Alonzo studied the shadows in Pearl Lake. They lightened as Saturday’s dawn stretched across the cool blue sky. The birdsong grew louder. The sun grew warmer. The air was fresh, crisp, and moist with morning dew. But his fishing rod remained still. It was as though the fish sensed his troubled thoughts.
“Who goes fishing with a beach chair?” Jackson grumbled beside him as he recast his line.
Alonzo glanced down at his companion. The cabin resort owner sat cross-legged on a wide, faded blanket beneath the large maple tree. Their backpacks, stuffed with supplies, lay behind him on the blanket.
“People in their sixties who’d like to be comfortable while fishing with a friend.” The cork grip of Alonzo’s graphite rod was familiar in his hands.
Jackson’s smile was quick and easy. There was a time when his smiles were nonexistent. That was before Audra. “How’s your wedding planning?”
“Great now that Benita’s taken it over.” Alonzo chuckled. “Thanks very much for letting us have our wedding at Harmony Cabins.”
“No problem.” Jackson took a long drink from his water bottle. It was the biggest water bottle Alonzo had ever seen.
“Benita’s also sent out the invitations; set up the gift registry; booked the photographer, videographer, and caterer; and ordered the roses.”
“Sounds like your June wedding is on track. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” Alonzo’s gaze lifted from his fishing rod’s aluminum reel to the whimsical ash wood bridge that stretched across Pearl Lake. The closer they got to his wedding, the more he feared something would happen to turn his dream into a nightmare, like Doreen finding out about his past.
“So if your wedding plans are going well and you’ve announced your retirement, what’s weighing on your mind?” Jackson recast his nylon line.
Alonzo had known Jackson would sense his turmoil. Was that the reason he’d asked the younger man to go fishing with him?
“I’ve been in love with Doreen since college.” He took a long drink of the water in his normal-sized bottle.
“A long time.”
Alonzo’s gaze dropped to his fishing rod. The fish were still avoiding him. “When I returned to Trinity Falls two years ago, I realized she’d changed.”
“How?” Jackson obviously hadn’t expected Alonzo’s words.
“As a young woman, Doreen had been warm, friendly, caring—a bright light in the community.”
“She’s still all of those things.” Jackson scowled, ready to defend his friend.
“No.” Alonzo shook his head. “As a mature woman, Doreen is committed, compassionate, complex. Her bright light has become a supernova.”
Jackson seemed to relax. “Doreen is an impressive person.”
“And my feelings for her are even stronger now than when I first fell in love with her.” Alonzo paused. “I never would’ve thought that was possible.”
“How is that a bad thing?” Jackson’s frown returned.
Alonzo shifted on his beach chair. He was a lawman, not a poet. He struggled to find the words to express his fears and concerns about the woman who would soon be his wife. “I’m not good enough for her.”
The silence was long and brittle before Jackson spoke. “Seriously?”
“She’s built things, created things. What have I brought to the community?”
“Law and order.”
“She can point to things a lot more tangible than that, like the laptops in the elementary school computer lab.” Alonzo was proud of all of Doreen’s accomplishments. But they were sometimes daunting to someone who hadn’t achieved as much.
Jackson uncrossed his legs and stretched them toward the lake. “Doreen thinks you’re good enough for her.”
“The man she thinks she knows is good enough for her.” Alonzo so badly wanted to be that man.
“Have you spoken with Doreen?”