Read Online A Fair to Remember by Barbara Ankrum - Free Book Online Page A

removed when he released them for hunting so they didn’t accidentally tangle in the branches of a tree. The birds had become something of an obsession with Deke, who lived here alone and they were surprisingly affectionate with him.
    Monday, who couldn’t get close enough to the birds, stayed watching them while Deke gave Olivia the ten-dollar tour of the rest of his amazing home: the gourmet kitchen—Deke’s sanctuary of experimentation with the organics he grew in his quarter acre garden plot out back—the incredible master bedroom which over looked the valley with a series of floor to ceiling windows and a bath that made Olivia’s eyes go wide with envy.
    Deke’s office was the only room in the house that felt cluttered. Jake guessed his uncle owned the patents on several dozen inventions in the solar technology world and was still working on refining a solar cell which could be incorporated into roadways. His desk was covered with paper and the walls, pinned with diagrams and engineering sketches of what Jake could only guess was Deke’s latest technology. All of which, apparently, left Olivia at a loss for words as she took it all in with wide-eyed wonder.
    As content as Jake believed Deke was, years of living alone, building this place to his exact specifications and design, had taken its toll. He wasn’t getting any younger and it didn’t escape his notice that his uncle had lost weight since his last visit. He would try again to convince him to bring a housekeeper out to keep a surreptitious eye on him and take the load off him in terms of upkeep. And perhaps, more importantly, to give his uncle a companion who wouldn’t fly away.
    After lunch, they packed up their gear to go fishing and Monday loped on ahead of them, clearly relishing the freedom of this beautiful place. She had a funny way of running, with her tail wagging and her mouth open in a goofy smile that just made Jake happy.
    Deke brought the falcons and loosed them to fly upstream, swooping and gliding above them, never getting too far afield. Jake was constantly amazed that they didn’t just disappear over the horizon. But they were bonded, the three of them, and the falcons had no desire to fly away.
    By the time they’d outfitted themselves with waders by the water, Monday had already lapped up half the river as she searched the rocky banks for frogs and turtles. Deke was already fishing upstream twenty feet or so.
    Deke loved fishing and spent his summers right here in the Yellowstone River casting for the sleek, rainbow-bellied trout that ran these waters. He released most of what he caught, but he’d taught Jake to love the meditative beauty of both the sport and the place.
    When he’d come back from the war, he’d spent a few months, right here, side by side with Deke in the water. God knew, he hadn’t been fit for the real world yet and Deke had given him a sanctuary to find himself again. Most days they didn’t even talk—because Jake had no words to explain who he’d become over there.
    Being back in the water with a fly rod in his hand felt like coming home. Being here with Olivia merely closed two edges of that circle.
    A sprinkling of clouds cast shadows that slid across the river, dappling the surface of the water. The pine trees, whose lower branches remained still down by the water, rocked gently at the top with a breeze that carried their sun-warmed scent.
    “I remember you tried to teach me this once before,” Olivia said as they waded out into the cold current up to the knees of their waders. “As I recall, it ended with your favorite fly permanently up a tree.”
    “Not permanently,” he said, guiding her to a flat spot in the river. “You climbed that tree and retrieved it.”
    “Uh-huh. Right before I fell into the river. Remember that?”
    The outline of her breasts against her wet T-shirt he remembered just fine. He dropped his gaze and she caught him.
    “Eyes up here, Lassen.” She forked two fingers