The sun comes up like thunder in the Tropics. The big red disk cracked over the horizon and painted the ocean clouds in purples and golds. David Taylor was just making the turn off Greene onto Front and he paused to gaze at the glorious sight.

David’s home was his Catalina-38, which he’d sailed down the Intercoastal from New York. It was moored at the Key West Bight Marina, which gave him easy access to the delights of old town.

The Cat was an ideal bachelor pad – spacious, wood trimmed interior, leather couches, a cozy galley and eating area and clever centerline bunks fore and aft. Every morning David would fix an egg sandwich for himself and pour a big bowl of food for his pal Buster.

Buster was the only relic of David’s former life. He was a browndog. Browndogs aren’t an AKC breed. But for every pampered pug or poodle in the house, there are two or three browndogs out in the street tipping over garbage cans.

Buster’s mom must have had one hell of a night: St, Bernards, wolfhounds, pit bulls all lining up for a shot. Maybe there was even an ambitious Chihuahua - they’re really macho, you know. The product of that mixing was the classic nondescript brown coat, with a huge head, a muscular body and the sweetest, gentlest, and most faithful heart ever bestowed on man’s best friend.

The Key West Marina’s a small town and Buster was its mayor. He was so good natured that the boat people all knew and loved him. Residents saw him everywhere, panhandling his way up and down the docks, tongue hanging out, panting from the heat.

Buster was David’s guardian. Most days you would find him sprawled lazily in the shade of the cockpit, drool oozing from his dewlaps. But any hapless intruder would see a much more unpleasant side of the protective breeds if Buster ever needed to flash the badge.

He was an ex-pound dog. He’d been inside. He’d seen things. He’d landed in the joint when his prior owner took him on the ride from which no browndog ever returns. And he was so ugly that the screws promptly stuck him on the Green Mile. The warden just assumed no one would adopt him. It was David who saved him from the Chair.

Being inside had taught Buster a lot about life and loyalty. He and David would sit in the cockpit on a humid Key West evening and philosophize. David would pour out his heart, while Buster would somberly watch him, love, and sympathy in his big liquid eyes. It was like he was saying, “That’s true boss. Life’s tough. But I’ve always got your back.”

Anybody who owns a dog knows that they communicate. Buster didn’t say much, but he was a great listener. So, he would lay his huge head on his paws and watch while David exorcised his personal demons, most of which were put there by his wife’s infidelity.

Kipling said it best, “If you can watch the things you gave your life to broken, and stoop and build ‘em up with worn out tools – then you are a man my son.” David lived by that axiom and he had indeed become much more of a man.

It takes courage and personal integrity to move past a failed marriage. In that respect then, David had made the sensible decision to stop obsessing about something that was irretrievably lost and instead dedicate himself to living a new and better life. He felt regret at the loss. But he had the strength to only look ahead now and he was uplifted by what he saw going forward.

David worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. He was an education specialist there. NOAA oversees the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and his classroom experience made him the perfect person to supervise teaching about reef conservation at the Eco-Discovery Center.

David’s job at the Discovery Center was to take what the researchers had learned and translate it into easily understandable material for public consumption, both at the Sanctuary on Key West and also at the Aquarius Support Base on Islamorada. That required him to master the concepts of marine biology. So, David read voraciously, and he was a frequent participant on the dive teams that gathered data in the conservancy area.

Better yet, the teaching involved children who’d arrive at the Center wide eyed and eager. That was the polar opposite of David’s old job. He used to teach ninth grade, which is the age where bubbling hormones make kids wilder than hoot owls. So every day in David’s old classroom was like the worst kind of trench warfare.

Now, David’s life was as close to ideal as he could have ever imagined, and his sense of happiness and fulfillment was a daily reminder that he’d made the right choice. It was one of life’s paradoxes. He had the job of his dreams because he’d jettisoned the love of his life.

David hadn’t seen or heard from his wife since that fateful Friday. He imagined she was doing okay. He’d left a polite note. It conveyed nothing of the hurt he’d felt. Then he’d loaded Buster aboard his new sailboat and motored out into the Hudson. Oliva was a lawyer. She could draw up the divorce papers.

