Love often waits around unexpected bends, or when two boats pull alongside each other. One never knows.

Thank you for reading this tale of two wounded souls. As always, please take time to rate it.

Catching more than my limit

"Name's Warren. Reserved a boat and three rings. Half day."

"Give me just a minute. I've got the boat out and everything in it already. In fact, if you want to walk down, it's the first boat on the left, but I'll be right down."

I had only put my cooler in when he showed up..

"You're Alex, right?"

"Yeah. I come here a couple of times a year to rent from you."

"I thought I recognized you. How have you been?"

"Oh, you know. I woke up this morning and I'm vertical. Where have people been catching 'em?"

He pointed to the tank that was a local landmark. Same place I always go.

"I got your bait here. I threw in an extra for each ring as well. I appreciate your business."

"Thanks, Tom." I suddenly remembered his name.

I got in and arranged everything, checked the fuel level and started the motor. After making sure it was in neutral, I stood and untied the lines and pushed away from the dock.

It was about a 10 minute run down river to the bay. Perfect day for crabbing, and good timing. Light cloud cover, so I was not likely to burn. I wore my usual beat-up hat.

High tide was just over an hour away, and there was not a huge difference between the high and the next low. Perfect.

It was good in one more way. Late September, into the better part of the crabbing season.

I liked getting away when I could. Return to happy places where I spent a lot of childhood and teenage years. Dad taught me to crab. Died 5 years ago.

My attention was on the area ahead of me. I thought I'd drop one somewhere there. I liked to space them 200-300 yards apart at first. That gave me enough time to motor back to the first to see if I had anything.

My wife learned to like crabbing with me. We'd spend half a day doing that, and then she wanted to walk on the beach. I liked that. Holding her hand as we walked and talked.

Gone 21 months now.

Prepped the first ring. Double bait in the basket. Tossed it out of the boat and held the float long enough to ensure the ring was upright so it would lay flat on the bottom.

She helped put me through school. We only had one child, Melissa, because Clarissa almost died giving birth. Melissa is my pride and joy. Twenty-one now, a senior at Harvard and planning on law school.

I fixed the bait in the next ring and dropped it. My floats were yellow with red tips. The boat landing's name crudely written on it.

Cancer. She was in pain and there was nothing I could do about it. A three-year struggle.

I motored over where there were other floats and circled around to pick a spot at least 50 yards away. The rings at least had a nice basket design to hold the bait. I remembered buying frozen fish heads. A hole drilled through the eye sockets. Attaching them with a crude clip, like a giant safety pin--without the safety part.

In the water and clear of the float. This first time, the bait needed to thaw for the crabs to find it, but when they did, they were usually ravenous.

I slowly motored back almost a half mile to the first float. I drew lazy circles around it, wanting to wait another 10 minutes.

A degree in construction management. Same as my first job.

Crabbing alone was challenging. With a second person, one could steer at the float and the other, in front, could grab it.

I decided to flip residential properties. I got good at it. Eventually, I often had six properties being remodeled. I liked to start a new one about every 6-8 weeks, depending on crews available.

I spiraled toward the float. Slowly now. Watching both sides. It was on my right. I flipped the motor to neutral and reached down to grab the float.

Damn!

Another spiral approach. Success this time. I stood in the little boat, pulling the rope up as fast as I could. I hate watching crabs climb out.

Not this time though. Not a single crab in the ring. Only seaweed. Not a good area for crabs. I kept it in the boat and motored toward the second.

The night she died, I had just visited her in the hospital.

"Go Alex. Get some dinner."

I reluctantly went down to the cafeteria. She was gone when I returned.

I pulled up the second ring. This had a lot of crabs. I set it down in the boat and began tossing out the red crabs and the ones that were too small. The females went over the side next. I grabbed the gauge and began checking the males. Most went back in, probably to take another run at my bait.

Two keepers went in my ice chest, after I scooped a little water into it.

It has haunted me she died alone.

That ring went back in.

I moved off 100 yards and dropped the other.

The funeral was tough enough, but I had Melissa beside me, holding my hand.

Twenty-two years. Where did they go?

The tough part came after Melissa left. I had four houses being remodeled, but they needed my attention. Another had just been listed for sale. Needed to check on each crew's work and look for another suitable project.

