and studied their captive. “It sure is.” She removed it from the net and held it securely with both hands. Her fingers prodded the bulge of its belly. “And I think she’s full of eggs.”
She carried it over to a storage bin located in the middle of LOLA’s deck. “Normally, I would take her back to our lab for testing, but since school isn’t in session, I’ll give you a little preview of what we do.” She opened the bin with her free hand and pulled out a large knife.
Tanner watched the surprising woman bang the lid closed and pin the fish firmly on top of its steel surface. With one swift arc of the blade, the fish head rolled off onto the deck. Next, Cara expertly slipped the tip of the knife in near the tail of the fish and slid it up its underbelly. Her fingers reached inside and tugged. Along with the entrails, out spilled a gelatinous glob of tiny transparent bubbles. The goldfish had indeed been pregnant.
She hadn’t used the typical cleaning method, but since dinner was not her objective, he understood the difference. Tanner marveled at Cara’s abilities, he had never known a woman who would touch a fish, let alone chop off its head. His wife had been a girly-girl. Fishing had not been her cup of tea, and his catch hadn’t been allowed anywhere near the house until it was cleaned, bagged, and ready to be tossed in the freezer.
With each passing moment , the grief he carried started to ebb. Tanner was beginning to realize how much he missed out on since Kate’s passing. It wasn’t that he hadn’t continued on with his life, but he hadn’t exactly lived it either. This unexpected blessing in Cara Lee had opened his heart again. It felt good to laugh, love, and feel. As good as the sex was, what he enjoyed most was the laughter. No matter where their relationship ended up, he would forever be indebted to Cara for bringing joy back into his life.
Cara picked up a bucket and wiped the fish and all its remains inside. With another bucket she scooped up some lake water. “It’s still rare to find goldfish in the lake, we wer e lucky to catch this one.” She pitched the water on top of the storage bin and cleaned up the rest of the debris. “We saved the lake from at least a couple hundred more interlopers.”
Tanner shook his head. “That was only a couple hundred eggs? It seemed like much more.”
Cara washed her hands off in the cold water. “From our research, we know that most of them wouldn’t have survived. The ones that do are pretty darn hearty. Eventually, a new breed of goldfish which are fully adapted to the lake would emerge.” She shook the rest of the water off her hands. “We want to stop that from happening.”
Tanner waved his arm out across the expanse of Lake Tahoe. “How is that possible? The lake is huge.”
Professor Greene went into teacher mode. She shot Tanner an indulgent smile and said, “With a lot of hard work, anything is possible. Number one on our priority list is to educate the public. Without their cooperation, the probability of success is low.
“Modern Lake Tahoe was shaped over a million years ago during the Ice Age. A lot of st reams flow into the lake, but the Truckee River is the only one that flows out.” She lifted her arm and pointed off into the distance. “The Truckee then flows northeast through Reno and into Pyramid Lake in Nevada.” She stopped when she realized she had been spouting her Tahoe 101 lecture and grinned apologetically. “Sorry, occupational hazard.”
Tanner reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’ve lived here a long time. I doubt there’s much you could say about the lake that I don’t already know.”
A sly smile crossed her face, and Tanner chuckled knowing she had accepted the challenge. “Lake Tahoe is one of the deepest lakes in the United States―”
Tanner couldn’t resist and quickly interjected, “Second only to Crater Lake in Oregon, and it’s the tenth deepest in the
She carried it over to a storage bin located in the middle of LOLA’s deck. “Normally, I would take her back to our lab for testing, but since school isn’t in session, I’ll give you a little preview of what we do.” She opened the bin with her free hand and pulled out a large knife.
Tanner watched the surprising woman bang the lid closed and pin the fish firmly on top of its steel surface. With one swift arc of the blade, the fish head rolled off onto the deck. Next, Cara expertly slipped the tip of the knife in near the tail of the fish and slid it up its underbelly. Her fingers reached inside and tugged. Along with the entrails, out spilled a gelatinous glob of tiny transparent bubbles. The goldfish had indeed been pregnant.
She hadn’t used the typical cleaning method, but since dinner was not her objective, he understood the difference. Tanner marveled at Cara’s abilities, he had never known a woman who would touch a fish, let alone chop off its head. His wife had been a girly-girl. Fishing had not been her cup of tea, and his catch hadn’t been allowed anywhere near the house until it was cleaned, bagged, and ready to be tossed in the freezer.
With each passing moment , the grief he carried started to ebb. Tanner was beginning to realize how much he missed out on since Kate’s passing. It wasn’t that he hadn’t continued on with his life, but he hadn’t exactly lived it either. This unexpected blessing in Cara Lee had opened his heart again. It felt good to laugh, love, and feel. As good as the sex was, what he enjoyed most was the laughter. No matter where their relationship ended up, he would forever be indebted to Cara for bringing joy back into his life.
Cara picked up a bucket and wiped the fish and all its remains inside. With another bucket she scooped up some lake water. “It’s still rare to find goldfish in the lake, we wer e lucky to catch this one.” She pitched the water on top of the storage bin and cleaned up the rest of the debris. “We saved the lake from at least a couple hundred more interlopers.”
Tanner shook his head. “That was only a couple hundred eggs? It seemed like much more.”
Cara washed her hands off in the cold water. “From our research, we know that most of them wouldn’t have survived. The ones that do are pretty darn hearty. Eventually, a new breed of goldfish which are fully adapted to the lake would emerge.” She shook the rest of the water off her hands. “We want to stop that from happening.”
Tanner waved his arm out across the expanse of Lake Tahoe. “How is that possible? The lake is huge.”
Professor Greene went into teacher mode. She shot Tanner an indulgent smile and said, “With a lot of hard work, anything is possible. Number one on our priority list is to educate the public. Without their cooperation, the probability of success is low.
“Modern Lake Tahoe was shaped over a million years ago during the Ice Age. A lot of st reams flow into the lake, but the Truckee River is the only one that flows out.” She lifted her arm and pointed off into the distance. “The Truckee then flows northeast through Reno and into Pyramid Lake in Nevada.” She stopped when she realized she had been spouting her Tahoe 101 lecture and grinned apologetically. “Sorry, occupational hazard.”
Tanner reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist. “I’ve lived here a long time. I doubt there’s much you could say about the lake that I don’t already know.”
A sly smile crossed her face, and Tanner chuckled knowing she had accepted the challenge. “Lake Tahoe is one of the deepest lakes in the United States―”
Tanner couldn’t resist and quickly interjected, “Second only to Crater Lake in Oregon, and it’s the tenth deepest in the
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