It was Sunday again. Melissa had finished her homework, and her and Jacy had the newspaper all published and distributed to their readers by noon. Jacy told Melissa to grab her coat and they would go for a walk.

As Jacy and Melissa were walking down the street, they saw Jimmy come riding in on Sundancer. He rode up to them and said, "Hello, Miss Melissa, Miss Jacy." Both girls said hello to the young Pony Express rider.

Melissa noticed Jimmy�s fishing pole. "Are you going fishing, Jimmy?"

"Yes, Melissa. I am after I drop this bag of letters off at the post office." Jimmy replied.

"We like to fish!" Melissa piped up. Can we go?"

"Melissa!!!" Jacy exclaimed. "Please forgive my sister. Sometimes she just blurts out things before thinking. Melissa remember your manners. You don�t just invite yourself. It�s not polite." Reprimanding Melissa, Jacy crosses her fingers behind her back in hopes that Jimmy wouldn�t invite them to go fishing.

"That�s ok, Miss Jacy. I wouldn�t mind having two lovely ladies accompany me fishin�." Jimmy said.

"Alright!" Melissa jumped up and clapped her hands. "Jacy, I�ll get the fishing poles. You get Braids saddled." Before Jacy could say anything Melissa ran back to the PEG to collect their fishing gear.

"You know we don�t have to go with you, Jimmy. I can tell Melissa that you had other plans." Jacy really didn�t want to go fishing.

"No, I really don�t mind. I would really like the company. I�ll take these to the post office and meet ya at the livery, ok?"

With regret Jacy said, "Ok."

Well, the fishing was going just fine at Rider Crossing, the river that Jimmy had dubbed, for Jacy. She hadn�t caught a fish in an hour and she kept praying that she wouldn�t get any nibbles on her line. Melissa kept an eye on Jacy�s line for if she got a bite Melissa might have to give her a hand. Well, all was going well. Jimmy had caught three fish and Melissa had caught two and they were about ready to call it a day. When suddenly Melissa saw Jacy�s eyes go wide. Uh Oh, Melissa thought, Jacy has a bite.

Jacy started reeling in her line praying that the fish would get away. But as her line got nearer to shore Jacy�s prayers weren�t being answered. She brought the fish to shore and Melissa said, "Here, Jacy, let me get that for ya."

Melissa unhooked the fish and threw it in the pail. As she did that there was just too much silence as Jimmy watched, so Jacy said, "Melissa likes unhooking fish." Jacy smiled at Jimmy as though she might as well humor Melissa and let her do it. Jimmy smiled back.

Jacy told Jimmy that they didn�t need an escort back to town, so Jimmy took his fish and went home to the waystation. Jacy pulled up outside of the livery, and told Melissa to take the fish on home and start cleaning them up for dinner while she put Braids up.

"Jacy will you bring the fishing poles?" Melissa asked.

"I will." Jacy replied. Melissa went on home, and as Jacy was about to guide Braids into the livery, Cody came riding up to her.

"Hi Miss Jacy." Cody smiled down at her.

"Hello." Jacy stared up into his handsome boyish face. He was so cute that Jacy could stare at his face forever.

The silence was lingering. Jacy�s tongue was tied. She didn�t know what to say. Cody was thinking she sure does have a beautiful smile. "So are you going fishing?" Cody had noticed the poles tied to her horse.

"Well . . . uh . . .!" Jacy started stammering.

"I like to fish, too. I know a pretty spot to fish. Would you like some company? I could show you the best spot for fishin�." Cody had read the article about a first date of fishing and catching frogs. He had thought it was very funny when he had read it, but then after Melissa told him that Jacy liked to fish and frog hunt, he assumed that it was Jacy that had wrote the article.

Oh God, Jacy thought. She was torn between telling him that she had just got back from fishing and wanting to do something with him.

"Mount up and let�s go." Cody suggested.

So Jacy mounted Braids and followed Cody to Cricket Creek, and all the way there she prayed that she wouldn�t catch any fish.

