Branded for You (10 page)

“I’d enjoy that.” Something about Ryan’s company was calming and she relaxed in her seat. She hadn’t realized she’d been so tense. He was so easygoing and she loved that about him.

They moved on to talking about Ryan’s growing up around Prescott. Megan didn’t really want to talk about her childhood so she kept turning the questions back to Ryan. He seemed to realize that she didn’t want to discuss her past, and her divorce never came up. It wasn’t something that was good fodder for a new relationship as far as she was concerned.

The drive went by faster than she expected. He told her the history of places they traveled through. Before they got up into high country, she admired the desert scenery. She loved the desert and how one could see for miles with nothing blocking the view.

On the way, they stopped at a small country store and Ryan paid for her fishing license as he already had one for himself. He also bought earthworms and Power Bait before they continued driving to their destination.

As they got into the mountains, he drove the truck into the forest and up a winding road. They traveled a while until they reached a side road that led to campsites he’d used before. The truck bounced along the dirt road, which was filled with potholes and rocks.

When they reached a good campsite in the midst of the forest, he backed the camper trailer into position. Once he’d parked the truck and camper, he climbed out, rounded the truck, and helped her out. He closed the door behind her as she stepped onto rich dark soil and she breathed in the amazing scent of the forest.

“Smells so wonderful.” She took another deep breath and sighed in pleasure as she listened to forest sounds that included the buzz of bees near a patch of wildflowers, birds chirping and a squirrel chattering. “Sometimes the wind through the trees sounds to me like there’s a river in the distance,” she said.

Ryan paused and listened. “You’re right. Never thought of it that way.”

She looked around them. “I like this spot.”

“I’m not much for improved campgrounds,” he said. “I like Arizona where there is so much public land that it’s easy to find a spot that’s remote and set up camp there.”

“That’s great,” she said. “What’s first?”

“We make camp and have lunch.” He went to the camper and disconnected the trailer from the truck. “Do you want lunch now or after we gather some firewood?”

“We might as well get anything done that needs to be taken care of and then we can relax,” she said. “What’s after lunch?”

“We go fishing.”

“That will be fun.” She moved closer to him. “What can I do?”

“Let’s get firewood and set it several feet from the fire pit.” He pointed to a large circle of stones made by previous campers. It was filled with ash and the remnants of wood that had been used for a fire. They gathered firewood of all sizes and stacked it off to the side to use later.

By the time they finished, it wasn’t quite noon. They settled in camp chairs in front of the camper with the ice chest between them and ate roast beef and egg salad sandwiches and drank sodas.

The roast beef tasted wonderful, Megan thought, as she happily munched on her sandwich. It tasted even better than usual out here in the fresh air.

When they’d finished their sandwiches, he brought out a package of Oreo cookies and they both twisted theirs open and ate the frosting before finishing off the chocolate cookie.

“The right way to eat an Oreo,” she said before licking the frosting off a second cookie.

She realized he was watching her with intensity in his gaze and her eyes met his. “I’ve never seen anyone look sexy while eating a cookie,” he said with a grin.

Her face warmed. “Just wait until you see me eat marshmallows.”

He laughed. “I’m looking forward to it.”

Chapter 11

The September afternoon was cool and breezy as they prepared to head out to Bear Canyon Lake. They couldn’t camp right on the lake but he said the spot he’d found was about three hundred yards from the water. They would hike down to it.

Before they left, Ryan loaded up a pack with some snacks, water and a blanket. He grabbed a float tube and tackle box out of the back of the camper and Megan carried the rods and the bag with earthworms and Power Bait in it.

The hike to the lake was nice and the breeze blew strands of hair around her face as she breathed in the scents of pine and fresh air. They walked down the incline through the forest on a well worn path and then suddenly they were out in the open with the lake stretched out before them.

The view was gorgeous with the lake surrounded by Ponderosa pine trees, and the stretch of shore they’d found was empty of other people. Small ripples disturbed the water that gently lapped at the rocky, muddy shore.

Her sneakers left imprints in the soft wet earth as they walked along the shore and she listened to the sound of an eagle screeching as it passed overhead.

