The place wasn't open yet. They were still landscaping the grounds, putting in shrubs, laying sod on both sides of a stream that ran to a mound of boulders and became a waterfall. Dennis parked his rental among trucks loaded with plants and young trees, got out and spotted Billy Darwin right away talking to a contractor, Dennis recognizing the Robert Redford hair that made him appear younger than his forty or so years, about the same age as Dennis, the same slight build, tan and trim, a couple of cool guys in their sunglasses. One difference, Dennis' hair was dark and longer, almost to his shoulders. Darwin was turning, starting this way, as Dennis said, "Mr. Darwin?"
He paused, but only a moment. "You're the diver."
"Yes sir, Dennis Lenahan."
Darwin said, "You've been at it a while, uh?" with sort of a smile, Dennis wasn't sure.
"I turned pro in '79," Dennis said. "The next year I won the world cliff-diving championship in Switzerland, a place called Ticino? You go off from eighty-five feet into the river."
The man didn't seem impressed or in any hurry.
"You ever get hurt?"
"You can crash, enter the water just a speck out of line it can hurt like hell. The audience thinks it was a rip, perfect."
"You carry insurance?"
"I sign a release. I break my neck it won't cost you anything. I've only been injured, I mean where I needed attention, was my first time at Acapulco. I broke my nose."