The net was heavy, so I stuck it between my arm and my side so I could jump up and down for Dad and not drop it. Get it! Keep going, Dad!

He pulled so hard that his muscles moved like snakes under his skin and his face turned red. I squealed when he stumbled away from the edge of the water, his rubber boots slipping on the rocks, but he didn’t go down, because he’d fished his whole life. He tugged once more, and a giant fish flew out of the water, landing on the ground beside him. Dad crouched on the black rocks next to the fish, and I ran over with the net and plunked it right on top of its wiggling body, just in case it decided to grow legs and run back to the water.

That’s the biggest damn salmon I’ve ever seen! I said and fell on my butt next to him on the ground.

Dad looked at me and started laughing so hard he didn’t make much sound, and then I started laughing until my sides hurt and my cheeks felt wet. But then his whole face sagged like an old man’s, and he scooped me up like I wasn’t the biggest ten-year-old in Whittier, trapping me inside his tree-trunk arms and rocking me back and forth. The fish flopped on the ground beside us, and I tried to say something, except I couldn’t because I wasn’t laughing anymore; I was crying. Crying so hard that I was hiccuping and snot was running out of my nose and it tasted salty. He held me and hummed, and it made his chest rumble against my ear, and I cried even harder. You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.

I think we sat like that forever, long enough for the fish to stop flopping. It lay beside us, still. Dad’s shirt was soft against my wet cheek, and I breathed in the smell of soap and water and fish. I don’t want you to leave, Daddy, I said into his chest.

He laid his chin on top of my head; I heard him swallow.

I don’t want to leave again either, Claire bear. But, hey, Ruth thinks the building manager job might open up soon, and when it does, you can bet my name will be in the hat.

I hiccuped, but I didn’t cry again.

He rubbed my back, rocking me back and forth, and we sat like that until the air turned cold and I shivered.

I make Mom sad. My teeth chattered when I spoke.

He squeezed me in his arms, and I heard him sigh. Never, Claire. Mom’s sad for reasons that have nothing to do with you. You make her happy, sweetheart. You’ve always made her happy.