Chapter Thirty-Four

It was late afternoon by the time Trapper and Leah secured their fishing gear and headed down into the galley to prepare dinner. Leah washed their breakfast and lunch dishes while Trapper went up to retrieve the salmon he had caught earlier in the day from the ice well. When he laid the fish on a plank on the counter, she frowned.

“Why the long face?”

She turned and crooked her jaw as she leaned her elbow on the front of the sink. “You hit that fish between the eyes with a club. Did you have to do that?”

“Yes, I had to do that,” he said, smiling. “Salmon won’t survive in a live well, and they go bad quickly, so you put them out of their misery, and then put them on ice. My dear, you are going to eat like a queen tonight,” he said cheerfully, as he headed up to the deck with his fish and knives.

She finished the dishes and pulled out vegetables to roast with the fish, cutting them all into chunks. Then she went out onto the deck where Trapper was cleaning and filleting the salmon. “You have a practiced hand, doctor. Almost like a skilled surgeon.” She smiled and offered him a drink of her wine.

“This…” he said, waving his hand over the dissected fish, “doesn’t bother you?”

Scowling, she said, “Really. I’ll have you know I’ve cleaned and filleted my fair share of trout, thank you.”

“Then what was all that business with the bait?”

“Oh. Well, I use flies, and not the insect kind…not…squid. Anyway, after the first one, I did alright.”

He smiled and winked. “Yes, you did. I had almost decided against fishing, but you seemed alright with it.”

“Why would you have chosen something else?” she said, sipping her wine and offering him another.

“Women don’t usually enjoy going out on a fishing boat unless they’re in the company of other women. I think you might be the first woman I’ve brought out who’s actually tried fishing from the chair.”

“Other women you’ve brought out? On this boat?”

“I’m not taking that bait,” he said, shaking his head as he cut the salmon into fillets. Would you wrap these fillets in freezer paper as I cut them? We need to get them in the freezer, except for the last two.” He turned and smiled. “Those are for dinner.”

***

After the salmon were on the grill along with the vegetables, Trapper pulled two hoop nets up over the side of the boat, and pulled out four good-sized lobsters. He put two in the well on the bow of the boat, and took the other two down to the galley where Leah was making rice pilaf to go with the salmon. She didn’t look up from her work, and Trapper was able to pull the lobster pot out, fill it with water and put it on the stove to boil before she turned around. Having put the lobsters in the sink with ice, he turned and leaned back with his arms crossed in front of the sink, blocking her view and wearing a mischievous grin.

“What have you done?” she said, looking from the pot back to him and rising up on her toes to get a glimpse of whatever it was he was hiding.

“Listen, would you…ah…do me a favor and go check on the salmon. It’s time to turn it over. The vegetables need to be turned, too.”

She stepped up against him, looking impishly into his eyes before she faked to the right, and then jumped to the left, getting far enough to see what was in the sink before he lifted her and moved her back in front of him. “Where did you get those?” she said delightedly.

“From the ocean,” he said, rolling his eyes.

She gave him a playful pop on the shoulder, and turned toward the steps, pointing. “Salmon.”

***

Sitting back with both hands on her stomach, she blew out her cheeks, and said, “Shame on you, Dr. McIntyre; tempting me with all that food.”

He chuckled. “You didn’t really eat that much; a piece of salmon and a lobster tail.”

“And dill sauce and clarified butter.”

“That kind of stuff once in a while isn’t going to hurt you. And now that Gonzo has released you to walk as much as you want, more choices are right around the corner.”

“More choices?” she asked, reaching forward for her glass of wine.

“For exercise. Just because you’re a transplant recipient doesn’t mean you can’t do much of what you used to do. I do know that John was very active. I imagine you were right there with him.”

She smiled and looked out at the moonlight shimmering on the ocean ripples. “You know, I haven’t thought about John all day.”

“Until now? I’m not going to apologize for bringing him up. He was a major part of your life. You have good memories that you should never forget. That doesn’t mean that you can’t live a full life now that he and the children are gone.” He paused and took a sip of wine. “What sort of things did you do before the transplant?”

“We snow skied. We went scuba diving. We hiked…up mountains. We went fishing. We went camping. And when we weren’t doing that because of John’s work schedule, we swam laps. But Dr. Avery told me I couldn’t do all of that anymore. At least, not at the level I was used to.”

