Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 89553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89553 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 448(@200wpm)___ 358(@250wpm)___ 299(@300wpm)
“A cow?” Ed asks.
“Striped bass over twenty-five pounds,” Brice says. “You know your fish, son.”
Brice grabs one of the larger nets and positions it over the side. I pull up my rod. The fish is thrashing on the line, trying to get free, but my brain is hard-wired to do this. I caught my first fish at five years old. I’m not going to let this fucker go. It’s a big one, and I want to be able to tell my dad I caught it before I let it go.
I pull again, and Brice is ready with the net. I wind like mad and bring it clear out of the water. Brice scoops it up in the net.
“That’s a nice fish,” Brice says. “Haven’t seen one landed that big by a tourist in a while.”
Brice sets to work getting it out of the net and on the scale. I figure it’s got to be at least thirty pounds.
“Is that a fluke?” Ed asks. “Have you fished before?”
I shrug. “A little. With my dad when I was a kid.”
“I didn’t know that. Honestly, I thought you were a little squeamish about it.”
I’m not about to tell Ed I’d be happy if I never held another fishing rod in my life. But I don’t want him to feel bad about today’s trip. He’s clearly having fun, and that’s the aim of this weekend, right?
Brad starts to shout. “I got one! It’s strong.”
Brice leaves my cow on the deck of the boat, flailing around. Everyone’s attention goes to Brad.
I should throw my fish back. I just wouldn’t mind weighing it first.
Brad loses whatever was stuck on his line, and Brice comes back to my cow. At least it certainly looks big enough.
“Gotta be thirty pounds,” he says as he lifts it onto the scale.
Gotta be.
I watch the needle on the scale as it settles. Thirty-six. My biggest-ever catch. I bite back a grin. I shouldn’t feel as pleased as I do.
“Grab this mother and I’ll take a picture,” Brice says.
Why not? I can always delete it. Maybe Lucy would want to see it. I hand him my phone and take the fish. The feel of it—the smell—reminds me of summers spent out on the boat with my dad.
I hold it and look into the camera.
“We can eat that tonight,” Ed says. “Great catch, Hunter.”
“Nah. We’ve got a chef booked for tonight.” I glance at my watch. It’s just over five minutes since I caught this thing. “I better get him back,” I say.
“If you’re going to do it, do it now,” Brice says.
I launch the bass off the side of the boat, watching as it comes to life after hitting the water. I bet it thought it wasn’t going to get a second chance. I hope it survives.
Before I can second-guess myself, I type out a message to my dad and send him the shot of me with the bass. We haven’t spoken in a few months. That will make his day.
Reluctantly, I retake my spot next to Ed.
“You’re a dark horse,” Ed says. “First you’re secretly dating Lucy, and now you’re a fisherman.”
I can’t help but chuckle. “Not a dark horse. I used to fish with my dad when I was a kid. Haven’t done it in years.” We would go out every weekend. I loved those weekends, just one-on-one with my dad. I wanted so badly to grow up to be exactly like him. It was why I did finance in college. I wanted to take over the family business. I wanted to become the man he was.
And then everything changed.
“Have you spoken to him?” Ed asks.
“My dad? Sure. A few weeks back.” It’s a lie. But a small one.
“That’s not what I mean. Have you spoken to him about the business?”
I gaze out at the ocean. “Nope. What’s the point? He either knew the business was going down and let me take over a sinking ship, or he didn’t know, which makes him an idiot. Either way, there’s no upside to talking to him about it.” Dad finally retired five years after I graduated college. I’d spent those five years learning the business from top to bottom—or so I thought. I knew the clients. I understood the regulatory requirements. I was ready.
Except I wasn’t. Dad had kept the financial performance of the business a secret. He’d told me parts, but I never got enough information to get a full picture. I can’t help but think that was deliberate. He had to know Bain Insurance was in dire financial straits. The lease on our offices was too expensive and so tightly drafted it was impossible to get out of or move and sublet. The salaries of a lot of the people who’d been there long before me were vastly inflated, but too much valuable company history sat with them, so it was impossible to fire them. And there wasn’t any new business coming through.