He turned his notepad around, and I read his list:
SEA LEGS
Tremulous
Like taking a step down and finding you’ve reached a landing instead of another stair
Like drinking sprite instead of water
“I like it,” I said. “Is that how you feel?”
“I’m a little wobbly. I’m better at writing about the sea than being on it.”
“I’ve already got my sea legs,” I mock-bragged. “I’m a natural sailor. Queen of the sea.”
“ ‘Queen of the Sea,’ ” Dad echoed. “All-girl band playing—sea shanties?”
I shook my head, grinning. “All-girl, yes, but more regal. Maybe, like, a melancholic rock band.”
“Like the Cranberries.”
“Yeah! We’ll find another name for your sea-shanty band.”
We paused, and I knew Dad was coming up with names, but before he could offer any, words tumbled out of my mouth. “Gary said he knew Mom.”
Dad looked momentarily surprised before settling his face into neutral-but-positive. “Yes. We all knew each other in college.”
In college?“I’ve never heard of him before.”
“We haven’t been in touch for years. Not since—” He hesitated, then plunged forward. “Mom died. We ran into each other a few years ago on the island and reconnected.”
I nodded slowly, drawing a line through my eggs with my fork. “Was he always so rich?”
Dad laughed. “Not this rich. But I think his family was always wealthy.”
“Were there other people you and Mom were friends with in college? Who I don’t know?”
“Let’s see.” He looked at the ceiling. “I guess so. Miguel and Trever, Kristy and Jen—Jen and Miguel dated, though Jen dated Trever first. A complicated love triangle.” He smiled briefly. “And there was Gary and his roommate Omar. Omar was part of the group before Gary, I think, and brought him in. I think a few of them were in—oh, student government together?”
“Are you in touch with any of the others?”
He shook his head. “Everyone moved after school. But we still get holiday cards from a few of them.”
“Huh.” I’d never thought about the people behind the cards stuck on the fridge every year. “I thought I’d ask Gary about her.”
Dad nodded emphatically. “Yes. You should.”
Wow, he’d really agreed there. “Cool.”
After breakfast, I joined Gary’s niece and nephew and Ethan on the deck. Because of some strange desire to keep us entertained/out of mischief/away from the adults’ main activity of day drinking, we’d been conscripted into what Gary described as “Intro to a Nineteenth-Century Sailing Vessel.” I couldn’tcomplain; it was another clear, bright blue day, and I was pretty hyped to learn whatever they wanted to teach us.
“My new recruits!” Gary pressed his hands together and rubbed them. “Are you lot ready for your tasks?”
Beside him, Brent looked like he couldn’t decide whether to find his husband’s behavior endearing or painful. Honestly, a mood. I glanced at Ethan, and we glanced at Gary’s niece and nephew, and then we all shrugged.
“Tough audience.” Gary gestured forward a woman around my dad’s age. And Gary’s age, I supposed, if they’d all gone to college together. “This is First Mate Wójcik. She’s gonna take it from here.”
“Hey, guys,” the first mate said. “I’ve been with theSalty Foxsince she launched, and she’s one of my favorites. We’re going to get you familiar with a few of the basics sailors have done for centuries, and then we’ll give you a bit of hands-on experience.”
