The next morning, Kate was elated to see that the rain had ceased. At the prospect of warmth, she quickly threw her covers off and sauntered over to the cracked window, splaying her fingers across the glass. Her hopes were dashed, though, as she felt no more warmth than the previous mornings. Resigned, Kate tossed her hair away from her face and sighed, a tiny ray of warm sunlight was all she wished for. The smell of baked goods came wafting through the floorboards and broke through Kate's somber demeanor, instantly cheering her up.

After tossing on her clothes and nearly tripping over her boots, Kate ran down the stairway and quickly turned the corner to where Nance served breakfast for the girls every other morning. The days that food was not prepared, the girls were forced to fend for themselves.

The four other women were already seated at the large table, and Kate regretted coming down. She would now be forced into conversation, which was not her forte. The women turned and stared at her as she slowly sat down, eyeing the bread in the middle of the table.

"Good morning," she murmured, pushing her hair out of her eyes once more, as she had forgotten to pin it up.

The girls replied with their own greetings and when Nance stomped out of the kitchen and announced that no one would touch a morsel of food until thanks were given to God, the women all joined hands. Kate marveled at the softness of Beth Anne's hands, who was seated to the right of her. She cringed at the roughness of her own hands and wondered if Beth Anne found her repulsive.

Grace was quickly said by Nance, whose obnoxiously loud voice boomed. When she finished, she brought out tea and oranges and she gave her permission for the women to begin eating. They begin talking and eating simultaneously, while Kate ate bread in silence. She never joined in on their gossiping, she hardly knew how to. She knew these women were not her friends.

The women were all different, yet the one thing that they had in common was that none of them had living parents. The Linwood House for Women only housed orphans; as Nance Linwood was one herself, she made it a point to create a place that girls without family would be safe. Hold a job, pay your way, absolutely no men in the confines of the house. Those were the rules, and they were to be adhered to unless the street sounded like a better place to live. Kate had only witnessed one girl get unceremoniously tossed out the door and the reason involved a naked member of the male species.

"I have never seen a lovelier man in my entire life," Gwen sighed, sipping her tea.

"Peter Dobson, you mean? Gwen, there are far better looking men than Peter Dobson! He peddles shoes dear, and I hear he beds his other assistant after they lock up. Your next employer will make a more suitable husband," Veronica replied. She was rather plain, but her brown eyes were fierce and judgemental. She was a seamstress at the very same place Kate was employed when she was younger, just across the way from Garner's.

At this, Gwen sighed loudly so that the others could hear her dissatisfaction. The woman had been in the house far longer than Kate. Gwen never held a stable job; the redhead made it a habit to find employment only to attempt to marry her boss. She could never land a husband, and so she leapt from place to place. Kate knew she had been the topic of many jokes among the group due to her job, a man's job- one that no respectable woman should hold, was the current consensus.

"Well, ladies, I have had my eye on James Cavandar, and his son," Beth Anne chirped, causing the others to gasp. Beth Anne was prettier than Kate ever hoped to be. Thick golden hair and green eyes were her greatest features and her hands were soft due to her line of work. Beth Anne was a maid at one of the well- to-do houses farther inland, and her employer's wife required that she smell lovely while in their house, so Beth Anne's hands were adorned with lotions and fragrances daily.

"Katherine, would you care to interject?" Gwen asked, catching Kate off guard. Clearing her throat quickly, and setting her cup down nervously, she could not recall a single word in her vocabulary.

"No," she stated, oddly satisfied with her reply. The women sat in silence and what seemed to be amusement at Kate's lack of social grace.

"I apologize," she murmured, "what I meant to say is that I am not currently in the market for a husband; I am far too busy." The silence continued and Kate wished she had chosen to stay in her friendly, welcoming bed.

"I suppose Benjamin Hall would beg to differ, Katherine. You forget, I can see into the window of Garner's from where I sit every morning," Veronica said loudly.

At this, Penelope giggled and the other women sipped their tea in was the newest and youngest girl in the house, and Kate did not know much about her except that she aided Nance in the household chores, so to hear her also join in disappointed Kate. Heat rose from her stomach and spread to her face. She craved to slap the smug look off of Veronica's face, or at least wound her with well-planned and eloquent words, but she stood up and left the table without doing either. Penelope's giggles were silenced by Kate closing the front door behind her as she made her way down the street to the shop.

As Kate walked, she decided to hold her head high. Those women would never be her allies yet she failed to care. She had never needed them before, and she was unable to see why she would need them in the future. Someday, she would overcome her shyness, and then she would tell those women exactly what she thought- and Ben would learn the truth of her feelings for him.

As she entered the shop, Ben smiled at her from behind the counter and she smiled back, shoving all thoughts of callous women to the far edge of her mind.

"Hello, Katie," he greeted her. He had laid out a sail along the counter, and the material spilled over the edge and fell to the floor.

"Good morning, Benjamin, have you been given another job?"