Cody showed Jacy around the clearing of Cricket Creek. There was a nice old oak tree that Cody loved to lean up against and throw his line into the water, but he offered the tree as a backrest to Jacy. Jacy felt very special when Cody offered her his favorite spot. She decided when Cody wasn�t looking she would throw her line in with no bait that way she was sure not to get a bite. Unfortunately it didn�t happen that way. Cody offered to put a worm from his stash on her line. He had caught them the night before and planned on coming into town today and hopefully seeing Jacy and inviting her to go fishing with him. He had been hoping to get an early start but Rachel had gave him a few chores to do, and he had rode into town a lot later than he had wanted. But at least his timing had been good for Jacy was about to go fishing as he came by the livery. Luck was on his side, and she seemed to be enjoying his company, laughing at his wit and humor, and she seemed to be very pleased that he had offered her his favorite spot to sit and fish.

Cody baited Jacy�s hook and the only thing that Jacy was good at she did. She tossed her line into the water. Cody smiled at her. Then he went scurrying around looking for something. Jacy watched him, maybe he was looking for more worms, but Cody had a tin can full of them. Jacy thought he should use up what he had before he looks for more.

Cody was searching all over the place, just one he thought. Just let me find one to impress her. But he wasn�t haven�t any luck.

"UH . . . UM! Are you going to fish with me or are you going to search for whatever you�re looking for?" Jacy was getting bored at watching him scout around, although having him nearby to watch was better than nothin�. And she had been afraid to speak, but it had been forty-five minutes, and he hadn�t found what he was looking for and Jacy was hoping that he would talk to her.

"I�m sorry. I didn�t think it would take so long. Of course I�m going to fish with you." Cody grabbed his pole, baited the hook, and tossed it into the water, hopefully the fish would start biting soon.

"So you like to fish?" Jacy asked to get the conversation started.

"Yeah, it�s . . . it�s peaceful." Cody replied, though he much rather eat the fish then catch them. But if Jacy liked to fish then he would, too. Cody was trying to think of something to say, but what? He wanted to make a good impression. He really liked this girl. Which was strange since in the past he had often asked lots of girls to go for a ride with him, but none had captured his heart like this little filly, and he didn�t want to do anything to jeopardize his relationship with her.

Cody caught a fish in the next hour and Jacy caught one, and as she brought it to shore, she wasn�t sure what to do. She didn�t want to take it off the hook, but she didn�t want Cody to know that.

Cody was watching Jacy. She seemed not to want to unhook her fish. I bet she wants me to do it. A gentleman would offer, and she�s waiting to see if I�ll offer. "May I take the fish off for you, Jacy?"

Wow . . . perfect! This got her off the hook, and she laughed inside at her phrase. "Oh, yes please." Jacy smiled and was relieved that Cody had asked. She was afraid she would have to try and do it herself and soon because the fish was flopping around and it was getting closer and closer to the water.

So as luck would have it, Jacy didn�t have to unhook her fish after all. Jacy decided one fish would do her, but before she could tell Cody he said, "Would you like for me to start a fire now? I can get these fishes cooking for our dinner or shall we see if we can catch some more?"

"Oh, oh no, this is fine." Jacy immediately said.

"Ok." Cody gathered some wood and started a fire. He took a frying pan and two plates out of his knapsack. He took his canteen off his horse�s saddlehorn.

"Oh, you know what. I didn�t bring a canteen." Maybe since she didn�t have anything to drink, he wouldn�t get mad if she suggested taking the fish home. She could cook them up a fine meal at her place.

"No problem. I have a cup. He went back to his knapsack and retrieved a tin cup for Jacy. He was determined to show Jacy that he could cook them a meal. He went looking for a little bit more wood, and as he picked up a piece to his surprise he found what he had been looking for earlier. He grabbed it and brought it back to show Jacy. "Well, it looks like we�re going to have a feast tonight." Chipper Cody showed Jacy his two prized possessions.

Jacy saw that he had a frog in his hands. Mortified at the prospect of eating a frog, she almost decided to leave right then, but maybe he was playing a practical joke on her like he played on his other friends. She hoped.

He started cleaning the fish and tossed them into the frying pan. He wasn�t quite sure about how to cook the frog. Melissa had told him frog legs, so he assumed that was all you cooked. Jacy moved closer to the fire that Cody had just lit, preparing to fry up the fish.

"No! No!" Cody quickly sat down by the fire. "I�m cooking."

Baffled Jacy didn�t understand this turn of events at all. Did he think that she couldn�t do anything at all, cooking was her specialty after all? She loved to cook. It was the best thing that she could do. But Cody was taking the role of cook, too.

