Fresh Waves

Johnathan checked the caller I.D. on his cell phone. Why was she calling him? She only called on Saturdays, so she had to be in some sort of trouble if it meant dialing Dutch Harbor on a Tuesday afternoon. Telling Andy to order another round of drinks, John left the bar for the more secluded alley.

"Hey, beautiful," he answered. "What's goin' on?"

"Hi dad," a voice on the other end of the line muttered, as if ashamed. After a moment of silence, she continued. "I didn't get accepted into the University of Washington. Turns out no one wants me in their college."

Johnathan ran a hand over his beard. Oh boy…

"Well, hon, two weeks in prison when you're supposed to be in school will do that to your record. At least you have your AA."

"I know, I know…" He could hear a deep exhale. "Dad, listen, I don't have anything else available for me. I... I want to come work for you and Uncle Andy."

Silence.

"Hello? Dad? You still there?"

'Ah, Hell!' Johnathan thought. What was he going to tell her? Sorry, honey, you have to sit in Seattle and rot while the rest of the Hillstrand family catches crab on the Bering Sea, even though you are exactly where I was when I was your age?

"Yeah, Abi, I hear ya…" Another silence. "Fine, you can start with cooking, but you'll pay for your flight up here and you won't get in anyone's way, you got that?"

Though he couldn't see her, he could picture Abigail's entire face lighting up.

"I promise! You won't be disappointed! I'll fly up there on the next plane!"

Just like her older brother, she hung up without a formal good-bye. Johnthan slipped the phone back in his pocket and went back inside, where Neal, Andy, and Scott were holding his space at the bar. It wasn't like him to take phone calls during "Wings and Beer Tuesdays" (as Neal has come to name the nights they had on dry land for food).

"So who was that?" Scott inquired through a mouthful of chicken.

"Your little sister."

"Oh. That's nice," he went on, way more focused on his wings. "What did she want?"

"A job."

Andy had to pound on Scottie's back as he started choking. From down the bar Russ and Eddie lifted their heads. For them, Abigail Hillstrand was just a picture in the wheelhouse. For Scott, Neal, and Andy, she was the youngest (and only) lady in the family, which by definition made her an object of protection.

"Abi's coming to work on the Time Bandit?!" Scott coughed, finally hacking up the piece of meat that had been stuck in his throat.

"You got snow in your ears?" John snapped. "Yes, she's cooking for King Crab season and we'll see how she gets along. She's a Hillstrand just as much as you are."

Abi was unmistakable as she walked down the docks of Dutch Harbor. The duffle bag, sunglasses, and just the state of being a white girl, by default made it apparent that she was the newest recruit to the Time Bandit, but as she came closer to the boat it was even more obvious. The young woman had her brother's face, her father's eyes, and the absolutely inimitable Hillstrand grin. Scottie vaulted out of his seat on deck to embrace his little sister the instant his brain could process her arrival. She let out a laugh as he lifted her off her feet in a spinning hug.

"Where's my baby sister?"

"Aw, stop it!" She lightly tugged at his baseball cap. "I'm the Time Bandit cook, not some little girl."

He looked down into Abigail's eyes. She really was just like the rest of them: out of school with no interest in anything but the family business. Of course, it wasn't quite the same. It was the cigarettes and alcohol on campus that was keeping her out of anything but community college. She had no choice. He remembered the night she was sent to jail for dealing marijuana to other kids at her school. Dad and Andy paid her bail of course, since she sold it instead of smoking it, but not without letting her get a lesson first. Aside from that, she had been raised like one of her brothers: totally crazy, wild, hard working, and a play-it-hard mentality. Unlike her, Scott didn't get caught when he did something illegal.

"Whatever, kiddo, you'll always be my baby sister. Let's get you situated in your bunk."

"And then get us to a bar!" she purred, draping her arm over Scotty's shoulder. "I'll spend my last cent if it means buying you guys drinks."

"Glad to have you on board, sis!" he laughed.

Out of the corner of his eye, Scott could see Johnathan and Andy watching them from the wheelhouse.

"The hell?" Jake Harris said quizzically, watching Scott Hillstrand walk into the bar with his arm around a girl's shoulder. "Dutch Harbor don't make ladies like that!"

Ivy punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" he whined.

"Not what he meant, hon," Josh defended sweetly, rubbing his hand over hers.

"But he has a point," Jake Anderson put in from his spot next to the other Northwestern deckhand. "What's she doing here?"

The girl of the group rolled her eyes and blew an falling blonde corkscrew of hair out of her face. "She's his sister, idiots. I heard the skippers talking about it; new cook on the Time Bandit."

"Another Hillstrand? Sounds pretty unfair for when the prank wars come around," Josh grumbled with some humor and some real exhaustion.

But that got Ivy thinking. The four of them had formed a group of some sort, founded on their shared belief that they would inherit the Bering Sea fleet. And even though she wouldn't have chosen a different batch for all the world, the thought of another female she could talk to was oddly intriguing.

"Maybe we should give her a shot," she suggested, shrugging as nonchalantly as manageable.

She expected to be brushed off, but Jake A. nodded with her. "It can't hurt. Harris boys?"

"Why not?" Josh agreed, while his brother was too busy trying to scope out any curves the youngest Hillstrand might have under her jacket.

Ivy pushed back her chair at their table and stood up. Shoving her unruly curls back behind her ears, she confidently made her way to the bar stools where Johnathan's kids laughed over clinking beer bottles. The girl was built very similarly to her brother, slim yet strong boned, with the same heart shaped face. However, her skin was bronzed from sun the rest of the fleet hadn't experienced in a long time. Her choppy hair went a few inches past her shoulders in waves of different shades of brown from golden ash to auburn to practically black, making Ivy's eyes unsure of where to find its true color. She decided that was way too distracting.

"Abigail, right?" Ivy asked politely, making her and Scottie look up.

She extended her hand.

"I'm Ivy, from the Northwestern."

Abigail smiled crookedly, but sincerely.

"Abi, Time Bandit," she answered and accepted her hand with a firm shake. "Nice to meet you!"

She glanced back over her shoulder just long enough to see the three boys staring from back at their table.

"Those three goons back there are the Jakes and Josh, Cornelia Marie."

Abi waved at the boys with a wide grin. She had confidence, Ivy observed. That was good. She might just fit in. Scott shifted his shoulders toward the deckhands in a gesture of invitation. The dynamic was different now for him, so it only made sense that they had been waiting to get his approval. Josh shook Abi's hand cordially, giving an honest welcome to the fleet. The younger Harris simply nodded from under Scottie's warning glare, obviously he had caught him staring earlier. Anderson waited patiently for them to finish greeting before stepping in.

"Nice to meet you," he said with a hint of something Ivy had never heard in him before.

"Same to you," Abi replied, seeming to not pick up on it at all.

"Can I buy you a drink or has your brother already covered that?"

Scott shot him a sideways look, but Jake and Abi both ignored him. Her lips pursed in contemplation for a second before finally turning up again.

"Sure. I'd like that."

He escorted her to another table, leaving the four others alone.

Ivy could tell already that Dutch Harbor and the Bering Sea were in for some whole new weather. The two girls would do more than just fine together, and whatever else came up was sure to catalyst one drama or another.