Finn has the patience of a saint.

After spending about an hour teaching me how to cast, answering all of my stupid questions and untying my tangled line, he grabs my hand and pulls me further into the river. The water goes to my waist and I understand why he brought me the long sleeve. It does get cold standing in the rippling water, so I slip the red flannel on and then tie it so it sits above the water.

"From how you just explained everything, I am assuming this is something you do a lot?" I ask as he leads us out of the faster stream and into the slower one. He's still holding my hand and we're gripping our long-ass poles and fly lines with our free hands. The water is fairly clear and I can see the smooth dark rocks we walk over as we move toward a shadier spot upstream.

"It was my dad's favorite thing to take us kids to do, so I used to come a lot back then. Now I probably only get out once a month."

The way he used "was" in that sentence has me asking, "This was your dad's favorite thing?"

"Yeah, he died of a sudden heart attack about ten years ago."

"Oh shit, I'm so sorry Finn," I say softly and he shrugs.

"Still like to do this to feel a part of him," he says while looking toward the river. It is quiet out here and the stream has a calming effect. He slows down and says, "I'm going to keep going on up ahead a little so our lines don't cross." I nod and he drops my hand to move away from me.

"What made you think of taking me here?" I ask as he gets settled.

"I was trying to think of things you haven't done and saw a fishing pool in the garage of the house I was just working on. Thought it might be nice to go somewhere quiet, spend the hot day in the water."

"Well I hope I don't ruin one of your favorite activities," I say as I pull my rod up so the long fly line hangs limp in front of me.

Finn gets his stance sturdy and then turns around to face me, "Alright Sades, just like I taught you. Up, out and follow through. Thumb on top baby girl and keep that wrist firm and flick. Candy cane loops." I laugh at his eager instructions and then toss my line back with a grip on the rod. The line goes back with a whip but doesn't fly forward correctly.

"That's okay, try it again. Just keep flicking, you'll get it."

"That's what she said," I mumble while watching my line go backwards again and he barks out a laugh.

"Down low, look at your line, up in the back and out in the front," he says as he instructs me through my cast. "You're a natural."

"I'm worried I am going to catch a fish," I confess and I continue swinging my line about. Finn starts casting his line to and fro and then says, "Worried? Isn't that the point?"

"I'm not touching it."

"Now that's what she said," he mutters and I giggle as I flick my wrist again. I watch Finn expertly flick his line around and follow as it settles in the water. He doesn't take his eyes off the end of his line as he adds, "I know you don't eat meat, so I am guessing that includes fish."

"That is correct," I answer. Finn flicks his line around a few more times and then I see him freeze and bend down further into the water. He tugs on his line and I see that it's now taut.

"Did you seriously just catch a fish?" I ask, shocked that it happened so fast. I watch as he slowly pulls his line in and he carefully removes his net from his back. The fish suddenly breaks the surface of the water, attached to Finn's line and flops about, flicking water around.

"No, no, no," I say as I rapidly move away from the flopping fish. He dips the fish back under the water and reels it into his net which is also floating under the water.

"Come here Sades," he says as he centers the net under the fish to trap him. "Come and look." I back away up the river bank and shake my head.

"No, I can see from here." He unhooks the fish gently and then holds the long green and gray fish up for me to see. The fish's mouth is still moving and I shriek. He laughs as he gently drops his hands back into the water and asks, "Are you scared of fish?"

I shake my head, "No, they are just gross, slimy things." He laughs again and then untangles the fish from the line. He gently sets it back in the water and I sigh out.

"Thank god, I thought you were going to like, put that in your backpack or cooler or something to grill later."

He shakes his head, "Nah, you release out here. I don't keep these fish."

"You don't?"

"No, this is just for the thrill of catching. Not ingesting. That kind of fishing you do elsewhere. Not in this river."

"Oh thank goodness," I say as I wade back into the water. Finn scoops his net out and I wander a little closer to him. "This is just like, a peaceful, wilderness activity?"

He gives me a small smile and then says, "Yeah, when you want to get away from the noise and just hang outside for a bit." I cast my line again and it doesn't flop the right way in the water.

"It is cooler in the water. It's nice," I admit and then try casting again. Finn seems like he has a specific spot he tries to cast to and I pretend I know what to look for when waving my rod about.

"What all did you get done while I was gone?" He asks and I notice we've moved a little further upstream.

"I painted a room, some furniture. Cleaned out more of Sadie's stuff. The electrician comes tomorrow and I have no idea what to expect," I say and then brush a loose piece of hair under my hat. Finn was right, the sun is blasting my face so I am glad I can tilt my head down and create some shade.

"It shouldn't be too painful."

"Are they going to have to like, rip open the drywall and the ceiling and stuff?"

He shrugs, "It's not going to be painless, but they shouldn't have to open walls or anything. You may need to find another place to stay while they rewire because it is disruptive."

"Shit, how long does it take?" I ask while flicking the rod again.

"Could be up to a week. With how old and big Sadie's house is, I bet it will take a week maybe two."

"Two weeks? Seriously?" I ask, shocked at the timeline. I thought maybe a couple days.

