121
Murky Waters
“I’m so gonna walk funny tomorrow,” Tristan said, her voice muffled by the pillow. That was the last thing Claire remembered before drifting off to sleep.
The next day at work, Tristan paid close attention to Mike. She felt the hair on her neck rise every time he found a reason to go into Claire’s office. Claire was of course professional, but it grated on Tristan whenever Claire smiled at him. Tristan mentally assured herself that Claire was not entertaining Mike but simply doing her job.
Tristan spent the remainder of the workweek verifying that her department was still in line with the budget. Claire worked closely with her, going over the numbers and double-checking her figures.
On Friday afternoon, they both breathed a sigh of relief when Tristan emailed her findings to accounting.
At lunch that afternoon, they decided they would spend the weekend at Tristan’s place relaxing. Tristan promised to teach Claire how to fish in the lake behind her house. Both were looking forward to spending some alone time together, and Tristan’s secluded property was the perfect place to do just that.
Claire wondered if Tristan would be ready to confide in her about her childhood. She knew that whatever it was had to be extremely painful for Tristan. Claire almost dreaded the conversation because she knew she would lose all emotional control if Tristan broke down, and she hoped that she could be the support Tristan needed.
Claire had toyed with the idea of telling Tristan about the stalker.
No new envelopes had come recently, and she took it as a good sign. Maybe that chapter in her life was over, and there would be no need to trouble Tristan with it.
On Saturday morning, Tristan was up just after sunrise. Ralph was fed and the coffee was brewing when she woke Claire.
“Tristan, why on earth are you up already? It’s Saturday, for goodness sake!”
“The fish bite best in the morning. Your fishing lesson isn’t going to be any fun if you don’t get a bite. Now, get up.” Tristan poked Claire in the ribs until she couldn’t stand it any longer.
Claire ran to the bathroom, fussing the whole time and refusing to come in contact with any bait.
122
Robin Alexander
After breakfast, they went down to the water’s edge, dragging two lawn chairs behind them. Once they had picked a shady spot, Tristan prepared the rod and reels. She stuck her hand in the cricket can and found the perfect specimen for catching a bream, known as a perch by non-Cajuns.
“Eww, Tristan, do you have to put the hook through its back like that?” Claire thought the little insect was too gross to touch, but she felt bad about the way it was speared onto the hook.
Tristan stood up. “Now, watch me, Claire, it’s all in the wrist.”
Tristan flicked her wrist and released the line. The orange bobber landed about ten feet out into the water. She handed the pole to Claire. “Watch the bobber. If it gets pulled under, pull back, then start reeling.” Claire took the pole and kept her eyes locked on the float.
Tristan baited her line and cast it out, as well. She glanced over at Claire, who was admiring the pretty multicolored lures in the tackle box. Her float was nowhere in sight.
“Claire? Where is your float?” Tristan asked calmly.
Claire looked at the spot she last saw the bobber, and it was gone.
“Oh!” she exclaimed. She jerked the rod back, nearly knocking herself out in the process, reeling as fast as she could until she saw the small fish breaking the water’s surface.
“Okay, what do I do now?” she asked excitedly.
“Keep reeling him in. When he gets close to the bank, grab the line with your hand, set the reel down, and grab the fish by the bottom lip. Then, you can take the hook out of its mouth,” Tristan said as though Claire had done this all her life.
Claire froze. “You want me to touch it?”
Tristan laughed. “Of course, girl, they don’t bite. Just be mindful of the fins.”
“Tristan Delacroix! I am so NOT touching that fish!” Claire exclaimed.
Tristan grumbled, “sissy,” under her breath as she put her own rod down and helped Claire with her first catch. She grabbed Claire’s line and guided the fish over to them. She gently put her thumb in the fish’s mouth and took the hook out. She then held it up for Claire to see.
“That’s close enough, Tristan. Don’t touch me with that thing, or I will freak out on you,” Claire warned as she backed up.
123
Murky Waters
“Baby! You don’t mind touching them when we eat them! Now, be a big girl and come get your fish,” Tristan said jokingly.
“Are we going to eat him? He looks like he’s just a baby,” Claire said with sad eyes.
Tristan decided to quit tormenting the fish and Claire and tossed it back into the water. “No, my love, we will not eat him, he is way too small. Now, put a cricket on your hook and catch our dinner.”
The slip of the tongue was not lost on Claire, and she wondered if Tristan were even aware of her words.
Claire glanced at her empty hook, then at the cricket can, then back at Tristan. “Tris, darling ...” She began with a sly smile.
“You look so sexy when you bait my hook. How about you bend over again and get another cricket and put it on my hook as only you can?” She batted her eyes for an added bonus.
Tristan laughed at Claire’s antics. “Oh, Claire, you are dealing with the wrong sex with that tactic. I’m not a man, so you can stop trying to stroke my ego.”
“Fine then. I’ll get my own cricket.” Claire marched up to the can and thrust her hand in without a moment’s hesitation. As she tried to catch the next victim, another used her arm as an escape route to freedom. Claire jumped up and flailed around like she was on fire, slinging the escapee into the grass.
Tristan made no attempt to disguise her laughter. Claire glared at her but began to laugh herself. Tristan baited Claire’s hook for her for the rest of the morning. Between the two of them, they caught enough fish for a decent dinner. Tristan, of course, would be the unlucky person to clean the catch, knowing that Claire would not touch one much less gut it.
She pulled a small table over to the water’s edge and began the messy chore. Ralph stood nearby, waiting patiently for the delicious morsels he knew his pet would throw him. Claire brought Tristan an iced tea and stood by with a disgusted look as Tristan performed the tedious task.
Bored with just standing around, Claire decided to entertain herself by teasing Tristan, who could not defend herself with her hands full of fish guts. Claire nibbled her ears and neck and ran her hands over her body as Tristan tried to keep her mind on her work.
124
Robin Alexander
They were both laughing and didn’t hear the approach of an uninvited visitor making her way across the lawn. “Tristan! What the hell are you doing?” Mallory Delacroix shouted as she stormed across the yard. Tristan and Claire looked up in surprise as the woman launched into a tirade.
“Your sick lifestyle should be kept behind closed doors, not out in the open for everyone to see. I am so ashamed of you. If your father were still alive, he would disown you on the spot!”
Tristan calmly looked at her mother. “My lifestyle is none of your business. If I choose to make love to this woman in the middle of my front yard, that, too, is none of your business. Most importantly, if my dad were still alive, he would never disown me because, unlike you, he loved me regardless of what I did.”
Mallory opened her mouth to speak, but Tristan cut her off. “Not another word, Mother. I am very calm at the moment, but if you make the mistake of trying to push any more of my buttons, you will not like the result.” She accentuated her point by stabbing the fish-cleaning knife into the table. “You never just drop by. What’s on your mind, or did you just come to see what your ‘sick’