Katie noticed Rob standing in the wheelhouse as he finished up his shift. She waved to him from the deck but only received a nod in reply. Kate figured her behavior the day before was the cause of his cool response. She headed across the rolling deck to make amends. "Good morning, Rob."

     "Miss," he replied without taking his eyes off the sea before him.

     "I got you into trouble with the captain, didn't I?"

     "Not much."

     "I'm sorry, Rob." She drew closer to him. "I tend to be impulsive."

     Rob looked at her at last. "My job is not a game, Miss Kate," he said shortly.

     "No, it isn't. It's exciting. If I weren't a reporter, I'd love to be a sailor but 'No women allowed', as usual."

     His eyes took in the knee breeches and boys shirt she wore. "Bein' a wife and mother counts for something. A man can't do that."

     "And neither can I... at least not until someone is daft enough to make me his wife."

     "Excuse me for sayin' so Miss Kate, but how is a man to be interested when you're dressed like a boy and doin' crazy things?"

     Katie sighed. It was the same question her father had posed to her for as long as she could remember. "I have no idea, but I'm not the kind of girl to stand around waitin' for Prince Charming to come rescue me from a high tower. I love high towers, don't you?"

     "I'm not fond of heights, but I do love the sea and I admire girls who take chances, but still I wouldn't be able to stand by and watch a girl I love doing things that might hurt her."

     She brought this uncomfortable conversation to an end. "You're a nice person, Rob. I hope you find a girl who will love you with all her heart."

     "And I hope you find a man who will do the same for you," he smiled.

     Clancey came around the corner at that moment to relieve the young sailor of his shift. "Out with you, lad," Clancey ordered. "We're headin' toward rough seas. Secure the deck and store the cargo below."

     "Should we batten the sails, Captain?" Rob asked.

     "No, lad. The storm might miss us yet. We can make better time if we leave them unfurled for now."

     "Aye, sir."

     "Take Katie here. She can help you below."

     The girl smiled at him, grateful to be trusted with another task. "Thank-you, Clancey."

     "Off with you before I change me mind."

     Katie helped Rob all morning. Lunch was a quick bite with the crew, then back to work. She passed Joshua only once that day as she carried sacks to Rob below.

     "Katie," he said and sneezed.

     "Bless you, Josh."

     "Katie, listen, I want to talk to you before we get to San Francisco."

     The girl's heart raced. "Josh, I'm sorry I was so rude last night, but I can't talk now, Rob's waiting for this." She scurried by him as quickly as she could.

     As the day wore on Kate found it difficult to work. Her clothes were still damp and stiff with sea salt. The only other outfit she had was her brown dress and she couldn't very well help on deck in that. Katie asked Rob if he had any extra clothes she could borrow. He went to his bunk and handed her a black wool sweater, canvas work pants and a knit cap, saying with a grin, "don't go falling overboard in these."

     "I won't," she pledged with a laugh.

     While Katie changed, Joshua holed himself up in his quarters with a headache and a queasy stomach. Long weeks with little sleep along with an unplanned swim in the frigid ocean had weakened the lumberman's normally robust constitution. It had been years since he had suffered even so much as a cold. He hated being sick, almost as much as he hated the way Kate was treating him.

     The logger buried his head under his pillow. Why couldn't life zip ahead a few weeks? He could be back home in Seattle surrounded by brides who appreciated him and cared for his every need. The young man groaned. How could he have fallen in love with Kate Macready? Hadn't he told everyone that working women were not his type?

     Katie returned topside dressed in Rob's clothes. Together with the others she cleared the deck of anything that might be washed overboard when the Seamus encountered the squall that was on its way.

     Lottie and Clancey stood together in the wheelhouse. "We're in for a rough ride, darlin'."

     "Will the Seamus hold up?"

     "I've no doubt about that. She's sailed through worse than this around the Horn."

     "How long before the storm hits, Fishface?"

     Clancey saw Kate in Rob's clothes coiling ropes at the edge of the deck. "I'll send young Rob to the crow's nest to see."

     Clancey slid open the window and called out, "Robby, lad, haul yourself up to the nest and check the horizon."

     The sailors working with Kate grinned. Noah McShane, the eldest and most experienced hand, chuckled. "Rob hate's climbin' the main mast. The captain is always sending him up. He thinks you're him."

     Kate's eyes twinkled at the challenge placed before her. "Mustn't disobey orders."

     "Robby, are you deaf," Clancey bellowed. "Get up there at once, sir".

     Before McShane could venture an objection, Kate made her way to the rigging. She scrambled up the ropes hand over hand, keeping her eyes fixed on the crow's nest above. Clancey turned to Lottie with a grin. "That Rob's a good lad but he's still a land lubber when it comes to scaling the mast. I'm glad he's finally found some spirit."

     "Look at him go," Lottie commented in awe.

     Clancey's crew shouted up their support to "Rob" carrying on the joke as long as possible.

     All the noise roused Joshua who came up from below to see what was happening.

     The breeze had grown in strength high above the ship. It took a real effort for Kate to remain anchored to the ropes. At one point her foot missed a rung and she swung around the underside of the rigging. No one below took a breath. McShane searched for the life belts and rings just in case.

     Kate regained her footing but Lottie had seen enough.

     "Tell him to come down, Clancey. It's too dangerous."

     "He'll make it, dearie. He's almost there."

     Kate swung herself safely into the enclosed platform to everyone's relief. With a deep breath she turned to survey the beauty of the world around her. The sun was dipping toward the horizon. Its rays painted the storm clouds with an otherworldly light. She looked to the south where rolling waves battered the lowering clouds ahead of them.

     Clancey turned the wheel over to one of his crew, and he and Lottie joined the others on deck.

