Mitchell’s berth angled steeper as the ebb laid the sloop over onto its starboard side. The cooler fell sideways onto the foot of the starboard couch and Mitchell forced his weight backward to keep himself from rolling. "Hang out by my berth. If this gets too steep I’m doomed," he said and he was laughing now.

Andy sat on the edge of Mitchell’s berth and they recognized the rarity of this moment.

"We should fuck up more often," Mitchell said.

"Do you think we should call the Coast Guard?"

"Only if you think they need a good laugh, too. We’ll get out on the flood." Mitchell pressed his head deeper into the pillow. "What’s on your shore agenda?" He needed distraction.

"I want to give my mother a call." Andy stretched to the galley and snatched a cereal box from a locker. "See how she’s doing."

"Tell her I said hello, okay?"

Andy was examining the back of the box. "Yeah, sure. She always asks for you. She says you’re a remarkable person and that it’s wonderful I have you in my life," he said with a straight face and zero emotion.

"She’s easily impressed," Mitchell chuckled, he wondered if Andy could read whatever he was looking at. "Life has always been a step ahead of me. I was thinking about it earlier, while we were crossing. My mother left me the old man’s property up in the mountains. What the hell, he walked out and it was in her name. In a strange way they gave me a place to live. But it’s like they say, ‘You can run. You can’t hide.’"

Andy stuffed a handful of cereal into his mouth. "My mother always sat on the floor to read your letters to me. Like she was stopping herself for something special. She missed you all those years."

"I missed her, too. She’s more like an older sister than an aunt. Did she ever mention my father?"

"Not much," Andy grumbled through his cereal. "She only mentioned him when she talked about the past. Do you miss him?"

"I miss what I think he could have been. When your old man is gone you walk this road alone. What about you? Do you remember your father?"

"I was only a baby when he died."

"Do you wonder about him?"

"Sometimes. Mostly when I think about it I wonder who my real parents were."

"Your what?"

Andy searched Mitchell’s face as the silence expanded between them. "I’m adopted," he said. "Didn’t you know that?"

Mitchell felt like he’d been kicked in the throat. Trying desperately to think he shook his head. "No," he said.

Adopted? He’s my cousin for Christ sake. I’ve known him all my life. He is my cousin. Isn’t he? What the fuck is this?