“Dalia was an engineer,” my father says.

“Your dad said you might want to help me build another wind turbine. I can show you how. We’ll have to raid some houses for parts, but that could be fun, right?”

“I guess,” I say, still flipping through the pages, thinking how raiding with this woman doesn’t sound like much fun at all.

“Thank you for the present,” Dad says. “Now put away the book while we’re eating.” So I do, but for the rest of the meal all I can think about is how happy I am to have it.

It’s getting dark by the time we leave. Outside, the world is murky in the wet dusk. Dad and the woman kiss, and then she and the little girl are standing on the steps, watching as we get into our boat, waving as we motor away through the darkness to our truck.

What’s left of the island looks ominous as we drive home through the rain, just shadows of dead trees and the road slipping beneath us. The tide has returned, and there are sections where Dad has to drive across someone’s lawn to get past the submerged street. Dad lights up a cigarette and its end glows orange in the cab, the cherry lighting his face so I can see how scrunched his brow is.

“Why didn’t you tell me about them?”

Dad rolls down the window and ashes his cigarette. “I wanted to make sure she was important enough to introduce you to.”

His answer makes no sense. Seems like meeting another two humans would be important enough to share no matter what. Also seems like if he had a warm place to go, it wasn’t nice of him to leave me at home in our cold house which is damp and briny from seawater reducing on the stove.

“Why’d she get the turntable?”

“Because she has electricity, and I knew she’d like it,” Dad says. “They’re going to have dinner with us next week and sleep over.”

“Why?”

“Because I invited them.”

“Where are they going to sleep?”

“Dalia’s going to sleep with me, and Fiona will be in your room.”

“Why can’t they sleep in the living room?”

“Because it’s damp and we’re not doing that. They’re guests. You’re going to share a room for a night. It’s nice to share a room. You might need to get used to it.”