But then Kimberly came striding down the dock wearing cutoff army-surplus fatigues, a red bandanna around her neck, and a white visor; her sandy-blond hair was up in a ponytail. Huck recognized her as the bartender from Sloppy Joe’s, the famous Key West watering hole where Hemingway used to hang out and where Huck liked to fish for women from time to time. Somehow he’d never realized that the most popular bartender in Key West was his crusty, hard-living boss’s sister.

Well, okay, Huck thought. She was nice to look at, but could she fish?

Oh, yes. Like Huck, Kimberly was born and raised in the Keys, on and around boats. During that first trip together, Huck watched her land a one-hundred-fifty-pound sailfish, sitting in the fighting chair, screaming like she was having a baby.

He vowed then that he would marry her.

But first he had to beat out scores of other men—the salty locals and rich, sunburned tourists alike, all calling her name, throwing down money, telling her she was as beautiful as one of Charlie’s Angels. It took endurance to get the first date. Huck had to stay at the bar drinking but not getting drunk until Sloppy Joe’s closed at four a.m. This was no small feat when his wake-up for the morning charter was only two hours later.

Looking back, Huck realizes that he’d been so dazzled by Kimberly’s obvious charms and—he’ll just say it—so invigorated by the chase that he ignored the warning signs of a deeply troubled person. Kimberly routinely did shots with customers, sometimes as many as five or six. She never appeared visibly drunk at work, but after her shift ended, there was always a margarita or three or five. Back at the beginning, Kimberly had been happy and pliably good-natured when she was drunk.

Shortly after they were married, things changed. In year three, Captain Coke’s own substance abuse got the best of him. He was spending all his money on cocaine and, apparently, none on his business. He’d taken out a line of credit on the equity he had left in his boat and then failed to pay. Just as the bank was ready to claim the boat, Huck stepped in and bought not only the boat but the whole charter business. Kimberly called Huck a savior, though she wanted Huck to keep Coke on as captain. No, sorry—that wasn’t going to happen. Huck didn’t want Coke anywhere near the boat or the business, though he was happy to pay for rehab. This went over poorly with both brother and sister, but Huck stood his ground. He took over the charter business, hired a new young mate, and made so much money the first year that he was able to buy a second boat.

Huck wanted to start a family and Kimberly claimed she did too, but she refused to quit her job at Sloppy Joe’s. It brought in too much money, plus it was her identity. Huck didn’t say that if she had a baby, she would have a new identity.