I had no idea how to catch a fish, but I could see the appeal of this. I tossed my line out the way Zack had shown me, but mostly just watched the mountains in the distance. I found I didn’t particularly care if I caught anything.

The place was fucking beautiful, actually. I’d been guilty of thinking Manhattan was beautiful more than a few times. I thought there was something about the towering buildings and the pure energy in the air. It had seemed like it fit me for most of my life. But this? I could see why people went for this. It felt like the kind of place where you could relax your grip on life just a little bit. The sort of place you could find a pretty girl and settle down.

I wondered if that thought had bubbled up because I knew Pearl’s dream for her future–to escape the city and build herself a quiet life somewhere like this.

“Shee!” Lane said, breaking the silence. He was yanking his fishing pole and jumping excitedly. Curtis stopped what he was doing and started swearing at the fish on the line.

“Get in here, you little no leg piece of shit! Shee!”

Shee was some kind of Alabama warcry, it seemed. Or maybe it was just a Curtis and Lane thing. It was hard to tell with them.

Lane got a hold of his line and yanked the fish out of the water. It was maybe three inches long and couldn’t weigh much. I wasn’t sure how the thing had been putting up so much fight.

Curtis bent over, clasping his knees and howling with laughter. “Slather me in butter and call me a turkey! That thing ain’t much, but least it’s bigger than your pecker!”

“Bigger than my pecker? She’s bigger than that hemorrhoid you got after Great Grandpa Curtis’ bean-eatin’ contest!”

“You swore you ain’t gon’ tell nobody bout that, you chicken fucker!”

“Least I can get laid!” Lane laughed.

I grinned as the two of them started wrestling and laughing, splashing water and probably scaring away all of the fish in the process. Walter thought it was an invitation, so he got up from the flowers he was gnawing on and waded into the water up to his knees, barking and wagging his tail.

Zack grinned at me. “You have brothers?” he asked.

“Two,” I said. “Pierce and Damon. I don’t see them much anymore, but I do see my little sister, Laney, a few times a year.”

“Hah,” Zack barked. “Same here. Two brothers and a little sister. Greyson is the good brother. Patrick is the prick. And then we have Hailey. She used to not really be in our lives, but a couple years ago she came back.” He gave a nod toward Curtis and Lane. “How do you know these two?”

“Family of my girlfriend. I just met them for the first time yesterday, but something told me they’d love a fishing trip.”