Page 63 of The Pink House

“We’ll bait the hook with my special mixture.” Charlie showed her how it was done on one hook, then gestured for her to do the same on the other.

Hannah sensed if she demurred and asked him to bait hers, he’d oblige. She reminded herself that she was here to learn. There was no better time to do that than when she had a teacher with her, one who could answer any questions she might have.

“What kind of catfish will we catch?”

“There’s predominantly blue around here.”

“What’s in this stuff?” She carefully put the bait on the circular hook, then gladly took the rag Charlie extended to wipe off her fingers.

He shot her a wink. “You don’t want to know.”

Charlie spent the next few minutes showing her how to cast her line. “Since we’re staying in one place, we need to cast it way out there.”

She smiled triumphantly when hers finally was where it needed to be. “Now what do we do?”

“We sit and we wait.”

“How long will that take?” Hannah studied the water, felt for the slightest movement in her pole.

“Hard to say. Usually within fifteen to twenty minutes. It could be longer.”

“Longer?” Hannah pulled her brows together. “What do we do while we’re waiting?”

He reached into a zippered bag and pulled out two insulated coffee tumblers. “We enjoy our morning coffee.”

Hannah took the mug and flipped open the top, inhaling the rich Colombian flavor. “Thank you.”

He’d already taken his first sip. “You’re welcome.”

“But seriously, what do we do?”

“We sit here. Relax.”

“Just sit here?”

“Yep.” He smiled. “Nothing says we can’t talk while we wait. Yelling is off the table, though, because it’d scare the fish.”

Hannah took another long sip of coffee and tried to imagine her type-A, always-on-the-go husband simply sitting here when there were a thousand and one other things he could be doing.

“I can see that mind of yours working overtime.” Charlie gazed at her over the top of his mug. “What’s the conclusion?”

Unlike with some people, Hannah didn’t feel the need to censor her words or thoughts with Charlie.

“I didn’t know Brian other than by sight in high school. He struck me as ambitious even back then.” Hannah wrapped her fingers around the mug. “That’s how he was during our years together. It was difficult to get him to relax or take any downtime.”

“What about you?”

“Me?” Her voice rose.

“You dove into your home improvements without pausing to catch a breath after you moved back,” he observed. “It seems you’ve always got some kind of list going.”

“I also took time this week to sit on my porch and relax.”

Cocking his head, he only studied her.

“What?”

“You didn’t answer my question.” His tone gentled. “I can see you’re making an effort to have a balanced life. What I asked, though, is how were you back in Greensboro?”

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