PUBLISHED/Beaufort Books fiction
That Good Night
Richard Probert
What would you do when your children, no, when society tells you you’re too old to live freely, even if you’re still full of life? In the debut novel That Good Night by Richard Probert, 84-year-old Charlie Lambert most definitely will not spend his “golden years” cooped up in the Sunset Nursing Home. He doesn’t care to what lengths he’ll have to go in order to escape Sunset. With the help of his old sailing buddy—a crusty old Mainer named Bob, Charlie plans to go AWOL permanently, buy a boat, and hit the high seas, where he will ride the waves and sail into a sunset of his own choosing.
With the help of some money squirreled away in safe deposit boxes, Charlie takes a lease on a 46-foot sailboat and points it toward Maine to visit Bob. But there are two things he hadn’t counted on: a romantic encounter with Abigail, a woman decades his junior, and a former FBI agent-turned-insurance-investigator hot on his trail. Agent Roberts is hired to find out what happened to Charlie: bring him back if he’s alive, or determine he’s dead so his estranged sons can collect on the life insurance policy. Roberts doesn’t expect a fight from the old man, but that’s just what he gets. Because Charlie has no intention of ever returning to Sunset, whether in handcuffs or a pine box.
With the help of Bob and a close-knit group of lobstermen, they try to keep Roberts from reaching Charlie. But the dogged investigator doesn’t know when to quit, until he ends up trussed with anchor chain on the porch of Bob’s cabin. When Roberts turns the tables on Charlie, it’s Bob to the rescue, with the business end of a maul. Maybe it’s self-defense, maybe it’s murder, but one thing’s for sure—Bob will never face justice—he’s dying of cancer. And so he and Charlie set out on Bob’s last sailing trip, but they never make it. With a memorable 21-lobster boat salute, Bob is returned to his island, where he will be cremated, his ashes scattered in the woods he loved.
At the end, Charlie is alone. He mentally makes peace with his children—the ones who condemned him to Sunset. Without Bob, with Abigail but a fond memory, Charlie sails off solo, heading for the Caribbean and a new adventure. But a sudden storm leaves Charlie with internal injuries, and so he celebrates his last gasp of freedom with a morphine injection, slowly slipping over the transom into the waves. But not before turning on the SOS beacon for the Coast Guard, leaving them an empty sailboat. But on the table below decks is a neat package: his diary, the digital voice recorder of Agent Roberts, and a letter to Abigail.
With the help of some money squirreled away in safe deposit boxes, Charlie takes a lease on a 46-foot sailboat and points it toward Maine to visit Bob. But there are two things he hadn’t counted on: a romantic encounter with Abigail, a woman decades his junior, and a former FBI agent-turned-insurance-investigator hot on his trail. Agent Roberts is hired to find out what happened to Charlie: bring him back if he’s alive, or determine he’s dead so his estranged sons can collect on the life insurance policy. Roberts doesn’t expect a fight from the old man, but that’s just what he gets. Because Charlie has no intention of ever returning to Sunset, whether in handcuffs or a pine box.
With the help of Bob and a close-knit group of lobstermen, they try to keep Roberts from reaching Charlie. But the dogged investigator doesn’t know when to quit, until he ends up trussed with anchor chain on the porch of Bob’s cabin. When Roberts turns the tables on Charlie, it’s Bob to the rescue, with the business end of a maul. Maybe it’s self-defense, maybe it’s murder, but one thing’s for sure—Bob will never face justice—he’s dying of cancer. And so he and Charlie set out on Bob’s last sailing trip, but they never make it. With a memorable 21-lobster boat salute, Bob is returned to his island, where he will be cremated, his ashes scattered in the woods he loved.
At the end, Charlie is alone. He mentally makes peace with his children—the ones who condemned him to Sunset. Without Bob, with Abigail but a fond memory, Charlie sails off solo, heading for the Caribbean and a new adventure. But a sudden storm leaves Charlie with internal injuries, and so he celebrates his last gasp of freedom with a morphine injection, slowly slipping over the transom into the waves. But not before turning on the SOS beacon for the Coast Guard, leaving them an empty sailboat. But on the table below decks is a neat package: his diary, the digital voice recorder of Agent Roberts, and a letter to Abigail.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Richard Probert taught entrepreneurship at the Syracuse University business school, conducted both amateur and professional music organizations, sailed solo on the North Atlantic from Maine to Canada and designed and makes furniture in addition to writing. He lives in Sackets Harbor, NY with his wife Carmelita and dog Willa.
Richard Probert taught entrepreneurship at the Syracuse University business school, conducted both amateur and professional music organizations, sailed solo on the North Atlantic from Maine to Canada and designed and makes furniture in addition to writing. He lives in Sackets Harbor, NY with his wife Carmelita and dog Willa.