Ava Martinez was the primary reason why David had his new outlook. She was his best friend and companion. Ava was a rarity in Key West, a native. She had been raised on Sunset Key in one of its multimillion-dollar mansions. Hence her career at the National Sanctuary was practically a given once Ava had gotten her doctorate in marine biology.

Ava was a classic Latin beauty with the oval face, long, thick silky black hair, huge dark eyes, and sensual mouth of a Spanish Bailaora. She was tall and lithe, with big round tits and hard muscle packed on her supple female frame. Her legs were her most unique feature. Her sleek thighs were longer than average. So, with her dive fins on, she looked like a mermaid in the water.

Ava was David’s liaison with the underwater team. She was a full-fledged scientist-aquanaut with multiple missions living and working sixty-two feet underwater at the Aquarius Habitat. In that respect, she traveled back and forth between the Center, the Aquarius Support Base, and the Habitat itself, which lies next to Conch Reef five miles offshore from Islamorada.

Ava was very knowledgeable in every aspect of marine science. David envied her jaunty self-confidence as she put on her gear to fin down to the Habitat. David had gotten his C-card. But he was still working on the ANSI/ACDE certification that would let him follow her below thirty feet.

Cuba is by far the closest place to where David was standing. So, Key West is more Havana, than Miami. The Marine Sanctuary building was gleaming white, and the tropical heat was already starting to build as David arrived at work.

David himself had evolved from the sad man who had boarded his new boat and voyaged out into the southbound current of the Hudson. Until that tragic January day, he had led a sedentary life in a part of the U.S. where the appearance of the sun is worshipped like a celestial miracle. David’s slightly pudgy body and his pasty complexion reflected that.

Now, after months of rigorous outdoor work in the blazing tropical sun David had bronzed into ripped perfection and his shock of dirty blond hair was bleached almost white. He was still only thirty-three and a bit of a hunk now. Nevertheless, he had no interest in coupling up.

He DID enjoy the evenings that he spent with Ava at Captain Tony’s. Ava had tuned him on to the fact that that nondescript shack, which is down the street from the tourist trap at the corner of Greene and Duval, was the real Sloppy Joe’s of Hemingway fame.

Captain Tony’s building had a history. In 1898, it was the telegraph office from which the news of the sinking of the battleship Maine was telegraphed to the nation. After that it was a whorehouse and a speakeasy among other things. Then in 1937, the landlord raised the rent. So, the guy who owned the original bar moved it a half block down Greene to the place that is now called Sloppy Joe’s.

Hemingway and the regulars stayed with the original building. Hemingway was an old-fashioned newspaper man. Every night he liked to walk the seven blocks down Whitehead street to the same old spot and drink cheap scotch, not sip daiquiris like he’s portrayed.

The bras hanging from the rafters are perhaps the most prominent décor feature of Captain Tony’s. Those have been donated over time by female visitors. Most of them arrive discretely in paper bags. But the true test comes when the woman whips off her shirt and contributes her bra right there on the spot.

Ava had not one, but two of her bras hanging in the hall of fame. David had to admit that she had beautiful tits. Of course, Ava was a free spirit. It was an aspect that David liked the most about her. Yet, even with all of her fantastic sex appeal, she was a close drinking buddy, not an object of lust.

Ava was five years younger than David, more of a Gen-Z than a Millennial. And like a lot of very attractive women, she had an active sex life. Still, she preferred to hang out with David when she wasn’t actually on a date. She said she could only relax around him.

David for his part had no problem being best pals and father confessor for a woman who treated men like they were put on earth strictly for her personal pleasure. He didn’t miss the irony that he had left a wife who’d indulged in a weekend of carefully planned sex with one man, while he was best friends with an equally beautiful woman who had casual sex with different men.

Yet, although David and Ava were different on the outside, their attitude about life was exactly the same. Both were smart, intellectually curious and driven by the belief that there was a lot to learn and achieve before they shuffled off this mortal coil. Hence, they could usually be found engrossed in conversation about benthic ecology in the middle of the chaos of a rowdy night at Captain Tony’s.

The conclusion of most of those evenings was on David’s nearby boat. That would normally presage sex. But in David and Ava’s case, all those late-night sessions ever involved was comfortable talk in a gentle Key West evening.