I closed in on the third ring. To my frustration, it took three tries. I pulled it up and found three crabs. One was legal. That ring went back in.

I motored over near a buoy marking the shipping lane. A pelican sat on top, eyeing me. I stared at him. Could be a her. Don't know much about birds.

The death certificate arrived in the mail. Ten copies, and one went to our life insurance agent. Two weeks later, he brought a check for $1 million. I wish I had bought more.

That check gave me great liquidity. In reality, I was in good shape financially. House paid for. No debt. We finished all the projects and sold them. I cleared just over a half million profit that year.

Time to check another ring.

I pulled one up and found another full ring. About 25 crabs. After tossing back the obvious small or female ones and measuring the others, I had two more keepers. Five now.

I finally built the home for our retirement. Then restlessly wandered around an empty house.

A splash and the ring went down again.

When I lived on or near the coast, I owned two commercial crab pots. Crabs pushed open a one-way door to enter. Small crabs could get out. Even small fish. Large crabs couldn't.

With that death benefit and the profit I booked that year and all the previous years, I had almost $13 million. No debt. I didn't spend much. I only took out about $4,000 a month and about a thousand of that went into savings.

I should have traveled more with Clarissa. I kept telling her we would. Later. Only I never did. Except here. She loved walking on the beach.

The next ring, the one nearby, was also promising. Full of crab. All rejects. I dropped the ring there again and motored in the direction of the last ring.

I had $12 million in a managed account. I had earned 8% the previous year, but I expected to average about 4%. My financial advisor expected a little more, but I had learned to be conservative in such things. Risk taking on real property was something I understood and could manage.

The last ring produced two more legal crabs. Not just the legal 5 and 3/4 inches. Both were almost 8 inches. Seven in my cooler now. I dropped the ring again.

As I sat down and reached for the throttle, another small boat eased up alongside. Private, not rented. Two women.

"Hi, are you having any luck?"

"I've caught 7 so far. The last two were about 8 inches across. How about you?"

"Nothing."

"Try dropping your ring between here and the one over there."

They thanked me and dropped it.

I headed back to my first ring.

Buying the headstone was a tough moment. I had written down her name and the dates carefully, so I wouldn't make a stupid mistake. A couple of weeks later, they called to say it had been installed. I went to see it and sat by her grave and cried.

Seeing her name there. It was suddenly painfully real.

Normally, she would have steered the boat, and I would have pulled up the rings. Clarissa was good at picking up a crab from behind and not getting pinched. Except for the red rock crabs. They could stick their sharply-pointed legs anywhere. I handled those. Now and then, one drew blood.

I came here because my concentration was shit. Start one thing, then another. Nothing finished.

I pulled up the next ring. It seemed heavy as I pulled it. As it broke the surface, crabs were falling off the edges. The ring was full.

It was a wild free-for-all as I chased down the fugitives that had hidden under things in the boat. Hanging onto ropes. There were four keepers. One away from my limit.

I wasn't sure what to do with this many. I would have Tom cook them, and I would clean them there. On ice in my cooler, but then what? I couldn't eat that many.

Clarissa and I met in high school, but we didn't date until we were seniors. We never dated anyone else. We both went to Oregon State and got married after our sophomore year.

The next ring worried me. It would likely put me over the limit. As I approached, I saw the two women. I waved them over.

"Any luck yet?"

"No, still nothing."

"Actually, you just caught five. Use one of your ropes to tie our boats together. Then put your cooler in reach."

I got my cooler and took 5 crabs and put them in theirs.

"Are you sure about that? That's incredibly generous."

"Nonsense. I'm out here to get away and relax. Been doing this for years. Might need to get rid of a few more, so don't go far."

They untied the rope, and I looked for my next float. Three more legal. I gave them to the women.

The younger woman was sitting closest to me.

"I see you rented at the landing. That's where I've got this boat berthed this summer."

"You live around here?"

"Nye Beach. I grew up in Toledo, just up river. Where are you from?"

"Originally Salem, then Corvallis, then a couple of years at Lincoln City. Summers growing up, I spent a lot of time all up and down the coast. St. George now."

I looked at the time. Slack tide was nearly over, so the crabs might be hunkering down and not feeding if there was a current. I had enough anyway.

"I'm going to head back in. Name's Alex."