He cooked the fish a while, and then threw the frog legs into the pan, too. When Cody wasn�t looking at her, she would make disgusting faces. Did he really expect her to eat those frog legs? Cody put a fish and two frog legs on her plate and handed it to her. He then fixed his own plate. "Is there something wrong?" Cody asked as he watched Jacy picking at her food.

"No, I guess I�m just not very hungry." Jacy replied.

Cody was thinking maybe he had cooked the food too long. It was somewhat tough. He was better at eating then cooking. When out on runs most of the time when it was meal time he would try to be near a town to stop by and grab a bite to eat.

The frog legs were awful They were overcooked like the fish, therefore they were rubbery, but she didn�t know how to get out of eating them without hurting Cody�s feelings.

"The food is somewhat overcooked, isn�t it?" Cody inquired.

"Yes, it is." Jacy smiled at him to show there was no hard feelings.

He had been doing great at impressing her, but now his cooking was a strike against him. How could he salvage the rest of their date? "Well, we don�t have to eat it." Cody sat his plate down, though he was hungry he would rather starve then to eat it, and besides he wanted to show Jacy that he didn�t mind if she didn�t eat hers. Jacy imitated him. "I�m sorry."

"No problem. I need to be getting back home anyway." Jacy stood up.

"So soon! I thought we might take a little walk. So they walked around and talked a while. Jacy was mesmerized by his voice and charm, so she listened more then she talked and smiled often. Jacy didn�t realize it but she was being swept off her feet by this handsome man.

Cody wasn�t sure if Jacy like him or not. He had ruined their supper, and now she wasn�t saying much, but she did grin a lot and laugh at his wit, or was she just doing that to be polite? He wasn�t sure. There wasn�t any flowers to pick to give to her, and he wasn�t sure that this would be a great time to tickle her. But he had this warm wonderful feeling inside and this little voice telling him to kiss her.

It was their first date and even though she had said that the girl would kiss the boy on the cheek to let him know that she liked him. Well maybe . . . just maybe she wouldn�t mind the boy kissing the girl to let her know that he liked her. So while they were talking and staring into each other�s eyes and then there was a break in their conversation Cody kissed Jacy on the cheek. It happened so fast that it startled Jacy. Then she got madder than a hornet�s nest that has just been awaken by an intrusion. "What . . . who do you think you are?" Jacy had mixed feelings. She liked Cody but how dare he kiss her and them not any more than just friends. This wasn�t even their first date and you don�t kiss a girl on the first date anyway. "How dare you kiss me?"

"But I just thought that you wouldn�t mind if I kissed you instead of the other way around." Cody explained.

"What? You thought I was going to kiss you. Man . . . you�ve got nerve." Jacy�s face was growing redder by the minute.

"Well, it�s what you said in your article." Cody was confused.

"My article didn�t say anything about kissing, especially not me kissing a fella." Jacy exclaimed.

"But it did. After fishing and catching frogs and the fella takes you home then you kiss him on the cheek to let him know that you like him."

"Fishing!! Frogs!! Me!! That was your article, not mine. I wrote a different Dreamer�s Delight article. I can�t believe you thought I wrote that. And I don�t kiss on the first date and I don�t even consider this our first date. Who wants to go fishing on their first date? Not Me!" Jacy stormed off, grabbed her pole, mounted Braids, and went home.

About half way home Jacy started calming down. She rubbed her cheek lightly where Cody had kissed her, and she smiled. She thought. "Oh why did this have to happen? I really liked him. By the time Jacy arrived at the livery, she was sad instead of mad. After what had happened Jacy just knew that there would never be a chance for her and Cody. He probably would never want to see her again.

With her head down Jacy started home, not looking where she was going because she was mad and sad at the same time. Kid was coming out of the general store. He had just brought a bag of mail to Blythe. He came down off the boardwalk, and as he turned to go around his horse, he bumped into a young lady. "Oh excuse me." Kid said. "I didn�t see you."

"No problem!" Jacy replied in a sour tone.

"I really am sorry. I didn�t mean to run into you." Kid in all seriousness said as Jacy was continuing on her way.

"I said no problem!" Jacy hollered back at him.

As she went inside Melissa came hurrying to her side. "Jacy where have you been? Mr. Calhoun said he saw you ride out of town with Cody."