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Sam woke up early the next morning. He never slept much anyway, but last night he’d tossed and turned, the old mattress in his little cabin battling him against any type of comfort.
Or maybe the image of Madeline standing at that window, framed in moonlight and lamplight had kept him awake. How had she managed to get to him so quickly?
She wants to use you and lose you.
He’d been used before. Still had the scars from that encounter. So he should call her up and tell her that this was a bad idea and he’d write his own toast for the happy couple, thank you.
But this isn’t like that.
That encounter had almost turned into marriage and what he’d believed would be a lifetime commitment. Almost.
This is just a long weekend. Three more days.
The wedding was on Sunday afternoon. What could go wrong between now and then.
A knock at the door should have been his first warning.
Since he hadn’t had a drop of coffee yet, Sam thought about ignoring the loud, rude knock.
“Hey, wake up, man!”
Brodie. Not good. Too early for Brodie to wax poetic about love and women and whatever else he had knocking around inside his strange brain.
“I’m still asleep,” he called in a scratchy voice.
“Well, wake up,” Brodie called back. “C’mon, man. We’re going fishing.”
Sam got up and grabbed his jeans and pulled them on.
He opened the door with what he hoped was a scowl on his face. “What are you doing here at this infernal hour, Brodie?”
“Fishing. On the Red River.”
Sam shivered. “It’s dawn and it’s cold. Why?”
“Why not?” Brodie asked, waving his hand in the air. “It’s a fine winter day and I can’t sleep. I’m too jumpy. Mr. Sonnier said we could take his boat out on the river. And it’s a real sweet ride, let me tell you.”
Sam stared out at the churning water below the bluffs. “I’m pretty sure the fish have gone down South. Which is where I should be, too.”
Brodie elbowed his way inside. “Nah, you can handle this. You love to fish. And we always get up early and go out in the Gulf back home. So quit making excuses and get some caffeine in your system. As my best man, it’s your duty to entertain me before my wedding. Let’s call this an all-day bachelor party.”
“I’m not in the mood.”
“Get in the mood,” Brodie said, giving him a daring glare. “Get dressed and I’ll make the coffee.”
That wouldn’t be good because Brodie’s idea of coffee was more like diesel fuel than a rich cup of brew. But Sam didn’t argue. Being out on a boat would clear his head if nothing else.
Or so he thought.
An hour later, with the wind in his face and a cup of Brodie’s pure-acid coffee in his stomach, Sam finished the sausage and biscuit he’d taken right off the stove at the Bait-and-Bite combination bait-and-tackle shop and food store, and savored the feeling of being out on the water again.
“Good idea,” he shouted to Brodie over the roar of the boat’s powerful dual motors pushing them over the spewing water. The early-morning chill poured over him in an icy embrace that cooled all the warm feelings he’d had when he was with Madeline last night. “But ... man ... what’s biting right now?”
Brodie shined a grin at him. “Crappie. Bass. Catfish.” He shrugged and held the wheel with a seasoned grace. “Of course, with this beautiful sunshine they’ll go low and hide, but Roscoe has shown me all of his secret fishing spots. He calls this river a bass paradise.”
Sam wondered about that. In the dead of winter, he didn’t see any paradise. But he did see a raw, brutal beauty that made him appreciate this river a little bit more.
It reminded him of the raw beauty he’d seen in Madeline’s eyes last night.
River, Sam. Focus on fishing.
Because the whole thing with Madeline was just a catch-and-release. A lot like fishing. Nothing to take home, though.
So that’s what he and Brodie did for the next few hours. They fished. Except the fish weren’t buying it. No matter how many times Brodie bragged on his Carolina rig, the fish didn’t bite.
Around mid-morning, they called it quits, but Brodie didn’t turn the boat back toward the Sonnier boathouse. Instead, he pulled the sleek, white boat up to the public pier near the town square.
“Where are we going now?” Sam asked, wary. And sleepy. He needed a shower and a shave.
“Lunchtime, my friend,” Brodie said, rubbing his hands together.
Sam was all for lunch. That wonderful, big biscuit he’d eaten had long ago vanished.
But when he looked up and saw Michelle and Madeline strolling down to the pier and carrying what looked suspiciously like a picnic basket with them, he balked.
And then he smiled. “Is this some kind of set-up, Brodie?”
Brodie pretended confusion. “No. It’s called lunch with two very pretty ladies. Can you handle it?”
“I don’t want to handle it,” Sam said. “I don’t—.”
“My bachelor party,” Brodie reminded him. “My guests.”
“Your bride isn’t supposed to be here,” Sam said. He did know that much about weddings, at least.
“We’re doing away with any proper wedding etiquette,” Brodie said. “We make the rules as we go.”
