Page 5 of Love Puck

I nodded and looked at him. “Every chance I get. Which isn’t often enough.”

Trey nodded and started baiting his own hook. “Yeah, I hear ya. It seems like I go less and less every year.”

Beau cut into our conversation. “I honestly don’t get the appeal. If I wanted to sit and stare at something, I could have stayed home. And bought a salmon at the grocery store.

Trey and I stared at him with our mouths open.

“Some people just don’t get it.” Trey sighed and cast his fishing rod.

I raised my eyebrows and did the same with my own rod, but on the other side of the boat. “Fishing is a lot more than just sitting and staring.” I gave my captain a bit of a side-eye. “Give it a bit. You’ll understand soon enough.”

Or he wouldn’t.

Trey was right.

Some people just never understood the allure of fishing.

A few minutes later, a country song blared out, startling the hell out of me. “What’s—” was all I got out when I spotted Beau scrolling through his phone.

“What are you doing?” Trey asked and swiped Beau’s phone from him. He turned off the music and gave it back.

“Why’d you do that?” Beau asked and possessively grabbed his phone and stuffed it in the front pocket of his brand-new waders.

“You’ll scare all the fish away,” Trey told him the truth. “How do you not know that?”

Beau shook his head and shrugged. “This wasn’t really my scene.”

And by that, we knew what he meant.

Beau had been brought up in a huge mansion in Quebec. His father traveled a lot for work—he’d told me that years ago. His mom had been the more present parent.

I’d grown up in a big house, too. But my dad had loved the outdoors. He took me out to the cabin a lot. Mom rarely came along on those trips.

When I was young, I thought she was just disinterested in the whole outdoor thing. But as I grew older, I thought it was probably her way of letting Dad and I have time together. And while I missed my mom during these adventures—I also loved being with Dad. After he died, I was even more grateful for every fishing trip and camping trip he’d ever taken me on. Even though I didn’t have him anymore, I’d have those memories forever.

“Well, it’s a good thing you have a couple of pros to show you the ropes.” I peered over at our fishing-challenged friend.

After we set Beau up again, Trey and I followed suit. It didn’t take us long.

For a while, no one spoke—and for me at least, the silence was welcome. However, it seemed that poor Beau couldn’t stand it.

“Why isn’t anyone talking? Are you guys mad that I can’t fish?” Beau asked in a low voice. Trey and I immediately looked at him.

Trey frowned at Beau and said, “Nah, we were just bugging you, man. And silence is the best part of fishing.”

From the look on Beau’s face, he wasn’t buying any of this. “It is?”

I chuckled and threw in my two cents. “Fishing calms your mind. You listen to the sounds of nature instead of those in your head.”

Beau’s head cocked to the side. “All I can hear are Trey’s teeth chattering together.”

That made all of us laugh a little too loudly. “I can’t help it. You took me out of hot Vegas and dumped me in freezing cold Michigan.”

He was right. The Upper Peninsula was plenty cooler than Vegas. But it still wasn’t cold-cold.

“Try to concentrate on the sounds of the birds and the wind and the water,” I suggested to Beau. He again gave me a look that said he didn’t understand. But he shut up anyway.

It didn’t take me long to zone out. I loved fishing, and it had been way too long since I’d been out on my boat.

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