"I'm Heidi, and this is my out-of-town friend, Ashlynn. You made her day, because she's going to have me take her picture holding two crabs so she can send it to friends."

"Glad I could help. Have a nice time."

I picked up each ring and just dumped the contents. I took a little time to pull off seaweed and toss the bait. The pelican swooped in and dove for the bait.

Twenty minutes later I was back at the dock. Tom saw me coming and walked down.

"Any luck?"

"I caught 14 but gave 8 away to a couple of women."

"White boat with a big Merc?"

"Yup. Know them?"

"Heidi. She ties up here every summer. Can't catch crabs to save her soul."

"Well, she got 8 today. Wanna fire up your cooker for me?"

"Happy to. You gonna clean them after?"

"Yeah, I'm here renting for a couple of weeks."

"Heidi's a bank manager. Actually, as of a few months ago, a regional manager. Got the coast."

"Hmmm"

Tom started his cooker. It was in a little shed. Looked like an outhouse in a state of disrepair.

"I'll be right back to put 'em in. Gotta ring up a customer. No, wait. Margaret just waved. She's got it."

He got my crabs and checked one for size.

"I don't know why I checked. Habit, I guess. You've got a lot more experience than me and never keep ones that aren't legal."

We sat and talked while the crabs cooked. When they were done, I carried the cooler back down to the docks, where he had a couple of faucets with cut off hoses, and big counter surface with a drain. I filled the cooler with water and waited for the crabs to cool so I could handle them. Tom was back up in the store.

I dumped out the water and just then Tom showed up with a bag of ice.

"Pay me when you finish."

"Thanks, Tom."

I started in. Tear off the shell and throw it in the garbage can. Break off the claws and the pinchers. Into the cooler. Clean out the inner parts with the hose. Body into the cooler. On ice.

Rinse and repeat.

"Hey, Alex!"

I turned around. Heidi.

"Where's Ashlynn?"

"She went up to get Tom. We were having trouble carrying the cooler."

"Nonsense. Let me get it for you."

I looked toward the store and saw Ashlynn and Tom. I yelled to him and pointed to their boat. He understood.

Heidi walked with me.

"Did you catch any after I left?"

"One. Six inches."

"So, you have nine?"

"Yeah. Thanks for being so generous."

"It's nothing."

"No, it is something, and thank you for carrying the cooler for me."

When I got to her boat, I tried picking up the cooler. It weighed a ton. I looked inside. Somehow they had filled it with water. I pulled it out, set it on the deck and poured most of the water out.

"I didn't think of that."

"Water is 8 pounds a gallon. You probably had over two gallons there. Maybe 20 pounds of water."

I carried the cooler to the outhouse. Tom was waiting and had it fired up. In went the nine crabs.

"Do you know how to clean them?"

"Sort of."

"While we wait, come with me and I'll show you."

Soon, Heidi and I were working hard. She was a quick study. Ashlynn, on the other hand, almost puked at the sight, and disappeared into the store. Heidi was laughing.

"She's a dear friend, but next to useless outdoors."

Tom carried her cooler down. I showed her how to fill it with water from the hose and cool the cooked crabs.

"I'm sure I can manage it now. Thanks, Alex. You've been wonderful."

"I'm in no hurry. I'll help you clean them."

"No wife to get home to?"

I just shook my head. Too emotional to speak.

"Oh, Alex, I'm so sorry. How long has it been?"

"Twenty-one months."

Her eyes were wet.

"I'm so sorry. You're young to have lost your wife. How old was she?"

"Forty-four. We'd been married for 22 years."

"Cancer?"

I nodded.

Heidi washed her hands and held my arm as she leaned her head against it. She didn't say anything for several seconds.

"You're a sweet man. What was her name?"

I didn't have anything to wipe my eyes with, so I just squeezed out tears that ran down my cheeks.

"Clarissa."

"That's a pretty name. Do you have children?"

"One. Melissa. She's at Harvard."

We cleaned the last of her catch. I picked up my cooler to leave, but Heidi stopped me.

"Alex, wait. Ashlynn is leaving in the morning. Could I take you to dinner tomorrow night?"

"I don't want to be rude, but aren't you a little young for me?"

She gave me an amused look. "How old do you think I am?"

I walked right into that. Guess high, and you hurt a woman's feelings.

"I figured about 33."

"Why thank you. I'm 38."

