I smiled.
“How about you?” he asked.
“Do I fish or do I have a family?”
“Either, both?”
“I’ve fished since I was a little girl. My dad took me out all the time, but my favorite was ice fishing. Probably the snowmobile part, more than the fishing part though.” I smiled to myself. I hadn’t thought of those memories for a long time. “And I don’t have a family of my own, not yet anyway. I just got out of a relationship . . .”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to pry—”
“Oh, no, don’t worry about it,” I said more happily than I intended. “It was for the best. You’d think I’d have learned after five years, but I guess I’m a bit stubborn.”
“Women always think they can change a man. Doesn’t work.”
Didn’t I know it? I sighed.
Ben rounded a corner and the thatched roofs of the plaza buildings came into view. The swim beach was clean, its golden sand completely empty of visitors. Marina Cove held five sailboats and two fishing boats that moved in a synchronized dance with the waves. It was so peaceful and breathtaking.
“Looks like you’ll get to meet our local celebrity,” he said, pulling into a parking lot filled with trucks and small boat trailers.
As we approached a rusted-out Ford Ranger, the man whose face I had seen on the cover of the newspaper waved. Ben parked next to the truck and rolled down his window.
“How’s it going, Benny?” Ronnie Tilsdale shoved his hands into his back pockets and rocked back on his heels. He was even smaller than he looked in the newspaper photo.
“It’s a beautiful day to catch some fish.”
“Have you been back in the cove? Anyone catching anything back there?” Ronnie’s beady eyes darted to the back of the pickup where the trap lay in plain sight.
“Not that I’ve heard. Looks like you caught the only cat in that cove.” Ben leaned back in his seat so Ronnie could see me. “This is our newest ranger. Rylie.”
I smiled and raised my hand in a short wave. “Nice to meet you, Ronnie. I saw you in the paper.”
His face brightened with a huge smile. “Thankfully, they got my good side.”
“They sure did,” I said as seriously as I could. Both of his “sides” looked the same to me.
“I see you pulled up another trap.” Ronnie’s smile faded slightly. “You know the rumors ain’t true, right, Benny? I didn’t catch that fish with nothing but a line and pole.”
He looked like he was telling the truth. Plus, there was no way this tiny mouse of a man would have been able to throw that trap into the water, let alone get it all the way out there by himself.
“Do you know who might have put out the traps?” Ben asked. “You’re here so often, I’d be surprised if you haven’t unknowingly seen them.”
Ronnie ran a hand through his greasy black hair. “I don’t wanna make no accusations. It wouldn’t be—”
“I’m not asking you to accuse anyone,” Ben said.
Ronnie rocked back on his heels. “The only people I seen fishing back there with any regularity are your ranger buddies, Ding Dong Dave, and my old pal Clark—but he ain’t been around since I caught the record. We got in a argument, and he decided to take his fishing elsewhere.”
“Well, if you see anything else, let me know,” Ben said. “Good luck out there today.”
“Thanks. It was nice meetin’ ya, Rylie. I’ll be seeing you more this summer, I hope.” And he winked at me. Ugh.
Before Ben had time to roll up his window and put the truck in gear, the door to Ronnie’s truck swung open and an Amazonian woman emerged, yelling at the top of her lungs. “Flirting with the rangers now? She ain’t gonna give you a second look, you worm.” Ronnie cowered beneath her presence. “Ain’t no husband of mine gonna look at no other woman.”
“I—I’m sorry, darlin’.”
“Don’t you darlin’ me. You’s about the dumbest man on the face of this world. Didn’ I tell ya last time, the next time you looked at another woman, there’d be consequences?”
She raised her fist, and Ronnie covered his face with his hands.
“Ma’am, I’m going to need you to calm down.” Ben opened the door and stepped out, his height matching hers. I followed suit and hurried around the truck to stand next to Ben.
Ronnie’s wife dropped her arm as if she’d forgotten we were there in the first place.
“It’s okay,” Ronnie said. “She’s right. I shouldn’ta been flirtin’ with the pretty—I mean, not pretty. She’s not pretty, she’s hideous—”
Hideous?
Her eyes darted between Ben and me before she turned to Ronnie and barked out, “Get in the truck. No fishin’ for you today.”
Ronnie looked defeated. “Sorry you had to see that, Benny. She’s not usually like this. She ain’t been the same since Clark disappeared.” He looked at me, shoulders slumped, and tightened his mouth—as if he’d wanted to say something. Then, he climbed into the truck.
Ben chuckled and shook his head. “And I bet you thought this job was going to be boring.”
I don’t know what I thought, but this definitely wasn’t it. I mean, where were the naked men?
“We should probably head up to the shop before Antonio and Kyle leave for the day.”
My heart fluttered in my chest.
No. He was married.
One of the large garage doors to the shop was open and Kyle and Antonio stood chatting by their trucks.
“Hey Rylie,” Antonio said as we approached. “How’s your first day been?”
“Good so far.” I shrugged and tried not to blush.
“She met Jackson and Dave and Ronnie,” Ben said.
“Fishin’ in the cove?” Kyle asked, his face perking up.
“Jackson and Dave were. Ronnie had to go home. His wife put her foot down.”
“She’s terrifying,” Antonio said. “Like a bear.”
“Were Jackson and Dave
