Romantic love story

Chapter Twenty-four: A Woman's Joy

Fly fishing wasn't high on Terry's list right now, not while every moment he hoped and expected for a phone call from Dr. Jacoby. Since Maddie had needed to lay down on the couch to lessen the pain of her stitches, it seemed sensible to let her rest while he went fishing. It hadn't been easy to leave, even with Izzy's promise to keep an eye on and take good care of Maddie.

So Terry had gone fishing. There wasn't much else he could do besides pray and wait for Dr. Jacoby's call.

And of course fish.

Wind gusted over the water, playing with Terry's line so much, he had to keep double-hauling the casts to make any progress. The fish weren't biting, but it didn't matter. John had gotten Terry out of the house and back on the shore, and doing a decent job of getting Terry to relax.

Which, Terry figured, had been the whole point of them coming out here in the first place.

"How do you like the fly?" Abby asked as she executed a sweet triple-haul that had Terry smiling. "I also made one for Dad, though we're probably going to have a long wait before he tries fly fishing again."

Further down the shore, John grinned as he reeled in a few inches of his line. "Thanks for the gift, but when I try to fly cast, I look like a maniac with stripped line piling at my feet."

"That's because it takes practice."

"I've had enough practice looking like a maniac," John laughed. "I'll stick with what I've got."

"You do all right," Terry smiled, working to time the rhythm of each cast. "The fish don't seem to be interested in us today, but I like the fly."

Just then, a male voice sounded behind them.

"Hey," Abby paused to greet the newcomer. "What are you doing out here?"

Coughing, Jake rubbed his hands together before shoving them into the pockets of his heavy coat. "I thought I'd watch."

"You should be inside." Abby gave her fly rod to John for safekeeping, then used her free hands to zip up Jake's coat and pull the collar up around the young man's neck. "You can watch us some other time. You should be resting."

"So should you." Jake planted a kiss on Abby's forehead, smiled, and looked to Terry. "Did I miss anything? Have you talked about her yet?"

"You mean Maddie?" Terry did a short retrieve before the backcast. "I guess now is as good a time as any." Trying to keep the mood from taking a nosedive off a cliff, Terry told them about Maddie's problem as simply as he could. He tried not to watch their faces as they registered the news, but a quick glance at AJ showed them sober and quiet.

Abby had her fly rod back, but she had stopped fishing.

"Is there anything we can do?" Jake asked.

"Just pray, and don't treat her weird."

"What made her cut?" Abby asked. "Was it because of me?"

"I doubt it." Terry flicked the line back onto the water. "I think she's done this three times since I've known her, and you only came home the day before yesterday. This isn't because of you."

"Then why is she doing it?"

"I don't know." Terry slowly reeled in his line. "Besides it being her way of coping, I don't know what specifically pushes her over the edge."

"Then how do you know it wasn't my fault, this time?"

"Abby," Terry stopped to look into the concerned face of his little fishing buddy. "A lot happened yesterday besides your apology to Maddie. Most of the tears she shed, were because of me-- not you."