Page 79 of Steinbeck
“Not too fast.”Judah also stood.“Pull back, slack the line, then reel fast.Then do it again.”
Steinbeck obeyed, pulling the line back, reeling hard, repeating.Sweat sheened his skin, his back aching.
The fish skipped across the waves.
“A nice-sized pompano,” Judah said and ran toward the water.In a moment, he’d snagged the fish, brought it to shore.The pompano lay in the sand, still breathing, twisting.
“The thing about the fish and the loaves,” said Judah as he knelt to unhook the creature, “is that the disciples in that moment said, ‘This is all we have, Lord.’And they handed Him the fish.And He said, ‘Okay then.Stand back and see what I will do.’”He held up the fish.“Dinner?”
“No.I don’t have a license.”
“I do, but maybe we’ll let this guy live.”He walked to the shore and tossed him back out to sea.“Be free.Live a long and happy life.”
Steinbeck grinned.
Judah walked back to Steinbeck.“You never know what your hook will bring in if you put it in the water.”
“I didn’t know you fished, Steinbeck.”
He turned, cupped a hand over his eyes, and spotted Nimue walking down the weathered steps to the beach.Dark hair, expressive golden-brown eyes, olive skin, so clearly not from the same father as Emberly, who’d been bequeathed beautiful green eyes, red hair, and fair skin.
Still, they laughed at the same crazy TV shows and shared the same love of ice cream.
Now, Nimue walked across the beach in her bare feet, wearing a pair of dark shorts and an oversized shirt, her hair pulled back with cornrow braids.“Early morning run?”
He got up and walked over to her.“Cals.My knee is still sore.I’m trying not to stress it.”He’d developed a nearly blackened bruise on his leg, and the muscles still ached.
“Yeah, that looks painful.”She lifted a hand to the fisherman.“Hey, Judah!”
He waved back.
“I got up and made coffee and saw your bedroom door open.”She kept walking.
Stein nodded, his feet depressing the sand.The tide had started to come in, filling his footprints.
“You look like a man with something on his mind.Did they finish the virus?”
He nodded.“I guess Emberly would tell you anyway.”
“Of course she would.I’ve been helping her on this mission since the beginning.It really rattled her when she walked back into your life.”
He glanced at her.
“Mostly because it also tore her up to leave you.I think...well, you’re good for her, Steinbeck.You make her more careful.Less impulsive.Thoughtful.”
Huh.She did the opposite for him.Ignited a fire inside that he had thought had died.
“Did she tell you she’s thinking of leaving the Swans?”Nimue asked.
“She did.I didn’t realize she’d toldyou.”
“A few days ago.Before you walked in.”She shoved her hands into her pockets.“I thought she was a lifer, so you must have a bigger effect on her than I thought.”
He glanced at her.“This is because of me?”
“Not just you.But I think...”She sighed.“I think she might see a second chance at that thing she ran from.”
The tide was coming in, splashing at his heels.“What thing?”