When they reached a huge log near an outcropping of rocks, Ryan set the float tube and tackle box down and took the bag of bait and rods from her.

“There’s nothing like a fresh fish dinner while camping,” he said as he settled on the log.

“Yum,” Megan said. “Sounds really good to me.”

He motioned for her to sit beside him and she braced her palms to either side of her on the rough bark. She watched as he showed her how to tie sinkers and a hook on the fishing line and how to bait the hook by using one of the glowing pink balls of Power Bait.

“This bait and earthworms are best for trout for beginners,” he said as he stood, holding the rod. “I’m going to show you how to cast your line.”

She got to her feet beside him and paid attention as he instructed her. He cast the line first to show her how it was done. “Here. This is ten o’clock and two o’clock. You bring the rod back to ten o’clock and snap it forward to two o’clock.”

The line glinted in the sunshine as the hook and sinkers dropped into the water a good distance offshore.

He then gave the rod to her and had her reel in the line. The mechanism made clicking sounds as she turned it. When the line was reeled in, he had her hold the rod as he guided her through the motions.

She laughed as she attempted to cast the line a third time. “Pitiful,” she said as her hook and sinkers dropped into the water a few feet from shore.

“At least you made it in the water this time,” he said in a teasing voice. “You’re doing great. Try it again.”

She went through the motions again but released too soon and her hook and line snagged in a nearby bush.

The line was hopelessly snarled in the bush so he cut the line along with the hook and sinkers. She wanted to attach the hook and sinkers herself so that she’d know how to do it the next time, so he guided her until she had them on correctly. Then she put some of the hot pink bait on her hook.

“Let’s try it again.” He coached her through the motions.

This time her hook and sinkers made it out into the water and she gave him a grin. “I did it.”

“Here’s how to hold it.” He showed her what to do if a fish tugged on the line.

When she felt comfortable with it, she settled on the log as she held her rod

“Something’s nibbling on our line.” Ryan nodded to her rod almost at once.

She looked up to see the end bobbing up and down and she felt vibrations through the rod. The thrill of excitement tickled her skin. “What do I do?”

The rod started bouncing in earnest. “Looks like you’ve got him. Start reeling in your line. Not too fast, but steady.”

Megan started turning the reel and felt the fish’s struggle all the way to her fingertips. She saw a flash in the air above the water before it went below the surface again.

“I think you’ve got a good one,” Ryan said. “Keep reeling him in.”

Ryan helped her and the next thing she knew, a rainbow trout was flopping on the shore. “Great job, Meg,” he said and she felt proud at catching her very first fish.

He showed her how to grab the fish and remove the hook from its mouth with a gloved hand. “I want to take a picture of you with your first fish.” He smiled and took his phone out of the tackle box and the waterproof bag he’d put it in. “Now hold your fish by its jaw, like this.”

She felt squeamish as she did as he demonstrated, but she wanted to prove to herself that she could do just about anything that he showed her.

He had her stand a few feet away from the shore in case she dropped the fish so that it wouldn’t flop back in the water, then had her pose as he took the picture.

“Come on, sexy.” He grinned at her. “Show me that trout.”

Even though she hated having her picture taken, she laughed and struck a pose, holding the fish up like she was a model on the Price is Right, showing a contestant the next prize. After he took the picture, he showed it to her. It wasn’t bad at all. Her smile was brilliant and she looked like she was having as much fun as she actually was.

She caught her breath as he gave her a firm kiss. He smiled, then helped her put the fish on a stringer. He’d staked the stinger to the shore and they put the fish in the water so that it would remain fresh.

“Go ahead and bait your hook and cast your line again.” He sat next to her on the log. “Want to try an earthworm this time?”

She made a face but she said, “Okay… I’ll try it.” After all, she’d told herself she wasn’t going to be squeamish.

He handed her an earthworm and told her how to put it on so that it would stay on.

“This is so gross,” she said, but put the hook through the wriggling creature.

“Great job,” he said. She looked at him and he planted a kiss on her lips. “Ready to cast your line?”