“That’s true. Take scuba diving. You shouldn’t do any deep dives because of the pressure, but shallow diving isn’t out of the question. You shouldn’t take the black diamond ski runs, but if you were that good before, blue runs are possible if you’re careful. And as long as you take your time, hiking moderate trails shouldn’t be a problem once you work back up to that.”

“Half the fun came from the company,” she said, frowning.

“So find some new company.”

Sitting up, she quickly downed her wine. “Hey, didn’t you want to learn some blues riffs?”

***

Late the following afternoon, as Trapper guided the boat back home, Leah sat on the fly bridge in the captain’s chair lamenting as she watched the stark but beautiful nothingness of the ocean slowly become filled with the silhouette of monuments to civilization. Trapper reached back and pulled her up to his side. “There’s another long face.”

Smiling timidly, she turned sideways in his arm and put her arm over his shoulders. “I have to admit, Trapper, I had a good time. I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun.”

“All that, and she brought in the biggest fish, too,” he said, grinning.

“No, not really. How much did you say it weighed?”

“Oh, about seventy pounds.”

“Yeah, and I thought I was going overboard when it took my bait, even though I knew I was fastened to the chair. That part was a little frightening. But I didn’t land it. I only held on for dear life. It was you pulling that rod back.” He winked and turned back to the view of the Golden Gate Bridge overhead. “So what are we going to do with all that fish?” she asked.

“I have a friend who meets me at the dock. He takes the fish, cleans and packages them, and keeps part of the take as payment. We’ve already taken care of the salmon, but I think we’ll keep the halibut, sole and sea bass, and give him your tuna, if that’s alright with you.”

“Will he sell it?”

Shaking his head, he said, “No. He’ll feed his family. I don’t think either of us has room in our freezers for that much fish anyway.”

“What if we trade some of the other for a couple of tuna steaks? Maybe I can return the favor of this weekend by making you some fresh homemade sushi.”

“You know how to roll sushi?”

“Well, it’s not that hard with the right equipment. Oh, and I don’t do sashimi. I don’t want to be responsible for someone’s food poisoning.”

He smiled. “Smart girl.”

Once docked, Trapper introduced Leah to Kelly McKenna who helped haul everything to car, and then went back to the boat to clean it and take care of the fish. Trapper and Leah said their goodbyes, and headed toward home.

Standing at Leah’s door, Trapper leaned in and set her bag and guitar inside. “Now remember; you are not to look at that list until you get to the house tomorrow.”

“Don’t worry. I’m going to take a shower, finish packing my last minute things and go to bed. If we’re lucky, Ernie and I can get out of here a little earlier than we planned so we can miss the LA rush hour.” They stood silent before Leah said, “Thank you again. I really did have a good time.”

“Had you ever been on a fishing boat?”

“Not a fishing boat. But there were occasions when we went out with friends on a yacht…for scuba diving or parties. I think I like the fishing better,” she said, chuckling.

“I’d tell the guys I have a new fishing buddy, but I think they’d resent me for bringing a woman along on a ‘no females’ weekend. They all have wives.”

“I’m sure I’d feel a little out of place anyway,” she said, holding the edge of the door. “I’ll see you…when I see you,” she said, smiling up at him.

Trapper returned a look of contentment; of certainty in what he was about to do. He took the step that separated them, raised his hands to her face, lifting it up to his, and first brushed her lips with his, then kissed her gently. Even though he saw some reluctance in her eyes, he pressed his lips against hers while moving his arms around her and drawing her into a tight embrace. Coaxing her mouth open with practiced delicacy, his kiss was deep, intense, yet tender. When their lips parted, she instantly looked down at her hands on his chest, realizing she was lightly pushing. He moved back slightly, but only loosened his hold.

“Trapper…I…I’m not…ready…for this,” she stammered.

“There’s no pressure here,” he said softly, drawing her to him so that his mouth was at her ear. “I just wanted you to know you have options.” He kissed her temple, lingering there for a moment before he let go and smiled. “Good night.”

The corners of her mouth twitched upward in a hesitant smile. “Good night,” she whispered, closing the door when he turned away. With her forehead on the door, she raised a trembling hand to her lips while her other hand felt for the locks and threw the bolts one by one.