Ava was aware that David had a history. She was wary of asking him about it because she was certain that she wouldn’t like the answer. The last thing she wanted to do was to say something that would upset the balance of their relationship. But Ava knew she would eventually have to pose the question.

So, one spectacularly hot and humid night, they were talking about the next day’s schedule of reef ecology classes – while sitting on the upholstered couches in the cockpit well. It was normal for them to sit close to each other in a friendly fashion. Buster was snoring at their feet.

Ava said in a joshing manner, “Why haven’t you tried to make a pass at me? Most men would have busted a move a long time ago. Are you gay?” David looked shocked. So, she added lightly flirting, “It hurts a girl’s feelings you know.”

David laughed and said, “Ava, you are the most wonderfully charming and beautiful woman I have ever had the privilege of knowing. It’s just that I think I’m still married.”

That statement knocked Ava back several steps. She turned abruptly and said aghast, “Wwhhhatt??!! You don’t know whether you’re married??!!”

David added casually, “Well, I was when I came down here. But I haven’t talked to her in seven months and that might have changed.”

Ava made a wide-eyed, jaw dropping face at him and said, “You have a wife who you haven’t spoken to in seven months??!! Are you, in witness protection?!!”

That set off gales of laughter from David. He said, drying his tears, “My wife and I had an irreconcilable difference. We married young and she had never had sex with anybody but me. So, one day she announced that she wanted to get that regret out of her system.”

Ava continued to look dumbfounded. David added, “That didn’t set well with me since I believe that a vow is a vow. So, Buster and I resolved the dispute by moving down here.”

Ava said, “What did your wife have to say about THAT?!”

David shrugged and added with his first sign of bitterness, “Buster and I left while she was still getting her curiosity satisfied. I tossed my phone in the Hudson when I shoved off. So, I have no idea how she reacted. But I DID leave a nice note.”

He added sourly, “I imagine she’s had the papers filled out and is just trying to figure out where to send them.”

Ava rose and moved to the bench opposite. She was a smart woman and she realized this was a serious situation. She needed to look David in the eye as she said, “That isn’t normal my dear friend. People don’t just disappear. What did your wife expect when she returned from her little weekend orgy?”

David said, “I don’t know what she expected. She said that she would be back on Sunday and we would just pick up like nothing had happened. Apparently, the other guy was being permanently transferred out of the area and that’s why she felt like she needed to act.”

Ava said incredulously, “Seriously!!?? Really??!! She actually said that!!???”

David laughed at her astonishment and said, “It’s what she said and I’m pretty sure she believed it.”

Ava said with feeling, “What an idiot!!” Then she added as an afterthought, “Was your wife brought up in money - kinda spoiled by her folks?” David nodded affirmatively.

She continued with, “You know how wealthy my parents are?” Ava’s great-grandparents had seen the handwriting on the wall and gotten out of Cuba before Batista fell, taking all of their millions with them. David said noncommittally, “I’ve seen your family compound from the water.”

Ava said, “I’m the only girl of three kids in a rich Cuban family. My parents treat me like a princess. That can convince any woman that she’s special. I was like that until Raoul changed things.”

David looked intrigued. He said, “Raoul?”

Ava said in a faraway voice, “It was my second year at FIU. I was in love with Antonio. We were both from good Cuban families and we were going to get married. Then I ran into Raoul. He was twenty-six, and a Cubano baller from South Beach. I was nineteen and his money and lifestyle swept me off my feet.

So, I told Antonio that I thought we were too young to get serious. It never crossed my mind that he wouldn’t wait for me. Then, I disappeared into the Miami scene with Raoul. That lasted a few months until the chaos of club life got to be too much. I just woke up one morning and said to myself ‘no mas,’ It was like awakening from a bad dream.”

Ava added ruefully, “I thought I’d give Antonio a treat when I came back. So, I put on a trench coat with nothing under it except a pair of high heels and pounded on his condo door at 8 AM. It took him a long time to open it. When he did, I breezed right past him and into the bedroom shucking the coat as I went. It was a little embarrassing to find Amanda Fox sitting there in the same state.”

