“Here, take a bite,” he snickered, even though he took another big bite of the muffin before holding it to my mouth.

I made the final turn on the last leg of our trip. The last few miles of road were bordered on both sides by tall pines and thick trees; the air was scented with the fresh perfume of the woods. The leaves were just starting to turn with fall’s colors and they made beautiful hues on the windshield.

I turned onto the obscure drive to my grandfather’s cabin and stopped to unlock the metal pipe gate that blocked cars from driving further onto the property. Ryan slipped his sunglasses off his face; his eyes were wide with wonder.

“Welcome to my grandfather’s fishing shack.” I smiled at him as we drove up to the house.

“Shack? That isn’t a shack!” he declared, pointing to the house. He smiled in amazement.

Nestled comfortably in the woods was a log sided A-frame with a wooden deck that wrapped around the sides and past an enormous stone chimney. The front of the house was all windows that reflected the sunrays breaking through the trees. Off the back of the house was a raised, screened-in porch that overlooked the lake.

“It’s not that big. It only has two bedrooms,” I answered his gaze. I parked the car in the stone-covered car pad right next to the stairs that led to the deck.

Ryan helped me carry the cooler up the steps to the front door. I gave him a quick tour of the house while I turned the power and water on.

“This is excellent!” he said with an exulted grin on his face. I watched him wander around the room, touching and looking at everything.

“That right there is why I didn’t want to ruin the surprise.” I pointed at his smile.

“After we get the car unpacked, I thought we might take the boat out on the lake… do a little fishing?” I waved the cup of night-crawlers in the air.

“We’re going fishing?” he asked, completely astonished. “You? You… fish?”

“Sure,” I quipped. “That’s why I brought you here. I thought we’d take the boat out on the lake.”

We walked down the stone-covered drive to the one car garage where the boat was stored. The boat was painted gunmetal silver with black and red detail stripes and a dark gray interior.

“Nice!” Ryan said as he pushed the garage door up. “17 footer?”

“It belongs to my Uncle Al.” I nodded. “It was my dad’s and his, but… well… it was big enough for the two of them.”

I climbed onto the big ATV that we needed to use to tow the boat down to the lake, but when I tried to start it the battery was obviously dead.

“Go get your car. We can jumpstart it,” he said confidently.

Ryan was enjoying himself, tinkering around with jumper cables and twisting the throttle on the ATV. He was like a kid in a candy store, so happy and relaxed. I loved how he was able to fix things. He reminded me of my father.

He backed the ATV up and I helped him hook the hitch to the boat trailer. I held his shoulders to steady myself as I climbed on the four-wheeler behind him. I took the liberty to give him a few extra squeezes to massage his tense muscles. I took his moaning as confirmation that he enjoyed my touch.

“Hold on tight!” He patted and squeezed my thigh before twisting the throttle to set us in motion.

I rested my chin on his shoulder while the light breeze blew his hair onto my cheek. I nestled my frosty nose near his warm neck to add another delicious scent of him to my memory. I wished we had further to drive so I could enjoy holding on to him like this longer, but it was a short distance between the garage and the lake.

The noontime sun was bright overhead. He backed the boat trailer into the water and helped me push the boat into the lake. We worked well as a team.

Ryan gave me a few teasing bumps when we walked back up the driveway to get our things. He just kept grinning and smiling and shaking his head at me.

We loaded up the boat with all the essentials - fishing gear, beer, and sandwiches – and Ryan started the little trolling motor to get us out on the water.

The air was still and it wasn’t as cold as it had been the last few days. The lake was calm and reflected the trees and sky like a gigantic mirror. I tipped my sunglasses down to take in the sight of Ryan driving the boat. He was looking so good in his blue jeans, and white thermal shirt with a brown coat. The grin on his face was one of heavenly bliss. I was thrilled that he was enjoying this mini-vacation.

“Head over towards those trees.” I pointed. “That’s my dad’s lucky spot. He caught lots of fish over there.”

“So how did you come up with the fishing idea?” he asked, casting his line out into the water.

“From you.” I laughed lightly. I opted to put a lure on my line instead of one of the worms.

“Me? When did I ever tell you I love to fish?”

“The first day I met you. You showed me the scar where your brother hooked you in the arm.”

He looked over at me and smiled. “You have a good memory for detail. I forgot about that. This was your dad’s favorite spot? I can see why. It’s beautiful out here.”

I inhaled deeply, enjoying the soft scent of pine and fallen leaves. It was much different from the smell that emanated off the Atlantic.

Ryan stared at me for a moment, chewing on his lip. “Can I ask what happened?” he said hesitantly. “Your dad?”

I gasped slightly; just thinking about it hurt.

“The doctors told me he had a massive heart attack.” I sniffed. “It was right after Labor Day last year. We weren’t busy for some reason so dad told me to take the night off - said he’d lock up the bar for once.” I grimaced from hearing his voice in my head. “When I came home I found him on the floor. I tried to do CPR on him until the ambulance came, but I was too late.”

“I’m so sorry.” Ryan looked at me apologetically.

“Thanks,” I replied. “It was really hard at first but I’ve been dealing with it. I just try to remember all the good times.”

“And… your mom?” He looked as if he shouldn’t have asked.

I took another deep breath and held it in my lungs for a few seconds.

“My mom was hit by a car.” I winced at the memory. “She was pushing a grocery cart through a parking lot when an elderly lady backed out of a parking space too fast and hit her. The impact shattered my mom’s hip and severed her femoral artery. Doctors couldn’t save her.” I kept a careful hold on the memory so it wouldn’t overpower me. Talking about my parents made it all seem fresh again.