Lolly’s head pivoted between her father and the young man, her eyes wide, waiting for an explanation.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Lol. Didn’t I tell you about Les?”
“Umm, no.”
Les laughed, his face breaking into a huge smile, before quickly covering his mouth with his hand. “Sorry.”
“Les, Lolly. Lolly, Les.”
The two shook hands tentatively. “Les is on summer break from Michigan State. He’s majoring in … what was that again?”
“Forestry.”
“You study forests?” Lolly asked.
“Fish and wildlife, actually. I’m in the College of Natural Resources and Agriculture.”
“So then my dad is sort of your ‘outdoor’ professor this summer?” Lolly asked.
“That’s right. I’ll be helping him with his fishing excursions this summer, which will give me a chance to study our state’s northern lakes, especially the musky and salmon population.”
“His parents have a summer cottage here,” Vern explained. “His dad contacted me about this.”
“Can you change a hook? Cast? Clean a fish?” Lolly asked in quick succession, a bit jealous that a college boy was about to take over some of her usual summer duties with her father.
Vern doubled over at the sudden barrage of questions from his daughter, booming laughter echoing off the lake and causing a group of herons nearby to take flight.
“My daughter has a point,” he said, looking Les—and his crisp khaki pants, ironed polo shirt, and deck shoes—over closely. “Lolly, you should do all the interviewing from now on. So, can you do any of that, Les? It’s kind of important, since most of the city folk can’t.”
“Ummm…” Les hesitated, looking between Lolly and Vern.
Vern leaned into the boat and nabbed a pole and his tackle box. “Here ya go. Tie on a lure and cast into the lake for me.”
Les pursed his lips as if he were going to whistle, or maybe cry, and then exhaled a puff of wind heavenward, blowing his flaxen bangs out of his eyes. He did this over and over, as he fussed with the lure. He tried tying the lure for five minutes, his eyes crossed in concentration, until Lolly couldn’t take it anymore.
“Here!” she said. “Let me show you!”
Les’s face reddened, as Lolly continued. “It’s okay that a girl’s showing you. Don’t be embarrassed. It’s easy: This is a figure eight tie. See, you twist and twist, until an eight forms, then loop the end through the bottom of the eight and then the top of the eight and pull tight, like this. There!”
Les looked at Lolly as if she were a magician. He yanked and yanked on the lure, but it stayed in place, as if it had been cemented onto the line.
“Do it again,” he said, incredulous. “Please.”
Lolly showed him again, and when she was done, cast a perfect toss alongside the edge of the reeds, hooking a smallmouth bass in under a minute.
“You’ll get the hang of it,” Lolly said, pulling the fish off and tossing it back into the water, where it immediately dove to the bottom of the clear lake. “It’s like having a dad who’s a butcher. You learn how to grill a steak, right?”
Les nodded, and again blew his bangs toward the sky.
Lolly finally studied the boy. Yes, he was gangly. Yes, he was a bit green. Yes, he was a college boy.
But there was no denying, he was very cute.
Suddenly, Lolly’s face flushed, as if everything she just thought had been said aloud, for the entire world to hear.
“Now, you try casting,” Vern said.
Les picked up the pole, moved to the edge of the dock, hitched up the rod, and flicked his arm like a robot. The lure sailed the wrong way, screaming backward, where it hooked Lolly directly in the charm bracelet.
“Lolly! Are you okay?” her father yelled, rushing toward his daughter.
“Oh, my gosh! No! I’m so sorry!” Les yelled, following suit.
“Mom was watching over me,” Lolly laughed, holding up her bracelet and beginning the process of untangling the lure from amongst the knot of charms it had hooked. “As for you,” she continued, staring at Les, “I think the only thing you might catch is a cold … or a lawsuit from one of the guests.”
Les gave a wobbly smile, his humiliation giving way to the comforting fact that at least his boss’s daughter had not been injured.
“What are all those?” Les asked, moving forward to help Lolly untangle the mess he’d created.
“Charms,” she said. “Most from my mom, who died. All of them have a story.”
“I think I just added a new one to your bracelet,” Les said, blushing.
“A charm or a story?” Lolly asked, cocking her head. “I’m guessing story, since that lure is too dangerous to add to my bracelet.”
“My mom and grandma have charm bracelets,” Les said, finally fishing the lure free from her bracelet. “They are just so … beautiful, aren’t they? They have so much history. Your mother was protecting you.”
Lolly stared in shock at Les. She had never heard someone so young, much less a boy, say something so profound about her bracelet.
“Does your girlfriend have a charm bracelet, too?” Lolly managed to ask, her mouth suddenly feeling as if it were filled with cotton.