A Trip in the Fall Pt. 05

Even though he was growing used to the move, when Friday after school hit, Brandon was fully prepared to head north to his hometown for a couple of days fishing with his dad. So as the final bell rang at 3:15, Brandon was out the door with his students, and began the four-and-a-half-hour drive back home. He finally arrived just after dark around 8:00 and like last time he was home, was greeted by Cooper, his parent's dog waiting for him as soon as he opened the door.

As the dog jumped and whined, Brandon bent down to scratch his ears, "How's it going buddy? You happy to see me?" The dog continued to run circles around his feet as he grabbed his bag out of the back seat and made his way to the house. After kicking the dirt off his shoes he yelled, "Anyone home?"

From the living room he heard his dad yell, "In here!"

Brandon walked in and dropped his bag before hugging his mom and his dad who had stood when he walked in.

"How was the drive honey?" Asked his mom.

"It was good, a little bit of construction on 80, but smooth sailing otherwise.

His dad nodded and they all sat and caught up for the next hour and a half. Other than phone calls, Brandon hadn't seen his parents since Christmas because of his traveling and work. Around 10, his mom announced that she was heading to bed, and that she would have breakfast ready in the morning for them.

Brandon turned his attention back to his dad, "So, where we heading in the morning?"

His dad thought for a minute and said, "I've stopped by the usual places and with the warmer temps, they are hitting the top of the water, what do you say we hit the run below Galeton?"

"Sounds good to me, Leave here at 6?"

"Yeah, that'll put us down there about 6:30. Being warm, there will be a bunch of fishermen."

Brandon nodded and his face turned a bit serious, "So you heard anything more about random people around here?"

Ben nodded, "Yeah, a couple of other people noticed Jess with guys in suits that they didn't recognize. Maybe they are people who are new to the hospital."

"Maybe..."

Ben could see his son thinking, "You don't seem so sure?"

Brandon shook his head, "No, I'm not." He spent the next few minutes explaining the events of the ACMs and what Josh had said about Morgan's ex.

Ben took it all in before saying, "I dunno if they are related, but it definitely sounds fishy. Whenever I've seen her, I'm polite like always, but I generally get a quiet, "Hi." before she hurries off."

The two men spent another half hour talking about the weirdness about Jess and other things in general about the move and the house and at 11, both turned in due to the early morning.

****

As promised, when Brandon's alarm went off at 5:30, he could smell bacon, eggs and coffee coming from the kitchen. He hurriedly checked his phone and saw that it was 48, with a high of 68 for the day, and dressed for the morning before heading downstairs. He ate breakfast with his parents and then at 6, he and his dad put their dishes in the sink, grabbed their waders, sling packs, and rods before heading out the door to Ben's truck.

They made the 30-minute drive to the run they planned to fish and found two other cars in the pull-off. They climbed out and donned their gear, his dad pulling on hip waders and then laughing at Brandon as he pulled on chest waders, "You know you can still catch fish without being up to your waist?"

Brandon half scoffed and half laughed as he tied his boots, "That may be true, but I still catch more fish than you."

"HA! I let you catch all them fish."

Brandon looked up with a smile on his face., "Suurreee."

He finished getting ready and they walked together over the hill along the forest road and saw the two cars had a total of 5 guys, all of which were scattered around the one big hole that was always stocked heavily. After nodding to them Ben and Brandon walked down stream about a hundred yards to a spot where the creek turned, leaving a couple of good holes.

As the sun rose, Brandon pulled on his sunglasses and began to point out fish to his dad, so he knew where to cast, especially since both had brought fly rods instead of spinning rods. As the first rays of sun hit the water directly the fish began to get a little more active and as the clock hit 8am, signaling the start of trout season, Brandon tossed his fly up stream as his dad did the same. As the fly drifted over a medium size fish, Brandon saw it rise, and as it hit the top of the water, he set the hook, but ended up with the fly hitting his boot.

His dad laughed, "I've told you, let them take it."

Brandon laughed but grumbled in frustration, "I know."

When the next fish rose at his fly, he did let it take it, fighting and then reeling in a nice 12-inch Rainbow Trout. Over the next hour and a half, he and his dad each caught five fish, keeping the bigger ones and tossing the other two back. As the clock neared nine, Brandon announced that he was going to head downstream a bit and hit another hole next to a large rock in the middle of the creek.

****

Brandon picked his way along the stream for the next few minutes until he came to the hole he was looking for. He waded out until the water was just above his knees and began to work his fly through the hole in a methodical manner, making sure to cover every inch. He did have a couple of fish rise, but none ever attempted to take the fly, and while a bit annoying, he was enjoying the peace and quiet of the stream.

