The Secret of the Water

Chapter 6: An Amazing Cook

Leah and I got up from the park bench and walked over to the blackberry bushes. I picked a blackberry from one and plopped it into my mouth.

"Mmmmm," I exclaimed. "These are really good."

"Aren't we supposed to wash them before we eat them?" Leah asked, all wide eyed.

"I guess. But what could it hurt? I just wanted to taste one. And it was delicious!" 

We started filling our bags with more and more berries, and when we gathered enough from one bush we moved to the next. We didn't take all the berries from one bush, though; we spread it out a bit so we didn't leave any bushes bare. After a while we decided to take the trail.

"So who were you texting back there on the bench?" I asked Leah.

"Well my mom wanted to know how we're doing, and then I texted George and told him how much I loved fishing with him today. He said we could do it again tomorrow if we wanted. And Liam will be there again, too."

"Sure, sounds great." I said. "Hopefully our moms will let us go back out again."

"Yeah, I mean I'm sure they will since they let us today. We can figure out a way."

"I just hope they don't freak out if they find out we were with a couple of guys today."

"That's why we don't tell them until we get back to Florida," Leah said.

We walked along the trail for about another half hour, picking berries as we went. The trail took us in a big circle so we eventually ended up where we started. Leah called George and asked him if they were ready for us to come over. He said that dinner would be ready in about 20 mins, which was a lot faster than he expected, and that he just sent Liam to go and get us.

Liam showed up ten minutes later in George's car. He pulled up to the curb near the bench we had been waiting on.

"Hey, Chloe! Leah!" He shouted, motioning us towards the car.

I waved at him and we got into the car. This time it was Leah's turn to sit in the back.

"Dinner's smellin' nice!" said Liam. "I think you guys will really like it."

"I've had fish before, but never a fish that I just caught!" I told him. "I'm sure it will be better than store-bought fish."

"George is great at cooking." said Liam. "His momma taught him to cook ever since his dad died of lung cancer when he was ten. It's been real hard on him but he's been able to take on the responsibilities of his dad ever since. He used to go fishing all the time with his dad, but after his dad died he had to fish by himself, and that's when I met George at the fishing dock. I saw him sitting there all alone with his fishing pole, so I sat beside him and made conversation. We've been best friends ever since."

"He never told me about his dad," Leah said.

"He doesn't like talking about it. I'm pretty sure I'm the only friend he's told."

When we got to George's house, I could smell the fish in the air, coming from the dining room. It smelled so good, and I was starving!

"Ready to eat?" asked George.

"You bet!" said Leah.

A woman in her early forty's with long, wavy red hair walked into the room. She was wearing a black headband and a green sundress.

"Why, hello there!" she said. "George told me y'all were coming. Now which one of you pretty girls is Leah?"

"That's me!" said Leah with a big smile. "Nice to meet you."