“Isn't that a little dramatic?” Janine asked.
“I think Colleen is right. These two are like baby birds who have hurt their wings. We need to pick them up, coddle them a little bit and then send them on their way. Hopefully they fly high.” Dixie lifted her arms into the air like she was setting birds free.
Janine stared at her. “And if they don’t?”
“Well, that's just not an option,” Dixie said, laughing.
“That camp is over tomorrow. I really think Dawson is going to try to adopt Dylan. And if he does, our mother would have to be okay with raising a child all over again.”
“Do you think she wants to do that?” Meg asked. “I mean, she's an empty nester. She's a grandmother, for goodness’ sake. Would she really want to start all over again?”
“To be fair, she wouldn't really be starting all over. Dylan is eight years old, so it's really just another ten years of her life,” Colleen said, thinking out loud. “Still, it’s a big responsibility. I don't think she's even spent five minutes with Dylan yet.”
“Well, you run that camp. You’ve got one more day. Why don't you put her with Dylan tomorrow and see if they don't form a bond?” Dixie asked.
Colleen thought for a long moment. “Isn't that a little underhanded?”
“Do you see a problem with that?” Dixie said, shrugging her shoulders.
“Not a problem at all,” Colleen said, a slight grin on her face. “Maybe the only thing we really have to do is make sure that my mom falls in love with Dylan just like Dawson has. Hopefully, that will stoke the fires a little bit to get Dawson to actually propose. Otherwise, this whole thing is going to go on forever.”
“Fine. I’ll go along with this, but we have to accept whatever the outcome is. No pushing of either Dawson or Julie, okay?” Janine said, looking around the room. Everybody nodded.
“Agreed. Tomorrow, we start ‘Operation Fall In Love With Dylan’,” Colleen said with an evil laugh. This just had to work.
Julie stood on the end of the dock and stared at Colleen. Even though it was a beautiful day, the salt scented air was blowing her hair away from her face. “Are you serious? I don’t know the first thing about fishing.”
Dylan stood off to the side, his little arms crossed over his chest. “I thought I was fishing with Mr. Dawson today?”
Colleen smiled and looked back and forth at each of them. “Today, we’re trying something new. It’s good to get to know new people, Dylan. So, I thought maybe you could show Miss Julie what you learned from Dawson about fishing.”
“Where’s Dawson?” Julie asked under her breath, her teeth gritted.
“He’s helping set up some games for later. Tucker is working with him.”
Julie looked at Dylan, and he didn’t look amused. After all, what little boy wanted to hang out with a forty-something year old woman he’d only met briefly? Especially when she was dressed in white capri pants and a tank top and looked nothing like a fishing instructor.
“Can Dawson come over here soon?” Dylan pleaded. Colleen ruffled his hair.
“Be good,” she said, walking away without looking back. Julie felt like something weird was going on, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
She and Dylan stood there for a moment, each of them looking around like they were on some really awkward date. Finally, deciding that she was the adult, Julie broke the ice.
“So, Dylan, are you going to show me what Dawson taught you about fishing?” She tried to put on her best smile without looking creepy.
“I guess so,” he said, dejected. He sat down on the end of the dock, his feet hanging over the edge. His hand rested on the fishing pole that was beside him, and he stared at his knees like they were the most interesting thing in town.
Julie finally sat down beside him, well aware that her white pants would never make it through the day without being stained. She picked up the fishing pole on the other side of her and laid it over one of her legs.
“Look, I know you'd rather have Dawson sitting here. I would if I were you. I don't know the first thing about fishing. But, I'd like to learn if you want to teach me.” She didn't really want to learn. But, she needed to do anything she could to salvage this very awkward moment.
He reached for the tacklebox a couple of feet away and popped it open, pulling out a fishing lure. “It's pretty easy. You just put this thing on your hook like this.”
She watched him carefully, trying to seem overly interested. Right now, she really just wanted to go back to the bookstore where she felt comfortable. But in the back of her mind, she kept thinking about how Dawson might actually try to adopt this little boy, and he would be in her life. That is, if their relationship survived. Lately, it seemed like Dawson was trying to stay away from her, and that made her feel sad and a little bit nervous.
“Okay. Can you hand me one of those?”
Dylan sighed and reached into the tacklebox, pulling out a bright green worm with glitter inside. It struck Julie that it was kind of cute. She took it from his chubby little hand and attached it to her hook.
“Then you have to turn the little handle like this,” he said, obviously not using the technical terms. Julie followed what he did and tightened up her line.
“Like this?”
He nodded. “Then, you flip this little thing over, hold your line and pull your fishing pole back like this,” he said, stretching his right arm out beside him. Julie didn't have enough room to do that, so she scooted down a few feet. “And then you swing it out like this and let go of the line. Once it hits the water, you need to reel it in a little bit like this.”
Now he seemed to be loosening up. He flung his fishing line out into the water, tightened up the line and then sat there looking at her. She did the same, trying to remember the few times she’d been fishing in her life as a kid.
She pulled her hand back and flung her line, but instead of it going into the water, the hook attached to the back of Dylan's shirt, narrowly missing his skin. Her fishing pole bent, almost to the point of breaking, before she realized what had happened. Dylan, obviously shocked by being caught with the hook, turned his head as far as he could to see what was on his shirt.
Julie stared at him, her fishing pole attached to him. Within seconds, she started laughing hysterically, probably out of nervousness more than anything. “Looks like I caught myself a big one!”
Dylan stared at her, his eyes wide. Thankfully, he started giggling. “I don't think you did that right!”
Before they knew it, they were both crying with laughter as Julie tried to figure out how to get the hook out of his T-shirt. It took a few moments, but she finally did, and she managed to do it without sticking it right through her own fingers.
She laid the fishing pole down on the dock. “Maybe I'm not cut out for this.”
Dylan reeled in his line and put it down beside him. “You can't give up. Sometimes things are really hard when you first try them, but you have to just keep trying. If you quit, you'll always be a loser.”
She was struck by his matter of fact way of speaking. “Well, I have to say that's very smart, Dylan. And you're right. Quitters never win.”