“Chad is mad? At what?”
Merissa watched Skip squirm. “Well, he finally got it through his head that it wasn’t me that paid for the tickets for this cruise, and now he’s all mad about what that could mean.”
“And what could that mean? Maybe his parents gave him an early Christmas gift, so he’d slow down at work. Did he think of that?” Merissa asked.
“It’s complicated. The tickets came in the mail – from the North Pole.”
Merissa’s smile was weak. “Maybe his mother is playing Mrs. Claus?”
Skip looked intently at Merissa. “Suppose. But if she did, then she must have handpicked you and Amy for us too. I saw the exact manila envelope in your stateroom. Do you not find that peculiar?”
Merissa gulped back the fear of the confrontation. Only fear of the Lord was an acceptable response – never would she bow again to the terror that paralyzed her to the spot. She did not have the answers Skip sought, but today, they needed to settle this misunderstanding.
“I don’t claim to understand how or why you received your envelope, but for Amy’s sake, I will tell you how I received mine. My fiancé purchased this Christmas cruise for us as a honeymoon gift. He gave it to me the day he died.” Merissa took a deep breath and continued. “A few weeks later in a fit of anger, I took the entire contents and shredded it, swearing I would never go on this vacation without him.”
“But you are here, with Amy?”
“I’m not finished my story. Months later, I received in the mail the same manila envelope –in one piece and in good standing with the cruise lines. I most likely would have ignored it had Amy not been there when it arrived. She talked me into coming, to start living again.”
“Chad mentioned that you said a final goodbye to your boyfriend. He thought everything was on the up and up and then I blew it yesterday by convincing him I didn’t pay for the tickets. You see, they arrived in his mailbox much the same way yours did. He assumed the gift was all my doing, and since the vacation had a Christmas theme, he couldn’t refuse. I stopped trying to convince him otherwise – until I saw your envelope and drew all the wrong conclusions.”
“Such as?”
“You don’t need to know.” Skip looked uncomfortable in his skin.
“You think I sent two complete strangers tickets. For what purpose?” Merissa did not wait for him to answer. “Perhaps you should be the one trying to convince me you two were not the senders of my envelope. I personally find it difficult to believe the North Pole glued the pieces together to return my honeymoon gift – without the husband.”
Skip whistled. “See where that might be a hard pill to swallow.”
“Very hard. But I relinquished my hesitation and came to enjoy myself. I have – until now. I do not care what you think of me, I only care that you know Amy is a wonderful person and should think twice before you throw her as feed to the sharks.”
“I really like Amy. I wouldn’t hurt her – not on purpose.”
“Then go to the deck and talk to her. You two are good together.”
“What about Chad? He’s pacing that tiny floor in our room like a caged animal.”
“He must deal with his own ghosts.” Merissa stood to her feet. “Tell Amy I’ve gone for ice cream.” She walked toward the elevator feeling Skip’s gaze on her back the entire time. After she’d gotten a two-tiered cone, she peeked onto the deck and was pleased to see that Skip had followed her suggestion. He and Amy sat holding hands and engrossed in conversation.
Merissa’s feet took her to the stern of the ship, to the place where she’d discovered freedom. How could Chad just accept the idea that she’d planned to manipulate him right from the start? She’d bared her soul to him – he’d kissed her, twice, and sent a beautiful letter to her room. She felt betrayed, and, yes, heartbroken. Amy would forgive and forget in a heartbeat, but for her the process would take longer. She dissected feelings and actions far too much. It was a weakness she longed to throw in the ocean this very minute.
A man walked toward Merissa, his steps rhythmic and determined. He was older, probably in his mid-thirties. The intensity of his stare caused her to turn toward the ocean to avoid him. She whispered to settle her nerves. “One – I can still hear his steps, two – I feel the urgency of his mission and it scares me, three – please just pass on by, four – the steps have stopped and I can feel his breath on my neck.”
Merissa whirled around to face a stranger who wore a wicked smirk she’d like to push back inside his mouth with her fist. But he had other plans with his mouth. The man was quick and agile and she found herself trapped. With the rail digging into the middle of her back, his body pasted tight against hers, and his two arms grasping the irons on both sides of her, he kissed her with brutal strength.
Merissa pushed hard on his chest and bit his lip hard. He withdrew and instead of pain and rejection, she saw a sadistic glee in his icy eyes. She brought her knee up, but he intercepted and held her with a fierce intensity that frightened her.
“Now stop you fighting, little Miss. The only reason folks run off alone is for privacy, and I know you’ve been looking my way.”
“You know nothing of the sort! You followed me like the predator you are.”
“Predator – I like the way you say that. Say it again, sweetie-pants.”
Suddenly, the man jerked backward, and caught off guard, stumbled. Merissa’s hands flew to her mouth to stop the scream. It was Chad to the rescue. He must have come to their spot looking for her. Thank God he did not draw the wrong conclusion about her close proximity to the man he tangled with now. Chad’s hits were direct, and his well-trained muscles provided a hard punch upon impact. The man’s lips were bleeding and there was a gash across his forehead where he’d landed on a sharp edge.
“Hey man,” he started to say when Chad landed another punch. “I didn’t know she was your girl. Honest. Just out looking for a little fun.”
