Midway through April I pointed Connie's bow into the mouth of the Hudson River, and eased my way closer to home. After my time with Tiamo in Baltimore I felt revived, and the rest of my time in the Chesapeake and up to New York City was wonderful. New sights every mile of the way, and nice people at every stop. I had reserved a mooring for three nights at the 79th St. Boat Basin, right in the heart of Manhattan, and met up with an old friend. We hit some cool restaurants and music clubs, and had a great time prowling the big city.
It was with great anticipation that I entered the Hudson, feeling like I was back on 'home turf' after a long journey. The Hudson Valley is spectacularly beautiful, and the villages along the way were a delight. I reached the federal lock at Troy, New York — the entrance to the Erie Canal — on the first of May, opening day for the season.
What a fantastic experience it was making my way across the state on the canal. From my camp I had watched others do it, and dreamt about it someday being me, and here it was . . . reality. I tied up to my dock just before noon on a beautiful spring day, greeted by a 'Welcome Home' sign pinned up to the gazebo. I had traveled almost three thousand nautical miles in the good ship Connie, and the spirit of my dear departed friend had kept us safe and happy the whole way.
"Ronnie, I'm home buddy," I said into the phone after opening up the camp and airing things out.
"Stevie! That's great man! Everybody's been lookin' forward to you gettin' back. Not the least of which Kathy. She figures since I got all my 'work women' she can tap into you a little more often," Ron laughed.
"Ha!" I laughed. "See what you got yourself into?"
"Hey man, it's cool," Ron said. "I know you won't steal her away. Don't be surprised if she calls you up to come change a light bulb."
"So how's business?" I asked. "You still need a helper this summer? I've kinda missed it."
"Absolutely man!" he said. "I've been runnin' ragged, and I'd love to have a little free time now that the weather's gettin' nicer. How soon you wanna get started?"
'Whatever you need man," I said.
"I was hoping you'd say that," he said. "I'm just catchin' a burger at Micky D's right now, but I think I bit off more than I can chew this afternoon. Can you take a new customer at two o'clock?"
"Love it man!" I said. "I know it sounds crazy, but I've been looking forward to a change of pace from the leisure life."
Ron gave me the info and I checked my tools and made sure my truck started up. I wanted to spread the word to my friends that I was home, but I didn't have time to sit on the phone, so I called Lindsey while I made some lunch. She loves being the social center, and she loves the telephone, so I figured she'd spread the word for me.
"Hi Linny, I'm home," I said.
"Hi baby!" she said. "Oh man, am I glad to hear that! We all missed you so much!"
"I missed you too sweetie," I said.
"So how's Marta doing with Johnny?" she asked. "Have you talked to her?"
"Yeah, just last week," I said. "They were in L.A. doin' a bunch of shows, but they're heading back East for the summer. It's been going great for them. They've written a bunch of songs, and they're doing some recording."
"I can't believe how great that worked out," Lindsey said. "She's such a sweetie."
"Yeah," I said. "I would have loved to have had her with me the whole time, but yeah, I agree with you, it's pretty awesome."
"I know you miss her, but every time we talked you never seemed too lonely. The great handyman lover, fucking his way up the East Coast," she laughed.
"Well I wouldn't go quite that far, but yeah, it was a fun trip," I said. "Especially when you were with me. We had some times, didn't we?"
"We did baby," she said wistfully. "We sure did."
"Listen, I gotta run," I said. "Ronnie's swamped today and I'm gonna help him out with a customer. Can you spread the word that I'm home, and I'll talk to you later, all right?"
"Bye baby," she said. "Can't wait to see you."
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I knew Lee would see the boat at the dock, so I left her a note and wheeled the old truck up onto the highway. It felt very odd to be driving at speed again, after covering so much distance at eight miles-per-hour on the water. I pulled up in front of the nondescript country house Ron had given me directions to, and a tired looking woman about my age came out to greet me.
"Hi, are you Ron?" she asked.
"No, Ron's my partner," I said. "I'm Steve."
"Hi Steve, I'm Ginny," she said. "I'm glad you're here. Somebody tried to break into my house last night. The cops were here, the helicopter was flyin' around — it was crazy."
"Oh man, that's scary," I said. "Were you here?"
"No. I was just getting home," she said. "I manage the wait staff at the clambake place down the road, and we had a late party. I think whoever it was ran off when I got here. Anyway, I want you to fix this doorjamb today, and then if you can get me some better locks and come back and install them that'd be great."
"Yeah, sure, we can fix you up," I said, looking over the damage. "It'll be a little bit temporary tonight, but I'll be back tomorrow to make it look nice and do your locks."
"I think I might get an alarm system too," she said. "I can't have this shit happening with me being alone out here."
"I don't blame you," I said. "Let me grab some tools, and I'll get started."
I roughed in a solid repair, made a list of doorstop and weatherstrip pieces I'd need to finish it, and Ginny walked me through her cute house to show me the other door and window locks. By the time I had everything listed she was much more relaxed.
"Would you like an iced tea or a beer?" she asked.
"Well you're my only customer this afternoon, so yeah, I won't turn down a beer," I said with a smile.
"Good," she said. "The longer I can get you to stay, the less time I have to be alone and nervous tonight."
Ginny's cuteness was starting to shine through her tired eyes. She grabbed two beers from the fridge and we sat on her back deck.
"So is this gonna be expensive?" she asked.
"Nope, new customers get fifty percent off the labor on their first job," I said.
"Nice! That'll help," she said with a smile. She took a swig of her beer and eyed me. "You married Steve?"
"Nope," I said with a little smile. "You Ginny?"
"Nope," she said, with a 'I hope what's happening here is what I think is happening' look on her face.
I couldn't help but think how easily I'd fallen into the old routine, and how good it felt.
"So how's the clam business?" I said.
"Ugh! If I never see another clam I'll die a happy girl," she said. "Busy though, and the money's pretty good." She gave my face a long look. "You look familiar, have you been there for a clambake."
"I was once, but it was four or five years ago," I said. "It was good. I liked it."
"I think I've seen you somewhere," she said, still studying my face. "Bars maybe? You a music fan?"
"That's probably it, yeah," I said. "I get out to the clubs for shows quite a bit. Not this past winter though — I was traveling."
"A handyman that can afford to spend a winter traveling? What's up with that?" she said with a surprised smile. "You sure this job isn't gonna be expensive?"
"I promise," I said. "No, I came into an inheritance and semi-retired. The business was mine and Ron bought it from me. I'm gonna travel winters and work with him when he's busier in the summer. Should work out good for both of us. I just got back this morning as a matter of fact. You're my first customer since last fall."
"You just got back today?" she said, surprised. "You haven't even seen your sweetheart yet? Or did she go with you?"
"That's kind of a long story, but . . . a few of them spent time with me," I said.
"How many are there?" she asked with big surprised eyes.
