Chapter Eleven

Maddie woke from her afternoon nap – a luxury that she decided she could really get used to if she wasn’t careful – then prepared to go back down to the dock and try her luck fishing again.

She pulled her hair up again, throwing on a baseball cap for good measure, then made her way back out to the end of the dock. She rigged another worm on her hook, cast out, set her line, and settled in to wait.

Just as the sunlight was beginning to fade, the end of Maddie’s pole dipped sharply.

Hah! Got one!

She reeled in quickly, but the line stripped out. She set her teeth and tugged back against the brutal force pulling the top half of her rod toward the water.

Whatever it is, it’s strong, she realized, and paid out just a bit of slack so the line wouldn’t snap under the strain before slowly reeling it back in again.

She lowered the angle of her pole, then jerked sharply upward to make sure the hook was set. This caused whatever had swallowed her bait to thrash about even more, and she struggled desperately to keep her balance.

***

Mason, having no luck whatsoever, had just reeled in his line when he heard a yelp followed by a huge splash over to his right. He turned his head just in time to see his neighbor hit the water.

Without thinking, he raced that direction along the shoreline, using his flashlight to help guide his steps in the quickly gathering dusk. He reached the dock area, turned and ran to the beginning point so he could get to the termination point over the water.

Mason could hear the woman sputtering as she splashed about.

“Are you all right? Give me your hand,” he said.

“Take the pole,” came the response, and he couldn’t help but grin.

“You held on to the pole? Why?”

“Because I’ve got a big one on there, I just know it,” the mystery woman said. “Here. Take it. I’ll be right up.”

He chuckled as he reached down and grabbed the pole from her, and she swam to shore then came around behind him down the dock, her waterlogged tennis shoes sloshing as she moved.

“You’ve definitely got something big on here,” he confirmed as he felt the weight of whatever was on the line straining to free itself.

“Y-y-yeah,” she said, her face in shadow as her teeth began to chatter. “That water’s f-f-freezing, too, I can t-t-tell you that much.”

“Why don’t you go change clothes, get dry? I can hold on here until you get back, then maybe we can work together to get this thing reeled in.”

“Deal,” she answered. “Be right b-b-back.”

And Mason chuckled again as her squishy shoes sounded against the dock once more.

***

Back in her cabin, Maddie raced to get out of her wet clothes and into dry ones.

That was nice of him to come help, she thought. I’ll have to make sure I say thank you.

She stepped out to her car and grabbed her own flashlight so she could more safely navigate back to the dock.

“Hi again,” she said. “So, what’s the plan to land this monster fish?”

The stranger turned to look at her, his face plainly visible now in her flashlight beam, and Maddie’s eyes went wide.

“Mason? Mason Gentries? Is that you?”

***

He heard his name, and with one hand pulled his own flashlight back out of his pocket and shined it toward her in disbelief.

For what felt like eternity, he didn’t speak, just stared at her.

“Maddie Smithing,” Mason finally managed to say. “What are you doing here?”

He was so shocked to see her that he almost set the fishing pole down, but he caught himself at the last moment.

“Um… hi,” he murmured, not sure what else to say.

“Hi,” Maddie parroted back, and he could see her cheeks turning red in the illumination of his little flashlight.

“So… about the fish…”

“Yeah,” Mason, with effort, returned his focus to the reason for them standing on the dock. “The way it’s pulling I’m thinking it’s either a pretty good-sized catfish, or an alligator gar.”

“I thought so too. I remember catching a gar once when I was about eight,” Maddie mentioned. “It fought like crazy. Dad had to help me with it.”

Wow, her mind raced as she continued making safe small talk. When did he get so tall? And how is it possible that he got even more cute? I don’t remember his eyes being so blue…

“Yeah. Either way, I think this may take a while. We’ll have to let it tire itself out before we’ll be able to bring it in, I think,” Mason answered.

“Maybe set up something to brace the pole against?” Maddie suggested. “That way we can set it down for just a bit without it getting pulled in.”

“I have an idea. Here, take this, I’ll be right back,” Mason said as he handed her the pole. “Let it do whatever it’s going to do, but don’t let the slack out.”

Their hands grazed as she took control of the fishing pole, and Maddie shuddered.

“You all right?” he asked.

“Fine,” she lied, unwilling to acknowledge the powerful surge of adrenaline caused by their brief physical connection.

He stepped around her, shining his light ahead of him, and disappeared into the dark.

***

As he walked swiftly toward his cabin, Mason’s brain was on overdrive, replaying what he’d said to her so far.

Nothing stupid, right?

Nope, don’t think so.

Good.

He had so many things he wanted to ask her, to tell her, and he forced his thoughts into serenity.

Calm down. You haven’t seen her in almost twenty years. No need to cover all of them in one night. Relax.

But God, she’s just as beautiful as I remember – and tiny. Was she always that tiny?

He reached his cabin, rooted around and found what he was looking for, then started back over to Maddie’s dock.

***

What are the chances of running into him again? A million to one? More?

And how the hell could I not remember how gorgeous he is?

Her mind’s eye replayed seeing him in her flashlight beam. He still had that coal-black hair that just reached his collar, and those amazing blue eyes.

But the rest of him had changed quite a bit. In place of the five-foot-seven shy loner she’d known in school was a six-foot-two, very well-muscled specimen.

Just thinking about him was causing all sorts of very unladylike – and for her, atypical – thoughts of seeing him without a shirt on…

Without anything on, actually… and in my bed…

Whoa, Maddie, reel it in, she chastised herself, then grinned at the appropriateness of the thought given her current situation.

His approaching steps echoed down the worn planks as he returned to her side, and she willed her racing heart back into a normal rhythm.

“What’s the plan?” she asked, and then cringed inwardly as she heard her voice sounding more husky than usual.

Mason went completely still for a moment before finally answering, “Gonna lash it to the dock.”