As Dakota was putting the wash cloth back in the bucket under the bar, the front door opened and Jake Anderson from the Northwestern walked in. She looked up and smiled at him, "Hey, Anderson."

He waved and walked over the bar, sitting on a stool, "Hey yourself, Tsosie. What's happenin' around here?"

"Absolutely nothing," She shook her head and put up some glasses from the cooling rack that she had just gotten from the back.

"So how are Josh and Julianne?"

She looked up from the glass she was inspecting and glared, "They broke up yesterday."

"Really?" Jake looked genuinely shocked, "I didn't see that coming."

Dakota nodded and sighed, "Yeah, apparently she cheated on him about five or six times and she told him she couldn't be with a fisherman and all that typical shit."

"Man," he ran a hand through his sandy blonde hair, "that's hard..."

"Yep, but that's life. Ya know?"

He nodded and smiled up at her, "And I can't help but notice that you're wearing his jacket. Did you happen to go over there last night?"

She laughed, "He's my best friend. What was I supposed to do? Tell him, 'Sorry, Josh, but I'm currently working. Can this wait until the morning?' No. He woulda ended up at my front door."

Jake shrugged, "I know you guys are best friends. I was just messin' with you." He glanced toward the back and saw Emma walking out with a large box, "Well, that must be Sig's order."

Dakota glanced over her shoulder, "Wait, you guys ordered something? I didn't even hear the phone ring."

"Yeah," he nodded as he took the box, "We got some chicken fingers and fries. You guys have the best in town."

She laughed and typed in Sig's tab number on the cash register, "Whatever, Jake. Tell Sig I'll put it on his tab with lots of love. Okay?"

Jake smiled, "I'll tell him word for word." He walked toward the door and called back, "We'll be back later tonight!"

"Bye," Emma and Dakota both called at the same time.

"He's so cute," Emma laughed.

The woman raised an eyebrow at her friend, "You remember you're dating my best friend's little brother, right?"

"Yeah," she laughed, "but I can't think another guy is cute?" She turned to walk toward the back again.

Dakota rolled my eyes and finished putting the glasses on the rack above her as her cell phone rang. She groaned and pulled it out of her back pocket. She slid her finger on the screen without looking at who was calling, "Hello?"

"Where's Emma?"

She rolled her eyes again, "Jake, you know she has a cell phone that's all her own, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then call her. Not me." Dakota hung up and put her phone in my back pocket. Soon after, her pocket started to sing "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi and buzz again. "What, Jake?"

"Whoa! Bad time? And wrong person," a deeper voice asked.

"Oh," she blushed, "sorry, Josh. Jake was just bugging me about where Emma was. What's up?"

"Nothin' much. I'm just bored out of my mind at the house and I was wondering if I could come down there and help or something."

"I take it crab fishermen don't like laying around the house much?"

"No," he groaned, "we need something to do."

She laughed, "Sure. I'm sure I can find you something to do down here. And Jason is in a pretty good mood so I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you came and kept me company."

"Great," Dakota heard him smile and his truck's engine start. "I'll be down there in about fifteen minutes."

"I'll be here," she laughed as she hung up her phone again.

Emma walked out of the back with an unlit cigarette in one hand and her phone in the other, texting. She glanced up at Dakota, "Wanna take a smoke break?"

"Yeah, but I don't feel like going outside. It's freezing."

"Me either. Here," she walked over to one of the tables and opened a window, "problem solved."

The woman laughed and jumped over the counter, "Hey, your boyfriend called me, asking where you were."

"I know. I didn't have a signal in the back for a few minutes and apparently he tried to call me in that time span."

"What did he want?"

"He wants to take me out to dinner tonight and show me the boat since I've never been on it."

Dakota raised an eyebrow, "Show you the boat?"

Emma blushed, "Not like that!" Then she smiled, "Well, maybe. Hopefully."

