Author's Note: Just a warning to those of you who offend easily, you may want to skip over Bob's sailor joke.

Chapter 2

Long, slender fingers gently traced the man's face in the photograph. Lizzie sat at her kitchen table sipping her tea and gazing at the image before her. The picture of Frankie and the stranger with the ship in the background was a prize that Lizzie found herself never to be without. How many times had she looked at this picture, she had wondered. In the days since he had sailed she had probably looked at it; at him, at least a hundred times committing his finely chiseled features to her memory. The serious set of his jaw reminded her of their first meeting at the coffeehouse. The glint in his eye had been reminiscent of the way he looked at her while they danced.

Lizzie glanced at her son's smiling face beside him and couldn't help the melancholy feeling it gave her. Frankie had been so proud of this man whom he had thought to be his father. Or maybe by this time Frankie had figured it out, Lizzie speculated. Not a day had passed since he left that Lizzie hadn't thought of him and she pondered if it may have been that way for Frankie as well.

"Are ya looking at that photo again, Lizzie?" Her mother asked; startling her as she walked into the kitchen .

Lizzie jumped, reflexively putting the picture up to her heart. "Mother, ya scared me!"

"What do ya think yer doing, Lizzie?" Nell asked her as she sat down and joined her daughter at the table.

Lizzie clutched the picture and turned it face down on the table. She closed her eyes and sighed but didn't reply to her mother's query.

Nell lit up a cigarette and took a puff. She narrowed her eyes at her daughter who wouldn't even face her. "Lizzie?" Lizzie looked up finally. "How long are you going to go on like this?"

"Mother….I…don't know what yer talking about." Lizzie told her, focusing on a spot on the table and wiping it with her finger.

"Don't try to fool yer ma, Lizzie. It's been a month…"

"27 days." Lizzie cut in.

"Right. Well, yer obviously taken with this man," she told her pointing to the picture on the table. "What are ya going to do about it?"

"I don't even know him, Ma. I dream about him…a lot…." Lizzie confessed, absently circling the squiggly pattern on the table. "Somehow I just can't stop thinking about him." Lizzie shook her head. "I don't even know his name."

"Ya said he was Marie's brother." Lizzie nodded. "Surely she could put you in touch with him."

"It's not just that, Ma." Lizzie sighed and looked at her. "He's a sailor. I've thought a lot about this. I mean, what kind of relationship can you have with a man who's never there?"

"A peaceful one!" Nell laughed. Lizzie smiled and then her face grew serious again. Nell could see her daughter was hurting inside. "Okay, maybe this sailor isn't the one for you, Lizzie but…" she paused, noticing the doubtful look Lizzie gave her but then continued,

"Maybe he came along to help you realize that it's time for you to move on. Davey's dead now. It's high time you start building yer future."

Lizzie didn't always like hearing the things her mother had to say but usually found they made a lot of sense. Lizzie managed a small smile and told her mother, "I don't know what I'd do without ya, Ma."

Nell smiled. "That's what I'm here for." She told Lizzie and took a few more puffs of her cigarette before extinguishing it. Lizzie had already turned the picture right side up and was studying his face once again. Nell leaned over next to Lizzie and reached the photo with one finger slightly turning it into her view. "Too bad he's a sailor." Nell told her regretfully. Lizzie nodded in agreement. "If only I were 25 years younger…"

"Mother!" Lizzie laughed tugging the picture away from her and hid it.

Patrick rounded the starboard corner of the ship and heard Bob singing in his tenor voice as he painted the deck.

"The sailor said Brandy,You're a fine girl, What a good wife you would be….."

Patrick smiled. Bob had sung this same song many times over the past few weeks.

"Hey Bob," he interrupted.

Bob stopped his painting and looked up at Patrick, his face becoming animated.

"Patrick! I've got a great one for ya."

"I'm looking for a letter…"

Bob cut in wanting to distract him. He put down his paint brush and raised both hands to Patrick. "Stop me if you've heard this one. A sailor and a priest were playing golf. The sailor took his first shot, missed and said, '#$, I missed.' Surprised, the priest replied, 'Don't use that kind of language or God will punish you.' The sailor took aim and hit his second shot. Again he missed and under his breath he said, 'I #$!'n missed again.' The priest overheard and replied, 'My son, please don't use that language or God will punish you.' The sailor took his third shot and once again he couldn't help mutter, 'Oh #$!…' The priest said, 'That's it. God will certainly punish you.' Suddenly a bolt of lightning came down and killed the priest. In the distance a deep voice said, '#$, I Missed'."

Patrick chuckled and in a mock serious tone asked him, "Ya kiss yer ma with that mouth?"

Bob looked at his friend with a serious expression. "As a matter of fact," Bob told him in an exaggerated tone with eyes wide open, "I do."

They both laughed for a moment. Patrick grew serious. Bob observed his friend's pensive manner.

"Something troubling ya?"

"Na..nothing." Patrick responded. Bob stared at Patrick questioningly. "It's just that I can't find the letter I was writing to Marie. I've looked everywhere. Have ya seen it?" Patrick asked, clearly troubled.

"Oh yeah." Bob told him. Patrick's face brightened.

"You've seen it?" he asked hopefully.

"Well, yeah. I mailed it at the last port."

Patrick's jaw dropped. "?#!$"

A/N : The song in this chapter and in the next chapter is called 'Brandy, You're a Fine Girl' by Looking Glass. Next chapter will be posted probably in a week. Please review!