     Joshua was impressed by the performance of the novice sailor.

     "The boy has more courage than I gave him credit for."

     McShane, heard his comment and chuckled. "Aye. Not many men would brave the nest in this gale."

     "Robby, lad, tell us what you see!" Clancey called.

     At that moment the real Rob reported on deck from below. "See what, sir?"

     "Robby!" He grabbed the boy by the shirt. "If you're here then...?"

     McShane laughed heartily as Joshua, Clancey and Lottie stared first at Rob then at the figure standing so far above them.

     "You ordered her to the nest, Captain." McShane reminded him with a grin.

     "The sea is in her blood," Rob added. "Just look at her."

     Joshua did. Kate hadn't taken her eyes off the horizon. At that moment a large wave rocked the ship causing everyone on board to stumble against each other. Kate grabbed the rail and bent down low to avoid being thrown from her perch. Instead of making a move to descend she waved and called down, "storm dead ahead, Captain!"

     At the sound of her voice Joshua's mood changed from disbelief to anger. This had to be the most dangerous situation he had ever seen her get herself into. "Kaitlyn Macready, you get down here right now." Josh commanded sharply.

     "You come up," she challenged.

     Every eye turned toward Joshua.

     "What do you say, lumberjack?" McShane grinned. "She had the guts to get herself into the nest. How about you?"

     Rob added quietly. "If you ever want her respect, Mr. Bolt, you'd better go up and get her."

     Joshua's head pounded and his stomach churned at the thought of climbing up that rigging after a girl who had ignored him and was now challenging his manhood. He would have gladly left her where she was if she weren't in real danger: a fall from that height would kill her.

     "All right!" he declared to the crew. "She wants me up there, huh?" He spat into the palms of his hands and rubbed them together. "She's going to wish she hadn't asked."

     "Go get her, Bolt." McShane cheered. "That's the spirit."

     Lottie called to him. "Be careful, Joshua." But her words were lost in the wind.

     Joshua grabbed a life belt and tied it around his waist. He slung another one over his left shoulder for Katie. Before he started his climb, he secured the end of a long coil of rope tightly above the belt.

     "Smart lad." Clancey approved of his plan. Lottie was puzzled so he explained. "He'll be an anchor for her." The woman smiled at the unintentional double meaning.

     When Joshua began scaling the mast, Katie was delighted. She never imagined that the levelheaded Bolt brother would take up her challenge. He was half way to the nest when a strong gust of wind rocked the ship over to the port side.

     "Don't look down, Josh. You'll make it," she called.

     He gazed straight up at her as he clung to the ropes. "Don't you move!"

     The fire in his eyes surprised her. For the first time in her life she was actually afraid of him. Katie wondered just how much damage she could do to herself if she dove into the sea from that height.

     Joshua's hands appeared over the railing. The wild cheering of the crew below gave him the energy he needed to swing himself over the top.

     Kate greeted him with a smile. "Excellent, Josh. I wish Jason and Jeremy could have seen you... "

     "What," he glowered at her as he caught his breath, "do you think you're doing up here?"

     "Enjoying the view. Just look at that horizon, Joshua. This is a memory we'll have forever."

     Joshua focused on her face as she pointed to the sky beyond. Her eyes were bright with excitement and awe. In that instant he knew in his heart that this was the face he wanted to see beside him every morning of his life. He would have kissed her again right then and there, if another wave hadn't rolled the tiny ship almost to her side. As the Seamus righted itself, Katie laughed.

     "That was a big one!" she yelled over the wind.

     Josh quickly slid the life belt from his shoulder and wrapped it around Kate's waist. "Do you realize how dangerous this is?"

     "I never stopped to think about things like that. My life would be so dull if I did."

     "If you don't stop to think," he said as he laced the cord securely, "you won't have any kind of life left at all."

     "I guess it's all in the way you look at life isn't it?" Kate retorted.

     "It is, and since you aren't using the sense God gave you to take care of yourself, you're going to have to see things my way until we get to San Francisco. Here, hold still." Joshua found the loose end of the rope and slipped that behind Kate then tied it over the life belt as tightly as possible.

     "What are you doing?" He didn't answer her. "Listen, Joshua, I'll climb down on my own when I'm ready." He continued making the knot fast. "When I first came to Seattle you promised to stay out of my way, remember?"

     "When you start treating your life like it's something you can throw away, I have to do something," he countered. "You're coming down right now."

     "I am not." Kate shouted over the wind.

     "Oh, yes, you are," Joshua yelled back, "because I happen to be in love with you, Kate Macready. That storm's going to hit us any second and if you're tossed into the sea I'll never get a chance to say all I've wanted to say to you."

     "Josh, I don't..." she tried to cut him off but he wasn't through.

     "...And if that's not reason enough, I'm fed up with the way you've been acting. If you don't start down those ropes in three seconds, I swear, I'm going to turn you over my knee."

     Katie was stunned into silence by his proclamation and his threat. Had he actually said he loved her? Would he really...

     "One," he counted.

     "Wait," Kate stopped him. "You also promised not to treat me like a child."

     Joshua's eyes narrowed, "Under the circumstances, I'm willing to make an exception...Two..."

     "I'll go down," she yelled, "but I want you to know I'm only leaving because the storm is coming and...", she couldn't hold back the truth, "and I want to hear what you have to say."

     "So noted, now get moving."

     As soon as her back was turned, Joshua breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't wanted to follow through on his threat. Happily for him she'd chosen to hear what he had to say.

     Joshua and Kate left the crow's nest just in time. Storm clouds swept over the Seamus, pelting them all with sheets of rain as they made their way to the deck.

     The sailors had no time to congratulate Joshua on his victory. They were far too busy trying to keep the tiny ship afloat.