Page 57 of Hearts Don't Lie
Hardin blinked behind his mirrored sunglasses, experiencing an acute sense of sadness. “No, I can’t.” Splashing drew his attention to where their boys were fishing. Stowe and Beckett were running through the water toward them.
“Bro! Look what I caught!” A fish dangled from Stowe’s shortened line. He beamed a triumphant smile at Hardin.
Before Hardin realized what he was doing, he braced the rod into his hip and ruffled his son’s hair. “Well done!”
“I’m gonna release him since we’re not having fish tonight. Doc doesn’t like fish—go figure.” Stowe splashed away as quickly as he’d splashed in.
“We should find another spot. In his excitement, your son disrupted our chances of catching anything else here. Come on.” Mike moved toward the shore.
Hardin followed Mike farther from where the boys fished.
“This will give us a better chance. Let’s hope for luck. I would have liked to keep Stowe’s catch. I promised Cori a fresh fish dinner.” Mike waded in with Hardin. They stopped when they were about calf deep. “Stowe’s warming up.” He patted Hardin on his back.
Hardin was too overcome with emotion to speak, so he just grinned like a fool.
