Free Alaskan Summer by Marilou Flinkman Page A

flop!”
    Ryan laughed. “They’re going to put on a show for you.”
    She had heard several ships’ captains call over the radio that they would anchor late since they’d stopped for the passengers to watch the whales. One of the whales flipped its enormous tail in the air and smashed it against the water, making a sound like a cannon.
    “It reminds me of the story of Jonah. When I heard the story as a kid, I could not believe there was a sea creature big enough to swallow a man.” She smiled at Ryan before turning back to watch the whales. “They’re beautiful beyond belief,” she said in fascination as the whales moved on, their telltale spouting getting farther away.
    Ryan put the motor back in gear. “We’ll fish over by those rocks,” Ryan pointed.
    “Will the whales come back?” Laurette asked, fearing the whales would come dangerously close to their craft.
    “They eat a lot of fish, so we’ll need to find another spot if we want to catch any.”
    Ryan stopped the engine a few minutes later. “I’ll start the trolling motor. The outboard is much louder, and it’s easier to fish creeping along slowly with a less powerful motor,” he explained, moving to the stern and lowering the propeller shaft of a small motor into the water.
    Laurette watched as he pull started it and settled against one corner of the stern to steer.
    “Think you could steer this?” Ryan asked. “Then I can get the poles rigged and ready to fish.”
    “Okay.” Laurette moved cautiously toward him.
    “Put a cushion behind you for comfort,” Ryan instructed as she leaned her back into the corner he’d vacated. “Push left to go right, and right to go left. Twist the handle here to adjust the throttle. Practice a little to get comfortable with it. But wait until I sit down,” he added with a grin.
    Laurette took the handle and tried to see where they were going. “Where do I head?”
    “Just keep us from hitting anyone.” Ryan grinned again and pulled a fishing pole from the shelf below the gunwale on her side of the boat.
    Laurette pushed the handle to get the boat to go the way she wanted, taking a few minutes to get used to the feeling. She breathed a quick prayer of thanks that there were no other boats in the area at the moment.
    “Ready to go.” Ryan held a pole over the side and let the line out. “This one will be yours,” he announced, putting the pole in a holder mounted on the gunwale. “When you hear line going out and see the pole bouncing, you’ve got a fish.”
    Laurette gulped and nodded. She was still struggling with turning left and right. Now she was supposed to watch for boats and catch fish, too? I thought this would be fun.
    Ryan soon had another pole ready and put it in the holder next to her. “Don’t worry. You’ll get used to it. I’ll take over now. You can go back to the seat up front and watch your pole.”
    Sighing in relief, Laurette did as she was told. She stared at the pole for a while, watching it bounce with the rhythm of the motor. The sparkling water, the warm sun, and the gentle rocking sensation made her drowsy. She’d almost dozed off when the movement of her pole snapped her alert.
    “Fish on!” Ryan shouted, shutting down the motor. “Grab that pole.”
    Laurette lunged for his now empty seat at the stern and struggled to pull his pole out of its holder.
    ❧
    Ryan watched her. “You’ve got it. Now keep the tip of the pole in the air and slowly move it toward the water, reeling as you go.” He stood close behind her, speaking softly. “Now pull the pole back up straight. Then you’re pulling the fish in.”
    Laurette looked up at him with a shining smile that touched his heart. She kept pumping the fishing pole up and down and reeling in line until a large silver fish jumped out of the water.
    “Oh, have I lost him?”
    “No, he’s just taking a look at us.” When the reel spun out more line, he put his hand on Laurette’s shoulder. “Let him run. When