“He doesn’t have to be fancy for me, Millie. He just has to be real, and good to you. How old is he, by the way?”
“That’s the other thing I was worried about. He’s forty-eight. He’s been really upset that he’s never met you. He wanted to meet you this time. I wasn’t sure. He’s very smart.”
“I can tell,” Maddie said comfortably, feeling close to her younger daughter for the first time in years. She had finally let her in and shared something about her life. It was a first.
“Are you really going to go out on the boat?”
“Yes, I am. It sounds like fun.” And she could get some great pictures.
Milagra seemed happier than Maddie had ever seen her, and as though a thousand-pound weight had been lifted from her shoulders. “I’m so happy you like him. He’s such a good person.”
“I can see that,” Maddie said as she continued to hold Milagra in her arms. “Do you think you’ll marry him?”
“He wants to. I don’t think we need to. He makes a good living with his boat. I don’t want kids. I don’t think I could handle marriage. Too much pressure. Too many expectations. I just want to write, he says that’s fine with him. And he has a son. He’s twenty-five.” He was only eight years younger than Milagra. “He got divorced when his son was two. His wife hated being married to a fisherman.”
“You might change your mind about having kids one day,” or maybe not. “And now I have an important question to ask you.” Milagra looked instantly worried. “Do you have an alarm clock?”
Milagra laughed at the question. “Yes, I do.” They went upstairs together to find it. Maddie had already cleaned up the kitchen, and they met again in their nightgowns when Milagra came to sit on Maddie’s bed. She had already put two of her cameras in a waterproof case, ready to grab in the morning. “Thank you for liking him, Mom.”
“He’s not hard to like, and if he makes you happy, that’s all I want for you.” They had already stood the test of time, after eight years, and Milagra looked peaceful as she kissed her mother good night.
* * *
—
The alarm went off at four-fifteen the next morning. Maddie got up and dressed quietly. She had sneakers with her, and she could wear one on the boat with her cast. Milagra had told her to take a warm jacket out of the closet, which she did. Bert had rain gear on the boat. And at five o’clock sharp she was on the dock facing Noyo Harbor, and he walked down to greet her and gave her a bear hug. He was impressed that she’d made it, and he escorted her to the boat.
She was startled by how modern and sophisticated it was. He had state-of-the-art equipment and a crew of four experienced fishermen. It was a serious operation, not some slapdash local deal. There was nothing amateurish or old-fashioned about it.
“I take the boat up to Alaska once every year, just to keep my hand in and fish with my son. The fishing’s pretty tame around here.” She could see that his boat was up to more challenging waters. She took her camera out when two of the deckhands slipped the ropes from the pilings that held them and Bert turned on the engines, and a few minutes later they took off. Maddie quietly tucked herself into corners and disappeared into the woodwork as she shot almost continuously. Her cast didn’t hamper her at all, she didn’t let it. She got fantastic photographs of Bert and his crew doing their job and working hard all day. The crab season was going to end in a month, but Bert said the catch was still plentiful every day.
They stopped and ate at lunchtime. Bert prepared a delicious meal for Maddie and his crew. The sea got rough after that, with waves that came over the bow. They worked harder then, and had a good catch that day and a fresh load of crab from their traps that would go to the city and bring high prices. He ran a very lucrative business, and as they rode the waves into port at the end of the day, Bert sat down next to Maddie with a smile.
“Well, Maddie, how did you like it?”
“I loved it.”
“You work hard with that camera. You didn’t stop shooting all day.” He