the controls. "We've got to go into the boatyard. You want to take her
in?"
Though Seth's eyes were shielded by the dark sunglasses, Ethan imagined
that their expression matched the boy's dropped jaw. It only amused him
when Seth jerked a shoulder as if such things were an everyday
occurrence.
"Sure. No problem." With sweaty palms, Seth took the helm.
Ethan stood by, hands casually tucked in his back pockets, eyes alert.
There was plenty of water traffic. A pretty weekend afternoon drew the
recreational sailors to the Bay. But they didn't have far to go, and the
kid had to learn sometime. You couldn't live in St. Chris and not know
how to pilot a workboat.
"A little to starboard," he told Seth. "See that skiff there? Sunday
sailor, and he's going to cut right across your bow if you keep this
heading."
Seth narrowed his eyes, studied the boat and the people on deck. He
snorted. "That's because he's paying more attention to that girl in the
bikini than to the wind."
"Well, she looks fine in the bikini."
"I don't see what's the big deal about breasts."
To his credit, Ethan didn't laugh out loud, but nodded soberly. "I guess
part of that's because we don't have them."
"I sure don't want any."
"Give it a couple of years," Ethan murmured under the cover of the
engine noise. And the thought of that made him wince. What the hell were
they going to do when the kid hit puberty? Somebody was going to have to
talk to him abouta things. He knew Seth already had too much sexual
knowledge, but it was all the dark and sticky sort. The same sort he
himself had known about at much too early an age.
One of them was going to have to explain how things should be, could
be--and before too much more time passed.
He hoped to hell it wasn't going to have to be him.
He caught sight of the boatyard, the old brick building, the spanking
new dock he and his brothers had built. Pride rippled through him. Maybe
it didn't look like much with its pitted bricks and patched roof, but
they were making something out of it. The windows were dusty, but they
were new and unbroken.
"Cut back on the throttle. Take her in slow." Absently Ethan put a hand
over Seth's on the controls. He felt the boy stiffen, then relax. He
still had a problem with being touched unexpectedly, Ethan noted. But it
was passing. "That's the way, just a bit more to starboard."
When the boat bumped gently against the pilings, Ethan jumped onto the
pier to secure lines. "Nice job." At his nod, Simon, all but quivering
with anticipation, leaped overboard. Yipping frantically, Foolish
clambered onto the gunwale, hesitated, then followed.
"Hand me up the cooler, Seth."
Grunting only a little, Seth hefted it. "Maybe I could pilot the boat
sometime when we're crabbing."
"Maybe." Ethan waited for the boy to scramble safely onto the pier
before heading to the rear cargo doors of the building.