Summer in Eclipse Bay

He had inherited the marina decades earlier from his father, Old Boone. Young Boone was somewhere in his seventies and his father had died twenty years ago, but he would probably go to his grave known as Young Boone. If either of the Boones had had first names, they had long since been forgotten in the misty past of Eclipse Bay history.
    For two generations the Boones, Old and Young, had made their home in the seriously weathered two-story structure at the edge of the marina. The lower floor housed a bait, tackle, and boating supply shop. The upstairs served as the Boones' living quarters.
    "Heard you had a little damage down here last night." Nick surveyed the marina through his sunglasses.
    "Some." Young Boone did not look up from the rope he was coiling in the back of the boat. "Nothin' that can't be fixed."
    "Glad to hear it. Storm woke you up, I'll bet."
    "Couldn't hardly sleep through that racket. Came out here to check on the boats."
    "That's what I figured." Nick studied the view of the shops across the street. The front of Bright Visions was clearly visible. "Happen to notice anyone hanging around the art gallery during the storm? Maybe see a car parked in the lot? Should have been empty at that time of night."
    "Nope." Young Boone straightened and peered at Nick from beneath the peaked brim of his cap. "Only vehicle I saw was yours. Figured you was headin' back out to your family's place after spendin' time with Miss Brightwell."
    Nick kept all expression from his face. This wasn't the first time today that he had been obliged to listen to observations about his late-night drive home.
    "Uh-huh," he said. Noncommittal.
    Young Boone screwed up his haggard features into a frown that may or may not have been genuine curiosity. "This have anything to do with that picture they say went missin' from the art gallery last night?"
    "Yeah. I'd really like to find it for A.Z. and Virgil."
    Young Boone nodded. "Wish I could help you but I didn't see a damn thing last night. Course, I was real busy here securing the boats and such like. Might have missed something goin' on across the street."
    "You didn't miss my car when I drove past the marina," Nick reminded him dryly.
    "No, I didn't and that's a fact. But I finished up down here right after that and went back to bed."
    Which meant that there had been long stretches of time during the night when no one would have noticed a car in the parking lot across the street, Nick thought.
    Young Boone gave him a knowing wink. "Miss Brightwell's nice, ain't she?"
    "Yeah."
    "A man like you could do a lot worse."
    "A man like me?"
    "Raising that boy of yours alone. No wife or mother around. Reckon it's time you settled down and got married again, don't you?"
    "I don't think about it much," Nick said.
    "Well, you damn well should be thinkin' about it, if you ask me."
    "I didn't ask you, but I'll take your opinion under advisement."
    "Under advisement?" Boone wiped his hands on a dirty rag. "That a fancy way of sayin' you ain't interested in my opinion?"
    "No. Just meant I'll consider it." He watched a familiar, monster-sized SUV abruptly wheel into the marina parking lot. Mitchell Madison. Bryce was at the wheel.
    Damn. He did not need another scene with Octavia's self-appointed guardian, Nick thought. Time to leave.
    "You consider it real good," Young Boone said. "Time you found yourself a wife. You're a Harte. Hartes get married and stay married."
    "Say, Boone, I've got to be on my way. You'll let me know if you hear anything about that painting, won't you?"
    "Sure. But it's probably gone for good."
    That gave Nick pause. He turned back. "Why do you say that?"
    "Can't see anyone around here hangin' a stolen painting in his house. Sooner or later, someone would be bound to notice the damn thing."
    "Okay, I'll give you that. And I'll also admit that this Upsall picture isn't the sort of fine art that you'd expect would appeal to the connoisseurs among us here in Eclipse Bay."
    "Heard it looked like something a kindergartner might turn out," Young Boone said.
    "Hey, I've got a kindergartner who can do better-looking art. Yeah, the Upsall is sort of ugly. Sure hard to envision someone like, say, Sandy down at the gas station, going to the trouble to steal it just so he could hang it on the wall of the restroom. And it would look a little out of place in the Total Eclipse, too."
    Boone thought for a moment. "Still leaves all those fancy types up at the institute and Chamberlain