Rick finally admitted what had happened inside him. After receiving his retirement pension estimate, he’d panicked at the thought that he’d spent his entire life working without ever owning something he’d truly wanted. His childhood had taught him to deny himself everything, but he knew that didn’t justify stealing our kitchen savings. “Karen, what do you want me to do?” he asked. I refused to decide for him. I simply said I’d keep serving supper in the boat until he understood.

On the ninth evening, Rick produced a cashier’s check for $10,200. He’d arranged to sell the boat and promised to replace the $800 he’d lost through overtime. Before the buyer drove away, Rick asked for one final meal aboard. I thought that was the end of our strange argument. But when Tyler later began removing our old kitchen cabinets, he reached above the refrigerator and discovered a dusty coffee can nobody remembered putting there. Inside were 312 twenty-dollar bills—$6,240 in cash.