Chapter Ten

After a restless night, Maddie was awake for good by six-ten a.m. She shrugged on her running gear, pulled her hair up, tucked the cabin key into the tiny pocket of her jogging suit, and set out for an early morning run.

A low mist hovering delicately close to the water’s surface lent an air of mystery to her surroundings. Her footfalls echoing off the gravel trail were only some of the sounds she heard as she went along. Birdsong was in full swing as the landscape around her came awake.

Sudden movement up ahead and to her left startled her and she stopped, heart racing. When the bushes parted, Maddie was face to face with a gorgeous doe. The deer looked at her for a long moment, then crossed the path in front of Maddie to continue her journey to the lake’s edge for a drink. A dainty little fawn trotted along after its mother, pausing only to regard Maddie for a moment with its wide brown eyes before flicking its tail and disappearing, as the doe had, into the bushes on the trail’s right side.

Smiling, Maddie waited until she could no longer hear their movements, then began to jog again.

***

An hour later, she’d showered and was making breakfast for herself.

I want to fish today, Maddie decided as she moved bacon around the skillet. Need to check out this place, see if there’s any gear here.

To her surprise, there was not. But she’d seen a marina and general store on her way to the cabin and figured that was as good a place as any to start.

She finished her meal, washed the dishes and placed them in the tiny drying rack, then drove to the marina to get decked out with the supplies she’d need for fishing.

***

Can’t believe I slept in, Mason thought to himself as he sipped his coffee on the porch. I guess I didn’t realize how much of a toll all this was taking.

He heard a car start over to his right and turned his head in time to see the woman staying one cabin over pulling away.

At least, he assumed it was a woman. The neighboring setup was about a hundred yards away by Mason’s estimate, so getting a good clear look at someone wasn’t likely. But by the way the figure moved, it struck him as feminine.

When he’d arrived the previous day, he’d been dumbfounded to see anyone else in the area. Allen had mentioned that it would most likely be deserted this time of year, so it was with great surprise he’d noticed he had company in the cabin to his right.

Maybe they just needed a break from life, too, he mused, then returned to his cabin’s kitchen to make himself some breakfast.

***

The marina’s general store didn’t open for another twenty minutes, so Maddie passed the time leaning against the dock, watching the miniscule waves crest to lightly kiss the shoreline.

Once the manager flipped the window sign from ‘Closed’ over to ‘Open,’ Maddie went inside. To her delight, she was able to buy a rod and reel, hooks, sinkers, worms, and a ten-day fishing license.

She traveled back down one more tiny aisle and found a little tackle box to round out her purchases.

In ten minutes, she was back at her cabin, and ten minutes after that, she was remembering what her father had taught her about how to properly string a fishing pole when using worms as bait.

Her first cast made her laugh out loud.

“Been a while,” she mumbled as she grinned. “Definitely rusty. I can do much better than that.”

She reeled in her line and tried again. This time, it traveled quite a distance, dropping down into the exact area she’d aimed for.

“There!” Maddie exclaimed, pleased with herself. “Now, we wait.”

***

Mason’s line had been in the water all of five minutes when he’d heard distant laughter pealing to his right. He whipped his head that direction and could make out his neighbor at the end of the dock.

Looks like she’s reeling back in, he noticed. Wonder what was so funny.

He watched her cast, and his eyebrows raised.

Pretty damn good throw.

And he could tell she was pleased with it too, the way she pumped a fist in the air. He grinned as he watched her, caught up in her joy.

***

As she made herself comfortable on the dock, Maddie had a sense of being watched.

She turned her head to the left and noticed the man was back on his dock again.

Impulsively, she waved her hand, trying to ascertain if he was looking her direction or not.

And realized with a start that he definitely was when after a pause he raised his arm and waved back at her.

***

The figure in the distance waving at him caught him off guard for a moment, and Mason felt a pang of guilt, like he’d been peeping through someone’s window.

Oh, well, what the hell, he’d thought as he shrugged and waved back.

***

After a few bites but no catches, Maddie opted to reel in her line for the last time just after one in the afternoon.

I seem to remember Dad and I always caught more when we fished closer to dark. I’ll try again then.

She leaned her pole against the porch, set the tackle box down next to it, and went inside to make a sandwich for lunch.

***

Mason watched her pack up and head into her cabin.

Bye, he thought. Maybe she will be back out later.

And he realized he already missed seeing her out there on her dock, throwing her line into the water. 

Well, not her, specifically, he corrected himself. Just…. another human being.

He’d come out here to unplug, get some perspective. He had opportunity for both of those in spades. But he’d also spent the last six years by himself, and it suddenly dawned on him how tired he was of being alone in the world.

Tired of eating alone, going grocery shopping alone, watching TV alone, all of it.

Maybe it’s time to start doing something about that, then, his inner self responded. You’ve been barely existing for years now. No one will fault you for deciding to live again.

And how would I even begin to do that? What, join some dating apps and hope for the best? And what would I even say to any woman I’m interested in? “Hi, I’m Mason and after my family died, I became overly obsessed with technology, but some asshole crushed my dream, and I just lost my company?”

Yeah, because that’ll cause the ladies to line up at my door, he scoffed. And I’ve never been one for one-night stands, either.

But I need to make a change at some point, he realized. And soon. Or I’m going to stay alone forever.