Off the Dock by Beth Mathison Page B

fan.”
    “ Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom ,” David immediately responded.
    “ Indiana Jones ?”
    “Yes,” David said.
    “ And the Temple of Doom ?” she asked.
    “You know the movie?” he said.
    “Of course I know the movie. You love the Indiana Jones series. You watch it every time it’s on cable. Doom is the classic one with the gross dinner scene. The one with the monkey heads, right?”
    “Yes!” David exclaimed, excited. “Later that night, Indiana is attacked by some thugs, and he uses his whip to stop the guy. The whip gets caught up in the ceiling fan and hangs the guy. It’s beautiful stunt work.”
    “Aaahh, I see,” Frannie said with understanding. “Thus the ceiling fan reference.”
    “Great movie,” David told her.
    “You really like those movies, don’t you?” she asked, reaching her arm back awkwardly, then casting out twenty feet from the boat. The bobber landed with a loud thud on the water’s surface.
    “I like them a lot,” David responded. “The sense of adventure set in a simpler age, those women with all those cute dresses from the thirties and forties.”
    “Would you like it if I wore those dresses? Frannie asked.
    “No, I like what you wear,” David said. He looked at her appraisingly. “Those short pant things that show off your calves, the sandals that make that clicking sound when you walk, that top that leaves just enough to the imagination to make things interesting. And, of course, that stylish hat with the darling daisies. I like all of it. It’s just…you.”
    “The short pant things are called Capris,” she told him.
    “Like the juice,” he said.
    “I really don’t understand men sometimes,” she said, ignoring his juice comment. “What you like or don’t like.”
    “That’s OK,” he replied. “I don’t really understand women. I don’t think any of the opposite sex can understand each other. It’s like that Mars and Venus book we both read ages ago.”
    “And yet men and women live in an uneasy alliance, even marrying for long lengths of time, creating lives together.”
    “It’s amazing, isn’t it?” he asked. “Honestly.”
    “I think you’d make an awesome Indiana Jones,” Frannie told him.
    “Really?” he asked, beaming.
    “You’ve got the sense of adventure, your rakish charm, respect for women, just enough disregard for political correctness and authority. You’ve also got a great ability to fly by the seat of your pants in many situations without losing your cool. That’s a definite gift.”
    “You mean like opening my own painting company? That kind of adventure?”
    “That. And the way you are with the kids. Pushing them without seeming like a dictator. The way you drive a car definitely reflects your adventurous spirit while keeping your cool.” She paused. “Remember our second date?”
    David smiled. “When we snuck onto the boardwalk after hours and watched the sunrise?”
    Frannie returned his smile. “You do things out of the ordinary. Things I would never think of doing.”
    “Like when Indiana Jones replaces the golden idol with a bag of sand?”
    “Exactly like that. I would have never thought to climb under the gate and sit on the beach under the boardwalk. It’s where we had our first kiss. It was very romantic.”
    David nodded, still smiling slightly, looking out at the calm expanse of water.
    “Bobber,” Frannie said.
    “Fishing,” David responded automatically, continuing the game.
    “No, I mean what does it mean when my bobber is twitching?” Frannie asked, the rod shaking in her hands.
    “Holy moly,” David said, setting his own rod on the bottom of the boat. “You have a fish.”
    “I have a fish?” she asked, looking at the twitching red-striped bobber. It dipped up and down a few times, then stayed under the surface.
    “Hold on tightly to your rod, now,” David instructed her. “Don’t let go of it.”
    Frannie’s breath quickened, her eyes widening. “I’ve never