Turtle? Fish? Gator?
Okay. Don’t get carried away!
When Rachael reeled in her catch, she realized it was a very small fish— a bass. She’d seen them before, but never on her hook.
All eyes fastened on Rachael.
“What next?” she asked in the general direction of the guys.
Travis guided her through the next few steps. “First gently grab his lower jaw with your right hand. Then reach in and remove the hook with the other hand.”
“Will it hurt him?” Concern filled her voice.
“No. He’s barely hooked. Go on.”
Rachael gently did what he said, but it didn’t go quite as planned. Instead of her grabbing him gently and removing the hook, the fish grabbed her finger not so gently and bit down!
“Ahhhhhh!” Rachael screamed. “Get him off. He’s biting me!”
To the guys, it was, perhaps, the funniest thing they’d ever seen. The smallest bass ever was caught on her finger.
“Get him off! Get him off! Get him off!” Rachael continued to jump and yell.
Travis came over and gently made the fish open his mouth and then removed the hook. Rachael sat staring at her finger as if a piranha had nearly chomped it off. The guys were all still cracking up.
“He bit me!” Rachael was shocked. “He really bit me! This isn’t funny. I could have lost a finger or something. I hope these fish don’t carry diseases.”
“You’ll be fine. They only have tiny little teeth and what you have there is very common. It’s called fisherman’s thumb—where the little teeth prick your thumb while removing the hook. And no, I don’t think you are going to contract any deadly bass disease.”
This was too much. Jason couldn’t resist the opportunity to weigh in. “Actually, man, do you remember that kid over in Valrico, who contracted the rare but deadly Big Bass Skin Disease? In Latin, icthius derma dermosis.”
“Oh, yeah, I remember that,” Michael joined in. “It was nasty. It started with a rash on his thumb where he’d been bitten.”
“Yep. That’s it, and it traveled all the way to his chest, where it ate all his skin. It was nasty stuff.” Jason shook his head.
“Does anyone have any antibacterial hand sanitizer?” Rachael asked.
“That won’t help with this. Once you’ve been bitten, it’s over,” Jason added dramatically.
Rachael stared at all of them. She was sure they’d gone crazy. When they all started to laugh, she had the sudden urge to throw the whole group of boys overboard.
“Okay. Funny. I’m done. No more fishing for me.” She giggled.
But she didn’t want to be a bad sport, so against her better judgment, she cast her line again. Swim away from the hook, little fish friends. Away from the hook…please, she begged.
Next, Travis caught a huge bass!
Good for him. I hope it bites him.
But he reeled it in with no problem.
She sighed. No such luck.
They fished until late afternoon. Rachael was ready to give up and call it a day about two hours into the fishing trip, but the guys were having a good time. They fished…and fished…and fished…and fished, until Rachael thought she was going to starve to death or die of heat stroke—either one. It was a toss-up. She never complained outwardly but kept thinking, Dear Lord, when will they tire of this?
Travis finally suggested they call it a day. Once they docked the boat and unloaded all of their tackle boxes, they proceeded down the dock to Travis’s truck. The guys were still going strong and decided Fred’s Dockside down on the river would be a great way to finish their fish-a-thon.
Oh, yay! At least there will be food and drink.
They all jumped in the truck and were off to Fred’s.
Rachael ordered a huge glass of ice water, an appetizer, and a fish sandwich with French fries and coleslaw on the side.
“Hungry?” Travis asked.
“Starved.”
The conversation turned to fishing—the bass and bluegill they had caught. The size, including weight and length. They had released everything they had caught that day, but the bragging rights went to Travis, who had caught the largest bass.
He’s a fishing legend…if only for the day.
Rachael was glad when she and Travis arrived home an hour later. Michael had gone to Levi’s for the night, so she and Travis decided to borrow his bedroom theater and watch a movie. Afterwards, they called it a night. Travis went home, and Rachael got some much needed sleep. That was one thing about being in the sun, all day, on a boat—it was exhausting.
