The Daddy Catch

by Leigh Duncan

  He closed the distance between them, cupping her elbows in his, and said the words he’d longed to say. “I said, I love you, Jessica Cofer. There will never be another woman for me. I’ve wanted you since the first moment I saw you fishing in Phelps Cove.”

  The stunned silence that greeted his confession lasted so long, Dan’s worst fear resurfaced. Had he been wrong about them? Quieting his doubts, he slipped a finger under Jess’s chin and lifted.

  “This is the place where you say you love me, too,” he said. And waited. He lost a year of his life in the time it took her slow smile to spread across her lips.

  “Oh, I do. I love you, Dan. I wanted to tell you, but I thought I’d ruined it between us. I thought you’d fallen out of love with me. I never dreamed…”

  “That time, you did jump to a conclusion. The wrong one,” he pointed out. Not that he’d done any better. He’d assumed he’d lost her forever.

  “Enough talking,” he grumbled.

  One by one, he took the pins from her hair. The curls he loved cascaded down to her shoulders.

  He bent low, knowing that, with Adam in the room, they’d have to save the best for later. Gently, he explored her lips, wanting more but unwilling to assert any claim until she entwined her arms about his neck and pulled him close. When she swept her tongue along his teeth, his blood headed south so fast it took all logic and thought with it. A possessive groan rose in his chest as he trailed kisses along her chin, and down to the soft hollow at the base of her throat. A hint of spicy citrus filled his senses and he breathed it in, letting his lungs expand with the scent that was hers alone. He couldn’t get enough of her and traced the outline of her jaw with one thumb.

  “Is it lunchtime yet?” came a quiet voice from the end of the room.

  Reluctantly, Dan broke the kiss with Jess and traced one finger over a ruby lip.

  “Rain check?” he murmured.

  A breathless “Oh, yeah,” let him know he’d be redeeming that claim ticket before another night passed. Turning, he slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close.

  “Okay, lunchtime,” he agreed. “Adam, what’ll it be—nuggets ’n’ fries?”

  As if he sensed the change in the atmosphere, the little boy’s gaze traveled from one adult to the other. His solemn look settled on Dan.

  “Is that what you’re having?” he asked.

  Dan shook his head. “Nope. I’m a burger man.”

  A broad grin split Adam’s little face and the mirth that twinkled in his eyes made Dan’s heart skip a beat. “Then, I’m a burger man, too,” he claimed.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Dan drove past the sign welcoming visitors to the future home of the Henry Phelps Protected Habitat. The fence surrounding the property was so new, spiders hadn’t nested in the chain link but—leave it to Jess—a list of rules already hung beside the gate. They were simple and boiled down to “Don’t leave anything behind,” and “Don’t take anything with you,” the two principles she had drilled into his head during their initial fly fishing lessons.

  A lot had changed in the six months since his first visit to the cove. On either side of the road—which boasted a fresh layer of gravel—the efforts of POE volunteers were obvious. Leaves on the orange trees had turned glossy and dark green. With proper care, they’d serve as a testament to the area’s early settlers. He’d been part of the demolition team that had broken down the old caretaker’s cottage, board by weathered board. The salvaged lumber was slated for the Tom Cofer Overlook at the top of the bluff. Survey sticks outlined the site for the Visitors’ Center where construction would start tomorrow. After that, workmen would swarm the area, so today was his last chance.

  Was he ready?

  One glimpse of the woman in the clearing ahead, and he wondered what had taken him so long. In Jess’s arms, he’d learned the true meaning of security. In her dark eyes, he’d found all the love and acceptance he’d ever need, and so much more. Recently, he’d put a deposit on their riverside dream house, a place he hoped would be their home for the rest of their lives. Call him old-fashioned, but before Adam and Jess moved in, he wanted to slip a ring on her finger and to promise her forever.

  He glanced at the picnic basket on the seat beside him. Nestled within was a tiny box, one that did not hold a diamond. He brushed aside a last-minute whisper of uncertainty. Yes, he could have splurged on the biggest, gaudiest bauble available, but he had to trust that he’d made the right choice.

