This is my second deadliest catch story, hope you all enjoy it. R&R and i will update more often.

Etched in Stone

Chapter 1

"Mysterious"

I walked from the front door of my home, being sure to lock the door behind me, I made my way toward the black Dodge Ram pickup that sat in my driveway. Getting in I put the key in the ignition, turning the engine over I sigh putting the truck in gear. The afternoon summer sun shining brightly enveloping everything in its sunny rays. The humid conditions adding to the misery and for once in my life I prayed for rain. The congested roads of Seattle, Washington left me feeling aggravated and somewhat on edge. Cursing as a car cut me off I reached out, turning the radio knob the music coming through the speakers louder, trying to drown out the noise of the busy traffic. Pulling a cigarette from my light blue button up shirt I light it quickly, taking a deep inhale of the soothing smoke. It was always at this moment I began to miss the boat and the Bering Sea. It had been a hard Opilio season, we were damn happy when it was over. They few weeks at home leaving us unsatisfied and itching to get back. Having gathered enough funds over the few months afterwards by the end of June we had enough to take the summer off. It was a calculated risk the men and I were willing to take. Knowing if we didn't take just one summer off before king crab season started we may never see our kids grow up and in the end being old and gray wishing we had taken just one summer. I knew it would do the men some good to spend the time with their wives and children. I guess deep down I knew it would do me good as well. Besides the Discovery Channel producers had the great idea of pimping us around to the morning and late night talk shows to promote the next season of 'Deadliest Catch'. It had been a hard year since June and I split up. She hated that I was gone all of the time. But, the real problem was her jealousy. The show had gotten so big, before we knew it we were getting stacks of fan mail. I told the producers not to send the mail to the house. But, one slip up and June found letters sent from women all over the world. I never would of dreamed of meeting any of them, hell, I never have or never would have cheated on her. She didn't see it that way, if I didn't call home or stayed out fishing later than I planned to she would accuse me of cheating on her. With no trust and arguments it was damn hard to stay together as long as we did. Sighing I toss the cigarette butt from the truck window, trying desperately to change my course of thinking. Changing the radio station I went from channel to channel, not able to find one good song I turn it off.

"damn it." I mutter, lighting another cigarette it seemed like the more I thought about my life the more I smoked. Stopping at the line I waited for the red light to change when the sound of Hank Williams Junior filled my ears. Figuring it was an old guy driving along beside me I ignored it, continuing to wait for the light.

"Come on." I say to myself becoming more annoyed with the loud music coming from the vehicle next to me. When the song finally ended I felt slightly better, hoping the driver would turn their radio down. When I heard Korn blaring through the speakers I looked over, now intrigued by the music choice I had to look over. To my surprise my eyes scanned a younger woman. Her dark brown hair tied up into a messy bun. A cigarette in her left hand, her right on the top of the wheel. She looked at me, peering over her dark sunglasses with a smirk. I hadn't notice the light turn green, to my surprise she put the petal to the floor, I watched the Ford F-250 take off, the 33" tires screeching, the smell of rubber filling my nose. Chuckling to myself I tried to catch up to her, catching her at the next red light.

"Nice truck." I call to her, noting she was very beautiful, at least what I could see of her.

"You too, to bad it's a damn Dodge." She laughed lightly shaking her head, taking a drag from her cigarette. When the light turned green we hadn't noticed, people behind us began to honk their horns.

"Gotta go!" she smiled. "See ya around." with that she was gone. I tried to catch up to her but got caught up in traffic. The truck had disappeared. I went on with my day wondering about the mystery woman hoping that maybe one day I would see her again. Later that night Edgar and I had hit the local bar. Loud music and the smell of booze filled my nostrils.

"What is with you today?" Edgar asked, looking at the women in the crowd.

"What do you mean?" I ask, taking a sip from my beer.

"you seem distracted."

"It's just this girl I saw earlier today." I take a deep breath, running my fingers through my blonde hair. "Can't get her out of my mind."

"is she from around here?"

"I don't know."

"Do you know where she works?" Edgar asked

"No, it's just some girl I saw on the street." I tell him, feeling like a complete idiot.

"So, basically you don't know anything about her and probably won't see her again."

"Yeah, I just can't help it." I shrug.