*
Early the next morning Rachael went out to the barn and called Maysie. No answer. She dialed Shannah. No answer. She decided to turn on the radio in the barn and set to work sweeping and cleaning stalls. A short time later she heard a horse whinny. She didn’t have a horse, and neither did her aunt. Aunt Margaret’s horse Paint had passed away some time in the spring over a year ago. This horse had sounded so near.
Rachael walked to the back of the barn and peered outside. Sure enough, a horse was tied out back to the board fence. Rachael turned around and screamed when she realized someone had sneaked up behind her.
“Travis! You scared me to death!” she yelled.
“Didn’t mean to. I had almost made it to the back porch when I heard the music playing out here and decided you might be out here instead. I was out riding fence lines, checking for holes, and decided I should come by to check on that huge fish bite you received yesterday.”
“Whatever.” She rolled her eyes, knowing he was playing with her.
“Would you like to ride fence lines with me?”
“Why not? I’m almost finished here. I’ll pack us a picnic lunch,” Rachael offered.
“Sounds good. Do you have any of that high-end dip?”
Rachael thought back to their first barn cleaning experience last year and the snack she’d fixed them. “Hummus?”
“That was it. Hummus. Pack some of that if you have it.”
“Come with me and you can help.” Rachael led the way into the kitchen.
“Good morning, Travis.” Aunt Margaret greeted him from the sink, where she was washing breakfast dishes.
“Hi, Aunt Margaret.” Travis gave her a gentle squeeze.
“So where are you guys off to today?”
Rachael piped up. “Picnic on the ranch.”
“Sounds wonderful. I have some things for just such an occasion.” Aunt Margaret went over to the pantry and took out some crackers, chocolates, and a bottle of non-alcoholic sparkling apple cider. Aunt Margaret placed all of the items in their picnic basket along with the salami, cheese, cherries, hummus, and apple wedges Rachael had already placed in it. Next Aunt Margaret produced two plastic cups, paper plates, forks, and napkins. “I think that should do it,” she said approvingly.
“Thanks, Aunt Margaret. We shouldn’t be long.”
“Don’t rush. Have fun. There’s nothing that needs doing around here today.”
Travis and Rachael went out to get his horse and rode out across the pasture together. There was something about riding double with Travis that made Rachael feel special, like the only girl in the world. She wrapped her arms around his waist to hold on. In that moment she realized how much her feelings for him had changed. They’d grown deeper somehow. She wanted to tell him but couldn’t just yet. Instead she simply lay her head on his back as they rode and listened to the beating of his heart and his breathing. She loved everything about Travis, even his smell.
He had taken her to the creek crossing where they had first met. Dismounting, he set up their blanket and basket. There was a small chill in the air so no catching minnows today. They ate their lunch. Afterwards, Rachael felt downright sleepy. She lay on the blanket, her head resting in Travis’s lap.
She wasn’t sure how long she had been sleeping when Travis woke her up.
“We better head back. It’s been a few hours.”
“How lon
g have I been sleeping?”
“Awhile,” he said sweetly.
Fantastic. I come out on a romantic picnic/horseback riding date with my boyfriend and fall asleep on him!
“I’m sorry for falling asleep.”
“That’s okay. Your nervousness around me is obviously fading. Now you’re going to the other extreme—so relaxed that you fell asleep.” He chuckled.
Rachael could feel herself blush. He was right. She had gotten very comfortable with him but in a good way. He still gave her butterflies in her stomach when they held hands or kissed, but she also trusted him completely. This trust was so new to her—she’d never found it with any other guy.
Only Travis.
14
MAYSIE, SHANNAH, AND RACHAEL DECIDED THAT MONDAY was as good a day as any to eat lunch outside. A December cold front had blown through, and the air was crisp and refreshing. The girls sat outside bundled in winter jackets and scarves. Maysie and Adam were still dating. Shannah and Gabe had made up after he vehemently apologized for pushing her too far on the “it” topic and promised not to bring it up again.