  Assuming Jess gave the answers he wanted to hear to two of the hardest questions he’d ever have to ask.

  He parked the car in the shade and swallowed his unease while, hand-in-hand, mother and son hustled toward him pointing and wearing the smiles he wanted to see forever.

  “Isn’t this a nice surprise,” Jess said with a glance at the interior of the brand-new SUV. She leaned in through the window and kissed him, light and easy, out of deference to Adam who had yanked open the passenger door and was busy counting the cup holders and eyeing the DVD player.

  “It was time to trade the Beamer in for a larger model. This one’s a hybrid. Gets great gas mileage.” To say nothing of the cargo space, which was big enough to hold a team’s worth of baseball, football or soccer equipment.

  “That’s a nice surprise, too,” she teased, “but I meant, can an important man like you afford to take time off in the middle of the day?” If Dan wasn’t working in his office, he usually spent lunch hours at Connections House.

  “I’m the boss.” Dan pretended to tuck his thumbs beneath nonexistent suspenders. “I make my own schedule.” He’d been relieved when the hospital board hadn’t held his former association with The Aegean group against him. Especially when the sudden exposure of illegal dealings had led to a slew of “early retirements” and created such a vacuum that he’d been appointed the new head of the medical society.

  “This is a cool car,” Adam pronounced. “But why does it smell like chicken?”

  “Didn’t you know?” Dan patted the dash. “There’s a flock of them in the engine compartment.”

  Adam shot a quick glance at the hood and back again. “No, there isn’t,” he challenged.

  Rather than answer, Dan hefted a picnic basket. “I have enough right here to feed a small army.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Maddy made it.” The boy had eaten two helpings at Connections House the past Sunday and pronounced hers the best ever.

  “Is it lunchtime yet?” Clutching his stomach, Adam doubled over. “I’m star-r-rving.”

  Dan ruffled the kid’s hair. “Almost.” He popped the lid on the trunk. “Why don’t you get our fly rods out of the back.”

  While the boy scurried around to the rear of the car, Dan stepped out and pulled Jess close. “I thought I’d help out by bringing lunch. What do you say we eat down by the water?”

  Jess’s sunshiny face peered up at his. “A surprise visit, and you brought food? I have to agree with Adam, I’m starving. Just give me ten or fifteen minutes to finish something up, and I’ll meet you there.”

  He leaned down and planted a kiss atop her head. “Take your time,” he suggested, knowing he’d wait for her forever if he had to. He threw a look over his shoulder at Adam. “Let’s get out of your mom’s hair, okay?”

  “Can I have a leg first? What else is in there?”

  Dan swung the picnic basket high and out of reach of the kid who, he swore, had grown two inches since dinner last night. “You’ll have to wait for your mom. Okay?”

  Grumbling good-naturedly, Adam joined him, and they made their way down a path through the woods to the water’s edge. There, the table and chairs Dan had toted to the secluded spot the day before sat beneath massive oak trees. He dusted things off, unfurled a tablecloth and tucked the small box in his pocket while he went over his plans one last time.

  Jess would sit there. Adam would sit there. He’d kneel there.

  His preparations complete, he turned to the boy who’d plunked himself in one of the ch
airs and stared at the picnic basket with eyes that could test the firmest resolve.

  “What say we get our lines wet while we wait…” He was going to explain that it made no sense to tempt the area’s critters by opening the food containers, but his words trailed off with one look at the river. “Adam, have you ever seen that before?”

  Twenty yards from shore, the river churned with splashing fish. Black-spotted tails wiggled above the water line. Here and there, a golden fin cut through the surface.

  “Reds,” Adam whispered reverently.

  “Let’s get ’em,” Dan whispered back. The elusive quarry remained at the top of his must-catch list.

  They practically tiptoed to the water’s edge where Dan bowed to Adam and let the boy take the first cast.

  Nada.

  While the child stripped line and prepared to try again, Dan tossed his fly near the seething school. A firm tug rewarded his first attempt. The thought that he had a red on the line had barely registered when he looked over and saw that Adam’s second cast had paid off handsomely.

