Lucas’ shouts finally snapped Winnie back to reality.
She glanced in the direction of his voice and asked, “Where’s the fish? Did you get it?”
“I did. It’s still flopping on the deck. What’s up with you, by the way? Is something off with your hearing? Can’t you hear the noise?”
She rolled her eyes at his string of questions and retorted, “How can I hold this conversation with you if I can’t hear anything? Maybe you should check your brain instead. Why did you come here anyway? How many fish did you get?”
“Zero.” Lucas chucked the fish she caught into a tank before sitting beside her. He continued, “I heard you talking, so I thought your husband was here. That’s why I came over. I didn’t think you were daydreaming alone. Your husband’s nowhere to be seen. So what were you doing? Who did you call? What did you talk about?”
Winnie replied drily, “Are you interrogating a suspect? While you’re at it, why don’t you record every word I say and type up a transcript?”
Her sarcasm ticked him off, and Lucas grumbled, “Come on! You just seemed to be in a funk, so I thought I’d come over to console you. Some friend you are. Hmph!”
Winnie could not be bothered to explain her personal affairs to Lucas in detail, so she said curtly, “My family called me to discuss my medical condition. There. You can start consoling me now.”
“Nah. When did you need my consolation on that matter? Anyway, I think I’ll stick around and fish here. There’s more fish here.”
Winnie mumbled an acknowledgment before asking, “How long has Xavier been gone? Why hasn’t he come up?”
Lucas replied, “He has been gone for almost half an hour. I reckon he should be back soon. Why don’t you cast your rod? Your next catch might be your husband. You could tell people you fished a mermaid; he’s pretty enough for that.”
She did not gratify his cheeky remark with a verbal response.
proved right. Seconds later, Xavier emerged from
threw a rope out
caught plenty of abalones, shellfish, and even a grouper as
began planning the dinner
believe he was the only one ending the fishing trip empty-handed. He refused to steer the boat back
sight, though he did
at least he was no longer calling it
time they left the pier and packed everything into the
were about to drive off when Lucas suddenly shouted, “Oh no! I left my phone
fix this habit of leaving things behind? I’m the blind one,
glanced at the phone in the passenger seat and asked Lucas, “Isn’t it right beside you? Don’t you see
phones today. I’m contacting my new
eyes and muttered, “A
the ex. Give me a couple of minutes; I’ll be back in
car door and
Winnie said to Lucas, “I got a call while you were diving this afternoon. It was from your dad. I forgot to
the nasty remarks that Benjamin had flung her way, but Xavier’s observation
the call log on his phone and
that the situation was not as straightforward
knew his father’s character better than anyone
and grasped Winnie’s hand. “What did my dad say to you? Did he make things difficult for
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