“Life is messy,” Cali says now. “People fuck up, get sick, die, do insane things. You don’t want anyone in your life who can’t handle the hard stuff. Your story is obviously dramatic, but life comes for everyone eventually. Your boy Luke won’t be charmed forever.”

“I miss how it felt before I saw this side of him. I miss who I thought he was,” I say.

“I get it,” Cali says. “I was pretty crushed by how some of my friends in the orchestra acted when everything went down—just as you said, like I was contagious, like they were hedging their bets and not on me. But my family and my friends from childhood? One hundred percent on my side. I was barely able to stop my brothers from heading straight to New York and tearing him to pieces.”

“As it should be,” I say.

“Yeah, honey,” she says, taking my hand. “As it should be. Look, people who are really driven, really competitive, some of them are good people—us obviously.” She smiles. “But a lot of them are also narcissistic assholes who really and truly don’t give a shit about any ends but their own. Sorry, but especially the men.”

I nod.

Cali considers what she’s said. “I take it back. Not sorry at all.”

For a moment, we both look out into the slate-gray waters of the bay. Beyond us is the roughest sea on earth with its howling winds and unpredictable sky. Between Ushuaia and Antarctica are a smattering of islands, now mostly uninhabited. I remember from our cruise the day before the story of a tribe that once lived there. Despite the freezing climate, they wore almost no clothes and swam and fished in ocean waters so cold they would kill most people after a few minutes. We’re built to survive, we humans.

“I’m assuming you’re not in touch with Penny now?”

I shake my head.

“You know most people think that acquittal was nuts. I was on your side even before I met you. Not that it’s much consolation.”