Alaskan Summer (9 page)

“You did that like a pro,” Ryan said when he returned from parking the truck and trailer. “Are you ready to go?”

“I guess so.” She climbed into the boat and sat in the passenger seat.

Ryan took the other seat and started the outboard motor, then steered them out of the harbor.

Laurette looked around her. The sun sparkled on the blue water, making her glad she had worn sunglasses. “It’s beautiful,” she said in awe. The boat moved slowly until Ryan cleared the harbor. When he opened the throttle, she held on to the bar in front of her seat and glanced at the wake breaking in a white froth behind them. Ryan poked her arm and pointed up.

Laurette counted six eagles circling in the bright blue sky above them. She nodded to acknowledge she’d seen them, since the loud motor made it impossible to talk. The wind whipped across her face, and a faint, cool spray rose alongside the boat as the hull cut through the swells. Excitement filled her. She leaned forward to see over the bow and turned to smile at Ryan. She couldn’t read his expression and was too full of joy to try to figure it out.

Suddenly he reached for the throttle and slowed the motor. He looked down at her, then pointed ahead and to the right.

She quickly stood beside him. “Oh,” was all she could say when she saw the spout of water.

“Killer whales,” Ryan explained.

“I can hear them blow,” she whispered in awe. “How many are there?”

He shook his head. “Hard to say. At least three,” he said as an enormous black whale breached the surface. As it turned, she saw its white underbelly markings.

Laurette watched in wonder as the whale seemed to dance on its tail before falling back in the water with a loud crash.

“That’s one impressive belly flop!”

Ryan laughed. “They’re going to put on a show for you.”

She had heard several ships’ captains call over the radio that they would anchor late since they’d stopped for the passengers to watch the whales. One of the whales flipped its enormous tail in the air and smashed it against the water, making a sound like a cannon.

“It reminds me of the story of Jonah. When I heard the story as a kid, I could not believe there was a sea creature big enough to swallow a man.” She smiled at Ryan before turning back to watch the whales. “They’re beautiful beyond belief,” she said in fascination as the whales moved on, their telltale spouting getting farther away.

Ryan put the motor back in gear. “We’ll fish over by those rocks,” Ryan pointed.

“Will the whales come back?” Laurette asked, fearing the whales would come dangerously close to their craft.

“They eat a lot of fish, so we’ll need to find another spot if we want to catch any.”

Ryan stopped the engine a few minutes later. “I’ll start the trolling motor. The outboard is much louder, and it’s easier to fish creeping along slowly with a less powerful motor,” he explained, moving to the stern and lowering the propeller shaft of a small motor into the water.

Laurette watched as he pull started it and settled against one corner of the stern to steer.

“Think you could steer this?” Ryan asked. “Then I can get the poles rigged and ready to fish.”

“Okay.” Laurette moved cautiously toward him.

“Put a cushion behind you for comfort,” Ryan instructed as she leaned her back into the corner he’d vacated. “Push left to go right, and right to go left. Twist the handle here to adjust the throttle. Practice a little to get comfortable with it. But wait until I sit down,” he added with a grin.

Laurette took the handle and tried to see where they were going. “Where do I head?”

“Just keep us from hitting anyone.” Ryan grinned again and pulled a fishing pole from the shelf below the gunwale on her side of the boat.

Laurette pushed the handle to get the boat to go the way she wanted, taking a few minutes to get used to the feeling. She breathed a quick prayer of thanks that there were no other boats in the area at the moment.

“Ready to go.” Ryan held a pole over the side and let the line out. “This one will be yours,” he announced, putting the pole in a holder mounted on the gunwale. “When you hear line going out and see the pole bouncing, you’ve got a fish.”

Laurette gulped and nodded. She was still struggling with turning left and right. Now she was supposed to watch for boats and catch fish, too?
I thought this would be fun.

Ryan soon had another pole ready and put it in the holder next to her. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it. I’ll take over now. You can go back to the seat up front and watch your pole.”

Sighing in relief, Laurette did as she was told. She stared at the pole for a while, watching it bounce with the rhythm of the motor. The sparkling water, the warm sun, and the gentle rocking sensation made her drowsy. She’d almost dozed off when the movement of her pole snapped her alert.

“Fish on!” Ryan shouted, shutting down the motor. “Grab that pole.”

Laurette lunged for his now empty seat at the stern and struggled to pull his pole out of its holder.

❧

Ryan watched her. “You’ve got it. Now keep the tip of the pole in the air and slowly move it toward the water, reeling as you go.” He stood close behind her, speaking softly. “Now pull the pole back up straight. Then you’re pulling the fish in.”

Laurette looked up at him with a shining smile that touched his heart. She kept pumping the fishing pole up and down and reeling in line until a large silver fish jumped out of the water.

“Oh, have I lost him?”

“No, he’s just taking a look at us.” When the reel spun out more line, he put his hand on Laurette’s shoulder. “Let him run. When he’s tired it’ll be easier to get him in the boat.”

Ryan looked at the concentration showing in Laurette’s face. He smiled and continued to encourage her while she fought the fish. When he saw the fish coming in again, he reached for the handle of the net. “Keep reeling him in.” He moved next to Laurette at the stern. “When you see the weight on your line coming out of the water, stop reeling. Hold the pole up so the line stays tight, and bring the fish toward me. I’ll have him netted in no time.”

He slipped the net under the salmon and brought it into the boat. The look of wonder and joy on Laurette’s face filled him with warmth. She put her hand up for a high five. Ryan fought the urge to pull her into his arms. Instead, he clapped hands with her, shouting, “Well done!”

