It wasn’t the worst deal, as long as Choppy Waters here kept his mouth shut about how much he paid. She didn’t have to clean up and hey, the fellow was even kind of cute.

She hadn’t noticed that kind of thing in some time.

Fanny waved her dismissal with her fingers, and kept her back to the window. She thought she’d be one of those fancy ladies with their own place by now, but here she was.

Though she did not volunteer the story, per se – if sailors asked after their compatriots, she wove a tale of a viking-tall and milk-pale fellow who melted like ice in bed.