Chapter 6

The interview was complete now, and Matti was escorting them back to their SUV. While Art was stowing their equipment, Dawn once again expressed her regret that they would not be able to take him up on his supper offer.

“Well, Dawn, if you don’t have to get back right away, you could stay for supper if you like. I’ll be heading back to Thunder Bay later this evening, and I could bring you back.” Matti threw it in as just a polite bit of conversation, not expecting it to receive the response that it did.

Almost immediately Dawn answered, “I’d love to, if you’re serious. I was just going to go straight home, because we’ll be doing the editing at the station tomorrow, and I have no pressing need to hurry home.”

Matti was shocked and it showed in his reply, “I ... Sure ... It’s no problem at all. I was serious, but to tell you the truth, I wasn’t really expecting you to say yes.”

By the time Matti had finished his reply Dawn Winters was busy telling her cameraman that he could go ahead without her, and that Matti would be driving her home. As he was closing the rear hatch, having finished putting away their equipment, Dawn was busy collecting her purse and a small travel bag from the passenger side of the SUV. Just a minute later the two of them were waving goodbye to Art as he pulled away down the lane, headed out to the gravel road and the long drive back to Thunder Bay.

“Well, Dawn, it’s much too early for supper, so is there anything you’d like to do this afternoon, before we eat? I can show you around my camp, but that won’t take too long. I’d offer to take you for a hike through the bush, so that I could point out some of the highlights of the area, but I don’t think you’re quite dressed for that.”

Dawn hefted the small bag in her hand and said, “I don’t have much with me, but I do have a plastic dry cleaner’s bag I can put my jacket in, and a pair of light shoes I usually wear at the studio. If you’ve got a place where I could put these shoes to dry, I could at least get a little more comfortable. Most of the rest of the stuff in this bag is cosmetics and hair products. You know, stuff I need to use to look good on TV.”

After instructing her to follow him into the camp, Matti laughingly said, “I can’t imagine it would take very much to make you look good. I suspect you’d look great without even using makeup.”

“Why thank you, Matti. It’s a very nice thing for you to say, even if I know I would argue with you about it. TV lights and high definition cameras virtually demand that a person use cosmetics. Even the men have to.”

After they had gone inside the camp Matti had shown her the features of his favourite place. She was particularly enamoured of the large living room, with its wall of windows facing the lake. After she had made use of the small bathroom to freshen up, she did have one question for Matti.

“I really like your place, Matti. I’m surprised that you don’t have a bathtub or shower in the bathroom, though. Do you just swim in the lake?”

Matti had been looking out the window at the lake while she was getting ready, and was surprised to see the changes that had taken place in her appearance. The jacket was gone, as was the necklace she had been wearing. Her hair was now tied back in a ponytail, held by a red, ruffled, elastic band. Matti was now able to see that her figure had been well hidden by the jacket she always wore like a uniform. It was now obvious that she was more curvaceous than he had ever realized. You could also see that she was wearing a camisole under her blouse, in addition to her bra. The total combination was both surprising and more attractive than he would have imagined.

Her appearance had distracted him long enough that he finally realized he would have to answer her question, or she would turn his way and catch him staring at her. He did have to have a chuckle at her question, though, and answered her with, “There’s a shower in the sauna, for anyone that wants one. Usually we use the sauna, and then we dive into the lake to rinse off.”

Dawn had her damp shoes in her hand, and appeared to be looking for a place to get them dried. There was a bit of a breeze outside, so Matti took the shoes from her hand and placed them in the sun on one of the chairs in front of the camp. He told her that with any luck they would dry in an hour or two.

After she thanked him Dawn asked, “I really wouldn’t mind watching how you catch these pickerel, Matti. Do you think you’d be able to, if we went out on the lake? I mean, if it’s not too hard to catch them?”

“That’s no problem at all, Dawn. They’re not that hard to catch, although it’s not usually quite as easy at this time of the day. This is a good lake for pickerel, so we could probably catch a couple at least. You should have a jacket on, though, if we’re out on the lake. You may also want to put some sunscreen on. You get a lot of sun with the reflection from the water. I’ve got some, if you’d like to use it.”

Dawn smiled and said, “I guess I should take you up on that. It wouldn’t do to go on camera with a sunburned nose. I don’t really want to take my jacket, as it’s custom tailored.”

Matti told her he’d look for something for her to wear, and spent a couple of minutes in the spare bedroom closet before coming out with a worn denim jacket. “This is clean; it hasn’t been worn since it was last washed. It was my mother’s fishing jacket. I’ve got the sunscreen for you as well.” In just a couple of minutes they were headed for the dock.

Matti had picked up his minnow bucket from the shed, along with his rod and tackle box, and they were now sitting, with the engine off, about 30 feet out on the lake from weeds that bordered the south side of the bay. Dawn was watching attentively as he selected his lure, and added a minnow to the hook. A flick of his wrist dropped the bait into the water just a couple of feet from the edge of the weeds. She had a few questions about his equipment and how he was using it, and continued to watch closely as he made a further six casts from the drifting boat. Finally, on his eighth attempt, a fish took the bait. Dawn was watching excitedly as he set the hook, and then fought it to the edge of the boat where he scooped it up with his landing net.