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“Listen,” Tom said. “I know you don’t like it here. The only reason I haven’t asked you to live with us is that we have no room, literally. You’d have to share a bedroom with Melissa; that would be too strange, don’t you think?”

“Don’t worry about it. I don’t want to bunk with my grandchild. I know you would put me up if you could.”

“Dad, I have made a lot of inquiries and I’m sure you’ll get your property back.”

“My property? Don’t you know there’s nothing on it? What am I going to do with my property? I don’t even own the property. I have nothing.”

“What I meant was I think you will get the money back.”

“How?”

“The government has to come through. They just have to.”

“And where is that written? In the Constitution or the Ten Commandments?”

Then Tom reached into his jacket pocket, and his father could not believe what he pulled out. A brochure for The Sunset. Brad acted as if he had never seen it before. He just couldn’t bring himself to tell his son that he was thinking about the same thing. “What is this?” Brad asked, trying his best to feign surprise.

“It’s a ship that you can live on and it’s affordable, and I’m willing to take out a loan to help you do that, if it’s something you think you might want.”

And that was it. Brad just started crying. He cried so much that his son got worried. “Dad. Stop it. I’m sorry. I was only trying to help.”

Brad shook his head no, trying to say that he wasn’t crying because he was upset; he was crying for all the reasons in the heavens that made this moment happen. Finally, through his blubbering, he said, “You are very kind to offer me this. Can you even afford to loan me this money?”

This was the moment of truth for Tom. He couldn’t afford it; he was almost broke. He could barely keep up with his medical insurance, and every day he prayed that no one in his family got hurt or sick. But the whole point of this offering was to make some kind of amends with his father, and if he told him the truth, the entire gesture would be meaningless. “Yes, I can afford it.”

Brad took the brochure, continuing the charade. The same way his son wanted his dad to feel as if this was a true act of the heart, Brad wanted his son to think this was his idea and he would be a hero if it worked out. Brad opened the brochure and tried to look surprised. “May I keep this and think about it?”

“Of course. Keep it, it’s a brochure, they don’t want it back. Yes, think about it. If you think this is something that would make you happy, I will make it work.”

“This is a grand gesture, Tom.”

“It’s okay, Dad. You would do it for me.” And even as Tom said that, he knew damn well that if he ever got to his father’s age, no one would do shit for him.

* * *

Paul Prescott was shopping in an actual store, something he almost never did anymore. There was a tchotchke store near his office at AARP and he had had an argument with his better half that morning, so he thought he would stop in and see if he could find something to ease his way home.

The security parrot was cute. It sat on a perch and looked very real and recorded everything it saw, and it could also make simple conversation. He also liked the virtual fishbowls. These had gotten so good that unless you knew, you would never suspect there were not six live guppies swimming around in a tank of water. They came to the side when you wanted to look at them, and they played and hid in the rocks and did everything real fish did.

Paul got neither. He bought a wine lamp, an art deco item that cooled a bottle of wine and used its contents to reflect light in a beautiful pattern. Supposedly it also made the wine taste better, but that was still up for debate. While he was paying, his watch vibrated. It was Jack Willman. “Hi,” Jack said. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, not at all. How are you?”

“Fine. I have some information I thought was interesting.”

“Wow. What a pleasant surprise.”

“I’m not comfortable giving it over the line.”

Paul thought a moment. “I’m on my way home; do you want to meet somewhere?”

“Yes, that would be