Mike let the small spiral notebook fall behind his back, hiding it with the breadth of his body as Rachel appeared on the lookout. “I am sorry I made you come looking for me,” he offered. “I was going to come down in a few minutes, ja?”<br/><br/>When Rachel didn’t accept that excuse, he offered more. “When I was making dinner I noticed there was a telescope up here, and I have always liked looking into space.” He paused and reflected a moment. “When you’re out at sea for so long, the only thing that seems constants are the stars in the sky,” he smiled disarmingly and looked up at the sky. “I think when the first sailors took to the water, ja? They felt this same thing. It is hard to leave one’s family, one’s village, for the isolation of the sea. The sky becomes your mistress, and you learn to trust her.”<br/><br/>He patted the seat next to him. “Come take a look, ja? The Southern Sky is a whole new heavens to explore.”<br/><br/>As they sat quietly, Mike made another soft comment. “When I am at sea and looking up at the stars, I can often hear the mates on the deck below playing billiards. The balls colliding make a very distinctive sound, ja?” His expression turned ironic at his inadvertent double entendre. “Anyway, this place is already starting to feel like home, and that’s a good thing, ja?”<br/><br/>Mike leaned back to gaze at the stars while Rachel used the telescope, his forearm went right behind the small of her back, allowing her to curl against it as she looked to the stars. Absently, Mike pushed his notebook a little further away.