An Unexpected Family. Jenna Mindel

      “So far so good.”

      “It’s still new.” Cam chuckled. “But take a look at that lake and name a better view if you can.”

      Maple Bay shone turquoise near the shoreline until it blurred into a band of deep blue that touched a sunny, cloudless sky. A couple small yachts were anchored offshore.

      “Beautiful, although I prefer the simple sailboats ambling in the bay instead of those big yachts.”

      “Crazy, isn’t it? A small town like this draws people from all over in summer. Some of these yachts come from Florida, up the coast then through the lock system in New York and the Great Lakes.”

      “Crazy.”

      They slipped back into silence.

      Cam searched the park and zeroed in on the far corner of the sand beach beyond the bathhouse. “The youth group is over there, playing volleyball.”

      “There’s Greg.” Rose pointed. “Can we sit here for a little bit? I don’t want to interrupt the game and seem like I’m checking up on him. Even though I am.”

      “Sure.” He waited for Rose to perch near the edge of the park bench before he sat down with plenty of room between them.

      Rose turned to him, looking wary. “Why are you helping me?”

      He looked out over the water and figured he’d be up-front with her. “Would you believe that I made a deal with God? I promised to be a better person if He’d give me back my livelihood.”

      “Give it back?”

      “I lost my sponsors last year after I tanked at a big tournament.” Not quite all of the truth, but enough. Cam continued, “My placements had been low for a while, and so this year I’m pretty much starting over and paying my own way. This weekend’s tournament is one of three held over the next three months. I have to fish each one and end in the top five to qualify for next year’s circuit. If I do well, I have a good chance of securing new sponsors who’ll help fund next year and so on.”

      Her eyes wide, she asked, “And if you don’t do well?”

      “Not an option.” Cam would redeem his career however long it took, even if it was the last thing he ever did.

      Rose looked thoughtful. “I suppose I’d believe that, but making deals with God shouldn’t be taken lightly.”

      Cam laughed. “You know, my mother said the same thing.”

      Rose frowned. “Maybe you should listen to her.”

      “I’m working on it.” He laughed.

      That much was true. He needed to change and this time he was serious. This time, he’d do things differently. He’d get it right. He’d do right instead of wrong.

      He’d grown up attending church. He’d even been part of the youth group, same as the rest of his brothers and sisters, but that didn’t mean the words had sunk in. The idea of eternity had been lost on him. He’d lived for the present too long and it had cost him.

      Cam scanned Rose’s profile. She seemed much too serious for a pretty woman with a whole lot of life left to live. He supposed losing both her husband and mother-in-law couldn’t be easy on her or her son. She’d had to be tough.

      He made her uncomfortable with his teasing, and yet he hadn’t imagined a tug of awareness between them. He wouldn’t explore it, though. Not when he needed to focus on fishing and the tournaments that kept him on the road about 70 percent of the year.

      She caught him gawking. “What?”

      “Does your boy like to fish?”

      “I don’t know.”

      Cam’s eyebrows rose. “Didn’t he ever go with his father?”

      Rose’s warm green eyes turned cold. “Greg was six the last time he saw his father.”

      That statement hit like a center punch to the gut. Kurt Dean had died maybe three years ago, but they’d busted up long before that. Cam couldn’t keep the words from falling out of his mouth. “Maybe I can take him.”

      “Look, Cam, I appreciate what you’re trying to do. But please don’t.”

      “Every boy needs to learn how to fish and if anyone can teach him quickly, it’s me.” Cam had fished from the time he could walk.

      His folks still lived in the house on a small inland lake where he grew up. He’d had a Snoopy fishing pole until he turned ten and his father had given him a real, cork-handled rod like the pros used for his birthday. From then on, Cam had fished more than he did anything else.

      “We’re not some project for you to feel better about your life.”

      Cam hadn’t meant it that quite that way. Rose hid some deep hurts and rocky bitterness and it was small wonder. Kurt Dean had abandoned them.

      Rose stood. “It looks like the game is over. I’m going over there.”

      “Mom,” Greg called out and waved.

      She waved back and walked toward him.

      Cam followed.

      At least he could introduce her to the youth director, who happened to be his cousin. If nothing else, he could rely on John to say something good about him. He wanted Rose to trust him. He meant what he said about being a better person and part of that included helping her and her son. Whether she wanted him to or not.