The waitress brought them water and menus and asked if they were ready to order. Nest glanced at the menu, then at Ross, arching one eyebrow. “Two bowls of chowder, two orders of the fish and chips, and two iced teas,” he told the waitress, and she picked up the menus and left.

Nest looked out the window again. “This is a wonderful city,” she told him.

“People who visit when it’s not raining always say that,” he advised, shrugging.

“I guess I’m lucky to be here now.”

“Stay a few more days, and you can see what it’s like the rest of the time.”

She looked out at the tour boats, which were anchored right next to where they were sitting. A small crowd of tourists was boarding one of two tied up in the docking slips, filing through the interior and out onto the upper and lower decks. They were bundled up against the chill, and they all carried cameras at the ready. Nest thought she would like to be going out with them. She would like to look back at the city from the water, see if the view was as spectacular from that direction. Maybe she would do so later.

“So you like your new life,” she said to him, looking for a place to start.

He nodded slowly. “I like what I do at Fresh Start. I like Simon Lawrence and the others who work for him. I’ve met someone I’m very much in love with, and who is very much in love with me—something I thought would never happen. Yes, I like my life. I’m happy.”

“Stefanie is beautiful,” she said.

“She is. But she’s more than that. A lot more. She saved me when I thought there wasn’t anything left worth saving. After San Sobel.”

Nest wondered suddenly if he ever thought about Josie Jackson. Early on, not long after he left, Josie had asked Nest if she had heard from him; from the way she asked, Nest had known that there had been something between them. But that was a long time ago. He probably didn’t think of Josie at all these days. Maybe she had stopped thinking about him, too. “What happened at San Sobel must have been awful,” she said.

“It was, but it’s over.” He looked up as the waitress reappeared with their iced teas. When she left again, he took a careful sip of his, and then said, “Why did the Lady send you to find me, Nest?”

Nest shook her head doubtfully. “To talk with you. To tell you something you probably already know. I’m not sure.” She looked away from him, out over the water. “The truth is, I came because I don’t want to hear later that something bad has happened to you and find myself wishing I’d tried to prevent it.”

He grinned cautiously. “What is it you think might happen?”

She sighed. “Let me start at the beginning, all right? Let me tell it my way, maybe work up to the part about what might happen. I’m not really sure about any of this myself. Maybe you can fill in the gaps for me. Maybe you can even persuade me I came here for no better reason than to see you again. That would be all right.”