  Not even nearly-six-year-olds who’d been fishing all their lives were up to the challenge of landing a mature red, and the boy was already struggling. He’d planted his feet firmly in the sand, but the fish was so strong, it had pulled his rod tip down nearly to the ground. His reel chattered as the fish headed for the safety of open water. Without a doubt, the kid was going to lose it.

  There really was no choice.

  Dan gave a sharp downward tug on his line, pulling the barbless hook free of a red mouth and quickly reeled in. Shedding equipment, he moved to help the boy. One hand on Adam’s belt—lest the kid follow the fish into the river—and one hand on the rod, they fought together.

  Line keened and peeled along a path as straight as a laser. One hundred feet and the red had taken all of Adam’s fly line. Reels were loaded for situations exactly like this, and the green cord changed to white backing before the red settled down. As the fish rested, the thick filament went slack, dipping and drifting toward the water’s surface.

  “Now, Adam,” Dan coached the way Jess had taught him.

  Small hands blurred into action. Seaweed hung from the line Adam lifted from the water. It sloughed off as he recovered half the distance before the fish realized it was still hooked.

  “Aw, man,” he exclaimed when the fish ran again. “I can’t…”

  “Stay with him. Let him tire himself out. Reel in whenever there’s slack.”

  The boy was a good listener. He leaned forward, letting the red have its way. The second run was shorter. A third, shorter still. After each, he waited only until the line quit singing before he reeled and coaxed and did it again.

  In a matter of minutes, two feet of coppery fins and scales splashed in shallow water at Adam’s feet. By then, Jess was there, camera in hand. She insisted Dan pose for a photo with the wildly grinning boy and his two-foot “monster.”

  “How much did you see?” he asked her once they’d returned the fish to the river. Adam raced along the shoreline, proclaiming his victory to every bird and rock within earshot.

  “You mean, did I see you let your fish go?”

  Love glowed in her eyes when they met his.

  So much for the best-laid plans, Dan thought. There’d never be another moment as right as this one.

  Tugging the small box from his pocket with hands that trembled so much he could barely flip the lid open, he dropped to one knee. “Jess,” he began. Emotion clogged his throat. He cleared it and started over.

  “Jess, I’d be the luckiest man on earth if you’d do me the honor of becoming my wife.”

  A thousand-pound weight dropped from his chest when she whispered, “Yes, oh, yes!”

  She reached for the box, her teary smile easing another worry from his heart. The ring inside came from the fly rod he’d broken during his first lesson. Her reaction told him he’d been right to save it for the occasion.

  “We’ll shop for a real diamond later,” he assured, slipping the plain brass band onto her finger. “Until then…” He rose and swept her into his arms for a kiss that also promised more later. In the privacy of his bedroom.

  When they’d kissed enough to seal the bargain, and with Jess settled in his arms, they called to Adam. The boy had reached the curving point at the end of the cove and was meandering his way back to them. The slower pace allowed just enough time for the last—and possibly the toughest—question Dan had to ask.

  “Jess, I want us to be a family. I’d like to adopt Adam, if you’ll let me. If it’s okay with him. Would that be all right with you?”

  In his arms, Jess tilted her head to stare up at him. Wonder and something else—doubt?—filled her eyes. “Adoption’s a big step,” she said, running a hand through her hair. “It’s more than father-son picnics and fishing on Sunday afternoons. It’s making sure he eats his vegetables, learns his multiplication tables. Staying up all night with him when he comes down with a stomach virus.”

  He caught her fingers in his own. “I’m good with all that. I’m in this for the long haul. Besides…” He kissed her fingers and grinned down at the face he looked forward to seeing the first thing every morning for the rest of his life. “I’m a doctor, Jess. I can handle the bedside thing.”

  “And you’re sure this is what you want?”

  “More than anything else.” If it was up to him, he’d adopt Adam today and take away the slim chance the boy would ever have to face the past he’d had. But adoption took time and the courts moved slowly. “If we put things in motion now, we can finalize the paperwork as soon as we’re married.”

