orange life jacket.
She hooked it around her neck and fumbled with the buckle.
He brushed her hands away and wrapped the strap around her waist, leaning in close enough she could smell his cologne.
Ariana inhaled deeply, liking that scent a little too much.
When he brought the strap back around to her front, he smiled into her eyes as he clipped the buckle. “There. Just in case we capsize.”
“I do know how to swim,” she said.
“Yeah, but you’re weighed down by clothes that are two sizes too big for you.” He sat back on his bench, grabbed a paddle and pushed the boat away from the shore.
“You’re not wearing a life vest,” Ariana pointed out.
“I have one here,” he said, pointing to the vest on the floor of the skiff.
“Couldn’t we have fished from the shore?” she asked.
“We could have, but the bigger fish are in the deeper water. I have hope we can eat what we catch for dinner.”
She cringed. “Are you going to teach me how to clean and cook the fish, as well as catch them?”
He laughed. “I take it by the look on your face, you’re not ready for the cleaning part.”
Ariana shook her head. “I’m not even sure I’m ready for baiting the hook.”
“We’ll start with something simple. A worm.”
She nodded her head. “Okay.”
The pond had appeared fairly small when they’d walked up to the edge. But now that they were out in the middle of it, it looked more like a vast lake. Ariana knew how to swim, but it had been a few years since she’d been in a pool. And it was a long way from the boat to the shore. She tested the straps on the vest, cinching them a little tighter.
They were two-thirds of the way across the pond when Dillon stopped paddling and let the boat drift. He opened a tackle box and pulled out a round white and red thing. He attached it to the fishing line on one of the poles, and then attached a line with a hook on the end.
“You can use this pole. Hold it while I prepare mine.” He handed the pole to her. “Careful not to catch your skin on the hook.”
Ariana appreciated that he was patient with her. She really had no idea how to catch a fish. She understood the concept of luring a fish with something it liked to eat, but actually catching one and reeling it in…? Not so much.
Once he had his hook and round red and white thing attached, he dug into the can they’d brought that was full of the worms they’d dug out of the pile of horse manure and straw behind the barn. He brought up a worm and threaded it onto the hook. “Watch closely, because you’ll be doing this.”
“Doesn’t that hurt the worm?” she asked.
“No,” he said. “Besides, the worm is about to be eaten by a fish, if we’re lucky.” He dipped his fingers in the water to rinse off the worm guts and horse manure. Then he flipped the metal ring over and, with his thumb on the line, he cast the line and worm away from the boat. “Think you can do that?”
“Maybe.”
He dug out a worm and handed it to her. “Let’s see you do it.”
She struggled to get the worm on the hook, wincing as she pierced the worm’s body, feeling sorry for it. The worm wiggled like it was in horrible pain. Arianna almost gave up halfway through the process. But she refused to be the city girl who couldn’t fish because she was too squeamish. Once she had the worm on the hook, she flipped the metal ring like Dillon had, but forgot to put her thumb on the line. The hook and worm dropped into the bottom of the boat. “Oops. I don’t think that was supposed to happen.”
“It’s okay. Here…” He reached across, took the pole from her and reeled in the excess line. “I’m coming across to sit beside you.”
Very carefully, he moved across the short space between them, rocking the boat as he did.
Ariana held onto the bench seat with both hands, glad she had on the life vest.
Dillon settled on the seat beside her and wrapped his arms around her. “Hold the handle here.” He placed her left hand below the reel. “Now, flip this metal ring over the top, while holding your thumb on the line.” He pressed her thumb on the line and flipped the ring. “See? It doesn’t