I laughed. "Ok, show some ID."

"I feel like I've been carded."

She reached into the wallet she had in her back pocket and fished out her driver's license. I studied it.

"Let's see, Heidi R. Morgan."

I made a show of comparing the photo.

"I guess that's you. Ummm, weight ..."

"Ok, you can skip that part."

It was 120.

"Date of birth ... Well, that's a surprise. 38. Is it a fake ID?"

"Why would I need a fake ID to appear older at my age?"

"Good point. Still, you really don't need to take me to dinner. Your thanks is enough."

"I'm not asking you out to thank you. I want to go on a date with you."

"Well, that's not what I expected."

"Alex, be honest with me. Have you been out with anyone since Clarissa died?"

"No."

"Look. I'm divorced. I caught my ex cheating on me. No children, because he didn't want any. That was 18 months ago. Ashlynn told me it was time for me to get out there again, whatever that means."

"Is her advice better than her crabbing?"

We both laughed. Heidi leaned her head against my arm again as she laughed.

"The truth is, she suggested I ask you out. I told her there was no way, but she pointed out you are kind and handsome. I had to admit that."

"Well, all right. Where?"

"Where what? Oh, dinner! There's a restaurant near my house in the Nye Beach area called Zurita's. Spanish food. Tapas. Everything is fresh and wonderful. Have you been there?"

"I haven't but it sounds great."

"Give me your phone and open a new contact. I'll enter my number and my address. Come get me at 7 tomorrow night."

"Ok. My first date with someone new since my senior year in high school."

"Really? Did they have public schools then?"

"Are you sure you want to go down that road?"

"Positive. I gotta know whether you can deal with it."

I laughed and thanked her.

"I'll see you at seven tomorrow night."

There's nothing like fresh catch

I set the cooler outside. Crab has a pungent smell, and the owner of the rental was specific about no cleaning or cooking inside. There was a table on the patio, so I went out there with a small plastic bucket and a container for the crab meat. With a pair of pliers and some toothpicks, it took about an hour, but I had a healthy amount of crab meat in the refrigerator. I took the garbage out to the side of the house where the big can was.

I decided to go to the store and get some lettuce and stuff to make a large crab salad. I stared at the dressings. My favorite is blue cheese.

Back at the rental, I spent twenty minutes cutting up lettuce and tomatoes and a few mushrooms and made a huge salad. Half of the crab went on it.

It was a great meal. There's nothing quite like fresh crab.

A big box store in St. George often has Dungeness crabs. Whole crabs. Wrapped in cellophane on one of those trays they use in the meat department. Never cared to try one.

I sat down to read one of the books I had brought, but my thoughts were distracted.

Heidi.

I looked forward to the date. It was time, I supposed. One can only self-heal in part, or at least that's what a friend in St. George told me. Easy for him to say. He went out and found a babe half his age. I haven't been convinced that's self-healing. More like delusional.

Thirty-eight. That's a reasonable age. Does she want children? How would I feel about that?

I shook my head and reminded myself this was a first date for dinner.

I tried reading again. My phone pinged.

A text from Heidi on WhatsApp. There was a photo of Ashlynn and Heidi holding up a salad bowl.

Alex--Thank you again for your kindness today. Ashlynn and I just finished our crab salad. It was fabulous. It was a good day. --Heidi

I smiled at the photo. Heidi cleaned up well.

I'm a dating disaster

The next day, I spent a couple of hours at the aquarium and had lunch on the waterfront. As I walked back to my car, I realized I should take flowers to Heidi, since I was picking her up at her house. I had no idea where to get flowers on a Saturday, so I drove to the largest grocery store I knew of. I bought a nice bouquet of various flowers, some with autumn colors.

When I got home, I realized I hadn't shaved for three days. That was something of a painful project, but I finally looked less bum-like.

My next worry was what to wear. I knew fine dining doesn't exist very many places on the coast, so I didn't need anything too fancy. I looked through what I had packed and found a decent pair of cargo pants and a shirt with a button-down collar. I wasn't sure whether to button it down or not. Something I'd never worried about before.

I rapidly reached the conclusion I was a dating disaster. I just hadn't planned on any such possibility.

A few minutes before 7, I pulled up in front of Heidi's house, took a deep breath, and carried the flowers on my trek to the door. I took another deep breath and rang the doorbell.