“Okay, Helen. Have it your way. For now anyway.”The tension which had built as he asked her to marry him dissipated and she relaxed into his arms ...again. She realised that the cabin was getting very gloomy. “What’s the time?”“Nearly four o’clock.”“Oh. Kisses, please.”That delayed matters for at least half an hour until Helen stirred. “I need to go home to shower and change. Will you come round in an hour or so? I have a fancy for Italian cooking and a bottle of good wine. With you. And no, you. “Thanks, Steve.”“You’re welcome, Squirt.”We had our family dinner and then our Christmas celebration. My gifts were pretty typical — clothes, a couple of books, and most importantly, four boxes of floppy disks. I also got a subscription to Strategy & Tactics, a wargame magazine published by SPI. The family gift was an Atari 2600 video game system. I expected that Jeff would try to hog it for himself. Larry, Jennifer, Joyce, Melanie, and I would exchange gifts at the party, while Becky and I. At that point I had been on the island for eight months. And I was beginning to wonder why I hadn’t moved there earlier. Each day was exactly like the last – hot and sunny. I spent most nights down at Sherry’s hanging around with Reg. But there were some nights when he was off doing whatever he did. I still didn’t go anywhere without him to buffer me. Because I was STILL an anti-social piece of shit. But I was getting much better.Every boat requires a lot of maintenance. Especially the wooden. ”She swung her attention to Pete. “How much have yougot?”Pete raised his eyebrows at me. “About $25, I guess.”“Not exactly a top offer,” she said. “You give sometart $500 earlier tonight and I have to do the same jobfor $35. And, according to you, I look better than shedid. What am I supposed to say to that?”“You’re supposed to turn it down,” I said, looking forthe exit line. “And we’re supposed to go.