On the dock at the end of the creek

The day was bright and clear with the sun shining brightly in the sky. Luckily, the humidity was low today, offering some relief to the hot summer. The past few days had been some of the hottest that Kate could remember here on the Chesapeake Bay. Yes, August always gave herself up to the overwhelming sticky heat so common to the Bay area in the summer, but this year it seemed to really envelope and smother.

Kate sat on the end of the dock in her lounge chair. Seagulls were flying overhead, squawking and swooping, keeping an eye on the boat coming up the creek. A stray breeze drifted across Kate’s cheek, a very welcome thing even in small portions. Of course the gentle rustling of the water brought back the memories of the previous evening. Oh, and what memories they were.

Kate always loved going out on the small boat in the early evenings with Nick, and this night was especially nice with the cool breeze and golden moon rising over the bay. It had been a long week but a trip out on the boat for some night fishing was a welcome diversion.

Nick pushed the boat off of the dock and they began rowing out of the shallow end of the creek. He started the engine and they made their way out of the creek towards their favorite fishing spot. Once anchored, Nick helped her bait and cast her line, then they relaxed and talked of the past week and the upcoming weekend.

Their conversations always turned to reminiscing over their past 25 years together and their forthcoming empty nest and of course this night was no different. They’d been enjoying their life on the Bay for more than fifteen of those years, with so many fun times out on the water as a family and a couple.

Nick did seem to have something on his mind tonight though that Kate had yet to drag out of him. He kept beating around the issue, teasing her about her lack of catching anything, of course, he hadn’t caught anything either, but they didn’t care, the fun part was just being together. Of course, Kate had that foreboding feeling that women always get when they know someone has something to tell them, but she tried not to let it show.

Finally, to Kate’s relief, Nick took in their lines, handed her a cold beer and told her he had some news. In his usual manner, he asked if she wanted the good news or the bad news first, which she hated (at least she tried to act like she did). So, in order to get it out of the way, she asked for the bad news and with a smirk, Nick told her there wasn’t any bad news. That got him a slap on the leg!

“So???” she asked.
“We did it, babe.” he replied.
“What?” Kate asked, with no clue what he was talking about.
“We have an appointment on Monday to sign the contract to publish our novel.”

So awed by the news, Kate almost falls out of the boat in an effort to hug Nick. This was the best news he could give her; the best news he could give them!

A drop of cool water from her glass of ice tea brought Kate back to the day at hand. The seagulls were now enjoying the meal being tossed in the water off of the dock down the creek. The sun was now getting higher in the sky and the heat seemed to be intensifying, but Kate didn’t seem to mind much. Her future looked bright (and hey, she was wearing sunglasses!) and their dreams were coming together before her eyes. Yes, life looked very good here on the dock at the end of the creek.