Never Again – 30

 

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'm going to be," Joseph replied to Cal's question. He was dressed in jeans, a tee shirt, and sandals, just like Cal. Although, in his opinion, Cal did his tee a lot more justice. It clung to his muscular body like a second skin, accenting every well-defined line of his torso. Joseph resisted licking his lips when he looked at him.

Not an auspicious start to the day. Well, okay, very auspicious—but also very dangerous. I'm supposed to be looking at him as a friend, nothing more. But damn it!

Cal shook his head, pointing to the fishing rod and creel sitting on Joseph's front porch. "You might want to bring them with you," he said when Joseph started down the steps without them.

"Oh, yeah, I guess it would help in the long run." Joseph turned to pick them up, chiding himself for acting like such a gawky schoolboy. He hadn't felt like this in…

In over a century and a half. And look how that ended.

With that thought, he almost begged off going but he knew it wouldn't be fair to Cal. The man needed a chance to get away and relax with someone he trusted.

After tossing his things in the back of Cal's truck, Joseph climbed into the passenger seat. "At least your prediction of torrential rain didn't come true," he said with a laugh.

"Yeah. Would have sort of ruined things."

"Now they say fishing is better when it's raining."

Cal chuckled. "I'll pass. I just want to sit and laze the day away."

"Don't we both." Joseph watched as they drove out of the Garden District, wondering where they were headed. Finally he asked.

"Hopedale Lagoon. About an hour's drive. You okay with that?"

"As long as it's off the beaten track, you bet."

Cal smiled. "It is, or at least the spot I'm thinking of is. We'll have to walk in since there's no road."

Joseph grinned. "The best way."

* * * *

Joseph jumped out of the truck seconds after Cal parked it in a lot behind a small bait store at the edge of Hopedale. Bending over, he rubbed his knees. "On the way back, I'm hanging my legs out the window," he grumbled good-naturedly.

"Hey, quit your belly-aching. At least you can do that. Me, I'm stuck behind the wheel."

"Well, we'll both walk it off soon enough from what you said." He looked around, seeing what he presumed was the lagoon off in the distance across the highway. "Doesn't look like that far a walk."

"It is to where I have in mind." Grabbing his pole from the back of the truck, Cal rested it on his shoulder, slinging a backpack over his other shoulder, and waited for Joseph to get his things.

After making sure it was safe, they crossed the highway and made their way down to the edge of the lagoon. Then they began the real walk. It didn't take long before Joseph took off his sandals, hooking them over the handle of his pole. Cal cocked an eyebrow and Joseph said, "If my feet are going to be wet anyway, I'd rather go barefoot."

Eventually they arrived at their destination, a small inlet off the main lagoon with trees surrounding it. Picking one close to the edge, Cal set down his pack and pole. Joseph was right beside him, doing the same, putting the creel safely behind the tree in the shade.

"Now, are we really going to fish?" Joseph asked as he sat down on a flat rock on the bank.

"We can at least pretend to." Cal got his pole, baited it then tossed the line into the water, sticking the handle into the damp mud to keep the fishing rod semi-erect.

"A fish grabs your bait and good-bye rod," Joseph commented with a laugh, even though he followed suit after getting back up to retrieve his pole.

"And we care why?" Cal sat down on the rock Joseph had vacated, grinning when Joseph told him to at least share. "You weren't going to."

"Now how do you know that?"

"I'm a mind reader?"

Joseph snorted in amusement. "Then what am I thinking now?"

Cal turned his head to study him, as if he was actually trying to read his mind. "You're happy, I think. Relaxed. Enjoying being here."

"You don't have to read my mind to know that." Joseph studied him in return. "And you're actually having fun I'd say, for the first time since I've met you. I mean real 'yes I'm going to unwind and forget about the world' fun."

"You can tell just from my face?"

"No, I can tell because you've smiled and laughed as if you really meant it."

"It's the company," Cal replied just as something pulled the line on his pole. "Damn, that was fast." He grabbed the pole and started to reel in his catch.

Joseph watched Cal, but his mind was elsewhere. He remembered vividly the late afternoon about a month before Rawleigh had left on his fatal trip north to cover the war. They had decided to spend that night outside of Richmond so Joseph could shift and run. As they rode, they saw a small pond off in the distance, the lowering sun glancing off its waters.

"Let's go there," Rawleigh had said excitedly. "Perhaps, if we are lucky, we can catch a few fish."

Joseph had grinned. "I think I can catch us enough for supper for several nights after I have shifted."

He did catch some, although Rawleigh had insisted he put most of them back. "How will we keep them fresh until we return home?"

When Joseph shifted back he told him, "It is only an hour's ride at best."

"But"—Rawleigh had smiled wickedly—"it will be much more than an hour before we head home."

So they had built a small fire, cleaned and spitted the fish, and while they cooked, they had made love under the stars, the sound of the water lapping the shore adding its soft music to their passion.