Chapter 35

She smiled and turned to leave. "Go and get ready. We need to buy some fishing poles."

When they left the cottage, Stella noted that Riley‘s truck was gone and she wondered briefly how he spent his time since he was unemployed.

She decided to stick to the mountain because frankly going up and down that mountainside three days in a row was too much for her nerves. She remembered the little hardware store across the street from the market that they‘d visited the day before, and headed for it.

"What are we going to do if we actually catch some fish?" Adam asked as they parked and entered the store.

"We‘ll eat them—and not if but when we catch them."

Riley was being shown how to work the cash register by his ‘supervisor‘ a teen on summer break from high school, when he heard Adam‘s voice.

"Mom, it‘s Riley. Hi Riley!" He came rushing over to the counter and Riley looked at him in surprise. He found himself smiling at the boy‘s enthusiasm at seeing him.