Annie burst out laughing. She laughed until her ribs ached. It felt good to laugh. It felt good to have someone to laugh with. She looked over at Johnny Cochrane and smiled. He was handsome. He had never stopped being handsome. He had that personality that made everyone love him somehow.

“And here we are. My dear Annie, you are about to be introduced to the world’s worst boat. A sixteen-foot aluminum thing that is older than dirt, and we will go out onto the water in it and get us a big salmon, and tonight—fresh fish for dinner!”

Annie and Johnny walked down to the dock, each of them carrying a pile of fishing rods and life jackets and plastic pails.

“We sure didn’t have all this stuff when we were kids fishing back home, did we?” Annie remarked.

“Hell no, girl! We just grabbed a rod, jumped into the boat and fired up the motor! No fuss, and like my mama used to say, ‘No sweat in the Arctic!’ Man, she used to make me feel good when she said that. When she was sober.”

Johnny started up the boat and they chugged their way out into the ocean, the boat gently rocking them up and down. In the distance, they could see the big ships loaded with containers of goods, looking strong and mighty. They passed by a group of otters diving into the water from the shore and swirling around on their backs.

“Look!” Annie shouted with far too much glee. “Otters! Johnny did you know that when they sleep, they hold hands? Isn’t that beautiful? Just think of that, having someone hold your hand every night when you’re sleeping.”

“I never thought of you as a romantic, Annie, and I would want someone holding a different body part every night of my life.” Annie shook her head and let her hair fly about her face.

Johnny studied her. Thought how gorgeous she was. You wouldn’t guess she was coming up on sixty. Maybe forty-five. All that long, dark hair and the perfect nose and full lips. She made him think of the good parts of home. The good people. The good food. The way their own laughed easy and hard over almost nothing. He wondered how Moses Henry could have let her go. All these decades later Johnny could see the beauty that was inside of Annie. She was like a little girl in so many ways.

“What? What are you looking at? Do I have crap on my face? You know I’m the worst eater. Had yogurt for breakfast. It’s on my face, isn’t it?” Annie wiped away at her chin and ran the back of her hand over her mouth.

“No, nothing on your face, Annie. I was just thinking about home. You make me think about the good parts of it. You do.”

Annie blushed and looked away. Then she looked back into Johnny’s dark eyes and smiled. “We gonna get those rods out into the water or bounce across the water thinking of someplace else?”