Midday Clouds - The Charlie Swan Story

Chapter 27 (New Moon 16)

When I got home from work the next week, I noticed Jake's (which was, back in the day, Billy's) truck sitting on the curb outside the house. Both he and Bella were sprawled out on the living room floor, apparently studying given the amount of books scattered around them, though knowing teenagers—having been one myself, once upon a time—I assumed they were doing anything but that before they heard my cruiser pull up.

"Hey, kids," I said, noticing the smell of a freshly baked lasagna in the kitchen. I guessed Bella truly was back to her old self, as far as her culinary ambitions were concerned. It was a pleasant change from the pizzas that had become a staple in both our diets for the past few months.

Jake stayed for dinner, and we had some nice conversation about the car he's fixing up, how Billy's getting on, and how things are going over on the rez. It was great to see Bella just as engaged in the conversation as she'd been the weekend prior at the Black's place, and I was happy to be able to chat—and actually enjoy a meal—with a friend of Bella's without getting the sense that he was trying to stare daggers into my skull, or read my mind, like I used to get with that Edwin. It instead felt like a nice, normal, family dinner, and I was sad to see Jake go when it was all finished up, making sure to take a plate of Bella's soon-to-be-famous lasagna along with him for Billy. A good kid. A normal kid. That's all that I ever really hoped for for my Bells.

That weekend I made good on my promise to take Harry fishing. It was always a bittersweet outing for us, seeing as Billy used to join before his accident, but given that Billy had specifically asked that I take Harry to help ease his mind and body, that guilt took a backseat in my own mind.

We pulled on our waders and set our bait, hoping that the gentle, misting rain that was coming down wouldn't turn into anything heavier.

"You doing alright there, Harry?" I asked, noticing that he'd taken a moment between pulling on his boots. Just as Billy'd said, he looked troubled.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just going a little slower than usual these days," he responded.

"Well, we've got all the time in the world out here. The fish aren't in a hurry and neither are we."

"They'll be in a hurry soon enough, once we get our hooks in 'em!" Harry shot back with a half-hearted smile. He was working to pull on his second boot, and struggling.

"Hey, hey, Harry. Look, let me hold that for you," I said, offering to grab his rod. He shooed me away.

"No, no! I got it. I told you, I'm fine."

"I know you are, but it's always good to have a free hand for that."

"I can handle it. See? Boots on and everything. Now toss me a beer and we'll get this show on the road."

I had a six pack sitting in the mini cooler in the back of my cruiser. It was customary to have a few cans while on the river, though with Harry seemingly being winded just from getting his shoes on, I was hesitant to see him drink anything other than water, or a health smoothie, or something similarly green and good for you.

"Oh, I don't know if I'm going to have any drinks today, Harry. Here, let me grab some waters." I grabbed two bottles from my car, and tossed him one. He caught it, but had a confused expression on his face. It quickly turned sour.

"Oh hell, Charlie. Have you been talking to Billy about me? Or Sue? Look, I'm fine, alright. I get that I've gotta eat a bit better, take things a little slower. I've been doing that; I haven't had one of Jen's bacon cheeseburgers in weeks. So please, just let me have a damn beer while fishing with my best friend, will you? I really don't think that's gonna be what does me in."

I sighed, and couldn't help but smile at Harry's sincere plea. "Alright. Alright. You're right. What's fishing without a few cold ones, hey? But we're stopping for salads on the way home after this. I'll even join you on it, in solidarity."

"That's a deal I can get behind," he said, catching the beer with noticeably more enthusiasm.

We stood side by side, casting our rods into the ever-moving water, enjoying the sounds, the company, the way that the light rain caught the few rays of sunshine peeking through the clouds, painting a faint rainbow against a backdrop of evergreens. It's not often you can enjoy a comfortable silence with someone so assuredly. Which is why when Harry next spoke, his voice grave and serious, it cut me to my core.

"Charlie," he said, both our eyes still cast forward towards the river. "If anything does happen to me—and I'm saying if, so I don't need to hear you telling me it won't—if anything happens to me, I want you to be there for Sue, and for the kids, alright? Can you promise me that?"

"Harry, I... Nothing's going to-"

"Charlie, please."

"Okay. Yeah. Obviously. Absolutely, I'll be there for them. No matter what happens, and no matter when whatever it may be might happen. Be it tomorrow, or, ideally, decades from now. I'll be there for them. Of course. Just like I know you'll be there for Bella if, God forbid, something were to happen to me, right?"

"Yes Charlie, of course. But I more mean, well, with Sue and all... I wouldn't ever want her to spend her later years all alone, you know."

I hesitated for a moment, taking in what Harry was saying.

"She won't be, Harry. I can promise you that. She'll have me, and Billy, and her kids, and everyone else. We'll all be there for her."

"No, Charlie, I..."

"I hear you Harry. I hear you. It'll be okay."

"Okay. I know it's weird to say. But it feels better to have said it."

We both cast a few more lines in silence, sipping on our beer, and watching as the clouds made their way across the treetops, before Harry finally hooked something. It was a whopper, a salmon a full foot long, and while he may have had some troubles with his boots earlier, Harry had no issue hauling the fish to the shore, just as he'd done a thousand times before.

Seeing him do so made my worries about my old friend subside, and I put the morbid conversation we'd just had out of mind. Which is probably why we forgot to stop for salads on the way home. Oh well. 

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