The ferry had left the Balboa Peninsula, a long narrow spit of land, a sandbar really, separating the blue Pacific from Newport Harbor. The Peninsula was a lined with mostly vacation homes, terminating at its southern tip in The Wedge, a famous surf break shared reluctantly by surfers, boogie boarders and body surfers. A triangulated stretch of swirling water, wave and tide between the rock jetty thrust out to sea at the mouth of the Bay, and the long sandy beaches that marched North along the Southern California Coast.
He thought about the weekend just past. The Judge and Katy had borrowed the little house here for a week’s working vacation. This first weekend had been calming. God knew they needed that. They’d taken long walks on the beach at sunset, sampled fare at two famous Orange Coast restaurants in the evenings, and Katy had slept a lot. Annie the Dog had dashed around the beach in the early mornings and again as the last rays of the sun disappeared. The Judge had difficulty keeping up.
He turned to look toward the ferry’s bow and Balboa Island, its faded and indistinct silhouette taking shape in the mist. In ten minutes, on this same ferry, or its twin, he’d be retracing his course, from Balboa Island to the Balboa Peninsula, hopefully engaged in a casual conversation with a stranger, Mr. X. What was currently the stern, his position now, would be the ferry’s bow when it reversed back across the Bay.
Balboa Island’s color and detail materialized out of the fog as the ferry grew closer. A collection of rooftops, tied-up boats, fuel dock and sand. The Judge took a deep breath, steadying himself. Wishing he hadn’t agreed to do this.
The ferry powered toward a point fifty feet seaward, compensating for the steep tide that would carry them diagonally into the ferry’s dock. The water was shallower here, a cold grey-green, white whirls showing up at the bow as the blunt ferry forced its hull through. The Judge had a networking meeting to lead at the Newport Bay Club, just the other side of Balboa Island on the mainland. He’d be a little late this morning, this new “appointment” preempting his schedule. He wanted this over quickly.