David laughed out loud again. Ava said, “Yeah – pretty comical. But it hurt a lot at the time. I yelled at Antonio, ‘HOW COULD YOU!!’ Like he was cheating on me”

Antonio just shared a knowing look with the bitch and said, “Amanda and I are engaged. Did you seriously think I would wait for you?”

Ava gave David a sardonic grin and said, “I ran out of the place in tears. That is, after I’d retrieved my coat.”

David said genuinely interested, “What happened after that?”

Ava said embarrassed, “I wasted a lot of time blaming Antonio, which was silly. I knew exactly whose fault it was. Once I’d gotten over feeling sorry for myself, I vowed to treat people with respect and never take ANYTHING for granted again.”

Ava paused there and said sincerely, “My life has been a whole lot better since I had the spoiled brat beaten out of me.”

David said sadly, “At least you and Antonio weren’t married. I wish my wife had learned that lesson - before she made her fatal decision.”

Ava gave David one of her glowing smiles and said, “I’ll bet she’s learned it now. What are you going to do when you eventually talk to her?”

David said, “I guess I’ll jump off that bridge when I come to it.” They both laughed.

The aforementioned bridge arrived at slip F-18 the following week. David was at work. So, Buster was the only creature on board.

Buster had just finished his second mid-morning nap and was thinking about a panhandling expedition when he heard a familiar voice say delighted, “Buster!! How have you been?” This was someone he knew. It was the boss’s mate!! He hadn’t seen her in dog ages!! He began to frantically wag his stump of a tail. Maybe she’d feed him like she used to?

Olivia stepped aboard. She looked around with wonder as she ruffled Buster’s battle-scarred ears. David’s new nautical home was completely alien to Olivia’s concept of him.

She walked down the companionway stairs and into the living quarters marveling at the neat and tidy interior. There was real luxury in a twenty-four-by-ten-foot space. The bed in the bow was meticulously made and everything had been painstakingly stowed except a frying pan that was soaking in the little sink. David must have made breakfast. Olivia didn’t even know he could cook.

Olivia looked at the clothing in the two bulkhead storage closets. Nothing was familiar. There were cheap aloha shirts and nautical gear. David never wore shirts like that. There was also a light jacket with a NOAA insignia and a blue and gold Florida International University hoody.

The hoody was way too small for David. Olivia sniffed it. It smelled of expensive women’s perfume. That made Olivia angry. It had taken the investigators months to find her husband and in that time another woman had horned-in on her man.

Olivia could tell from David’s note that her husband viewed her actions as a betrayal. She just couldn’t understand why. She had seen no harm in telling him that she would be going away for one weekend. He knew why she was doing it and where she was going. So, it wasn’t like she was cheating on him. She just needed to get Doug out of her system. It was like getting a flu shot.

She’d expected David to be hurt. But she knew he’d accept it because he loved her. He also knew that she’d make it up to him. Now she realized that she may have made a serious tactical error. She took her Kindle out of her purse and sat down on one of the couches to kill a little time.

Buster lay at her feet, pant-pant-drool-drool, patiently waiting for Olivia to feed him. After all, that WAS a human’s role. Olivia’s only thought was, “This dog needs a bath.”

For his part, David was having a rather good day. In seven months he had made himself an expert in captaining the thirty-eight-foot Sea Ray that NOAA used to shuttle divers the five miles out to the Habitat on Conch Reef. The Sea Ray had two 306-hp 6LP-STP Yanmar diesel V-drive inboards that could whisk David, a teacher and eight students out to the reef in less than twenty minutes.

David had met the class and their instructor at 10:00 that morning. The kids were from a high school ecology club. They had come all the way down from Ransome Everglades School in Miami. NOAA is federally funded. So, it understands the PR value of those kind of expeditions, especially for students at elite private schools.

The teacher was an attractive forty-something who filled out her wetsuit in voluptuous ways. David loaded the dive gear into the lockers of the boat. Then he ran through a little orientation about the reef. The instruction was conducted down below in the luxurious cabin, which was set up as a classroom.

Once David had gone over the rules of the road and his learning objectives, he fired up the diesels and burbled his way slowly east under the Snake Creek drawbridge and out onto the open ocean headed northeast.

