Ten-thirty-three. No sign of her yet. But she was twelve minutes early at the restaurant – more than that. There before I arrived twelve minutes early. Maybe time is less important to her – being late might be the same thing as being early.

No, she's a scientist, accustomed to precision.

Should I post a message to remind her? Would that seem pushy?

Darn! Maybe she's posted one to me. I rushed down the steps, picked up my phone, thumbed in and went to the app. Oh, stupid! Missed her message – thirty-four minutes ago.

Dare I look at it? Is she begging off?

But I need to know, so I can move on. I held my breath as I touched the heart icon, and when her message appeared, I blew it out in a loud sigh. Oh, how sweet!

I read the message a second time, extracting innuendo from her everything else. And so hot.

Need to let her take the lead with this, though; she seems more fragile than am I. Don't want to push her into anything that might be triggering.

I glanced at the time – ten thirty-four. Then I rushed up the steps to the cockpit, took the binoculars from the bin again and scanned along Marinaside Crescent and up Davie Street. That might be her – long black hair and powerwalking down Davie. I examined other possibilities, dismissing the saunterers, the dog walkers and those headed away.

Then focused again on the powerwalker, I blew a loud breath as I watched her bounciness. Yeah, that's Roxy. Tossing the binoculars onto the settee cushions, I turned and bolted through the transom and lept onto the float. Slow down, boy. Too eager. This is how accidents happen. Besides, a normal pace will get me to the gate while she's still coming down the ramp.

As I walked along the float, she waved at me, causing my gut to twinge. Yeah, Doc was right – I do need companionship.

I opened the gate for her as she approached, then as she entered, I wrapped her in a hug and planted a light kiss on her lips. "Safer to return this today than it would have been last night."

She blushed and nodded. "Ummm, yeah. Uh – sorry I'm late. The wine shop doesn't open until ten-thirty."

"You needn't have bothered, Roxy; I have a large, diverse wine cellar aboard." I extended my hand. "Allow me to carry your shopping."

As we approached Tastevin, she said, "What a prime location you have, Xander. The heart of the city. Your monthly fees must be huge."

"No, very reasonable, less than two hundred. But there's –"

"What? For this? My mooring's well over than double that – four fifty-two for my little thirty-one-foot slip."

I chuckled as I assisted her from the float onto the transom platform. "No, that's the monthly strata fees. Add the city tax, it's almost the same as yours."

"Strata?"

"The marina was set up as a strata-ownership – still the only one in Vancouver. I bought four slips when they first came onto the market in 2002. This one and the next three."

"Oh! Looks like you rent those out."

"I do. Annual leases." I hefted the bag and nodded toward the companionway. "Come, let's go below; some of this likely needs to be in the fridge. Did you find scallops?"

"I did. A bin of huge Fanny Bay IQF – just beginning to defrost."

"Were there no fresh?"

"These are better than fresh, Xander. We've no indication how long some of those take to reach the market nor how long they sit around in the store's case. These go from harvesting to shucking to individual quick freezing, and that affects neither their texture nor their delicate flavours. The better seafood places open a few bags at a time for those wanting smaller amounts."

"Interesting. Never stopped to consider that."

As we descended the steps, she said, "Oh, my! So huge. And so clean and fresh. I love the smell of lavender."

"Hunh? Oh, the fabric softener – thanks for reminding me. Forgot to take the laundry out of the drier. I'll do that later."

We stood in silence at the bottom of the steps for a while as she bobbed her head and examined her surroundings, then she said, "I should put the wine and scallops in the fridge. Where is it?"

"They're around on the other side of the galley island."

"They? More than one? Yes, of course, fitted-out for offshore."

"Yeah. Sorry, not accustomed to guests aboard. I should have offered you a tour. Acquaint you with what's where."