Sam was beginning to think this whole weekend was just one long dream. But when he glanced up and saw Madeline’s face, he knew it was real. She was real and she looked even better in the morning light than she’d looked in the moonlight. He wanted to tug that plaid scarf from around her neck so he could smell her hair again.
She also looked as bemused as he felt. Sure they’d agreed to hang out but ... after last night, he wasn’t so keen about this. It should be easy. Just go with the flow and enjoy being with a nice-looking, funny, smart woman.
Why wasn’t that working for him?
“Hi,” she murmured as he reached up to help her down into the boat while Brodie took the big basket from Michelle. “This wasn’t my idea, but I hope you don’t mind.”
Sam didn’t mind, really. “It’s okay. Just lunch on a boat.”
“In February,” she said with a soft smile. “But ... it is nice out today. We have mostly mild winters here and the weather is always unpredictable. It could warm up pretty quickly.”
Sam took in her leather jacket and worn jeans, then looked into her eyes. “It already has.”
“Seriously, Michelle. Did you and Brodie plan this?”
“Of course we did,” Michelle said as she poured Madeline some hot chocolate. Her expression turned dreamy. “Brodie and I love to take long boat rides.”
“You know what I mean,” Madeline replied, her voice low while Brodie and Sam stood on the bow looking at something on the shore. “You’re throwing Sam and me together.”
“Whatever are you talking about?” Michelle said with a shrug. “Sam is Brodie’s best friend and so it’s only natural that they’d want to spend time together. And you are my sister whom I invited along on this excursion so I wouldn’t be a third wheel.”
“I had a little bit of work to do at the boutique and you should be busy with wedding details,” Madeline said. “You could have warned me.”
“Didn’t I? I don’t recall.”
“You’re not a good liar.”
“No, I’m not. But you did tell me this morning that you and Sam had reached an agreement to hang out with each other in support of our wedding preparations, so quit whining and enjoy yourself. You’ve got the boutique covered with trusted employees who adore you, and you’ve got a really good man slightly interested in you. Have some fun.”
Madeline wanted to relax and have fun, but something had changed with Sam and her at the end of their time together last night. When she’d stared out the window and he’d looked up at her, something had shifted inside her. Something that was supposed to be light and fun and easy had suddenly become intimate and scary and too complicated for her to even begin to analyze.
“I can’t do this,” she said on a shaky whisper. “I thought I could just go with it and ... be in the moment but I’m not like that. I don’t have it in me to have a casual fling with a man I just met.”
Michelle put a hand on her arm, genuine concern in her eyes. “I’m sorry. It’s not about a casual fling. It’s just a couple of days of getting to know a new person. But ... Madeline, you deserve someone good in your life.”
“Do I?”
“What are you two looking so serious about?” Brodie asked as he sat down in the cockpit chair and twirled it around.
Michelle sent him a warning glance so he changed the subject and made a few lame jokes. But Madeline couldn’t muster up any laughter.
Sam came and sat down beside Madeline, the scent of fresh air swirling around him. He rubbed a hand down his five o’clock shadow and pushed at his windblown hair. “You don’t want to be here, do you?”
Everyone looked at her. “I ... I don’t mind being here, but I’m not so sure I like being set up on a blind boat date.”
Brodie snorted. “A blind boat date. That’s a new one.”
Madeline had to laugh at that. “The boat isn’t blind, but Sam and I were blindsided. Same difference.”
Sam nodded. “She’s right. We are kind of trapped here at your mercy, but I’ll forgive you. Don’t you two have wedding details to handle?”
Michelle bobbed her head. “I do, but Mom told me to get lost for a few hours. I mean, our wedding is supposed to be simple and yet it seems to have become a really big deal.” She took Brodie’s hand. “Mom thinks I’m getting all worked up.”
“Weddings tend to be big deals,” Madeline said, glad they’d kind of moved away from holding Sam and her in the spotlight. Besides, this was Michelle’s special time and she wouldn’t add to her sister’s stress by being a pain in the neck. “Mine was, anyway.”
“She had a huge church wedding with six or eight attendants. I was one of them,” Michelle said. “Flowers everywhere and the cutest flower girl—.”
Madeline’s boot kicking her leg stopped Michelle. “I shouldn’t have brought that up. Let’s not talk about it anymore.”
Michelle looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry. I’m so caught up in my wedding and here I am bringing back things you don’t want to remember. Maddie, I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Madeline said, forcing a smile. “I had a beautiful wedding. It was the marriage that turned sour.” She shrugged. “Now pass me a snickerdoodle and some more hot chocolate.”
Michelle busied herself with passing out cookies while Madeline sat and stared at the shoreline. When she glanced up, Sam was watching her with renewed interest.
He wanted details, but she wasn’t ready to give them to him.