They’d been eight hours on the water, a short day. But Jim didn’t complain. He knew it wasn’t so much the oncoming storm that had Ethan piloting the boat back up the gut. ‘‘Boy’s home from school by now,’’ he said.

‘‘Yeah.’’ And though Seth was self-sufficient enough to stay home alone for a time in the afternoon, Ethan didn’t like to tempt fate. A boy of ten, and with Seth’s temperament, was a magnet for trouble.

When Cam returned from Europe in a couple of weeks, they would juggle Seth between them. But for now the boy was Ethan’s responsibility.

The water in the Bay kicked, turning gunmetal gray now to mirror the sky, but neither men nor dog worried about the rocky ride as the boat crept up the steep fronts of the waves, then slid back down into the troughs. Simon stood at the bow now, head lifted, his ears blowing back in the wind, grinning his doggie grin. Ethan had built the workboat himself, and he knew she would do. As confident as the dog, Jim moved to the protection of the awning and, cupping his hands, lit a cigarette.

The waterfront of St. Chris was alive with tourists. The early days of June lured them out of the city, tempted them to drive from the suburbs of D.C. and Baltimore. He imagined they thought of the little town of St. Christopher’s as quaint, with its narrow streets and clapboard houses and tiny shops. They liked to watch the crab pickers’ fingers fly, and eat the flaky crab cakes or tell their friends they’d had a bowl of she-crab soup. They stayed in the bed-and-breakfasts—St. Chris was the proud home of no less than four—and they spent their money in the restaurants and gift shops.

Ethan didn’t mind them. During the times when the Bay was stingy, tourism kept the town alive. And he thought there would come a time when some of those same tourists might decide that having a hand-built wooden sailboat was their heart’s desire.

The wind picked up as Ethan moored at the dock. Jim jumped nimbly out to secure lines, his short legs and squat body giving him the look of a leaping frog wearing white rubber boots and a grease-smeared gimme cap.

At Ethan’s careless hand signal, Simon plopped his butt down and stayed in the boat while the men worked to unload the day’s catch and the wind made the boat’s sun-faded green awning dance. Ethan watched Pete Monroe walk toward them, his iron-gray hair crushed under a battered billed hat, his stocky body outfitted in baggy khakis and a red checked shirt.

‘‘Good catch today, Ethan.’’