When he was clear of the shore, David firewalled the throttle. The deep V hull cut through the waves with a loud smacking sound. Spray flew as David pushed the engines up to 3000 RPM. He thought to himself, “I’ve come a long way in a short time.” Meanwhile the teacher, who was lounging in the stern-well, was thinking, “What a fine-looking hunk of man. I wonder if he’s married?”

Once they’d reached the Habitat, David idled up to its Life Support Buoy, which everybody at NOAA calls the LSB. The LSB isn’t a mere channel maker with a seagull sitting on it. It’s an integral part of the whole Aquarius system.

The LSB serves the same purpose as an old-fashioned diving support vessel. It’s permanently anchored on station above the Habitat, rather than deployed from shore for a mission. It’s a thirty-foot floating steel platform with fully automated underwater functionality. As a result, Aquarius missions are much easier to stage and maintain.

The LSB has all the necessary generators, compressors, and communication equipment needed to support life underwater. These systems are all linked to the Habitat below by an umbilical that conveys power, oxygen, and compressed air to the aquanauts. Needless to say, it would be impossible to live at that depth without the LSB’s services.

David moored the Sea Ray to the LSB’s fore and aft davits and led the dive down to the Habitat. The Habitat itself, is a school bus sized capsule sitting on a hundred-and-sixteen-ton baseplate anchored to the ocean floor.

Ava was waiting inside the Habitat. She made a sudden and dramatic appearance, in a spectacular cloud of bubbles – out of the Habitat’s wet-porch. David had arranged for Ava to conduct the actual tour since she was the scientist. Her arrival was all part of the show.

Ava was only wearing a mask, weights, and fins and a single tank. With her long waist, lithe body, flowing hair, and modest bikini she looked like a sea goddess. The group finned off through a panoply of brightly colored fish.

David escorted the teacher while Ava showed the kids the reef. Ava used a whiteboard to write comments and a halogen light to point out details. David marveled at how capable his friend was. She stayed with the class to answer questions when the dive was over.

They all surfaced and tossed their gear onto the Sea Ray’s overhanging swim porch. After they’d pulled themselves up the ladder and onto the boat, the teacher looked at David and Ava working together and thought, “That one’s taken for sure.”

By midafternoon, Olivia had given up waiting and walked back to her room at the Hyatt. Buster stayed with the boat. He was David’s dog and dogs are loyal. Olivia had spent seven lonely months wondering what had happened to her husband. She had always been the only woman in his life – in truth, his only friend. He had told her that over-and-over. So, what had changed?

Olivia admitted that she might have been a little bit selfish by insisting on her weekend out of time. But David had always given her what she wanted. Furthermore, David had been selfish too. He’d spent their baby fund on a boat. Even worse, he had left her by herself without any idea where he’d gone.

Olivia had missed David. But she was a beautiful woman. She knew she would find him and was confident that she could win him back. Luckily, GE legal had its own investigative resources and to his credit, David hadn’t even tried to hide. But it had still taken a half-year to track him down in Key West.

Doug’d learned through the GE grapevine that Olivia was on her own. That was terrific news for him. Olivia had gotten to Doug in a way that none of his earlier conquests had. Most women enjoyed sex. But Olivia was consumed by it. He would constantly replay the moans, cries, and the sweaty feel of her writhing body as she came over-and-over underneath him.

Doug had recovered from his beating. So, he invited Olivia to the City for a repeat of their weekend together. Olivia had been tempted, and her resolve started to melt as the months wore on. But she knew that it would be a long and slippery slope if she succumbed to Doug’s cajolery again.

Olivia took a little nap and then walked back to the Marina. Buster was still the boat’s only occupant. It was well past dinner time. So, she decided to eat. As Olivia strolled back toward the center of old town, she noted that Sloppy Joe’s was rocking. The doors were back, and the interior was open to the street. There was a guy with a guitar singing Jimmy Buffet songs, and everybody was having a good old time.

Olivia didn’t want to be surrounded by happy people and she was nervous about her upcoming confrontation with David. There was another bar further down, past the intersection of Greene and Duval. It had a sign with a big fish on top that said, “Captain Tony’s.” Olivia was sure that little place would be quieter. So, she walked the half block down to it.

