Chapter 12, Low Tide, and Chapter 13, Treading Water Summary

One day in May, Joan's hot water heater broke, and she found out that it would cost $1,200 to fix it. Although she wanted to be self-sufficient, Joan gave in and called her husband to ask him for the money. He told her that he did not have the money to help her, because he was paying for the house that he had hoped they would be sharing. When he suggested that she just get one of her fisherman friends to help her, Joan hung up on him. Through her mind flashed scenes of all the times that he had left her hanging, failing to come to her rescue when she really needed him. Joan remembered her husband going to a board meeting while she was having a miscarriage, and another time...