Timmy: Then you have to think about whether or not the pain he caused you is greater than not spending your life with him. And that’s something only you can figure out.
“I feel weird,” I whisper to Lara in the car.
“Why?”
I tug on the hem of my floral dress. “Because I’m all dressed up, looking like a garden in this fabric, and I’m about to meet a bunch of anglers. Doesn’t that seem weird?”
“No, that seems normal, but I understand that this is still new to you. At least it’s the only thing you have scheduled today. It’s nice that they’ve stretched out your schedule, so you aren’t bombarded.”
“Yes, I agree. But I still feel weird.”
“You’ll get used to it. These people are excited to meet you.”
“I’m excited to meet them as well, to be honest. They’re the top anglers over the last few years?”
“Winners of biggest fish caught over the last five years,” Lara says. “Quite an accomplishment. Every year, they record the fishes caught and their size for that year, and around Christmastime, they’re crowned.”
“Wait, is that where the name the Crowned Cod comes from?”
“Yes. The owner who opened it was crowned back in the nineties. There’s prize money associated with the crown, and the woman who won took that money and opened the Crowned Cod. Since she passed about seven years ago, management hasn’t been great, and it’s more of a risky place to go if you’re not a regular.”
“Well, that’s sad.”
The car pulls up next to a bright yellow boathouse, the color a beautiful contrast to the green mountains behind it and the blue water just at the edge of the rocky foundation.
“This is so cute,” I say.
“Kirkfell is one of our biggest tourist attractions, besides the capital, because of all the brightly colored buildings, trails to hike, and small-town feel. Great food here as well.”
Kirkfell, that’s where Keller planned his fake story about the angler’s wife, and being a romantic at heart, I want to know what would’ve happened to the angler’s wife and who she chose. I know, it was made up, but it’s like your favorite author writing two books in a series, ending it on a cliffhanger, and never writing that third one for you to find out what happened to those characters. Oh, they make promises, they tell you one day, but it never . . . ever . . . happens.
“Are you ready?” Lara asks.
“As ready as I’ll ever be,” I answer.
Lara steps out of the car first and holds the door open for me as we practiced at Harrogate. I swing my legs out, keeping them shut, because . . . you know, Britney showed us what not to do, and then I stand, the sun beaming down on this warmish day. Either the weather has given me a break, or I’m starting to get used to it. Either way, I’m not a shivering icicle.
Henrik appears from the front of the car. He has come with me today since Keller’s been suspended. I understand why Theo did it. Keller didn’t report to his job as he should have, but I’m still in shock.
And saddened.
I know I walked out on him when I went to his room, but call me a glutton for punishment, I still thought I’d be able to see him. But that’s not the case, and this feels very . . . final. Like our relationship status is over. Done.
So, I’ve been mentally trying to deal with that as well.
“Miss Campbell, right this way,” Henrik says as we move toward the yellow building.
Henrik is friendly, a little stuffy, and doesn’t seem to have a sense of humor like Keller. I attempted to joke around with him earlier, you know, cut the tension since I’m feeling all sorts of emotions, but he didn’t laugh. He didn’t even crack a smile. It made me miss Keller even more, and I hate that because he hurt me.
Gripping my clutch, which has nothing in it besides my lipstick and a mirror, I follow Henrik into the boathouse. It takes my eyes a few moments to adjust from the light outside to the darker interior, but when they do, I’m met with I’d say at least thirty people, all lined up, waiting for my greeting. I thought it would only be five, but then again, it seems they brought their families.
“Princess Lilija,” a man with a gray mustache and bald head says as he walks up to me and bows. “It is my pleasure to meet you.”
“This is Magnus Hearborn,” Henrik says. “The chief angler of Torskethorpe. He oversees the competition throughout the year.”
I hold my hand out to him. “Mr. Hearborn, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”