"Oh. Gross! I didn't wanna know that, Em!" She lit her cigarette, hoping the smoke would wipe away the nasty picture she involuntarily had in her mind.

"Hey," she laughed, "you're the one who cocked your eyebrow." She lit her cigarette and smiled, "Any way, it's been a while since him and I got to get any free time together. He's been back for only a few days and I've been working up here like a dog."

Dakota nodded, "I know how you feel. I got to see Josh for like, two hours one day before last night."

"And just think," Emma sighed, taking a drag off her cigarette, "they're about to leave again in about a week or so."

The woman nodded and looked out the window, not wanting to think about it. She knew how it went; She would go down to the docks, hug the Harris boys good bye and give Phil a kiss on the cheek for good luck, and watch them sail out. That's how it was every time they left for a season. But this time might be different with Josh and her. There was a good chance she wouldn't just be watching her two best friends sail off but she would be watching her boyfriend possibly. I seriously need to talk to Josh. Dakota sighed and took a drag from her cigarette.

"Hey," Emma said, snapping her back to reality, "you okay?"

"Huh?" She looked up at her, "Oh, yeah. I'm okay. I was just thinking about when they leave. But I'm okay." She looked out the window and ashed her cigarette.

She looked at Dakota for a long while then finally said, "Spill it."

Dakota looked back at her, "Well, every season it's no big deal to see them off at the docks. But I think this season is going to be different."

"With you and Josh, you mean?"

She nodded, "Yeah. Every season, I go down to the docks, hug them good bye and wish Phil luck. But what if Josh and I end up being more than just best friends? How am I going to cope with him going out on the Bering Sea and possibly never coming back?"

"Just do what I do, don't think about him out there in those storms. Just think about when he'll come back and what ever you guys are gonna do." Exhaling smoke, she said, "Oh, and keep one of his jackets too."

She smiled, "I think I'm getting ahead of myself any way. I don't think it'll turn into anything serious between us. Plus I don't wanna get my hopes up."

Emma nodded, "Understandable but I can promise you that it'll be something serious, girl. I can promise you that."

Dakota shrugged, "So where are you two going for dinner?"

"Well," she grinned, "that's the thing. He doesn't want to go out to any where. I think he might actually be cooking for me."

The woman's eyes widened, "Oh wow. Has he ever cooked for you before?"

She shook her head, "I'm really excited though."

"You should be," Dakota smiled. "Jake Harris is seriously one of the best cooks I've ever met."

Emma blushed as the front door opened. Dakota glanced back over her shoulder and saw Josh walk in, wearing tight fitting jeans, a white t-shirt and his black North Face, and his beanie to one side. She smiled and waved him over.

He walked over to the girls and sat down beside Dakota. He kissed her on the cheek, "Hey. What's going on down here?"

She shook her head, "Exactly what you see now. Nothing."

He laughed and looked over at Emma, "What have you done to my brother?"

"Hello to you too, Josh," she smiled. "I haven't done anything. He wants to cook dinner for me and then show me the boat. Why?

"Because he's cleaning the house like a fool." He looked over at Dakota, "That's part of the reason why I had to get out of there. Plus he basically kicked me out."

Emma laughed, "I'm sorry about that." She finished her cigarette and stood up, "Well, I'm gonna go finish up in the back."

When the back doors shut, Josh wrapped his arm around Dakota's waist and pulled her closer, "So how's your day down here been so far?"

She shrugged, "Slow. Nothing really exciting has happened so far."

"Hey, what do you say if we take a walk down to the docks."

The woman smiled up at him, "Lemme go talk to Jason real quick." She stood up and walked to the back. She knocked on the office door and waited.

"C'mon in," Jason called from the other side.

Dakota poked her head in and smiled, "Hey, Jason. Um, do you mind if I take off until my shift tonight? I'm done with everything."

Jason looked up at her and shrugged, "I don't give a damn. Just be here by seven and we'll be good."

She smiled at him, "Thanks, Jace!"

