Timmy insisted on helping him with the dinghy and the motor. Matt slipped him five bucks and thanked him. But the guy simply refused to go away, and Matt could not leave the harbor without the lights. He needed them shining toward the heavens in order to spot the boat in the middle of the ocean. Good old Timmy, he wanted to talk about the Lakers, and the tits on the chick who worked with him in the store, and how drunk he had been the previous night. Finally, Matt had to get rude and ask to be left alone.

Timmy sulked as he shuffled away.

Timmy would remember him, if someone dropped by to ask.

Matt returned to his car and wrapped the lights in a blanket and finally got them aboard. Thankfully, the anchor and its extra rope were hidden in a large backpack. They were not conspicuous. He stowed the equipment below and motored out of the harbor at a brisk clip.

It was a quiet day on the bay, especially for a Saturday. The morning gloom might have discouraged the rich sailboats and their spoiled masters. The wind and chop picked up as he reached the open sea but his ship—The Mistress—handled smoothly. Turning north, he was able to lock the steering wheel and concentrate on the folded dinghy and foot pump. The coast crawled by on his right, desolate in the gray light. He started to work on inflating the dinghy. It took forever. The foot pump had been designed for party balloons.

His work was mechanical, not distracting enough. His mind wandered and there was only one direction for it to go. He could not stop thinking about the day they had met.

He had been out for a walk and had passed the park. Twenty-eight at the time, he’d had his contractor’s license for only two years, but already he had more business than he could handle. He specialized in bathrooms; didn’t mind the gross wallpaper or moldy plumbing. Some weeks he put in eighty hours and did three bathrooms and cleared four grand. He remembered that morning thinking that maybe one day he would get married, a possibility he had never seriously considered before. He had struggled with so many jobs for so long. Now he had a new car, and a spacious apartment in a rich high-rise. But he had not been in a real relationship in six long years. Talk about someone primed for a fall.