The winter winds raged with near brute force as the icy rains rapidly descended in a torrential like tantrum. Brief but brilliantly vivid bolts illuminated the ominous ebony horizons at increasingly consistent intervals while wildly rumbling thunder clamored about in an irate and fury filled tirade so seemingly forceful it made the earth itself shiver and shake from deep within as the seriously, storm swollen seas persistently pulverized the defenseless shoreline with intent one could only accurately describe as ruthlessly ravenous. Borderline barbaric. Arrogantly and restlessly, nature in all her grand and erratic glory clearly possessed a wrath she felt compelled to vent in the most violent and volatile manner...each white capped wave seemed somehow more ferocious than the last as the season altering squall marched a maliciously mighty track over the ocean.
There was an almost surreal aura to the night...an odd air that seemed to suggest that something mystical was at work as the winds and rains ranted and raged, battering the small seaside community mercilessly...intently...the storm displayed no indications that its frighteningly fierce intensity was lessening to any real extent, as tropical storms so often tended to do once that made direct contact with a landmass.
Standing alone before her small office window that allowed her a direct view of the beach as well as the docks where commercial and recreational vessels were securely docked for the duration of the storm, Catalina Carson couldn't help but tremble inside as she listened to the waves crashing...peaking...crashing again and again as the squall flexed its muscles with such potency Catalina briefly allowed herself to wonder if she and Noah would have a single vessel left undamaged when the storm finally parted, allowing the dawn to brake.
It was a troubling thought, that the business could suffer even a minor loss, though Noah had repeatedly and firmly assured her that wasn't likely to happen, as he had personally secured each of their ten ships himself and for the sake of her peace of mind as well as his, he was out there now, in the heart of the storm, double checking each vessel with all his usual, intensive observation.
"Don't worry so much, love." He had paused to wink at her on his way out the door, his golden blond hair already a mess even as he quickly flipped up the hood on his damp rain slicker. "We have weathered storms before and we will weather this one." He was always so confident and sure...so positive...so damn quick to reassure her each time he sensed she was at all worried or concerned.
"Storms just make me nervous." She tried to brush it off with a shrug before cautioning him to be careful, which drew another smile that lingered in her mind as he slipped out the door, leaving her alone to ponder her thoughts while she stood in the same office that had once belonged to her father.
First founded by Clint Carson, Carson's Commercial Fishing had, over the long years, become an increasingly successful venture that Clint had been pleased to leave to both Catalina and Noah when he had quietly passed away the year before after a nearly two and a half year long battle with cancer.
It was upon learning that her father was ill that Catalina had left school in New York to return home to be at his side, to help him with the business...to there to hold his hand when the chemo and the drugs made him so sick that when he looked at her, he called her by her mother's name, often believing that his precious Nina had come back to him at long last; he had believed that Nina was there to help him cross to the other side where they could finally be together again at long last, some twenty years after Nina had died in a car accident during a rare trip to the mainland.
Only five at the time her mother died, Catalina held few clear memories, most of what she knew about Nina, she had learned from her father over the years...she had learned that her mother had possessed a passion for life, for learning, for living each and every moment for all it was worth and the numerous photographs that had set around the house as a shrine to Nina had made it clear early on that Catalina would, physically, he identical to her mother in every sense, save her hazel brown eyes that she had inherited from Clint.
However, that one feature aside, she was Nina; she was the same petite five three and her coffee colored curls and ivory skin were just as her mother's had been...her smile and high cheekbones and full lips...it had been easily to understand why Clint had often confused her with her mother during his less than lucid state and Catalina had never tried to correct him or remind him that Nina was dead, choosing instead that it would be her gift to him to allow him to believe his beloved Nina lingered close.
"It's good that you do that for him." Noah had commented once, near the end, when he had overheard Clint call Catalina Nina as she set beside him. "I think it gives him peace, and I think he needs that now." He had cleared his throat then, an indication that he realized how close to the surface his own emotions actually were as he faced the bitter reality that the man he had thought of as a father would soon pass on.
Noah's pain, the fear he felt, had been obvious to Catalina and she had often offered a word of comfort...told him she understood...he had naturally done the same for her, and after Clint passed with both of them sitting at his side, Noah held Catalina and allowed her to sob in his arms while he told her again and again that he was sorry...so sorry...she had seemed like a child when he held close during those first hours after Clint had drawn his final breath and for a time, Noah had hoped, had believed, that he and Catalina could rebuild the close, almost tangible emotional connection they had once shared.
Twenty two to the twelve that Catalina had been when he first came to Rapture Island, looking for a few start, Noah Hanson had instantly felt drawn to Catalina when she arrived at the docks one afternoon, fresh from school, filled with smiles meant only for her father, who had grinned the moment he saw her running towards where he stood with Noah.
Noah had been under Clint's employment for nearly two weeks, when Catalina came to the docks, and he had already decided that he liked the older man who made it clear that he was, above all else, fair and honesty, though it quickly became evident to Noah that Clint was utterly and completely devoted to his little girl.
Clint made the introductions that day and Catalina smiled when she offered a hand to Noah that he shook in the instant before she bombarded him with questions as only an open, affection twelve year old could; where was he from...why had he come to Rapture Island...how old was he...did he like working for her father and did he know that she helped her daddy out during the summer...the questions were fired rapidly and Noah answered them as best as he could, keeping the answers simple, knowing there was no gentle way to explain to such a sweet child what had really prompted him to leave his life in Chicago behind.
Granted, Clint knew...Noah had told him from the word go where he was from and what he was leaving behind, or trying to leave behind, at least, and to Noah's relief, Clint had offered him compassion and sympathy rather than the scorn or disgust that Noah had been prepared to face.
It wasn't until years later, shortly after she turned sixteen, that Catalina finally learned, for herself, the secretes that Noah kept and hearing the truth made it easy for her to understand the pain that often flared in his eyes...made her understand why he seemed so sad at times, if she came up on him to find him staring out at the ocean, lost in himself and what she came to call his bitter memories.
In the end, it was Noah who told her, having first received permission to do so from Clint who had given him the go ahead when Noah explained that he wanted the truth about his past to come to Catalina from him.
"I know that, aside from you, no one around here knows about my past, that I know of, at least but I..." He had shaken his head. "If someone does happen to know, I don't want it to come out that way with Catalina, because she deserves to hear it from me." He had a true, deep affection for the girl, she had welcomed him into her life with Clint without hesitation or grudge, having told him once that she was glad he was around to add to the family she had; she was glad he had come to Rapture Island...her innocent acceptance had been something of a healing balm to his heart over the years and Noah found he could only pray that Catalina would still accept him once she heard the truth.
He waited until she seemed old enough to comprehend and understand and by the time she was sixteen, it appeared to Clint and Noah that she was wise and mature beyond her years and Noah used that knowledge to give himself some peace as he set with her on the front porch one night, while Clint handled some paper work in the den and it was sitting there that Noah gently told her he had something he needed to discuss with her.
As he said the words, she looked at him with a gentle smile that made her eyes warm and bright and trusting.