The doors were open there too, making the sidewalk part of the room. There were people inside enjoying the early evening. It resembled the after-work crowd from back home. The rafters were festooned with dollar bills, postcards and even odder, bras!! But that wasn’t the thing that caught Olivia’s eye. It was the sight of her husband sitting at the bar in cheerful conversation with a stunning woman!!

Olivia had to take a second to process what she saw. It was astonishing, really. She knew it was David. But he was so different. Her boring old husband looked like a beach boy now, or maybe a pirate, tall, tan, and vigorous.

David was much leaner than Olivia remembered, bronzed from the sun and his hair had bleached to almost white. The woman with him was maybe five-seven, lithe and athletic, with a gorgeous oval face and a waterfall of long smooth dark hair. She had the same deep-water tan that David had.

They were engrossed in conversation, clearly into each other. That sight buried Olivia under an avalanche of anguish. She just stood there with her mouth hanging open staring at them. How could things have changed so much in a mere seven months?

The woman glanced in Olivia’s direction and noticed the expression on her face. She said something to David, and he turned to look at her. Olivia’s flight-or-fight reflex kicked in. But David had already jumped off the stool and was running toward her.

He grinned and said seemingly delighted, “Olivia, I’m so glad to see you!” That was promising. Except he added, “I assume that you’re here to settle the divorce.” Her heart sank.

David didn’t notice Olivia’s reaction. Instead he said, “Come here, there’s somebody I want you to meet.” Olivia’s heart sank even farther. Her naive husband might have missed it. But that new woman had staked him out and she was not happy to see a rival appear.

Men just don’t understand how women are cats. Their confrontations might be slyer and more complex. But females offset whatever they lack in brute strength, with sheer ferocity. And the new woman was flexing her claws in preparation for making the fur fly.

She gave Olivia a speculative glance as David said happily, “Ava, this is Olivia, my wife.”

Ava smiled murder at Olivia and said, “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’ve heard a lot about you from David.” Ava’s tone told Olivia that she was giving her about ten seconds to vacate the premises.

Olivia returned a cordial smile that said, “RIGHT BACK AT YOU SWEETHEART!”

David was babbling, “How have you been Olivia? How’d you find me?”

Both women looked at David like they wished that he would just shut-the-fuck-up so they could get down to the hair pulling and rolling around on the floor part.

Cluelessly, Dave continued with, “We need to catch up!! Why don’t we take this back to the boat? We have a lot to talk about.”

Olivia was still getting over the fact that her hopes and dreams had vanished in a few fateful seconds. She was honest enough to think, “I wonder if that was how David felt when I told him about Doug?”

But Olivia was a lawyer, used to keeping her cool in court. So, she had sufficient canniness to smile brilliantly and say, “That sounds like a great idea. Where’s your boat.” Olivia didn’t think that Buster would rat her out because she wasn’t aware that Buster could communicate. That goes to show you what Olivia knew about dogs.

Ava said with venom dripping off her fangs, “I think I’ll take a pass.” Then she added with pointed emphasis, “You two probably have a lot to work out regarding your divorce.”

David said happily, “No worries.”

Now BOTH women wanted to kill him; Olivia for just assuming that their divorce was a faite-accompli and Ava for him being so blithely clueless.

Still, it was hard to blame David. He’d loved Olivia for most of his adult life. The fact that he was happy to see her didn’t imply anything other than the fact that he was a nice guy. It didn’t mean that he expected them to get back together. In his mind, that ship had sailed the minute he and Buster had cast off from the Albany Marina dock. He just didn’t see why he should act like an asshole about it.

David and Olivia had led a happy and fulfilling life prior to their separation, and they’d shared a lot of good times. That is, before she went off the rails. The pain of Olivia’s betrayal had been tempered by the months that they’d been apart. So why not be cordial?

Ava was disgusted with David’s ingenuousness. She turned and stalked toward the Custom House dock, where she berthed the Zodiac RIB that she used to commute to Sunset Key. As she walked, she called back angrily, “We’ve got an event tomorrow. Be there early so we can prepare.”