Chapter 16: The Fare

The white boat came back at a quarter past two.

I was sitting on the end of the dock with my coat zipped to my chin, and I stood up so fast that I nearly lost the radio.

Ben brought her in against the pilings and cut the engine.

He looked at me first. Then he looked at the six people behind me.

"The little one's fine," he said. "A bad ear infection and a lot of fluid. They kept her for the night. Brittany's staying with her."

The uncle's wife put a hand to her chest and sat down on a piling.

"Thank God," said the older woman.

"You can thank the nurse," Ben said. "I only drove."

He turned his eyes to me again, and he looked at me for a moment longer than he needed to.

"You all right?" he said quietly.

"I'm cold."

"That I can fix."

He pulled a spare wool cap out of his coat pocket.

He put it on my head and tugged it down over my ears.

It smelled of diesel and coffee.

I stood there in a gray cap two sizes too big, happier than I had been in a week.

Judith stepped forward.

"We'll all be taking the boat now," she said. "Six seats. You'll make two trips."

"I will," Ben said. "Four hundred dollars a trip, plus fuel. Cash."

There was a silence on the dock.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Water taxi rate. Eight hundred for the two runs. I'm not on the Marigold's schedule, and no one's booked me."

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