"How much you charge for this kinda work?" I said.
My voice startled him. The ladder shifted and swayed and started the wide rowboat to rock.
"Jesus!" he yelped.
I paddled over while he settled his own heartbeat and waited for him to climb down. I lashed the canoe on his stern cleat. He was obviously embarrassed, and I made him more so by not saying anything.
"I, uh, came across some Dade County pine and, well, I figured I could use it," he said, stumbling on his words.
"Yeah?"
"Well, I saw the state order warning that the building may not be inhabitable after the fire, and being somewhat familiar with the code, I figured it wouldn't take that much to fix."
"Yeah?"
He sat down on the port gunwale and reached down to open a small cooler. He hooked his fingers around the necks of two iced Rolling Rocks and offered me one. I took it.
"I had the day off with not much else to do so…I hope it's OK."
I twisted the top off the beer and tipped my head back as I drank.
"It looks like you know what you're doing," I said, keeping my eyes up on the corner where he had already set three planks after tearing out the blackened remains of the originals.
"Well, my father was a carpenter, and his father before him," Griggs said. "So I come by it honestly."
We sat in an uneasy silence for a few seconds, both looking up and avoiding what truth might be in either of our eyes. The boats were gently rocking below us both. The quiet was a shared salve.
"Well, then," I finally said. "Let's carry on."