Chapter 12

Sitting on the boat-launch dock (well, with a ratty sweater as a cushion under me), I watched the canoe under the stars. It was gliding several meters out on the water. Their voices were muffled from the distance, but clearly there. Jesus. I just hope Garrett isn't sharing too many embarrassing stories about me.

They were clearly having a good time. Garrett's high pitched laughter reached me several times. Even with the darkness, I could make out his little arms doing the rowing. The prospect of being on a boat was scary, but I was slightly jealous. Then again, I was sure that was just thanks to my weird attraction to Blake.

When Blake rowed the boat back in, I could see them better. From where Garrett was sitting in front, he threw his arms up in the little life-vest and cheered. "Mom, that was so cool! I even drove the boat!"

I stood up and smiled, watching the canoe glide in next to the dock. "You rowed? Wow. And you guys didn't fall in?"

"Well... we saw a sea-monster. Didn't we?"

Garrett snickered, and looked to Blake before back to me. "We did mom. It was huge! We scared it off. I told Blake that I wanted to go fishing and that I wanted to try to catch the beast!"

Blake rowed further up until the bottom of the canoe scraped the cement ramp. He jumped out, pulled the canoe up, and helped Garrett step out. Then, Blake knelt down in front of my son and helped him with the vest. Blake undid the buckles and straps before he shrugged it off his little body. It was sweet and heart-warming to watch – more than I wanted to admit.

"Blake also said that you would have to start fishing too, mom."

"He did?" I asked, walking off the dock towards them and putting out my cigarette.

Dragging the canoe out of the water, Blake smiled to me. "You need to be ready for the fishing tournament. Garrett and I agreed you'll need some practice."

"We agreed you need practice with a lot, mom."

I raised an eyebrow. "With a lot of what?"

"Nothing," Blake said quickly. "Nothing at all."

"With all outside kinda stuff. We talked about a lot, mom. Blake isn't too bad."

Oh god. Those two together might be more dangerous than I expected. Hopefully my son didn't reveal too many personal details about the drama going on in our lives. Seeing how happy Garrett was though... I was convinced any conspiring might be worth it. Nothing was better than seeing how excited and happy my son was – and on my time too. Not my husband's; mine.

By the time the three of us walked back up to Blake's driveway, Garrett turned to me and said, "We should do it tomorrow, mom. I already asked Blake when we were on the canoe."

"Asked Blake what?"

"To go fishing tomorrow! Can we mom? Please, please, can we?"

I loved how excited he was. "I don't know... I'm starting to think you'd rather spend more time with Blake than with me."

Garrett spun to me, wide-eyed, and started defending himself. It was the cutest thing. "What are you talking about? You're the best! So much better than anyone ever."

Blake and I had a hard time not laughing. "I better be."

I understood Garrett was just excited about all these new things. I couldn't blame him. Matt and I were never outdoorsy. I will not admit to being prissy, but being out in the country... it was foreign to our family. We were city people and spent most of our time inside. Garrett never went fishing, never been on a canoe, never saw a parrot before. Of course he was excited to experience all these new things. Even if most of these things were not appealing to me. Beyond my annoyance that Blake was just fine with our intrusion, I was also grateful. He smiled in encouragement to me.

I guess I wouldn't get one day this week without seeing Blake. Shucks. "I mean... if you really want sweetie, sure. We can go fishing. But not on the boat."

"Yes! Thanks mom!" he gave me a huge hug.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," I mumbled, patting his back with a smile.

So the next day... we went fishing. It was a good distraction from the inevitable that always took place on Sundays. However, it was a little different from what I expected. Mainly because instead of fishing off the dock, Blake took us to the marina he works at. Therefore, if asshole Matt shows up again early, we were gone. What a shame.

The marina was located ten minutes away, but felt more secluded than the town itself. It was tucked behind patches of trees, down a private dirt road. When it opened up, there were two large (and I mean huge) barns. They housed several boats supported by large trailers and beams. Past the barns, there was a small cove with random boats parked in the water. Next to the docks was a white building.

It was the marina office and store. It faced the open water next to the cove. God, that was a lot of water. Unlike the bay we lived next to, this water was wide-open. It also had a long fishing pier. Garrett immediately ran out in excitement to check it out.

"Garrett, you be careful! We'll be out there shortly," I said, following Blake into the white building. It was a small little store with just one man behind the front counter. I could already see a nice happy conversation on it's way. I internally sighed.

