Shoe Strings

phone instead of lunch.”  
    Jesse laughed.   “Sounds like your mom’s either exhausted or showing signs of early
Alzheimer’s.”   As he figured it
couldn’t be the latter, he had to assume she and Bryce had finally consummated
their friendship.   Good for them.
    “Who knows, but he’s coming over for dinner tonight.”
    “Really?   Two
dates in two days.   What do you
think?”
    Ty lifted a shoulder, swatted away a bug.   His gawky movements, his innocent eyes
reminded Jesse of the boy trapped inside the man’s body.   He felt his heart ache.   “Bryce knows what he’s getting
into.   He’s always been around,
helping mom, especially when you were gone.”
    Ouch.   The truth,
Jesse was reminded for the second time in days, had fangs.   He had to wonder if Ty could see what
was left of Cal’s teeth marks.   “Your granddad and I were just discussing my time away last night.”
    “Discussing?   Sounded more like arguing.”
    “Cal and I have our best discussions at top volume.”   Ty casually glanced over, his eyes
narrowed.   Jesse wasn’t fooling him
one bit.   “He got a few things off
his chest.   It’d been building for
awhile.”
    “About me,” Ty said with such certainty Jesse nearly
cringed.
    “No, about me.   About when I left for Atlanta years ago.”   They’d reached their favorite fishing
spot, a place on the river where the water babbled over shallow rocks and the
trout were likely to lurk.   Jesse
got out of the Cataraft into the shallow water and tied the boat off on a
nearby tree.   “We’ve never really
talked about when I was away, what it was like for you,” he said after he’d
climbed back in.   He handed Ty his
rod, started fiddling with his.
    Ty took his time selecting the perfect fly, his ritual since
he’d been old enough to sling the rod.   Once he’d plucked one from amongst the thirty or so Jesse kept in the
storage seat, he went about attaching it to the rod.   Jesse did the same, waiting for Ty to
finish with his fly and think of how he wanted to answer his dad.  
    When his shoulder jerked again, Jesse knew Ty had been
sorting out what to say while he worked.   “I don’t think about it much.   Seems like such a long time ago.”   He let out his line, began to expertly flick his wrist to begin the
dance of the fly fisherman.   “It was
hard on Mom, but Granddad was around and so was Bryce.”   He looked at Jesse for the first time
since the awkward conversation began.   “I mostly remember it being fun, coming into the city, all the stuff we
did.   The dinosaurs at the museum,
the water park, the ballgames, and that great ice cream shop by your condo.”
    He should have known Ty would make it easy on him.   Or was it the protection mechanism that
kept kids unaware of the struggles around them.   It may have been fun for him, but Jesse
knew it was nothing close to fun for Kerri Ann.   For that, he’d always love her.  
    “It was fun, just us guys, back then.”   Jesse threw in his line, sat back, and
settled in for what qualified as fun these days.  
    Ty jerked his line, thought he’d gotten a big one.   “Did you see that, Dad?   Damn fish took my favorite fly.”
    “You jerked too hard.   And don’t say damn.”   He drew
the fly case out of the dry box and passed it to Ty.
    Ty meticulously picked another fly, then threaded it through
with just as much care as the first.   Despite what he’d said, they were all his favorites.  
    “Tell me about your hot date with the very hot Lita.”   Ty cast his line in the water again.
    “You already know I’m taking her rafting.   And I doubt she’d appreciate you calling
her hot.”
    “Why not?   She’s
a total babe.   If I were a few years
older….”
    He was thankful Ty wasn’t any older, for he’d be serious
competition.   “She’s more than just
hot, Ty.   You shouldn’t want to date
a woman based only on her looks.”
    “Easy for you to say.”   He jerked again, not as hard, and was rewarded with a twelve-inch
rainbow.   “Hand me the net,
Dad.   Quick.”
    Jesse passed over the net, admired Ty’s catch.   “Good-looking fish.”   Ty freed the hook and gently placed the
fish back in the water.  
    Ty cast again as Jesse missed what looked like close to a
two-footer.   “She’s nice too,” Ty
continued.   “She always comes
outside to talk to me when I’m at Granddad’s.   And she makes the best