The Lost Fisherman (Fisherman #2)(20)

I wasn’t sure how grown-up I felt. Experienced in love and heartbreak? Yes. So much more than Rory realized.

“Thank you.” I couldn’t help my grin or the warmth in my heart. Nothing compared to feeling a mother’s love. That year in Thailand with the midwife made me appreciate Rory so much more. “I’m going to read for a while and then try to get to bed early. Holly has two clients due in the next two weeks, so I’m on call. It’s usually a rotating call, but two of the other midwives are out. One is on vacation. The other one has a child going in for heart surgery. So this could be a crazy and exhausting two weeks, but I’m so excited!”

“We’re excited for you. Goodnight,” Rose and Mom said to me.

The next morning, I headed out for my run. Waiting at the stoplight stood a familiar figure with a casted arm.

“You’re up early.” I slowed to a stop at the crosswalk.

Fisher grinned so big. “Good morning.” And just like the Fisher I remembered, he took a few extra seconds to slide his gaze along the full length of my body.

My long-sleeved running shirt.

My jogging shorts.

Pink running shoes.

Shoulder-length hair pulled into a short ponytail.

I was so close to calling him out on it, the way I might have done five years earlier, but I didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, given his present relationship status. Also, I feared he might stop looking at me that way if I said something.

“How was your first day?” he asked as we got the light to cross the street.

“Amazing, even though no babies were born. I’m on call. Should be two babies coming into the world in the next two weeks.”

He chuckled, giving me a quick side-glance when we made it across the street. “Too bad you’re not excited about it.”

I laughed. Yeah, I felt completely lit up when talking about it. I could only imagine what he saw when he looked at me and my impossibly huge grin.

I nodded to the right, knowing he needed to go left.

Fisher looked down at our feet for a few seconds with his own grin solidly affixed to his face. He nudged the toe of my shoe with the toe of his shoe. “Well …” His gaze slowly lifted to mine. Fisher wasn’t ten years older than me. He was a twelve-year-old boy with his first crush on a girl. And I … was that girl. And that was a side to Fisher Mann I didn’t get to see five years earlier.

I never got to see anything but his confident side.

“I’ve solved all your puzzles, despite the difficultly of filling in the boxes with my left hand.”

My nose wrinkled. I never thought about that.

“So I might need a few more to get me by until next week.”

“What’s next week?”

“I’m going back to work, whether anyone thinks I’m ready or not.”

“I’ve seen you shop at Target. You’re ready.”

Fisher nodded while laughing a little. “Exactly.”

“I’ll drop off some puzzles after I get home from work later today.”

“Perfect.”

“Okay.”

We clogged up the sidewalk, people passing us on both sides, as we stood in the middle of it facing each other in our little bubble.

My smile faded. “Rory is going to talk to you about Angie. I don’t know what she’s going to say, but everyone has been asking her to talk to you, to convince you to rethink things with Angie.” My words flew out a mile a minute. In some ways, it didn’t feel like my place to say anything to anyone, yet I couldn’t not say something. “But I think you need to do what’s right for you. It’s not Rory or your family marrying her. It’s you. And…” a pang of guilt tightened my stomach “…Angie is a good person. That doesn’t mean we fall in love with someone just because they’re a good person. I’m just saying, even if she’s scared of it, she deserves honesty. And…” I shrugged “…my opinion should mean nothing to you, so take this with a grain of salt, less than a grain of salt. I think taking a step back and seeing if you can fall in love with her again is a good idea.”

Fisher’s brow wrinkled as he nodded slowly. “Thanks,” he murmured.

I found my tiny grin again and gave it to him. “Bye, Fisher.” I took a step backward, shaking my head as his gaze made a second trip up and down my body.

Oh, Fisher …

We were in trouble, and I think he knew it as well. “Have a good day,” I said.

“I’ll have a good enough day.”

Wink.

Gah! That wink.





Chapter Eleven





Dear Lost Fisherman,

I’m falling in love with you, again. But this time, you’re earning it, even if it’s not your intention. It’s not that I ever fell completely out of love with you. Timing … it really is everything in life. And I still struggle with all the things I was taught to believe. Are our lives predestined? Where does free will play a part? Are destiny and fate real? Or is it merely what we call events in life after we’re willing to acknowledge them, even if we refuse to accept them? I just … don’t know.

In the meantime, keep the smiles and winks coming my way.

Ten across: Seven letters. Clue: Awakening.