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    Lucia glared at the other boys. “Whatever you fantasize about has nothing to do with reality.”
    “Reality has everything to do with quantity,” said Evan, “and nothing to do with quality.”
    Elijah paused at the edge of the dock, uneasy. Evan was a jerk, but he was going pretty far. Sticks and stones, Elijah. She can take care of herself.
    “Quantity,” Jay said, “or money. Money isn’t the same as quality, which some people never seem to get. Anyone can make money.”
    For some reason, Elijah wondered if this was directed at him. He and Jay had never had a problem in the past.
    “And some people really know how to sell themselves,” Evan answered his friend in a tone which might have been joking, if not for the ugly implication.
    Elijah turned around. “Why don’t you cool it, Evan?”
    “Oh. You’re taking your turn?” Evan said, truly sounding as though offending Elijah had been the lastthing he’d wanted to do. “Sorry, man. Didn’t realize. Hell, sorry all around.”
    Elijah didn’t like the implication that he was “taking his turn” with Lucia, and didn’t want to leave things that way. “Doesn’t have anything to do with me,” he said. “But you owe Lucia an apology.”
    Jay stood up slowly and leaned against one of the pilings near the Morgans’ berthed speedboat. He muttered, “Not worth your trouble, Elijah.”
    This seemed both a warning and a mollifying suggestion.
    Evan shrugged. “It’s not like I said anything that’s news.”
    Elijah felt Lucia edging back from the boys, putting him between her and them. “Let it go, Elijah. They’re not worth it.”
    “Because we won’t give you your price?” Evan said.
    This wasn’t his fight. It was Tom Riordan’s fault, for behaving in a way that could get Lucia talked about.
    But Lucia lived one block from Elijah. He’d known her since she was five years old, and she went to his church. They’d been through First Communion and confirmation together. Suddenly it felt as though Evan were treating one of Elijah’s own sisters this way.
    He took a step toward Evan. “Apologize to Lucia, now.”
    “Let it go, Elijah,” Lucia whispered urgently, not like a girl who enjoyed boys fighting over her.
    Evan stood up, swaying slightly. “I don’t think I will, Workman. She can leave if she feels out of her depth. Socially, you know.”
    Jay said, “Guys, let’s just cool it. Elijah, he didn’t mean it.”
    Elijah repeated, “Apologize.” He knew he was leaving Evan no options. He could back down and apologize, or—
    Evan tried to shove Elijah, but Elijah was faster and just stepped to the side. Evan swung at him. From above, somebody yelled, “Fight!”
     
    E VAN’S VOICE HAD CARRIED easily across the water. Clinging to the edge of the raft, Sissy and Anne Beth watched the scene on the dock apprehensively. Anne Beth hissed, “Evan’s such a creep.”
    Sissy said, “Elijah’s doing the white-knight thing.”
    Both had seen Evan throw the first punch, which didn’t connect. The second had the same result. Elijah evaded him, saying something else they couldn’t hear.
    “Fight! Fight! Fight!” came a chant from above.
    “This is awful,” Sissy says. “I don’t want to go back there.”
    “Let’s swim to the beach instead,” Anne Beth suggested. “Those guys are drunk. I don’t want to be here anymore.”
    “Let’s see what happens.” Sissy felt anxious on behalf of Elijah, slightly less so for Lucia. Evan Chamberlain could become ugly. She’d seen it before at the country club.
    “Sissy, we should go,” Anne Beth repeated.
    Jay grabbed Evan’s shoulders. “Easy, Ev. Let’s forget this, everyone. Elijah, take a walk.”
    This time, Sissy heard Elijah. Never taking his eyes from Evan, he said, “Get your things, Lucia.” He nodded to Jay, took Lucia’s hand and started up the dock.
    “Are they dating?” Anne Beth asked. “Why did he back down?”
    “He didn’t.” Sissy lived with a pack of