"Forget you have a life and don't need to come in on your day off?" the man snorted. He looked to be in his early 40s with sweet and energetic eyes. He was scruffy though – much more than most people around here. A gray button-up tee and khakis uniform didn't look natural on him.

"Since it's just you working, I was nervous. Good job not burning the place down," Blake joked. "We're here to get some fishing practice in actually. This is Ruth," he said. "She entered the tournament too."

"Against my will," I added.

The man was suddenly interested. "I'll pay you to beat him. Name your price. I'd love to see this cocky bastard get what he's got coming."

"You aren't alone," I said, cringing as the man shook my hand with his grubby one.

Then, he turned around and opened a mini-fridge. He grabbed two small light blue containers and set them on the counter. "Have fun catchin' guys."

"Thanks Billy," he said, taking the containers and heading back outside.

Grabbing the poles from the bed of his truck, Blake tucked them under his arm. Walking out to the pier, I couldn't help but ask about those plastic containers. "What are those? And why were they in a fridge?"

He stopped in place and turned to me. The gentle breeze made his hair ruffle slightly. Shifting the poles under his arms, he held out one of the containers to me. "Look for yourself. It's bread for the fish and some other food to draw them in."

"Is it going to be gross?"

"Not at all."

I was skeptical... but he was looking at me with a blank face. Plus, I was trying not to be his entertainment and prove to him I wasn't prissy. Which I failed when I removed the top of the circular container.

I didn't swear. I didn't scream either! Sure, I squealed and tossed the container a good five feet away. But sorry, how was I suppose to know it was a thing full of worms?! Who the hell keeps worms in a fridge?!

Blake was cracking up laughing the second it happened.

"You're an asshole. How was I suppose to know there were worms in there?!"

"Well, you have been fishing most of your life," he winked, bending down and picking up the container. I grimaced just watching him pick up all the worms. "You're going to have to get use to these. You'll be putting them on your hook."

"Yeah? You think so? I don't have to use worms. I'll use something else."

"You can, but anything else – especially if you are just fishing off this dock – isn't going to do as well as worms."

Sure enough... the man was right.

Blake caught several fish. Some big, some small (and yes, that is the extent of detail I can go into since I don't know much about fish). He gave Garrett plenty of pointers and helped him catch his first fish too! Garrett kept getting bites, but had trouble catching more than the one. As for me... none yet. Then again, I was just using one of those flashy lures.

"Garrett! You got another!" I said, watching his bobber fully disappear again under the water.

"Yes I do!" He started reeling like a mad-man, biting his lip in anticipation. The end of his pole was bent down and shaking back and forth. His young hands had a more difficult time reeling after a minute. "It's a big one! It's huge! It's the sea-monster!" he shouted.

Blake quickly rested his pole against the dock and reached over, grabbing the base to steady it. "You're doing good. Keep reeling. Make sure to keep the pole up too."

Soon, Garrett couldn't reel anymore. Blake helped him by grabbing the line and pulling it up. Sure enough, it was much bigger than the first fish he caught. "Garrett, you caught a large mouth bass."

"Cool! Can I hold it?"

"You're gross," I said, scrunching my nose.

"Yeah? You're gross, mom."

I couldn't help but love the sight of the two of them. Garrett was having such a good time. All because of Blake giving us these new (even if weird) experiences. He knelt in front of Garrett with the fish. After he unhooked it, grabbed it with both hands, he held it towards him. "Hold it very tightly or it will get away."

Garrett did. His little smile was contagious. Then, without a word, he turned towards me. "It wants a hug. The fish wants a hug, mom...."

He started nearing me, extending the fish towards me. I maneuvered away. "Yeah? And my son doesn't want meatloaf for dinner."

I stopped that in it's tracks. Garrett hates meatloaf. He turned and after a moment, threw the fish back. He looked between us and smiled. "That was super awesome! Mom, you still have to catch one."

"She doesn't want to put a worm on her hook though," Blake said, standing fully up.

"I'll fish with a worm, but you have to put it on."

"Alright, I'll do it. But eventually you are going to have to do it yourself."

"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled, reeling in my line.

Blake put a hook on both my line and then Garrett's again. I was having a hard time casting out, but hey, I was still doing better than before. Didn't throw my pole into the water.

By the end of our time fishing, I didn't catch anything. I did get a few bites, but according to the expert, I kept reeling too soon. Though I didn't care for fishing, I wanted to do good in the tournament. Mainly for my son.

