Walt pulled out a weatherproof plastic pouch wedged beneath the seat. Inside was an envelope with Derek’s name written in Frank’s unmistakable block letters. I recognized the handwriting immediately. Walt explained he had found it while cleaning the boat but had refused to open it. My hands shook as I turned the envelope over. On the front, beneath Derek’s name, Frank had written: For the first day you’re ready to take her out without me.
I called Derek from the dock. He arrived forty minutes later looking exhausted and angry until he saw the envelope. Inside was a short letter Frank had apparently written after his heart procedure. He told Derek the boat was never supposed to become an obligation. If keeping it hurt too much, he should sell it. If he ever missed their mornings together, he should remember that the important part had never been the boat. It was the hours they spent talking when neither of them knew how to say those things anywhere else.