He pulled the hooks from the salmon’s mouth and held it up for Laurette to see. “This your first?”

“Yes.”

Her look of astonishment made him smile. “You’re a born fisherman. Time to get the hooks baited and catch some more.” He dropped the salmon into the cooler. “I can’t let you outfish me.” Ryan couldn’t resist putting his arm around her shoulders. Her upturned face and glowing countenance made it hard to resist kissing her.

What’s wrong with me?
he scolded himself, turning away to pick up the net.
I work with this girl. I can’t be treating her like a girlfriend.

Why not?
he countered.
I’m attracted to her.

And she’s going to leave at the end of summer.

“Will you show me how to bait my hook?” Laurette asked, interrupting his warring thoughts.

Bending close to Rette, showing her how to maneuver the small baitfish onto the hook, he pushed his conflicting thoughts aside. He soaked up her excitement. When she looked up at him, he thought he read the same feelings in her eyes.

Could it happen? Could she care for him?

The baited hooks went back into the water and they let out their lines. Ryan smiled to himself seeing how hard Laurette concentrated on her fishing pole.

Before long she had another fish. He stood by, coaching her. This time when the fish jumped, it spit the hook out. “You can’t catch them all.” She looked so sad he wanted to kiss her more than ever.

Behave!
his conscience screamed.
She’s too nice a girl to have you romancing her. You have no future that could include a girlfriend.

“Let me try to bait the hook myself,” Laurette begged.

Ryan backed off. He handed her a herring and watched her struggle to follow the directions he had given her the first time. She was determined; he’d give her that.

“Is that okay?” She held the line and baited hook up for his inspection.

“Go for it. Put your line out eighteen pulls.”

He had the trolling motor going and his own line in the water. He watched as she carefully counted the pulls from the reel to the first eye in the pole.

Laurette stood at the stern. “What’s that mountain over there? It looks like Fuji in Japan.”

“It’s Mt. Edgecumbe. Everyone thinks it looks like Fuji. Would you like to climb it sometime?”

“No, I’ve never climbed a mountain,” she protested.

Ryan chuckled. “It’s an easy hike. Have to take a boat to the island. There’s a cabin there, and the path starts right behind it. We could do it in a day.”

“I’ve done a little hiking, so I think I could manage.”

“We’ll keep an eye on the schedule and see when we could get some time off—hey, fish on!” Ryan grabbed his pole and started reeling his fish in. “Think you can net this?”

“Will you make me swim home if I miss?” Laurette teased.

“No. Just do your best.” As the fish came closer to the boat, he explained when to dip the net in front of the salmon. After he guided the fish into it, he helped Laurette pull net and fish into the boat.

“We’re a great team!” she shouted, giving him another high five.

They ate their sandwiches in between catching fish, but part of Laurette’s got tossed overboard in her excitement to get to her pole. Then she stepped back so Ryan could net her fish and knocked his can of pop over.

“You’re dangerous,” Ryan teased. Her glow of pride when he held up her catch made him laugh. “But you sure can fish.”

“It’s getting late!” Laurette exclaimed, looking at her watch.

Ryan didn’t want the day to end. “I suppose we should be starting back. Think you could steer us toward the harbor?”

“If you point the way.”

They brought the fishing lines back into the boat and stowed the gear. Ryan pulled the trolling motor up, secured the bracket, and came back to the driver’s seat to start the outboard engine. He motioned Laurette to get in his seat and take the wheel, then showed her how to operate the controls. He pointed to a rock formation and spoke in her ear. “Keep heading for the rocks.”

He went back to the stern, where he started cleaning the fish. He kept an eye on Laurette and made sure she kept them headed in the right direction.

“Want me to take over?” he shouted, coming up behind her.

She smiled, slowed to a stop, and took the engine out of gear, then slid over to the passenger seat. Ryan took them back to the harbor.

“Will you hold the boat at the dock while I go get the truck and trailer?”

Laurette nodded.

He had launched and trailered his boat by himself enough times that he never worried. He didn’t need to. Laurette seemed to know exactly what to do to help him. They soon had the boat secured on the trailer in the parking lot, ready to go.

Laurette took the bag of fish he held out to her. “Can you cook as well as you catch?” he asked, grinning.

“To prove it, Ruth and I will have you over for dinner.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“It’s been a wonderful day. Thanks for taking me fishing.” Before he could react, Laurette stood on tiptoe and brushed his cheek with her lips.

His mouth went dry and his heart raced. He mutely watched her slip away and head for her truck.

NINE

Laurette drove toward home, marveling once again that even though the sun still shone bright, it was after 10:00 p.m.
Ryan still has to take his boat home and clean it. He’ll be tired tomorrow.
Thoughts of Ryan sent her spirits soaring. She felt her face heat at the remembered kiss.
Will he think me too forward? He’s my coworker. I’d better be more careful,
she cautioned herself.

She entered the quiet house and put the fish in the kitchen sink. “Better get these packaged and put away,” she muttered. “I’ll save this nice fillet to cook for Ryan.” Laurette felt she worked efficiently for someone who’d had no idea what a fresh-caught salmon looked like a few hours ago. When the fish had been packaged and put in the freezer, she stretched and decided on a quick shower before bed.

Tired as she felt, sleep did not come at once. Thoughts of Ryan raced through her mind. The day had indeed been special. She’d never had a companion like him before.

Is he more than a friend?
Sighing, she pulled the covers up and prayed silently until she fell asleep.

❧

Being around Ryan at work did not become a problem. They were so busy, they didn’t have time for personal talk.