Untitled
Chapter One
Jake A (Flashback)
It was hard to describe how it felt to be coming home after his first season as a crab fisherman. Ever since he was thirteen years old he'd wanted to make it to the toughest, most brutal job in the world but after he'd fucked his life up big time by getting involved in drugs and drink he thought he had screwed everything up. But now here he was, standing on the deck of the Northwestern looking out to the blissful sight of Puget Sound ahead of him, he had made it, he was home. He'd always wanted to make his family proud and as they got closer and closer to the dock he could feel his emotions beginning to get the better of him. It had been such a tough few months but he'd made it and he was so glad to be coming home to share his success with the people he loved the most, his family.
'Sooo Junior….' Jake jumped as Edgar sneaked up on him, he liked to do that a lot, 'guess you're gonna be busy tonight?' Jake shook his head and laughed a little, now that they were almost home most of them had been talking nonstop about how they were going to pound their wives into the mattress when they got home, he didn't have anyone to pound into the mattress, well, he had a couple of people he could call to hook up with but that wasn't important. He'd been away from his family for so long and he wasn't ashamed to say he'd missed them, especially his sister Chelsea who he was closest too.
'Nah man, I've got some catching up to do with everyone, that shit can wait for a few days,' Jake shrugged as Edgar looked at him incredulously.
'Damn, when I was your age…'
'I've got responsibilities Edgar, now that I'm clean and I'm earning a good wage I'm the main breadwinner for everyone, I'm guessing by the time Chelsea's medical bills have been paid I won't have much left,' Jake shrugged, it didn't matter to him that he couldn't go out and spend his money on a new car or some flashy new clothes, he'd taken this job because it had been his dream and because he knew his family desperately needed the money to stay on top of things.
'I didn't know that things were that serious man,' Edgar placed a hand on his back and Jake shifted slightly, he hadn't had a serious conversation with Edgar before, with any of the guys actually. The only person that knew about his situation was his Uncle Nick, he didn't know how much he'd told the other guys but after Edgar's words he'd guessed that Nick had kept things private.
'It's not all bad, not now I have this job anyway, I'm really grateful to you….'
'Ah quit fucking thanking me Junior, you did pretty good out there for a Greenhorn,' Jake swelled with pride, any praise from Edgar was huge, 'just don't tell anyone else I said that okay? Especially not Sig, he'll think I'm going fucking soft or something.'
Jake was now pretty much on Cloud Nine, his deckboss had actually given him a fucking compliment and he was almost home. Edgar stayed with him out on deck as the boat got closer and closer to the dock.
'Ah jeeze, looks like we're gonna be here a while,' Edgar sighed as they stared ahead at the crowd of people waiting for them. Jake could make out his mom and dad from a good distance away and he started to wave, it was mid wave that his attention was drawn away from his parents as he spotted another face in the crowd.
It was her long, red hair that caught his attention as it blew out behind her in the wind. He watched her closely as she rummaged around in her bag for a few seconds before she pulled out a bright blue beret type hat that she put on to stop her hair from blowing everywhere, Once she had the hat on, her eyes seemed to gravitate towards him and before he could look away she was staring right back at him.
He could feel the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, his breathe caught in his throat as he continued to look right at her, it was almost as if he was daring her to look away because for some reason he couldn't. He had no idea who she was or why she was here, he'd never seen her before in his entire life, if he had he knew he would remember her because she was so beautiful, even from a distance he could see that.
'Junior….' Edgar waved a hand in front of his face and he was forced to look away from the mysterious woman. 'Don't just stand there, the season ain't over till this baby is anchored up with the engine off!'
Jake began to follow Edgar across the deck but he couldn't resist stealing another quick glance at the woman waiting at the dock, he could feel his cheeks beginning to flush when he turned to look at her and her eyes connected with his once again, he smiled a little but didn't wave, he didn't want to make it known to everyone that he was looking at her, after all he didn't even know who she was yet. He was just hoping that she wasn't related to any of the guys, that would be kind of awkward and more than a little frustrating to say the least.
