The question was this: how could a tragedy like that happen to a man like Lucas?

You have to understand how careful my husband was.

It was almost a condition with him, the carefulness, a thing the boys teased him about and I sometimes lost patience with.

If the forecast showed even a chance of rough weather, he canceled the outing without a second thought, absorbing the boys’ groans with the calm of a man who had decided long ago that their disappointment was a price worth paying.

If a single piece of equipment needed even a minor repair, the whole trip waited until it was fixed.