered the boat into the shed and tied it up properly. To his surprise, Jaelynn had released all the fish into the lake. As she said, if they were staying the night, they’d have kept a couple back, but there was no point in wasting fish. He agreed and fell a little bit more for her.

Slate had been surprised at how comfortable it had been to sit in a boat in silence with her. He’d almost expected Jaelynn to fill the air with needless chatter, but she hadn’t. She’d been quite content to watch the world drift by. Slate could easily envision lazy days like this in the summer.

“Enjoy that?” he asked as he put away the blankets and rods.

“Yes. It’s been a long time since I could sit back and relax,” Jaelynn responded, smiling. Her smile kicked him in the gut. There was happiness and trust there.

“Then we’ll make sure we do this weekly. Just us and nobody else,” Slate said.

“That would be a bit hard with my shifts. I work every day,” Jaelynn replied.

“We can sort something out.”

Jaelynn could take Monday and Tuesday off from Ezra and increase her hours for the rest of the week. Ezra wouldn’t care. Jaelynn wasn’t there as a secretary but to keep everything filed and ensure Ezra sent invoices. Ezra had a dedicated cell phone for the business, so nobody would be ringing the offices. Yeah, they could leave early hours of Monday morning, after the bar closed at midnight, and then drive up here and wake up to the lake. Sounded perfect to Ezra.

Jaelynn stopped walking and looked puzzled.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I could have sworn I just saw a flash of red moving in the trees,” she murmured. “I must’ve been seeing things. Let’s take the hamper to the cabin.”

“Yeah,” Slate replied, alert to any sign of movement, but there were none. Jaelynn must have imagined it.

Slate put everything away and made them a drink. They sat on the porch swing, watching the sun begin to dip, and Jaelynn sighed.

“As much as I hate leaving here, we better go, or I’ll be late for my shift,” she said.

“We’ll come back,” Slate offered.

“This is my ideal home. On the lake, fishing, hunting,” Jaelynn responded, and Slate looked surprised.

“You like to hunt?”

“Yeah. Aunt Elsie used to take me. I can skin and butcher my prey. She hated waste, and I was taught to use almost everything. I’ve not been hunting for several years. The same for fishing. Dorothy taught me everything. They believed if I could catch and eat them, then I needed to know how to prepare them for eating and how to cook them.” Jaelynn smiled.

“What else did they teach you?” Slate asked as they approached his bike.

“I used to have a large vegetable plot, and I raised chickens. We used to have this rooster, and he was tiny, but he used to strut like he was the man.” Jaelynn grinned as she remembered.

“Country woman? Didn’t see that coming. I thought you were a big city girl,” Slate teased, and Jaelynn’s face fell.

“No, the country never left my heart, despite what people tried to mould me into,” Jaelynn murmured.

Slate stopped at his bike and, with a finger, tilted Jaelynn’s chin up till she met his eyes. “Be as country as you want. I don’t give a fuck. If you’re happy, that’s all that matters.” Slate bent his head to kiss her when they both jumped. A flock of birds left the tree cawing, and Slate felt a cold sensation run down his spine. Jaelynn clearly sensed the same.

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