He tried his best to concentrate on his job as slowly Sig manoeuvred the boat closer to the dock, as tempted as he was to steal a few more glances at the woman he didn't, he'd done a good job so far, he didn't want to fuck anything up at the last minute and make himself look like an ass in front of so many people, especially his parents.
Edgar kept a close eye on him as they slowly pulled into the dock and Jake jumped off the boat to tie it up, he could feel his skin starting to blush once again when he realised that the crowd of people were all looking at him, if they were looking then that meant that SHE was looking too.
'Nice job Junior!' Edgar jumped off the boat after him to check his work which was obviously okay since Edgar didn't correct it or yell at him, instead, after giving yet more praise to him, Edgar made a beeline for the family that he had waiting for him.
Jake followed suit and immediately began to look through the crowd of people to find his parents, after a few seconds he caught sight of them beginning to make their way past people to get to him and he all but ran towards them.
'Oh Jake it's so good to have you home! I've missed you so much!' His mother threw her arms around him and began planting kisses on his cheeks, he was definitely gonna lose man points for this with the guys but he didn't care too much, he was glad to see her and he'd missed her just as much.
'I missed you too mom,' he replied as he reciprocated the bone crushing hug that his mother had pulled him into. After a few seconds he pulled away to share a hug with his father who started to pat him on the back.
'I'm so proud of you Jake,' he nearly came apart at the seams when his father spoke, he'd always wanted to make him proud, to make his whole family proud and his father's pride was clearly written all over his face which made him feel like he was on Cloud Nine.
'Thanks dad,' he managed to whisper the words through gritted teeth, he was determined not to break down in front of so many strangers.
'Chelsea wanted to come but she's not feeling too good today so your sisters are at home keeping her company,' his mom smiled but instantly he began to panic.
'What do you mean she's not feeling well? Is it serious?' He asked and both his parents shook their heads.
'It's just a cold Jake, she's fine, we're all fine,' his dad re-assured him.
'So are we going to get to meet the guys you've been working with?' His mom changed the subject quickly, she was good at doing that but her being so quick to change the topic of conversation made him feel a little uneasy.
'I guess,' as much as he wanted to leave and get home as soon as possible so he could see his sister's he couldn't go anywhere without letting his folks meet the guys and he definitely couldn't leave without trying to talk to the woman he'd seen.
His eyes scanned the dock once again as he tried to find her, he could see the guys dotted around hugging and talking to their loved ones but he couldn't see her anywhere. In the process of looking around he caught Edgar's attention and immediately he started to signal for him to come over.
'Let's go see Edgar,' he wrapped a protective arm around his mother's waist as he started to lead them through a crowd of people over to Edgar and his family.
It was only when the crowd parted ways for him and his parents to get through that he found who he had been looking for. She was standing just behind Edgar holding a girl with long blonde hair in her arms, just one look at the little girl told him that she was a Hansen, he was just praying that the woman who'd cast a spell over him already wasn't.
'Hey Junior, this is my wife Louise,' no sooner had Jake stopped in front of them Edgar started with the introductions. His heart was pounding against his chest, why the fuck was he feeling so stupid and lovesick over someone he didn't even fucking know?
'Edgar told me a lot of good things about you Jake,' Louise smiled as she stepped forward to plant a kiss on both of his cheeks, he could feel that his cheeks were burning, not from the kiss but the fact that he knew he was being watched by the woman he daren't look at.
'Um these are my folks, mom dad this is Edgar, this is Louise,' he stepped back a little allowing his parents to meet his boss and his wife as he tried to keep himself together, he was well aware that he probably looked and sounded like a complete asshole to this woman, he'd never had much 'game' when it came to chicks and he certainly had no fucking game right now.
'This is Logan he's our youngest, this is Michael, this is Stephanie…' he snapped out of his daze in time to look up and see the beautiful lady walk forward and smile at his parents.
'I'm Maddie, the oldest,' as soon as she said the words his heart felt like it exploded on the spot, she was a Hansen, why did she have to be a fucking Hansen?