Garrett kept saying how I need to keep practicing for the tournament. He was excited to see me do it. Fishing was a whole new thing for us. So... I wanted to at least do decent. I wanted to make him happy and give him a great summer. While I still can anyway.

***

Everything about this situation was uncomfortable. Starting with telling Blake I wouldn't be able to work for him on Tuesdays from now on. Every Tuesday, I would be going to one of those dreadful meetings. You'd be crazy if you think that's what I actually told him though.

"I started a summer class. I hope that's okay. I mean I figured you'd understand...."

"Sure, of course. What's the class?"

My dumbass didn't think he would ask. "Um... a-a cooking class actually."

He arched a brow. "Cooking? Wow. No offense, I didn't peg you as much of a cook."

"That's why I took the class. I'm terrible," I laughed awkwardly.

That was nowhere near as awkward as the day of the meeting. I told my dad I agreed to go and he was persistent that he or my sister come with me. He claimed it would be for support. Please. They just wanted to make sure I would show up and stay through the whole thing. I can't blame them. I hated those meetings – hated them. They never did me any good.

Despite the whole 'judgement-free zone' thing, I always felt judged. Once I reached my required hours, I stopped going to the meetings. Plus, it was a waste of time. Well, it used to be a waste of time. Until this mess with the court started. Dad was convinced me going to these meetings would make me look like a better and improving citizen. Sure it would. I was ready to become a changed woman! Yeah right.

It was bad even before the meeting started. And it was because I chose Irene over my father to go with me. Even though my family wasn't as close to me as before, they were still there to support me. Honestly, Irene was the one person I felt most comfortable with after everything that happened. Even if she does drive me up a wall sometimes.

"What if there's someone cute there? Who needs a crutch or a shoulder to cry on?"

"Yeah? Do you even remember the type of people that go to these meetings?"

Irene was stuck in the bathroom. She was curling her thick brown hair that she pinned up in the back. Her make-up was light, but she went all out for her nails. God, her nails looked good. I was so jealous and would kill for a manicure. I also would kill to get going. She was taking forever and I just wanted to get this over with.

"You never know," she said in a sing-song voice, curling the last lock of hair.

Her blue eyes met mine in the mirror. She then fluffed her bangs and evened them out. Though there were a few years between us, we looked similar mostly – except she had a more heart-shaped face. She looked very pretty and had a natural beauty to her. Which was good; made up for her cheap taste and style.

"Would you come on? Before I'm late? It starts at noon," I sighed.

"Which is incredibly early. Even for you I thought."

By the time we left her small and boxy apartment, she hopped in my car, and immediately scrunched her nose. "Wow. Talk about a downgrade, huh?" she chuckled, putting on her belt. It was her first time seeing my new car. I don't blame her. I wasn't impressed either.

"Not as much of a downgrade as mom."

We snickered. We called her mom, but she was our dad's new wife. Not sure why we still say new. She's been around about ten years now. Though we called her 'mom' we weren't that close to her. Not like she ever made an effort. We always got a kick out of her 'head in the clouds' personality. Maybe it's mean, but the few times we do see her, we have no problem picking on her.

Driving there, not much was said. I could feel Irene flickering her eyes to me every few seconds. "You nervous?"

"Just don't want to go. The meetings always sucked."

"So does not having your kids though."

That was a low blow. "I love that blue dress by the way. Where did you find it? The bargain bin?"

She snorted. "That was stupid."

"You're stupid," I muttered, turning down the busy street towards the place I hated.

Like our mother, we gave just as much shit to each other. We never took much offense from it. Honestly, it got everything out – which was good (most times). We were alike, especially in the 'blunt and honest' department.

When I pulled into the parking lot of the small building, it looked more worn down than I remembered. Just a brown one story building off the main drag. It's been a while since I've been here. If I'm lucky, nobody here would remember me – or be new and ask about why I was here.

I sighed after I shut the car off. "Feel free to kill me at any point. You're in my will so there's a bit of an incentive for you."

"You have a will?" she asked, cocking her head.

"After such a close call before, I figured I wouldn't be lucky enough to live if I there was a second time," I half joked, getting out of the car.

Irene and I walked towards the building. Not wanting to be here became more than just not wanting to be here. My anxiety finally set in as we approached the door. My anxiety, paranoia, and awareness of everything. I wouldn't let this meeting swallow me back into the past. Nope. My mindset had to be just to get this over with.

Opening the door, Irene and I headed inside.

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How do you think the meeting will go? Hope you guys like it! More will be coming very shortly