“How is Rikke?” Tish asked.

Finn downed the last of his beer. He was wobbly. He leaned forward and pressed his face against the glass window of the boat. They were in the ship canal now, heading back toward the harbor. The bridge was up, and Finn bent his neck back to look at the span suspended above them.

“She’s like me. Bitter.”

“Is she still teaching?”

Finn swung his head back and forth. “She left the schools years ago. She was fired for having an affair with a student. These days, you do that, you go to jail. Back then, they just swept that kind of thing under the carpet.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not. Laura liked Rikke, but you didn’t.”

Inside the harbor, Tish felt the wavy rocking of the boat diminish. She saw the ribbon of land on the Point and thought about Stride and Serena living there. Ahead of them, she saw the towers of grain elevators and the giant docks for the ore boats. They looked darker and larger in the evening gloom.

“Why did you want to see me, Finn?” Tish asked.

He shrugged. “I think about the old days a lot.”

“Sometimes I wish I could forget them.”

“I’ve forgotten way too much already. I’ve had blackouts all my life. Big gaps where nothing’s left. Maybe it’s better that way.”

Tish said nothing.

“I hear you’re writing a book about Laura’s death,” Finn continued.

“That’s right.”

“Why would you want to do something like that?” he asked.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, why dig up the past? Wasn’t it bad enough as it is?”

“I guess I felt like I owed it to Laura,” Tish said.

Finn’s hands twitched. He eyed the bar, but he stayed on the bench. “You know I was in love with Laura back then.”

“No, she never told me,” Tish murmured.

“That’s okay. I knew she didn’t feel the same way. I never told her how I felt, because I didn’t want to hear her say it. But like I said, she was the only person who ever gave a shit about me. Other than Rikke.”

Finn put his hands on top of his skull and squeezed. He closed his eyes and opened them, blinking rapidly.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

“Yeah. As okay as I’ll ever be.” He added, “What happened between you two?”

“What do you mean?”

“That May, Laura hung out with me a lot. You weren’t around. She was really upset that you were gone. She needed someone.”

“Things happen between friends,” Tish said.

Finn nodded. “Do you feel guilty for leaving her behind? I mean, maybe if you’d stayed, she’d still be alive.”

Tish felt as if she’d been struck. She opened her mouth to deny it, but she couldn’t. “Yes, I think about that.”

“Me, too. I wanted to be the one to save her. Instead, look how it turned out.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“No?” He hesitated. “Listen, there’s something I need to tell you. There are some things I need to get off my chest.”