Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC and any resemblance to an actual person, living or not, is purely coincidental. This is my first fan fiction, something that has been bubbling about in my head, so please be gentle! :)


Sig Hansen glanced over at his brother sitting quietly in the port co-captain's chair. Ever since the Northwestern entered the strait, Norman Hansen was withdrawn – even for him.

"She'll be there," he said. Norman didn't look over, taking a sip from his coffee cup and staring out past the bow like he was looking for the dock where their families would be waiting.

"We'll see," he said. Norm had met Lisa at the end of summer and they really hit it off. He tried to spend as much time as he could with her, knowing he was leaving in late September for Kings.

The timing was really bad for meeting someone and although he had called her as often as he could from the boat, he didn't expect to see her at the dock. He hoped she'd be there.

The Northwestern still had about an hour to go before reaching her berth. It had been a grueling season. The boat's engine need overhauling after fighting its way through wind and waves to pull the king crab bounty from the unforgiving sea. That kind of work was cheaper in Seattle, so Northwestern limped back to her home port with her weary crew to spend the holidays getting repaired.


Lisa Taylor turned the car into the dockyard's parking lot and saw the small throng of fans off to one side, being kept in check by two security guards. She'd have to walk past them to get to the security door. Norman had sent her the combination for the door lock so she could get into the dock area.

I wish I had been able to hook up with Angela or Louise and come over with them, she thought. But they had been running around with their kids getting ready for their husbands coming home. Recognizing Edgar's white pickup, Lisa parked next to it.

"You can come right over here," one of the security guards called out to her as she walked over to them. "All the fans are to wait right here."

"I'm not a fan," Lisa said, feeling her face turn red. "I'm Norman's girlfriend."

"I ain't seen you round here before," the guard said. "Maybe somebody from the families can vouch for you."

And no one's answering their phones, Lisa thought.

"I've got the security door code," Lisa said, but the guard wasn't buying it. "Look, I need to get down to that dock."

"What you need to do is wait here with the rest of the fans," he said. "They deserve private time with their families."