Second Chance at Sunflower Ranch (The Ryan Family #1) by Carolyn Brown

“A week ago, I was employed by my father in an oil company,” Anna Grace began and went on to give her a brief explanation of what had happened in the last week, “and Cricket was kind enough to forgive me and hire me, and she’s teaching me to be independent. Today is the first time I’ve ever been fishing. I hope I don’t hold y’all back any and cause you to lose the bet.”

“You’ll be our ace in the hole. Beginner’s luck will be with you.” Darlene patted her on the knee. “And Cricket, please be careful with the potholes. I would like grandchildren in the near future.”

Cricket laughed out loud. “Yes, ma’am.” She had always been skeptical of people until she really got to know them, but she really did like Darlene—just like she’d been drawn to Bryce from the first time she met him. She parked under a tree, and a vision flashed through her mind of those kisses she had shared with Bryce a couple of nights ago. A nice rosy glow filled her cheeks, and her pulse jacked up a few notches just thinking about the way his lips on hers had heated her from the inside out.

“The race is on!” Bryce called out as he and the guys unloaded and carried the fishing rods and tackle boxes to the edge of the creek.

“I have no idea how to bait a hook,” Anna Grace whispered.

“I’ll teach you,” Darlene said. “There’s nothing to it. Just think of the worm as a piece of spaghetti. Come to think of it, we could use cooked spaghetti.”

Cricket opened the truck door. “That’s part of my secret recipe for bait. I brought some along, and we won’t be sharing that with the guys.”

“Do you share your recipe?” Darlene asked as she and Anna Grace got out on the other side.

“Not with many people, but I might with you,” Cricket whispered. “Men think that bait has to stink to high heaven. I’m of the opinion that any smell will bring a catfish to see what it is. Let’s see how you like it before you write it down.”

“Fair enough.” Darlene nodded.

The guys went upstream twenty yards and sat down on the bank. Cricket took Darlene and Anna Grace downstream about ten yards. “This is a better spot. It’s a little deeper and a little colder, and there’s shade. Catfish like murky waters. If you follow the creek that way”—she pointed to the west—“the water clears up, and it’s a perfect place to lay out and let the clear water cool you off on a hot day.”

“Or go skinny-dippin’,” Anna Grace giggled.

“I remember being young and doing that,” Darlene said.

Cricket got a visual of Bryce with the clear creek water flowing over his body, and immediately felt her cheeks burning. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Okay, ladies,” she said to get the picture out of her head, “grab a fake worm and put it on your hook.”

“Are those fettuccine noodles?” Anna Grace asked. “But what’s the smell?”

“A little cinnamon, some nutmeg, and ginger whipped up in a flour mixture and made into balls, then the noodles are wrapped around them so that when they get into the water, the pasta kind of comes undone and wiggles like live worms,” Cricket answered.

“Beats the devil out of stink bait.” Darlene grabbed one of the balls, slipped it onto her hook, and tossed her line out into the creek.

“Okay, here goes,” Anna Grace said when she’d baited her hook. “I watched how y’all did it, so I’m going to give it a try. I hold this button down, and throw, and oh my gosh, I did it! I can’t believe I did it!”

“Beginner’s luck. It’s going to be with us today,” Darlene assured her.

Minutes after Anna Grace sat down on the bank, her red and white bobber went under and her line got tight. “What do I do now, Cricket? Help me!”

Cricket laid her fishing rod down and hurried over to Anna Grace. “You reel it in just a little at a time. Looks like a nice-sized one, but the bigger they are, the harder they fight. Easy now, just a turn or two, and let him think he’s won.”

“I can’t believe I’m catching a fish,” Anna Grace squealed.

“It’s not caught until it’s on the bank and on ice,” Darlene reminded her.

“All right, now a little more,” Cricket said.

“Tommy, I’m catching a fish!” she yelled.

“That’s great,” he hollered back. “Need some help?”

“No, we’ve got it,” Anna Grace answered.

In another five minutes, they brought the catfish to the bank, and Anna Grace stared at it as if it were made of pure gold. “I can’t believe I caught the first fish.”

“Now you pick it up like this.” Cricket held it up. “And put it in the cooler on the back of the truck.”

Anna Grace flinched only once when she took the four-pound catfish by the gills and carried it to the cooler. Cricket was as proud of her as she figured she would be when her first child started kindergarten.

“She’s doing pretty dang good for a woman who’s never done anything for herself,” Darlene whispered.

“Love kind of does that for you.” Cricket grinned.

“Yes, it does.” Darlene nodded.

Cricket noticed that the woman was staring at Bryce when she said it and wondered what was on her mind. “We should have bet on the greatest number of pounds rather than how many fish.”