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“Ready?” Jason slapped a hand to his forehead. “Damn. I forgot we’re supposed to go fishing today.”
“Supposed to? What is wrong with you?” Galen peered at him with an expression of utter betrayal.
“It was a busy night. You heard about the fire at the nursing home, right? Or were you out in the wild with no service?”
“I heard. Good work.” He slid off the stool and went to make the coffee himself. “‘Fire Chief Faces and Aces First Big Test.’ Not bad, bro. Still no excuse for forgetting a fishing trip.”
Jason poured himself a glass of orange juice, downed it, then grabbed another glass and filled it for Galen.
“Something bothering you, Galen?” His old friend didn’t seem like himself. He and Galen had been buddies since they’d both played on the hockey team in high school. Galen had filled the position of goalie with a mad rabid intensity that made opposing players afraid to approach the goal.
“Nah.” He swallowed down some juice in his typical beast-like manner. Galen had the sweetest heart in the world, but on the outside he came off as entirely uncivilized. “Okay, yes. You’re the fire chief now.”
“Yup.” Jason grabbed a stool and straddled it. A glance at the coffee maker told him it was still early. Barely six. What time had Kendra left? Before dawn?
“Thomas is married.”
“That’s the usual outcome of wedding vows,” Jason said drily.
“And they have a kid. Billy has his two boys. I’m the only Cooper brother without offspring.”
“Offspring, huh? I’ve never heard you talk about wanting offspring before.”
“Are you kidding? Kids love me. They think I’m some kind of cartoon character. Like a troll,” he added gloomily.
“No way, you’re too tall to be a troll. You’d have to be an ogre.”
“An ogre.” Galen buried his head in his hands. “I’m fucked, aren’t I?”
Jason poured the freshly dripped coffee into a Thermos and screwed on the cap. “How about we go catch some trout and finish this convo over breakfast?”
Jason’s house was just a short walk away from a launch spot where he kept a couple of kayaks and a collection of fishing rods stashed under a tarp. Within ten minutes, they were gliding across the lake, its surface flat as a mirror, reflecting pink and pearl morning light. This time of year, with the water temperatures dropping again, some spectacular bass could be found.
A sense of peace came over him as he dipped the paddle into the water. Kendra had probably left this morning because she had work to do. Operation Respected Elders, day two. Maybe she wasn’t fleeing from him and his threat to “change the game.”
But back to Galen’s problem. He dug in the paddle so he came up alongside his friend. “Remember how we used to talk about being the favorite uncle, the one who gets to go home at the end of the day and sleep in peace?”
“Yeah, but that’s not me anymore. I got to tell you, Jason, I don’t think it ever was me.”
“You always wanted a family?”
Galen shook his head, squinting away from the rays of the sun just beginning to pierce through the tops of the trees. “I didn’t even know what family was. To me, family was my brothers. We always stuck together. Thomas brought us here after that summer camp for poor kids, and we all decided to stay. Mom didn’t care, so long as she didn’t have to send too much money. First time I went into the woods to camp, I didn’t want to leave. That was home. The forest. The wilderness. My brothers. I didn’t need anything else.”
“Gee, thanks.”
“Buddies were cool too,” Galen added with a roll of his eyes. “Girls, yeah, I liked them too. But I didn’t need them. I thought Billy was crazy when he got married at twenty-one.”
“You might have been right about that one.” Billy and Jenna had gotten divorced a few years and two kids later.
“I was right. But I was also wrong. Because now Billy has a family and I have a bunch of trees.”
Jason couldn’t help laughing at that. “So what’s stopping you from branching out?”
“Is that supposed to be funny?” Galen’s bristly indignation made Jason laugh even harder.
“No man, I didn’t even realize. I swear.”
Galen relaxed, then slapped a mosquito that had landed on his neck. “I’m just ready, man. I saw a therapist. He helped me think about how I grew up and why that made me reject the whole family scene.” He back-paddled to bring his kayak to a standstill, then dropped a line into the water. “This is good. Walleye love this spot.”