He looked up at her, pushed his dark hair from his eyes, and shook his head. "No, I have not received another job, technically. An acquaintance of mine requested help with fixing his torn sails and such from the vicious storm two weeks ago. He lost a fair amount of his crew when the ship nearly capsized. I offered our services. I've been here for a few hours."

Kate was about to side step around the mess of sails when she realized exactly what Ben had said.

"Our services?"

"Oh, yes. I inquired about you joining me and he told me the more, the merrier. Unless you would rather not, then I apologize for offering your help."

Unable to contain the smile that was begging to escape, Kate grinned widely at Ben's suggestion for her aid in the repairing of his friend's ship. "I would love to accompany you," she replied, wishing she had pinned her hair back, for now it would hinder her work. "Is Mr. Garner aware that we are both leaving? Will he be fine here on his own?"

Smoothing out the sail material, Ben begin to roll it up so that it might be transported. "He will be fine; he will stand vigilant here at the counter."

"What if someone were to need one of us on a job?" Kate asked, helping Ben roll the sail tight.

"He told me that he would take down names should they still require us later in the day. He also told me he would have sent you out on a job today regardless. All will be well," he grunted as he picked up the roll of sail.

"Well, are you going to come?" he asked.

Quickly nodding her head, Kate rushed towards the back where she kept a satchel of necessary items for jobs and a small dagger. With her satchel in tow, she ran back towards Benjamin and followed him out.

The journey to the docks was fairly quick, with the shop being in close proximity for optimal customer satisfaction. The smell of the channel was one that required getting used to, but to Kate it had become soothing. Four ships were docked, none of them particularly grand but Kate loved them all. Sailors were shuffling around, some speaking a mixture of English and French with most sailors coming from across the channel. Kate had to be vigilant and avoid crates and supplies that littered the docks, yet could not avoid them all and she accidentally knocked over a crate filled with potatoes. Both Kate and Ben knelt to pick them up.

"You should look where you're going," someone snarled and Kate looked up to see a ragged deckhand.

"Our mistake, sir," Ben said, taking Kate's hand and pulling her along towards the last ship at the end of the dock.

"I should have left the mess and continued walking," Kate muttered as Ben stopped her. The ship in front of them was larger than the others and Kate knew right away that it was a frigate. The foremast was missing a jib, the sail they intended to replace, and a few men were scraping off the last remnants of red paint along the bow. Kate, who was ready to begin working, noticed that the name of the ship was being removed as well, only three letters remained: LAR. Before she had a chance to ask Ben what the ship was named, a man called to them.

"Did you get that sail finished?" he asked, wasting no time.

"Indeed," Ben replied, patting the man's shoulder firmly. "Luke, this is Kate; she is here to help."

Luke, who was quite short compared to Kate, gave her a quick nod of the head as if he didn't much care who she was as long as she did her job. He informed them that they could begin repairs and left.

"Was he the Captain?" Kate asked, as she followed Ben up the gangplank.

"No, he's out at the moment," Ben responded, hauling the sail above his head.

The damage to the ship was not as terrible as Kate had imagined, although she could tell new pieces from old. Her hands itched to mend something, and as Ben set the sail down onto the deck, he turned and smiled.

"Let us begin," he said.

They unrolled the sail and Kate double checked the holes that Ben had cut back at the shop, ensuring that they were placed correctly so that when it was strung, the sail would unfurl without any issues. She then attached rings to the pre-cut holes and sewed them in tightly while Ben occupied himself by sanding down planks that were to replace missing boards throughout the deck.

"You did a lovely job," she assured him, and Ben smiled.

"Right, let's string her up. Would you prefer it if I climbed up and attached the first line?" Ben asked, removing splinters from his clothes.

Kate laughed and shook her head. "Not on your life, Benjamin. I'll head up there, thank you," she replied, eager to climb.

Ben chuckled and grabbed the stay with both arms. "If you wish to climb that high in the rigging, I won't stop you. I'll have someone help me with this stay and the spar down here."

"Climbing through the rigging is my favorite part, Benjamin, and the stay is usually too heavy for me anyway," she joked, rolling the jib back up so that it would be easier for Ben to pull it up into the rigging. "Besides, I can get up there quicker than you can."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "I doubt that," he mumbled, and Kate gasped, pushing him away from her. Ben only chuckled again and Kate soaked the sound up, loving every second.

"Please be careful," Ben warned before Kate headed for the ratlines. "You may have done this before but if you slip and fall from up there…" He stopped and began twirling the the stay around in his hands. "Well, you know."

His concern for her made her smile. "I promise I will not fall and die," she replied, wondering if it was a stupid thing to say. She didn't wait to find out and instead began to climb up the ratlines and into the rigging.

She had often wondered whether Benjamin had feelings for her. There were moments, like the one that had just transpired, that made her believe he did. It gave her hope. Yet she knew she was possibly reading entirely too much into those situations. He would have spoken of feeling to her by now if he had any towards her; he was confident enough to do so. In the four years they had known each other, not once had he relayed his feelings to her.

