"You mean Tammy?" Jesse asked. "How do you know I broke up with her?"
"Because you told us."
"I just said we broke up. How do you know she didn't break up with me?"
I sat up, keeping the blanket wrapped around my shoulders as I spun around and landed in a cross-legged position with my knees against Jesse's side.
"Because you were too good for her," I said. "It makes no sense that she would be the one to break up with you."
Jesse readjusted so he could more easily see me. "What about you?" he asked.
"What about me?"
"You're too good for that guy."
"Pa doesn’t think so," I said.
I glanced at Jesse, and he smirked at me. "Pa just likes to ask you about your life. And he likes basketball. If anything, he…"
"He what?" I asked.
"Nothing," Jesse said.
I poked his arm. "You can't start to say something, and then say 'nothing'," I said.
He smiled. "I just did."
I squinted at him, and just when I was about to make him tell me what he was about to say, we heard the telltale whizzing, zipping sound of the line as a fish took off with the hook. Jesse sat up and grabbed the rod and reel before I even knew what was going on.
"It's just another little one," he said once he had the chance to fight with it for a few seconds. "Do you want to reel him in?"
I felt comfortable and content wrapped in that blanket, and I really just wanted to sit there and watch Jesse do it, so I shook my head, and he finished the job of catching the fish. It ended up being larger than he originally thought, and as it got closer, he offered it to me again.
We both stood up and got to the edge of the dock as Jesse fought for the catch. It was a nice-looking trout, but Jesse threw it back. Not before he let me pet it, though. I reached out to touch its scaly skin, feeling jumpy like Jesse might threaten to throw it at me. He held it perfectly still so I could touch it.
"Is he gonna be fine?" I asked, staring at the fish.
"Yep," Jesse promised. He gently tossed the fish into the water, stooping to dip his hands in the lake to wash them off.
"He swam away," I said.
Jesse smiled. "That's what they do."
"Unless you eat them," I said.
"We'll probably eat the ones we catch tomorrow," Jesse said. "It makes Pa think he's getting his money worth out of this place when he eats what we catch. Nana usually gets a couple of meals out of it."
"By the time you pay for the cabin and buy gas to come up here, you could have just gone up to the store and picked up about a month's worth of gourmet trout.
Jesse squinted at me and hit his own chest in that funny, male-territorial way. "What are you talkin' bout, girl?" he asked. "We're here to provide for our family."
"No really, I think it's cool that he hangs onto this place. I forgot how much I like it out here. And I'm glad you do this with Pa. I didn't know y'all came out here so often."
Jesse shrugged and absentmindedly put down the rod. "Twice a year just for a night," he said. "Spring and fall. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it rolls around before you know it. I do it with dad, too, and I have a couple of friends who come with me up here. I come up five or six times a year usually."
"Huh, that's crazy. I haven't been in a long time."
"Are you coming with us in the morning?" he asked.
"No. But not because I don't feel welcome."
"Was it because I threatened to restrain you in the boat?" he asked.
"No," I said simply. I stared at him with a completely serious expression that matched his own.
This made him grin a little. "Why then?"
I pointed at the dock below our feet. "Because I like the idea of sitting out here and reading at sunrise. Or maybe I'll sleep in." I shrugged. "Either way, you guys get to have your male bonding, and I get a few hours to do anything but research."
That comment made Jesse ask me something about my job at the bank, which led to other topics like music and food and movies. We went from standing, to sitting, to lying on the dock as we talked and talked and completely lost track of time.
It was midnight when we made our way back to the cabin. Pa was in his room with the door closed and was presumably sleeping. He had pulled out the sofa bed and left blankets and pillows on the couch for Jesse.
"Do you want us to wake you up before we head out?" Jesse asked in whispered tones as we stood in the living room.
I shook my head. "No thanks. I'll set an alarm if I decide to wake up with you guys." I smiled at him and started to walk off toward my bedroom, but he stopped me by reaching out to brush my arm with the back of his hand.
"Rose," he said.
"Yeah?"
He stared at me for several seconds. "Nothing."
I shook my head. "Nothing?" I asked. "You can't do that."
He shrugged. The energy between us was charged with everything we were leaving unsaid.
"What'd you want to tell me?" I asked.
"Just that I had fun," he said as if settling for that. "I'm glad you came with us."
"I'm glad, too," I whispered. I smiled and waved at Jesse as I retreated to my room.
I thought about the conversations I had with Pa and Jesse, replaying different things we said and still not feeling certain how I felt about everything. It took me an hour or so to get settled to the point where I was ready to fall asleep, and even then, it was difficult. The cabin had certain creaks and noises that I wasn't used to, and they made it almost impossible for me to fall asleep.
Finally, I drifted off, only to be abruptly woken up a few short hours later. I was so startled out of my sleep that it took me a second to remember where I was.
I glanced at the clock, which read 3:37, and I blinked, waiting for the noise that had woken me up. I heard commotion, and I got up to see what was going on. I could see as I crossed the living room that Jesse was not on the couch, and the noise was coming from the bedroom where our granddad was staying. I went that way instantly.
I heard a moan before my granddad said, "Ohhhh, push the toes. Push them up, son. Ohhhhh."
I didn't really register that he was talking about toes, and I feared the worst. My heart pounded and I went into panic mode as I tried to figure out what was going on. Jesse was at Pa's bedside and Pa's room was dark enough that I couldn't really see what was happening.
"It's just a cramp," Jesse said, noticing me coming up behind him. Pa made all sorts of noises. First, he made reluctant groans of agony, but then they shifted into thankful sighs.
"Okay, thank you so much, Jesse. I'm so sorry to do that to you, son. I only get those every now and then, but when I do, I need someone else to reach down there and flex my calf for me." He let out another sigh—one that broke my heart hearing it come from my granddad.
"Y'all scared me to death," I said coming to stand next to them with my hand on my chest.
There was a nightlight near his bed, so once I got closer, I could see them perfectly. Jesse sat on the edge of Pa's bed, and Pa laid his head back onto his pillow with another thankful, deep breath. He was not one for drama, and I had never really seen him show any indication of pain, so I stared at him with a concerned expression.
"You sure you're okay?"
"Oh yeah baby, it's just a cramp in my leg. It just hurt until I could get Jesse in here to help me stretch it out. I'm sorry I had to wake y'all up. I just have to have somebody to tilt my toes back."
"Is it feeling better?" I asked.
Pa nodded. "Yes, thank you."
Jesse stood up, looking at me. "We should probably try to get some sleep," he said.
"We certainly should," Pa said, adjusting his covers.
"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah, Rosie, I'm fine. I'm used to that. It happens to me every once in a while. It's no problem." He paused and glanced at Jesse. "Thank you, Jesse. I'm sorry if I scared you by yelling."
"You didn't," Jesse said with a wave in Pa's direction on our way out.
"Night," I said.
"Night," Pa said.
I stared at Jesse with wide eyes once we turned the corner to head back into the living room. "That freaked me out," I whispered.
He smiled. "Me too, at first, but then I realized what was going on."
I sighed. My heart was still racing. "When I walked in there he sounded like he was in pain, and I don't know, well, since he's an old man I thought that he was...."
"Croakin'?" Jesse asked, teasing me when I trailed off.
His question made me giggle and I leaned back and pushed at his shoulder. "You better get some sleep," I said.