"You wanna get it done though, that house could go up in flames and she shouldn't have even had that generator for as long as she did," Finn warns and then his line goes taut again. I watch as he slowly pulls in his line but we see the fish break away.

"Damn," Finn swears and then goes to fix the end of his line. As he gets out a fluffy bug thing from his pack, he looks at me and says, "Not trying to be too forward here, but I have a guest house if you need somewhere to stay."

I stop swatting my line and look back at him. Is that too forward? Up to two weeks in Finn's guest house? It would probably be better than a motel because I think the closest hotel is near the Target about a half-hour away.

"Thanks, yeah once I find out what the damage is going to be, I'll let you know," I say and then I feel a tug on my line.

"Oh my god," I say as I slowly yank on the rod. There is definitely something attached to my line. Finn looks over to me and says, "Reel it in gently and slowly." The end of the pole dips into the water and something heavy is definitely tugging it down.

"No Finn. No, no, no. I don't want to see it," I tell him as the line continues to dip under the water.

"Come on Sades, reel it in," he says gently and I start reeling the line in with the fish tugging on the end.

"Reel reel reel baby girl!" He says excitedly as I try and spin the handle on the rod. "Move closer. You got it!" I start making my way further into the river and I am almost to Finn when the line comes up and the long massive green fish breaks the surface. It starts flopping wildly about in the air and I shriek.

"Oh my god, Finn!" I shout and he laughs as he grabs his net out.

"Drop it back under the water," he instructs as he walks up next to me with the net stretched out in the water in front of us.

"No, oh my god," I still chant as the fish is now less than a foot away from me. Finn reaches out and snatches my line to drag the fish into the net. He holds the fish up to me and I shriek while backing away. He is finding this entire thing so amusing, he swings his hand over so the flopping fish is right next to me and I panic.

"Look! Sadie, you caught a big one!" He says as if he is so impressed by the big stinky squirming water creature but I want nothing to do with it. He drops it back in the net to remove the line from its mouth and I angle myself as far away from the fish as I can. He gets it unhooked and then holds it out to show me my prize.

"You can release it, Finn," I tell him as I wave a hand out, wanting to get it back in the water as quickly as possible.

"You caught your first fish just swirling your line around. I am impressed," he says in awe before gently putting the fish back in the water. Through the clear stream, I watch as it swims right toward me.

"Finn! No!" I tell him as I scramble away from the fish and as I am stepping back from him, I slip on the smooth rocks and fall backward into the water. My face dips under the surface but my hand doesn't let go of the rod. I instantly feel Finn's hand on the strap of my overalls, snatching me out of the freezing water before I fully realize what just happened.

"Oh my god," I shriek as I come up from the river, completely soaked. Finn is laughing hysterically as he wipes my face off with his sleeve.

"Finn!" I snap as I open my eyes, "I almost just drowned."

"Sadie, I would have never guessed you'd be so terrified of fish." He is finding this oh so amusing. I hand him my rod as I untie the flannel and toss it onto the grassy bank.

"I have river water up my nose," I whine and then adjust my pack and waders that are all askew.

"Are you okay?" He asks and I glare at him. This only causes him to drop his head back and laugh so I splash water at him. I quickly remove my drenched hat so I can fix my soaking hair.

"Do you remember how good my hair looked? I am not okay."

"Next time I'll bring life vests," Finn teases and I flick more water at him. I retie up my hair and adjust my hat.

"Next time I am in a river, it will be in a boat or in a tube," I tell him and then something flicks between us in the water. I let out another shriek and instinctively jump toward Finn. I clutch onto him and we watch as a school of fish swims around us near the surface. I throw myself at him, terrified to be in the middle of all of the creatures.

"No, no, no," I scream and then go to climb Finn like a tree, much like I did when we were surrounded by mice. Only this time, he's holding onto two poles and standing on slippery rocks. We both tumble into the water, but at least this time, it's not as cold.

We both pop up from the surface and Finn is already dying of laughter.

"Finn! We are getting attacked!" I tell him while flopping around as I try and swim toward the bank, my feet are no longer able to grip the stupid surface below. I don't look behind me as I make it onto the grass and I sprawl out on the bank, glad to be out of the water. I hear Finn breathing heavily as he follows me onto dry land and he flops down next to me, tossing the poles to the side of him.

"Sadie, you almost killed us both back there," he teases and I remove my sunglasses as I look at him.

"I didn't think the river would be filled to the brim with monsters," I say back, while also breathing heavily. He also removes his sunglasses and drops them onto his chest.

"Okay, well now I know. Sadie Melvin is scared of fish and can't swim."

"I can doggie paddle," I snap back but he's still smiling, amused by everything that just went down.

"Is this going on your don't list?"

My chest is still heaving and I slide my sunglasses on before looking over at him, "I don't know, it's still too early to tell. I enjoyed the quiet river part. Don't know if I enjoy having you seeing me all wet."

Finn smirks and then says, "Oh I enjoy seeing you wet." He winks at me and I drop my head back and laugh. I shake my head and he adds, "Come on, you set me up for that one."