As he made another cast, his mind drifted to his schedule over the next two months; he was heading to Myrtle Beach late the next week for a tournament with his team, then once he returned, he had a few weeks of normal before he flew off to Texas for the beginning of Sarah's tour. He would be there for 3 days before coming back to end the school year. They had only had one snow day, so they weren't going to make up anything, which meant they were done on June 5th. Sarah was flying in on June 16th, and they were leaving on the 17th to head back to Nashville. The plan was to be in Nashville on the 18th, and then Sarah was flying to Colorado on the 19th to meet back up with Amanda to continue the tour.

Brandon's thoughts were interrupted by a voice behind him, "I'm surprised you still can be bothered to come back here."

He turned around and standing on the creek bank was Jess, dressed for fishing like he was. He simply shook his head and scoffed before turning his attention back to the creek. As much as he tried to ignore her, he knew she hadn't moved on because there had been no scuffing of boots on the gravel. After another four or five casts, he turned around to her, "What do you want Jess?"

"I'm just surprised you are back here slumming with us when you are heading off to the big city."

Brandon rolled his eyes, "How do you know what I'm doing?"

"Oh come on Brandon, people talk, and ever since you brought HER back here, that's all people from high school talk about, especially when they see you on TV or when pictures of you two together get shared online."

He replied sarcastically, "Well excuse me for living my life and posting about the good stuff like everyone else."

Jess scoffed, "Oh come on, you're just posting that shit to show that you're better than everyone here."

After that comment, Brandon could feel his blood pressure rising, "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

As he stepped out of the creek towards her, Jess replied, "Don't give me the fake anger Brandon! You always thought you were too good for Potter County, that's why you ran off to college in New Jersey instead of going to Mansfield or even Penn State; abandoning your family, friends, and me, and now you've got some big city girl to pull you further away."

He gave a fake laugh, and threw his hands up in the air as he made it to the bank, "So we are going to do that again? You can't ever let go of the past and are hung up in your stupid little fantasy world. Let me tell you something, first, I love Sarah and I am doing more with my life than you could ever hope to do, because you are too scared to leave your comfort zone where you seem to think you're hot shit. Second, I didn't abandon anyone! I made the best decision for me; you are the one that can't accept that."

Jess tried to interrupt him, he raised his voice and continued, "No you listen to me, I'm sick of your immature shit, there is a reason you are blocked on every social media. You need to grow up and act like the adult you are supposed to be. I'm moving to Nashville because it is allowing me to advance my career and be near the woman I love, and I'm going to live my life there because I WANT TO! Not because Sarah wants me to or because someone else's fantasy plans but because of me. Plus, it sounds like you're moving up, spending a bunch of time with people from out of town, so why the fuck are you worried about me?!"

Jess's face suddenly went from smug and annoyed to more sullen, she stumbled for words for a second and finally said, "How do you know who I've been spending time with?"

He scoffed, "Jesus Christ Jess! There's 15000 people in the whole county, people driving nice cars and wearing suits kinda stand out around here, people see it and they talk. There's nothing to be ashamed of if you're talking to people from UPMC."

When he said the name of the company that had bought the local hospital, he noticed her look down as he continued, "Are you up for a promotion or something? Cause if so, good! Maybe you can move on with your life and get the fuck over me."

She was quiet for a moment and refused to look at him, "They don't work for the hospital."

"Okay, so what? Seems like you're doing some right, Dad said you just put a down payment on the old Siska house, so apparently you're doing better."

She turned away and started walking away from him back up the creek. Brandon gathered his line and grabbed his stringer of fish before following her up the creek. He was annoyed that she had just walked away from him when he called her on her bullshit, but he couldn't help noticing the rapid change in her attitude.

He finally caught up to her just as he saw his dad heading up the hill towards the truck and said, "Jess wait, what the hell just happened?"

"Nothing Brandon, leave me alone."

"No. You don't get to harass me, then when I call you on your shit, clam up and act like nothing happened or that I kicked your puppy."

She started up the road with him on her heels, "Damn it Jess, what's going on?"

As they reached the main road, she wheeled around, and he noticed tears in her eyes, "Why couldn't you have just stayed here and why did you have to bring her here? None of this would have happened if you hadn't brought her back here."

Her reaction gave him pause, "What are you talking about? Sarah apologized for the shit back in November."

"SHE STOLE YOU FROM ME AND NOW WHAT'S DONE IS DONE!"

As she walked off towards her car, Brandon stood quietly in the middle of the road, unsure of what to say, trying to process what had just happened. Ben appeared at his side, "Mind telling me what that was all about?"

"I'm not really sure? She made some snide remarks down on the creek and we got into it, and it culminated in what you just saw."

Ben shook his head as they watched her drive off, as she got out of sight, he guided Brandon back to the truck. As they drove towards home, Ben finally spoke as Brandon replayed everything in his brain, "For some reason she just couldn't let you go. Maybe that outburst was her finally letting things go with you moving even further away.

"Maybe, but she said "What's done is done. What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Been shook his head, "I don't know, seems weird even for her." They continued their ride home, neither saying much as Brandon stared out the window, trying to make sense of everything that had transpired in the past 15 minutes.