Rachael and Travis had never been so happy.
“So what are your plans over the break?” Rachael asked.
Shannah sighed. “Nothing exciting. If it warms up, I’d love to go to the beach a couple of times.”
“Count me in. I need some sun.” Rachael shivered.
“You know where we’ll be…Park City!” Maysie squealed.
“So much fun! You’ll have a blast!” Rachael was a bit jealous. She wished she were going, but she was already an employee on the ranch and, furthermore, she was Travis’s girlfriend. A guy-girl trip of any kind would be out of the question with his parents.
At that moment Rachael spied Amber walking across campus. She usually sat with them during lunch, but today she’d been nowhere around when they had gotten their lunches and brought them outside. Alex had opted to sit inside with Fred, but Amber had been missing.
Rachael could be mistaken, but it looked like Amber was crying. She didn’t even look over at them as she nearly sprinted past.
“What’s up with her?” Shannah asked.
“She looks upset. I’m not sure what it is. She hasn’t said anything.” Maysie frowned in concern.
“Should we go check on her?” Rachael asked.
“Don’t you think if she’d wanted to talk about it, she’d have come over here? I’m sure she saw us,” Shannah, the voice of reason, chimed in.
After lunch all of the girls said their good-byes and headed to class. Rachael stopped first in the girls’ locker room to stash her sweater in her locker. It was warmer now than it had been this morning, and she didn’t need both a jacket and a sweater. Her locker was at the back of the room—past the bathrooms, showers, and other rows of lockers. On her way past the showers, she heard the definite sound of someone sniffling. She stopped to listen. Again she heard it. “Amber?” she called out.
There was silence. If it was Amber, she obviously wanted to be left alone. Rachael continued to her locker and took off her sweater. She placed it inside.
“Hi, Rachael.”
Rachael turned to find Amber sitting on the bench at the end of the row of lockers. She looked horrid. Her eyes were puffy, her face streaked with tears.
What could be wrong? It can’t be that bad.
Rachael closed her locker and sat down by Amber. “Do you want to talk about it?”
“Not really,” Amber barely whispered. “I just don’t know what to do.”
“About what?”
“I’m late, Rachael. Very late.” Amber sobbed.
At first Rachael wasn’t sure she had even heard Amber correctly, but she had. Amber was late. That usually meant only one thing.
“I’m sorry, Amber. What did Clay say?”
“He’s in denial. He keeps hoping it will come.”
“How late is late?”
“A week or two, maybe more.”
“Okay, I’m really not an expert in this field. Have you spoken to your mom?”
“She would kill me if she knew.”
“Probably not, Amber. Why don’t you talk to her about it?”
Amber stood and wiped away her tears. “Forget I said anything, okay? You won’t tell anyone, right?”
“Of course not.” Rachael heard herself mumbling the words, but in that moment she wasn’t sure of anything.
Rachael thought back to their conversation weeks earlier. She felt responsible for Amber’s situation. Had Rachael given her friend bad advice? She had told her to talk to her parents. Had that been bad advice? Should she have gotten in her friend’s face and said instead, “Don’t do it, Amber! What are you thinking?”
Rachael ran to her next class, arriving ten minutes late, which earned her a detention.
Great!
This was the one class she had with Travis. He usually waited for her outside. Today he’d have been worried, wondering what had kept her. She could feel his eyes boring holes in the back of her shirt. He’d have to wait until after class. After the tardy and subsequent detention, she couldn’t risk whispering anything to him, or getting into any more trouble today.
Biology class dragged by, minute by minute, second by second. The droning monotone of her teacher especially grated on her last nerve today.
When the bell rang, she jumped from her seat, ready to spring out of the room. To where? She had no idea. The thing with Amber had really upset her.
“Rachael, wait up,” Travis called after her.