"There's plenty of fine looking women around here, don't worry about some chick you saw going down the road." Edgar tells me, patting my back.

I shook my head, trying to push her out of my mind but, unable to.

~Two Days Later. ~

I drove down the back roads just outside of Seattle, Washington. I needed to take a drive and get my mind off of things. My ex-wife had called earlier bitching about how she wasn't getting enough child support, which the court set up, and about how the girls were constantly fighting like cats and dogs. 'not much I can do, I'm not there' I thought to myself. No matter how much money I gave her over the child support I was giving her and how many fights I broke up over the phone it wasn't enough for her. The open rolling green fields looked absolutely perfect in the summer sun. I wasn't used to such nice weather. It felt weird being on land for this long. The feeling of wanting to fish was creeping into my bones. The jingle on the radio was for a car dealership, which I ignored like most Americans I suspect. In the distance I spotted a large dot on the side of the road, suspecting it was a disabled vehicle I went on my way. As I got closer I realized I recognized the vehicle as the one from yesterday. I smiled widely, I could only hope it was her and not someone else driving her truck. Excitement ran through my veins at the thought of seeing my mystery girl again. I pulled just past the disabled truck, parking just in front of it. Pulling off my seatbelt I got out of the truck wiping the excitement from my face. My eyes scanning the front of the Ford F-250. The large hood was open all the way, I scanned the chrome grill down over the bumper. The large thirty three inch tires made the truck rather tall. Looking to the ground I spotted two bare tanned legs sticking out from the front of the truck. I couldn't help but scan the feminine legs, noting the gold bracelet on her right ankle glinting in the sun light. Black platform sandals on her feet. Suddenly I felt like a stalker but pushed the thought away when I heard her cuss.

"Son of a bitch!" those words never sounded so good.

"Need some help?" Stupidity shot through me of course she needed help, otherwise she wouldn't be stranded on the side of the road.

Two slightly dirty hands appeared from beneath the truck, landing on the bumper. Her nails were painted dark blue to match her truck. On her middle finger of her left hand she wore a class ring with a large topaz in the center of it. Noting to myself her birthday must be in November I continued with my inspection. 'no wedding ring' I noted as well with a quick smile. She appeared sitting up from underneath the truck looking up at me with the clearest dark blue eyes I had ever seen. They reminded me of the Bering Sea. She hesitantly took my extended hand, I easily pulled her to her feet. Feeling a strange sensation of electricity.

"What seems to be the problem?" I ask, reluctantly letting go of her hand as I scanned the top part of her body. Her dark brown hair was clipped behind her head in a French twist. She wore a black tank top my eyes stopping longer than I had hoped on her cleavage, and dark blue shorts that stopped at her thighs.

"I'm not sure what the problem is." she finally spoke, her voice sweeter than I remembered. "I know I broke a belt other than that its just dead." She scanned me for a few seconds then scanned my truck. "Hey aren't you that guy I saw a few days ago going down the road?"

'busted' I thought to myself.

"You're not stalking me are you?" she asked, backing up a bit.

"no, I'm not." I denied the allegation shaking my head even though I sort of felt like some old stalker. I still couldn't believe she was standing before me, I had to admit she was more beautiful than I remembered. At this point I realized I was completely smitten with the young beauty though I would never tell anyone. "just a coincidence."

"You promise?" She asks.

"Promise." I nod.

She nodded hesitantly accepting my words.

"Would you like me to call you a tow truck, and have your truck towed to a mechanic in town?"

"No way, those fuckers charge an arm and a leg." She said.

Retrieving a cigarette pack from the top of the windshield washer reservoir she pulled a cigarette from the green Marlboro pack lighting it with a silver Zippo before I had a chance to react. She offered me one which I graciously accepted. With a "thank you."

"Besides I already called a tow truck, they are going to tow me to a motel where I can fix it myself. Don't let anyone else touch my baby." she smiled fondly, inhaling the smoke deeply.

"They said it's going to be an two or three hours lots of cars over heating today in this heat." she sighed, taking a long drink from the mountain dew bottle that rested on the front lip of the truck just above the fan.

"You mind if I wait with you?" I asked.

"Free country, suit yourself, its going to be awhile." she warned with a shrug.