'Uh Junior, you feeling okay?' He swallowed hard and tried to look 'normal' as Edgar stared at him.
'Yeah, yeah I'm just a little um, overwhelmed I guess?' He shrugged, hoping that he wasn't making it obvious that he was desperately trying to avoid looking at his deckboss's daughter.
'Well you stay here and be overwhelmed, I'll take your parents to meet Sig so we can let them know what we REALLY think about you,' Edgar winked as he began to lead his parents over to the boat where Sig was standing on deck talking to a bunch of people.
'I'm going to go and keep June company seeing as Edgar and Sig are going to talk to your parents, won't be long!'
Jake just stood frozen to the spot as Louise took Stephanie out of Maddie's arms and guided Michael and Logan over to the boat, now he was fucking alone with her, what the fuck was he meant to say?
'Don't look so scared,' he had no choice but to look at her now, he could hardly keep staring at the ground, he didn't want her to think he was rude after all, as soon as he looked at her and she smiled at him he felt his heart begin to race all over again. From a distance he could tell that she was beautiful but damn, up close she was even better. She had the most gorgeous emerald green eyes, they seemed to draw him even deeper under the mystifying spell she'd magically worked on him. 'Dad said you did a great job out there, he's really impressed with you and believe me, it's not easy to impress a grumpy bastard like him!'
He smiled at her, for some reason the ability to speak had temporarily vacated, Jesus she would think he was such a fucking jerk.
'Are you sure you're okay? I know it's probably kinda freaky for you to come home and see so many strange people waiting to greet you, fuck it's strange for me to see SO many horny women here drooling over my old man!' She laughed and he couldn't help but laugh with her, fuck even her laugh was infectious.
'Sorry, I'm uh, er, a little shy I guess…Well not shy, I just wanna get home you know?' He bit down hard on his lip as he continued to look at her, he couldn't take his eyes off her even if he wanted to.
'I know, all this…' she looked around at the numerous people before looking back at him, 'can get a bit intimidating.'
'I er, I mean I'm not scared or anything like that, I just wanna spend time with my family you know? Now it looks like I'm gonna be stuck here for a while yet,' he sighed heavily, he was aware of the fact that he was coming across as a whiny bastard but he couldn't help how he felt. His sisters were waiting for him, one of whom was sick and hadn't seen him for a couple of months, his siblings were more important to him than any fan of the show but to keep his job, he couldn't really leave and he didn't have it in himself to be unfriendly.
'Don't worry, it won't take too long before you can get home to your girlfriend….'
'I don't have a girlfriend,' he quickly corrected her before she'd even completed her sentence. 'She's a HANSEN Jacob! Touch her and Edgar will rip your balls off,' he thought to himself.
'Oh well okay, sorry, I just assumed that you did for no reason at all,' she smiled at him again and this time he noticed the cute dimples in her cheeks, he wondered if she truly knew how beautiful she was. He was about to say something stupid again when Louise joined them out of nowhere, she was carrying a crying Logan in her arms and she had to shout above the noise to make herself heard.
'I'm so sorry about this Maddie but can you take Logan home for me? He really isn't liking being in a crowd and he won't settle at all,' Maddie instantly held her arms out and Louise placed Logan in her arms.
'It's okay, I'll meet you guys back at the house, it was nice meeting you Jake.'
'Oh um, it was good to meet you too,' he stumbled with his words again, in all honesty he didn't want her to go anywhere, he wanted her to stay right here so he could continue to talk to her but there was nothing he could do, she seemed to welcome the fact that Louise had interrupted their conversation, he'd probably bored her to death.
He continued to watch her as she walked further and further away from him, part of him wanted to run after her and ask for her phone number but he knew that he couldn't do that, if he did he would probably lose his job then his family would be in deep trouble.
Finding the strength from somewhere he finally turned away and focused his attention back on the crowd. If he'd waited another few seconds he would have seen Maddie Hansen turning around to look at him.