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Caitlin slipped her arm through Jenni’s and looked at her friend. “It’s beautiful out here in its own way. Try to just enjoy the day. The three of us, I mean Aunt May Ellen, Mom, and me, we’ll hopefully catch plenty. And if you do, that’s great. If you don’t, that’s OK too. You made it possible for us to be here, and we’re grateful. Especially those two.” She pointed to Barb and May Ellen whose heads were deep into their tackle boxes.
Jenni was just about to respond when a truck pulled into space 113, spraying sand everywhere. Four guys tumbled out, laughing and yelling and basically making themselves known. One of them loudly announced to no one in particular, “Get ready everyone. The “Cast of Thousands” is here. Tournament is over.”
Jenni looked sadly at the truck, realizing her dream of fishing in isolation had quickly been shattered.
Then she did a double-take. It wasthattruck, that Ford F-150. She knew that truck. Under her breath, she muttered, “I can’t believe it.”
“What?” asked Caitlin.
But before Jenni could answer and make a get-away, one of the four walked over with a bright smile and said, “Good morning, ladies. I always like to introduce myself to the neighbors for the morning session. I… Oh.” He stopped, then grinning broadly, continued, “Well, if it isn’t the last person on earth?”
Chapter Six
No. No. No! This can’t be happening!
Despite the chill, Jenni’s cheeks burned making them probably as pink as her hat.
“It’s Jenni, isn’t it?” the man said. “I know you remember me.”
Jenni looked at Caleb and then at Caitlin and gave a sheepish grin. “Yes, I’m Jenni, and this is my friend Caitlin. And yes, Itold you I’d be the last person on earth you’d see at a fishing tournament, but plans changed. And here I am.”
In his fishing waders and goofy woolen hat, he was even more gorgeous than she remembered. She struggled to keep from just staring at him. Her mouth remained open, but no more words would come out.
Thankfully, Caleb seemed not to notice Jenni’s reaction. He reached out and shook Caitlin’s hand.
Caitlin had been watching this exchange with some confusion. Then the penny dropped. “You are the guy who helped Jenni out of the sand!”
“Oh, she told you about that, did she?” He laughed.
Jenni was stuck wondering how anyone could look so good in fishing attire while she, in her humble opinion, looked like a clown. “We thought she might keep that a deep, dark secret.”
“Nope, one thing about Jen is that she is very honest,” said Caitlin, grabbing her friend’s arm. “Just one of the many things she’s known for.”
“Is that a fact?” replied Caleb. He seemed to want to say something further, but the rest of his teammates were yelling for him to return.
“I guess I’d better go.” He half-turned. “But just for the record, those idiots are my college buddies Johan, Bertrand–we call him Bertie–and Lyle. They are loud, but they are harmless. I’d love to hear your story sometime, Jenni, about how you ended up out here. For a first-time angler, which is what I have to assume you are, you’re pretty brave. Good luck.”
Jenni blushed. “Caitlin was good enough to give me lessons yesterday. We’ll see. Um, good luck to you too.”
Jenni sincerely hoped that with the wind and the pounding surf, Caleb was out of earshot when Caitlin nearly squealed, “He’s gorgeous, Jenni. Just how did you omit that from your story Wednesday night?”
“Is he?” Jenni asked. She was unwilling to let her own feelings be known, whatever they were. She had already placed Caleb in the recesses of her mind. Or she thought she had.
Knowing he was right next to her for the next several hours might make things challenging, but she could focus on fishing, and she’d be fine. “I mean, I guess so. I really wasn’t paying that much attention, you know, with being stuck and all.”
Jenni adjusted one of the straps on her waders.
No use in admitting the truth. After all, what would that mean? Better to just move on.
“Jenni, I just refuse to believe you have shut out that much of your life. You have to allow yourself to feel again,” Caitlin said sternly. Then her tone grew softer. “Hey, I think it’s almost seven, and Mom and May Ellen will want to give us the team spirit talk. Breathe, Jenni. It’s OK. I just wish I’d claimed this spot to fish. Lots of eye candy over there.” She winked.
They walked back to the truck, and Caitlin told her mother and aunt about their angler buddies in the next slot.
“What a nice coincidence,” Barb said. “But now we’re ready for action. Let’s catch some fish!”
Jenni grabbed her rod and her bait and made her way to her designated spot. She tried not to look to her right, but she couldn’t help but notice that Caleb had picked the spot in his slot furthest to the left, maybe so he could see her clearly?
She took a deep breath, dug her gloves out of her pockets, and began to bait her hook. It wasn’t easy, but she finally got a piece which she felt would stay on.