A thrill went through her belly from the feel of his lips against hers. She got to her feet and held the rod like he’d shown her earlier. “Ten o’clock to two o’clock,” she murmured to herself and cast the line.

When it landed in the lake with a solid plop, she laughed and grinned at him. “I think I’m getting the hang of this.”

He sat beside her again on the log and she watched him tie something little on his own line.

“What is that?” she asked.

“It’s an artificial fly.” He glanced up at her. “I’m going to do a little fly fishing from the float tube,” he said. “We’ll see what these guys prefer. An artificial fly, Power Bait, or an earthworm.”

“Hopefully Power Bait is the most popular,” she said. “I much prefer handling that over an earthworm.”

She felt a hard tug on her line and swung her attention to it. “I think I’ve got another one.”

He watched her rod bow and then it went straight then bowed again. “I think you do.”

She stood, remembering what he’d told her to do, and reeled in the fish. She bounced up on her toes as she grinned at him. “This is fun.”

“You’re a natural,” he said.

He offered to help her, but she was determined to do everything on her own, no matter how icky it was. She grabbed the glove from the tackle box and removed the hook even as the fish nearly flopped out of her hand. She held on tightly as she put the fish on the stringer and let it wiggle out into the water on the end of the short links. She wasn’t crazy about putting fish on a stringer because that meant putting the stringer’s hook into the mouth of the fish and through its gill before clipping the end of the hook together.

“You’ve got this under control,” he said, with obvious approval in his gaze. “I’m going to try a little fly fishing.”

He waded out into the water with his float tube, carrying his rod. Over his shoulder, he said, “You can try the float tube if you’d like.”

“I think I’m happy on the shore,” she said with a laugh. “I’m afraid I’d fall right off trying to cast a line and maintain balance on that thing.”

His float tube was a kind of large floating seat with places for his tackle and a stringer for any fish he might catch. He floated just offshore, close enough for them to easily talk with each other.

When he was positioned, he swung his rod but she couldn’t see the line as it sailed out. He told her how to fly fish as he did it from the float tube.

They chatted as she caught her limit of four trout and he didn’t manage to get anything. Her grin got bigger and he shook his head, smiling, and teased her with, “Beginner’s luck.”

It was late afternoon when he said, “Why don’t we pack up and head on back to camp and fry up that trout?”

“Do I have to clean them, too?” she asked as they packed up, realizing that she was squeamish about that.

“I’ll take care of cleaning them and I’ll even fry them up.” He rested his arm around her shoulder and kissed the top of her head. “You brought home the fish.”

For some reason his saying “home” gave her a tingly feeling. It was silly, but something about it made her believe in possibilities…of things real and beautiful and that perhaps weren’t too good to be true.

Chapter 12

When they returned to camp, Ryan built a fire and got a good blaze going. It was late in the afternoon, heading on toward evening. He set up a cleaning station behind the camper where he placed the cooler that they’d put the fish into to keep them fresh.

He picked up one of the fish. “Would you like to try your hand at cleaning the trout?”

Megan grimaced. “I’ll let you do the honors.” She paid attention as he showed her how to clean the fish. “That’s definitely not something I’m crazy about doing,” she said after he gutted the first one.

With a smile he said, “We can cook the fish with the head on or cut it off.”

“I don’t think I like the idea of something staring at me as I eat it.” She made a face. “I vote for cutting off the heads.”

He laughed. “You’ve got it.” He put the cleaned fish in a bag in the cooler, just leaving the skin on and the bones in. They’d take the bones out after the fish were cooked. Once all four were cleaned, Ryan got out cornmeal, seasoning, a bowl, and a cast iron frying pan. He mixed the cornmeal and seasonings in the bowl then coated the trout with the mixture.

He fried the trout in a little shortening for a few minutes on each side using the frying pan on a grate over the fire. When the fish was ready, he put it on a tray and took out the bones and then handed her a plate and took one for himself. Megan took one and a half of the small fish while Ryan took two. They each put on their plates large spoonfuls of the potato salad that he’d packed in one of the coolers and spoonfuls of canned baked beans that had been heated up over the fire. Megan had sliced up part of an onion to go along with them.