Kate's thoughts were broken when her foot became caught in the ratlines and she cursed. She knew better than to not pay attention while climbing; she had a job to do and she needed to free her mind of Benjamin until that job was completed. Once her foot was free, she continued until she reached the top. Anchoring her feet in the ratlines, she took a deep breath and looked down. This was her favorite part of a ship, up above the stay lines and rigging, where no one could possibly speak to her and she was free. It was warmer up there; the cold knew better than to bother her. If she had the choice, she would never leave. She could see Ben stringing the jib onto the rope and she knew she had better check to make sure all the hooks were in place.

Ben gave the stay a big tug and it translated all the way to the top, signaling to Kate that she needed to do her part. She rubbed her hands together, rolled up her sleeves and began to pull the stay down so that the jib could make it to the top via the pulley system. The stay was coarse in her hands and she loved the feeling, it burned and yet it was wonderful. It took all of her strength and on more than one occasion, Kate had to swing the stay around to maneuver the sail through the ropes and rigging. She took a moment to regain her breath just before she gave a hard tug and pulled the jib to the top. She had managed to work up a sweat and her hair stuck to her forehead, which annoyed her greatly.

Ben shouted up at her but she was unable to her. She gave him a thumbs up anyway, which he was most likely unable to see without a spyglass. After wiping the sweat from her forehead, she removed her feet from their anchored positions and slowly turned around so that she was facing the mast. From there she was able to hook the jib up in the three top locations. She had to climb lower to hook the side and bottom on and when she was done, she felt the stay being pulled to ensure the jib was in place. Once she was satisfied that her job was completed, she quickly climbed down.

"Beautiful job, Katie!" Ben said once Kate was close enough to hear him.

"Thank you. Has your doubt been erased?" She teased. As she came to the end of the lines, she felt Ben place his hands on her sides to ensure she came down safely and the gesture surprised him, she attempted to thank him, but her words became lost. His brown eyes bore down on her and her heart sped up.

"I never had any doubt that you knew what you were doing," he said softly, handing her the tool he had been using to sand down the planks.

"Oh," she replied, side stepping him to avoid having to speak any longer. She sat down next to the pile of wooden planks and picked one up to begin working on it. She filled her time with this job while Ben and a few other men continued scraping paint from the sides. She could hear him laugh and joke with them and longed to join him, but she loved the satisfaction of having a smooth and deck worthy-plank in the end, so she continued. The task was terrible on her hands, she had cut herself two or three times when she had finished hours later.

"Would you fancy a break?" Ben joked as he climbed onto the deck. The sun had shifted to the other side of the sky, covered with sparse clouds.

Ben's sleeves were rolled up past his elbows, and his arms were covered in flecks of red paint and sweat. His hair had been tied back, a rarity, and his face was covered in dust, yet she still found him handsome.

"You know I could work until the sun set," Kate replied, standing and brushing the wood dust from her pants.

"I believe our work here is done, let the crew install the missing deck pieces. You finished those by yourself. You look absolutely spent."

Kate shrugged at his comment, although his praise was all the payment she needed for her work.

"Come, let's head back to the shop."

"Shouldn't we let the Captain know that we're finished for the day?" Kate asked, grabbing her satchel and looking around.

"I'll speak with him at a later time, he won't mind."

Luke, whom Kate had not seen for several hours, made his way over and

merely nodded his head at Ben, speaking an unknown language without words.

Ben placed his hand on Kate's lower back and led her down the gangplank.

"I think I'll walk you home. Mr. Garner is more than likely already closing up and I'm sure you desire to wash up." Ben said as they stood back on the docks.

Kate agreed; she was almost embarrassed that Ben had seen her so dirty. As they walked along the docks, Kate caught a glimpse of the greasy deckhand whom she had upset earlier. He glared at her as she passed and Kate supposed he was still sore over the potato incident, although she could not shake the feeling that something was wrong with the man. The feeling left as Ben linked his arm with hers and led her towards Linwood's.

The walk was short and when Kate stood in the doorway of her home, Ben reached for her hand. Her heart raced as he placed a small kiss on her knuckles. The act confused her, but she did not protest. His thumb grazed a small cut along her palm and she gasped, bringing her hand to her chest protectively.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, perhaps thinking she had not appreciated his gesture. She turned her hand over so that he could see her cut under the candle light that glowed from its holder above the door. He then took her hand, delicately this time, and leaned down as if to place another kiss there, but he stopped and looked up at her.

"Get this tended to, Katie. Goodnight," he said, releasing her hand and smiling slightly before walking off.

Kate stood in the doorway, transfixed and confused. Her hand was on fire where he had kissed it and she hardly knew what to think. Her daze was shattered when she realized Veronica was standing next to her, waiting to enter the house. The look on her face was rather nasty, and as she pushed past Kate, she mumbled. "You're only a hired deckhand, Katherine. You're not what that man is interested in."