“Zero. Best thing that came out of that relationship was zero population growth. My contribution to climate control. It was sad for me, though. I think I loved her, but it just didn’t work out in the way it should have. You? You got a boyfriend?”

“Me?” Annie was shocked. “I was telling myself the other day that no one wants these old bones, and I’m pretty sure of that.”

“You’re still fine, Annie. Geez, get out there and see what’s snaking around this town!”

“Think I had my fill at that pub. Not doing that again.”

They stood, looking out at the sea. Eventually, Johnny spoke. “You hear from him?”

“Never. Not one word. He hasn’t talked to me in years, and I mean years. I never measured up. I never could.”

“Well, that’s one thing we have in common. I didn’t measure up either. Not for him. All those years of saving his sorry ass in day school, and now he can’t be bothered to even pick up the phone. God’s got him and got him good.”

“And your mom?”

“Oh, I have her tucked away in a home here. Nice place, and she’s doing okay for a woman who nearly drank her liver away. Here, let’s sit on this bench and look at the Tudor house across the way—can you imagine growing up in that? Close to the water and all this beauty. Wouldn’t that have been a dream? Watching big ships pass by and thinking about all those people from foreign countries coming to town. So different from what we had, eh?” Johnny chuckled that winning chuckle she remembered.

Annie didn’t realize it at first, but she had put her arm around Johnny’s shoulders. It was funny, her sitting there with her arm around the one guy from home who had hated her more than anyone in the entire community.

“Sorry!” she sputtered as she realized what she was doing. “Sorry! I didn’t mean to touch you. God, I’m such a social idiot!”

Johnny pulled her hand back across his shoulders. “Leave it there. It feels nice. That’s the one thing about being alone, eh—the lack of touch. I think about booking myself in for a massage just to have someone touch me.”

“Hey, come on, you’re Johnny Cochrane—every girl in town wants to touch you!”

“I don’t want to touch them. You look at the stuff this town has. The Old Ones. Man, I’ve met some real losers with tons of money and enough plastic surgery to make you think they’re wearing a clown’s mask! Dog Fucking Ugly. And the young ones . . . Well, they think you’ve got money and that’s why they come around. Nope. I have a pretty quiet life out here.”

“Completely celibate, Johnny?”

“Well, not completely. I have this one friend. She’s from my old days in university in Winnipeg. You know, when I was busy getting my MA degree. She’s here, and we spend time together. Go for walks and talk and she comes by and we play crib or Scrabble—stuff like that.”