Page 73 of Devlin

"How would you know that?" his father asked, a curious gleam in his eyes.

"I took her out one day."

"Interesting."

"What's more interesting is that I still don't have someone to race with unless you change your mind."

"Come on, Devlin. There are plenty of guys at the Boatworks who will race with you."

"Not really, andI want to race with you."

"Why? You saw how rusty I was."

"We'll go out tomorrow, Thursday, and Friday. You'll be ready by Saturday."

"I have other things to attend to."

"You can fit this in—if you want to."

His dad settled back in his chair. "I don't know why you're pushing so hard. I might be a liability."

"I'd rather lose with you than win with someoneelse."

"Seriously?"

"You're my father. I've wanted to race with you for years. I know it's painful for you, that the race brings back memories of Uncle Mark. But it's time to make new memories. Beating Frank could be one of them."

"You know the right button to push."

"Is that a yes?"

"Yes."

"Good. I'll meet you at the dock at two." He got up, then paused."And so we're clear, Dad—I'm in charge on the boat. You follow my directions. I'm team leader."

His dad laughed. "Don't push it Devlin."

He smiled back at him, feeling a connection to his father for the first time in a long time. Hopefully the race would enhance that, but that might depend on whether they won or not.

The ocean was crowded with racers all week, but Devlin still caught glimpses of Hannah and Frank out on theDaisy Mae. They were getting better; he could see it in their runs. But he and his father were also improving. His dad had gotten back into the groove of racing, and while they'd hit a few control issues, for the most part, his father had followed hisdirection.

As he motored through the harbor after completing their final practice run late Friday afternoon, he had to admit it felt good to be better at something than his dad, who had always been so successful at everything he did. But on the boat, they were equals.

They hadn't talked much while sailing, concentrating on the techniques that would make them faster. The topic ofhis mother had remained off-limits. He knew his dad had someone keeping tabs on her, but other than that, he'd made no attempt to try to resolve the separation.

His hope that his mother would come back for the race was quickly diminishing. In years past, she'd hosted the pre-race Friday night cocktail party at the Yacht Club, but tonight his dad would do that alone.

After dockingthe boat, they disembarked just in time to run into Frank and Hannah.

"How was your sail?" he asked.

"Perfect," Frank replied shortly, his gaze moving to Graham. "You got your sea legs yet, Graham?"

"Never lost them," Graham retorted. "I hear you've negotiated a nice raise for yourself."

"Only what I'm due. You would have done the same. Hell, you would have asked forthree times more than I did."

"Very true. I always shot higher than you. That's how I got Claire."

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