  “About that…” Jess stepped out of his arms. She searched his face, slipped her hand into his and led them toward the shade, the table and chairs. “Have you thought about a date?”

  “Not specifically.” He ran a hand through his hair. “We’ll plan on a big wedding, one with all the froufrou a girl wants at these things. I know that takes time.” He frowned, not wanting to wait another day. “How about six months from now?”

  A burst of laughter escaped her lips. He’d obviously gotten something wrong, but they’d run out of time to discuss it. Adam, who had finished his trek back from the edge of the cove, joined them at the picnic table.

  “That was some big fish, wasn’t it?” He spread his little boy arms as far apart as they would stretch. “I think it broke a world record. Do you think it did?”

  “Maybe not quite, but it was a great fish.” Jess bent to enfold her son in a tight squeeze. “And it’s been a great day for me, too, because Dr. Hamilton and I have decided to get married. What do you think about that, kiddo?” She brushed her fingers beneath his chin, tipping his head up to meet hers while Dan held his breath.

  His eyes widening, Adam swung to face Dan. “Does that mean you’ll be my real dad?” he asked.

  Dan took his cue from Jess. When her head bobbed up and down, he said, “If you’d like me to, that’s what I want.”

  Adam exhaled hugely. “Dad.” He tried out the word while Dan fought tears. “Dad,” he said again and pronounced it “cool,” using his latest, favorite word. He turned to face Jess. “Can we eat now, ’cause I think I heard my stomach growl.”

  Laughter eased the rest of Dan’s tension as Jess rose to her feet.

  “Oh, you did, did you?” She brushed hair from Adam’s face with one hand and wiped her own tears away with the other. “Now that you mention it, I could eat.”

  Later, after they’d put a fair-size dent in Maddy’s chicken and brownies, Dan showed Adam how to work the digital camera. While the boy sipped sweet tea and they enjoyed the peaceful afternoon, he steered the conversation back to the wedding plans.

  “What’d I get wrong?” he asked while Adam scrolled through the pictures of his catch for the hundredth time.

  “Six months is nowhere near enough time to arrange for a church and a reception hall,” Jess answered with the same odd look on her face he’d noticed earlier. “Le
t alone dresses and tuxes, caterers and florists and all the rest. Is that really what you want?”

  He had to admit that it wasn’t. He’d already considered all the people he’d invite to witness the day. Glen and Maddy would be there, of course. Sean and his sister. The other teens from Connections House. “I don’t have a very long guest list.”

  “Good. Then, let’s keep it simple.” Jess reached for the water bottle she’d recently begun carrying and took a sip. Dan practically had to lean in to hear her quietly add, “And maybe sooner, rather than later. Because there aren’t many gowns your bride will fit into six months from now.”

  “What?” It was Dan’s turn to tease. “Now that you’re going to be a doctor’s wife, are you planning to eat bon bons and watch soap operas all day? ’Cause…” He stopped as the enormity of what she’d said struck home. Ice cubes rattled in a glass he could barely hold steady. He looked over the rim and read the truth in Jess’s dark eyes.

  “We’re going to have a…”

  She shushed him with a warning nod to the boy at the other end of the table, but the finger she placed to her mouth landed on a saucy grin.

  Instinctively, he reached for her fingers and gave them a tight squeeze. “When?” he asked, awestruck.

  Jess said, “About eight months from now, I think.”

  Dan let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. “And here I thought life couldn’t get any better,” he whispered.

  At the water’s edge, a trio of sandhill cranes stepped carefully out from the brush. On impossibly thin legs, the birds stilt-walked through the sand before gathering their wings beneath them and taking flight. They soared, all grace and beauty, over the river as if they’d fly forever, but Dan had no doubt they’d be back. They’d made the preserve their home. Just as he’d found his home—and his future—in the heart of a feisty fly fisher.

  He squeezed Jess’s hand, secure in the knowledge that they’d made their catch and it was a keeper.