She stopped in the hall and just stood there. He stepped in front of her, searching her eyes. “What’s wrong? You were really late to class, which you never are. Then you run off and leave me, which you never do. Are we okay?”
“Yes. We are fine.” Rachael was about to cry. “I think I need to go home. Can you walk me to the clinic?”
“Sure.”
Travis seemed very concerned, and Rachael felt it was unfair to not share this with him, but she had promised she wouldn’t.
“You’re right. I’m very upset about a friend.”
“Okay. Are you in a fight with someone?” he asked in all seriousness.
“No. I wish it were that simple. It’s much worse than that.”
“Worse than that. Girl or guy?”
“Girl.”
“Is she pregnant?”
Rachael just stopped and looked at him with disbelief. How had he guessed it? He put his arms around her and gave her a hug.
“Why are you so upset by it?”
Rachael stepped back as if she had been slapped. “I knew she was thinking about doing it. I was the only one who knew, and I did nothing to stop her. The only advice I gave her was to talk to her mother, or possibly her father.” Rachael saw the ridiculousness in that last part now. She was the only girl alive who felt close enough to talk to her father about sex. And maybe Amber’s mom would have only discouraged her. Given her the standard abstinence speech. Maybe she had. If so, it hadn’t worked. Amber had very obviously not abstained.
“That doesn’t make it your fault,” he soothed. “Where is her accountability in all of this? You may tell me that you want to have sex, but in the end, if I do so, it’s my own choice. I’m accountable for my own actions—and the consequences. I know it’s upsetting, Rach, but it isn’t your fault. It isn’t.” He lifted her chin and gazed deeply into her eyes. “All you can do now is be a supportive friend to her and pray for the best, whatever that may be.”
“Her having a baby at sixteen could in no way be the right thing!”
“You don’t know that. Maybe God has a plan here.” Travis stroked her arm.
“I don’t think God’s plan includes a girl getting pregnant at sixteen.”
“How can you be so sure?”
Rachael whirled and stormed away. She made it to the clinic, where she feigned cramps.
Two seconds later Travis came through the door.
“Oh. So you have cramps too?
” Rachael said.
“No. My stomach is upset, and I need to lie down.” He stuck his tongue out at her. He signed in on the clipboard and lay on the cot next to hers. “So, as I was saying, this is upsetting news for all of us. All we can do is be supportive.”
Rachael just rolled over and turned her back to him.
“Why am I the enemy here?” He sounded annoyed now. “I don’t remember me doing anything wrong.”
“You are one of them,” she said petulantly. “The enemy.”
“Oh. So now all guys are the enemy? That’s mature, Rachael.”
They lay there in silence until the next bell rang. Travis jumped up and proclaimed to be healed. He walked over and signed them both out. “Come on, faker. You’re healed too.”
Rachael shot him a dirty look and trudged out of the clinic.
“We only have one class left. Let’s get this day over with, and then we can talk some more.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Who said anything about discussing it further?”
“Oh. We are going to discuss it further.” Now Travis seemed angry too.
Good.
After school there was no sign of Amber or Clay. Rachael rode home with Travis as usual, but to her surprise, he didn’t mention the Amber situation. This was one area where they obviously did not see eye to eye. They would have to just agree to disagree for now. In the future they’d have to discuss it further, but not today. There were some bridges that couldn’t be crossed in one day.
He broke the silence. “So, how is the saving for a vehicle going?” he asked nonchalantly.
“Good. Are you tired of chauffeuring me around yet?”
“Never. Just checking. Trying to choose a safe topic of conversation is all.”
“It’s going well. I have two hundred dollars saved. I still have a long ways to go, but I’m getting there.”
“Glad to hear it.” Travis kept quiet after that. He was so frustratingly good at reading her moods and so supportive she couldn’t stay mad at him for long.
Finally, she sighed. “Travis, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”
Cowgirl Down (Redneck Debutante) Page 16