He smiled back, "No problem."

Dakota walked back out to the front and saw Josh standing by the door, talking on the phone. "No, dad. I promise we wont touch anything." He looked up at her and smiled. "Honestly, Phil. What could we break?" He paused and listened to Phil on the other end, "Yeah. I got it. Thanks, pops." Josh smiled as she walked over to him.

"What was that about?"

"I just had to make sure it's okay with dad if you and I head to the boat for alittle bit since Jake already called it for tonight."

She blushed, "Oh. Alright."

Josh laughed and took her hand, "Come on. My truck is already warming up." He led her out of the door and out into the cold. She shivered and pulled his jacket that she had on closer. He looked down at her, "That thing doesn't keep you warm at all. Plus it's huge on you."

Dakota laughed, "It doesn't matter. It keeps some of the wind off so I'm good."

He shrugged, "Whatever. Freeze if you wanna."

Smiling, she put her arm through his, "So why are we going down to the boat?"

"Well," Josh smiled as he opened the passenger side door for her, "I was kind of wanting to take you out into the harbor and show you the mountains." He pulled a keyring out of his pocket, "I kinda sorta snuck the key out of the house. With Jake's help, of course."

She laughed as he shut the door and walked around the other side of the truck, "Of course Jake helped! He needs the keys for tonight."

"Yep," Josh laughed as they pulled out of the parking lot. "It was the least I could do since he's letting me use it now and he gets it tonight."

Rolling her eyes, she moved over to sit beside him. She laid her head on his shoulder as he drove. The woman looked out of the windshield and saw a Bald Eagle flying over head. "Holy shit!"

"What?"

"That eagle," she pointed to the sky. "It's been years since I've seen one."

He pulled her closer, "When's the last time you saw one?"

She thought back and smiled, "I was about twelve and I was on the bow of my dad's boat. We were coming back into the harbor when we saw it." She leaned up to watch it fly, "That's fantastic."

Josh laughed, "Yeah, they are."

Dakota leaned back and put her head back on his shoulder. Josh smiled and put his hand between her knees. Her mind drifted back to when they were younger; Josh was nineteen, she was seventeen, and Jake was sixteen. Thinking back, she remembered the first time Josh brought one of his girlfriends home to meet Phil.

Dakota's parents and her were over for dinner and Josh walked in with a busty blonde and introduced her as Krissy. They all smiled and said hello; except Jake and Dakota. Phil and her mom got on to them for being "rude" as Krissy stood there, unable to keep her hands off of Josh while he was still in the same room as his father. All throughout dinner, her and Jake watched this girl as she put on a smiled for the adults but talked down to them. She has got to be the biggest bitch I have ever met, Dakota had thought to herself.

Finally after dinner, Josh took Krissy home and came back about four hours later. When he walked in, Phil asked him what had taken him so long. Josh shrugged, "I broke up with her and she pitched a fit."

Phil looked shocked, "Why? She was sweet, Josh!"

"Because dad," Josh said, walking over to the couch and sitting down on the arm rest, "did you see the way she acted? She acted like she didn't know how to keep her hands off of me while we were still around you guys, which is totally disrespectful in my opinion, and I don't like how she talked to Jake and Dakota. She treated them like they're idiots just because they're a few years younger than us. It pissed me off."

They all sat in silence for a few minutes until Phil smiled, "That's my boy! Always seein' through people's bull shit!"

Josh smiled as his dad ruffled his hair, "Thanks, dad."

Still looking through the windshield, Dakota looked up at Josh and smiled. He glanced down at her, "What?"

"I just remembered that time you brought Krissy over for dinner then broke up with her when you took her home," I shrugged.

Josh thought for a second then laughed, "I remember that. She was wearing that bright pink tank top and those ripped up jeans. She wasn't the best girl I ever brought home."

She shook my head, "Not really."

Josh pulled up at the docks and put the truck in park next to the Northwestern. "Well, we're here."