After telling Danny and Madison goodbye, she tossed her paper plate in the garbage, then grabbed her purse and walked out with Brad and his brothers. The ache in her heart continued and she knew she needed to get alone and give in to a good, long cry. Ken and Jon separated from them in the parking lot, but Brad continued to walk next to her until she reached her car.
“You okay?” He asked, his eyes searching her face.
“It was very emotional, as it was meant to be. I found myself caught up in it.” She cleared her throat and looked up at him. She fought the temptation to step forward and put her head on his chest. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Brad changed clothes next tothe door of Ken’s truck. Wearing a pair of swim trunks and a tank top, he enjoyed the feel of the sunshine on his bare skin. He slipped his feet into a pair of work boots, grabbed the tackle box and pole from the bed of the truck, and walked to the dock. Jon and Ken already had bait in the water. Jon sat back in his chair, a baseball cap pulled over his eyes. To the outside world, he looked completely relaxed and almost asleep; however, Brad knew that the second Jon’s pole so much as twitched, he would have it in his hand.
“Valerie okay?” Ken asked as he held the bucket with the bait in it out to him.
Brad chose a large minnow and scooped it into his hand, then secured it on the hook. “She was on the verge of breaking down. But I could tell she wanted to be alone.”
“Powerful sermon,” Ken said, looking at Jon. Jon shifted his hat and glared at his brother.
“It was a great sermon. I’m sure it filled Buddy with all sorts of comfort. He’s a good man. He deserves it.” He pulled his hat down over his eyes again and feigned sleep.
Once Brad cast his line into the water, he pulled up a chair and opened a bottle of water. It felt so good to sit outside. “We need to plan a day out here,” he said. “Invite some friends. Grill some steaks.”
“How about Memorial Day?” Ken asked. “Maybe make it a weekend? We could put together some campsites.”
“That’s a good idea.”
“Mom can help with invites.”
Brad looked around. “I wonder if we can get a party tent or something to put up.”
“And dad’s big grill. The one in the boathouse is too small for a crowd.”
“Make sure Val’s invited,” Jon said, smiling though he did not move his hat. “Brad wouldn’t have any fun without her. He’d be all, you know, mopey.”
“You’re so pretty, Jon,” Brad observed. “I don’t know how you stand it.”
“You’ve waited your entire life for her to come back, and now that she’s here, you’re nowhere near her. You’re sitting here with us killing bait on a Sunday afternoon.” He lifted the brim of his hat again. “Who’s the pretty one?”
Brad clenched his teeth instead of replying. He had invited Valerie. She needed to work. Why would he infringe on that? Besides, he reminded himself, he couldn’t acknowledge nor give in to any deeper feelings until she found her way back to God. Unevenly yoked was bad. He almost said it out loud to reinforce it.
“Yeah, I’m fishing with you and when it comes to me and Valerie, there’s plenty of fish in the sea. We’re different people from who we were fifteen years ago,” he said instead.
“You saying you’re not pursuing Valerie anymore?” Jon kept the question casual.
“That about sums it up.”
Ken chuckled. “Yeah. Keep telling yourself that. You can’t see that awestruck look on your face every single time you look at her.”
Brad opened his mouth to make a sharp retort, but Jon cut him off. “Hang on. Hang on a second. Seriously. You’re seriously not pursuing Valerie anymore?”
“That’s what I said,” Brad answered again.
Jon leaned forward a little bit. “So, I take it you don’t mind if I give it a shot since you’re finally out of the way.”
Even though he knew Jon was intentionally provoking him, Brad couldn’t dampen the instant feeling of anger that flushed his cheeks and tensed every muscle in his body. Faster than Brad could form a retort, Jon leaped to his feet and had his fishing pole in his hands. Minutes later, he pulled up a medium-sized bass.
“Whoooeee!” Jon whooped. “Look at that. You’re right, Brad. Plenty of fish. Plenty of fish.”
“Jon.” Brad relaxed his shoulders and rotated his head on his neck to release the tension in his neck and jaw. He looked Jon in the eye. “Jon, I’m just going to say this for the record. If you ever actually do mess around with Valerie, I can’t see it’s going to end well for any of us.”
“Oh, yeah,” Ken observed. “You are clearly done with Valerie, bro. It’s obvious. You havefinallymoved on.”
Brad let Ken’s comment go as Jon chuckled while he wrestled the hook out of the mouth of the fish. Instead, he fiddled with his own line, pulled it in and recast it, then settled back in his chair, ignoring his brothers.