"I wouldn't feel right leaving you here all by your lonesome, lots of weirdoes in this world." I joked pulling up the handle to release the tailgate on my truck so I could take a seat.

"Your not from around here, are you?" I ask, taking a hit from my cigarette.

"What was your first guess?" she asked sarcastically, putting her sunglasses on her face.

"Well, your truck seems to be packed with everything you own. Where are you from?"

"some small shitting down in Minnesota." She said, pointing to the license plate on her truck.

"What are you doing all the way out here?" curiosity crept into my features as I squinted my eyes in the bright sunlight. Minnesota was a long ways away.

"Oh, it's a long boring story. But, in a nutshell my mom booted me out of the house when I was seventeen, dad split when I was little. Married when I was nineteen. I divorced him a few months ago, one night he tried to beat me so I left, I don't put up with that shit. Wow I could make a country song out of this shit." she laughed.

"Children?" I ask.

"No, thank god. I wouldn't want to share anything with that asshole." she said, dropping the cigarette butt to the ground it flopped a few times when it landed she squished the butt with her sandal. "I just need a place to start my life over."

Noticing the discomfort in her face I motioned for her to sit beside me.

"What about you? Married?" she asked, sitting beside me. Her long legs dangling off the edge of the tailgate.

"I was." I sigh, running my fingers through my blonde hair.

"What happened? If you don't mind me asking."

"Divorced. Two kids though." I smile fondly thinking about my children. "I'm a crab fisherman, gone a lot, after awhile she couldn't handle it anymore."

"Crab fisherman, eh?" She pondered for a few moments. "You're on that TV show 'Deadliest Catch', right?"

I nod, everywhere I go I get recognized. Although for once I was happy she had recognized me for some reason. "Yes, do you watch it?"

"I thought you looked familiar. But I couldn't put my finger on where I have seen you before." She smiled, I didn't think she could possibly look any beautiful until she smiled. "I've watched it from time to time, it's a good show. I must say the TV. doesn't do you justice." she smiled. "I'm sorry to hear about you and your wife. She's an idiot for letting a catch like you go."

To my surprised I blushed slightly, I couldn't remember the last time I blushed. "How long you in town for?" I asked, wanting to ask her out really bad but wanting to time it just right so I didn't seem like an overzealous jackass.

"Until I leave. Depends on how long it takes me to figure out what's wrong with my truck and to fix it."

"I uh, I would like to take you out before you leave town." I said hesitantly my hands shaking as I became nervous. I had never been nervous to ask a woman out in fact I always just asked and hoped for the best. But, this time it was different she is definitely different.

"You waste no time." She laughed her smile making my heart melt. "I'd love to."

She stood from the tailgate, going over to her truck I watched her intently studying every movement as she returned seconds later with a piece of paper. Taking it I placed the paper in the front pocket of my shirt.

"By the way what is your name?" I ask, feeling like an idiot for not introducing my self and asking earlier.

"Serena Manchester."

"Sig Hansen." I say, extending my hand. Her hand meeting mine in a handshake.

"Nice to meet you."

"How long until the truck is supposed to arrive?" I ask, looking to my watch realizing I had forgotten about a meeting with the Discovery Channel producers.

"Another hour or two." She sighs. "Look, it's going to be awhile for sure, why don't you go ahead and take off there is no reason for us both to stay. I will be fine."

"Are you sure?" I ask, reluctant to leave her alone in the middle of nowhere, especially somewhere she is unfamiliar with.

"Positive besides I have a gun in my glove box just in case." She whispered with a smirk.

I looked to my watch again, knowing I had to make the meeting. I had already cancelled several times and could no longer put it off.

"I really do have to go, can I call you later tonight to make sure you are safe?'

"sure."

"Okay, I hate to leave you. But, I will call." I promise

"You better." she smirked, pointing an index finger at me.

Reluctantly I got into my truck. Watching her in the mirror as I turned the key in the ignition the engine springing to life at my fingertips. I pulled away slowly watching as she stood in the mirror waving slightly. I watched her until she disappeared into the distance. I couldn't believe my good luck, what where the odds of meeting her again? I wondered if it was fate or a crazy coincidence I would later regret.