“You’re drunk, and that is not acceptable on this cruise.” Chad folded the man’s arms up his back and wrenched hard. The stranger squealed. “Now, let’s go to the desk and see what the administration has to say about you.” Chad never took his eyes off the man but called out to Merissa. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” Merissa never added what she felt – now that you’re here. Chad nodded her way and when he started back, she followed close behind.
An hour later, the report was written up, and the man placed under watch until the next stop. The law there would escort the attacker to the airport and put him on a plane home.
Chad moved to where Merissa stood. She still shook. “You’re in shock. I think you need to see the doctor,” said Chad.
Merissa let the bottled-up tears flow. “Can you just hold me?”
Chad led Merissa to a small couch tucked in the corner. He folded her into his arms and she gratefully buried her head on his chest. Disjointed murmurs stumbled from her lips while she cried out in confusion.
“Why me, Chad? I didn’t entice him. Why did he come after me?” She sobbed again, and he continued to pull her head back into the shelter of his arms. “Just cry it out. He’s the loser, Merissa. Snuck the booze in his carry on. He’s a recovering alcoholic who fell off the wagon last night. Guess, you crossed his path at the wrong time.”
Merissa clung to Chad, and eventually, the weeping became hiccups and choking snivels.
Chad pushed her face back so he could see her. “Merissa forgive me for being such an idiot. I believed a silly notion and don’t deserve you.”
It felt good to think about something else. “You really thought I could manipulate someone’s life? Do you know me at all, Chad?” Merissa asked.
“Not nearly as much as I want to. I’ve been praying you’d give me another chance.”
“You’ve talked to Skip?”
“Briefly. Long enough for him to apologize for his crazy idea and tell me to hunt you down, get on my knees, and win you back.”
When Chad began to shift into
the kneeling position, Merissa held him firmly on the seat. “You don’t need to beg, Chad.”
“Skip is busy begging Amy’s forgiveness. Don’t know what possessed either of us. Couldn’t seem to swallow the idea of mail from the North Pole, so I clung to my initial conclusion that Skip had planned the cruise.” Chad chuckled. “That was sadly misdirected. Should have known better. Skip never did anything that rash or remarkable before.”
“Skip is a good man and friend,” Merissa said.
“The best,” said Chad. “But it didn’t stop my misgivings about the source of the tickets. Doubts have simmered in the back of my tortured brain for the entire trip. The confrontation with Skip just brought it all to a rumbling boil.”
“The whole thing is somewhat, disconcerting,” said Merissa.
“Disconcerting? Really – why did I receive the package in the mail, who really sent it, and what is my role in this whole adventure. It’s downright unnerving. When I could no longer deny that Skip had paid for the tickets, I suppose I grabbed at the first viable suggestion as to who did. Namely you two.”
“Would it help you to know that I am just as confused as to the sender of the gift?” Merissa asked.
“I overthink stuff. Maybe we can chalk it off to good fortune. Someone knew I needed to find you,” said Chad.
Merissa placed a finger on his lip and wiped away some blood oozing from a cut. “You’re bleeding.”
“Nothing that a make-up kiss from you wouldn’t heal,” said Chad.
Without a second thought, Merissa obliged him, and while the taste of blood mixed with her salted tears, she never felt safer in her entire life.
Busy at Sea
The next four days flew by in a whirl of activity. Between the offshore excursion and the many events aboard the ship, there was never a dull moment. Merissa and Chad devoured the daily devotions readily available to pick up at the desk and sat together every day to study and read the Word together. Merissa appreciated Chad’s spiritual maturity despite the traveling that kept him from church. He was a barrel of fun but also committed and steady as any man who’d pursued her on the home front. The eight beatitudes, the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit, the Ten Commandments, and today, the eleven apostles – the one who betrayed Jesus excluded from the count. Merissa had not expected such feeding of body, soul, and mind or this ocean cruise.
“Okay you two,” called Amy as her and Skip hurried toward the table, cluttered with papers and books. “Time to get your nose out of the devotional and join in with the craziness happening on the deck.”
“Amy, you’re dripping water all over the place,” said Merissa.
“I know, so don’t get me in trouble and move. Selene is up to her tricks again and has the ship rocking with laughter.”
“Chad and Merissa call Selene’s tricks exercise and a must-to-attend.” Skip slapped his buddy on the shoulder. “See you up there.”
Merissa watched them exit as fast they arrived, smiled and closed the books. “Let’s go. The dance floor is calling us.”
Upstairs on the sundeck, the fun was well underway. Merissa peeled off her over shirt, dumped her bag on a vacant table, and then joined the brave participants at the front.
Chad rushed to join her. “Eager, aren’t you?”
“I missed my run this morning. You are keeping me out far too late these days. My body just wants to roll over in the morning,” Merissa said.
“Yeah, I know the feeling.” Chad looked at the dance instructor demonstrating the moves. “No way! That lady expects far too much from amateurs.”
“Don’t complain. The bathing-beauties are lining up just to see you flex your abs. So, be sure to put on a good show.” Merissa grinned and focused on the instruction. Thankfully, when the music started up, it was not a race-tune, but an easy-paced ballad. She should have known this was just a warmup. Selene hadn’t been to the deck for a few days so she played catch-up on all the Christmas themes she’d missed.
From the participants, Selene handpicked eight-maids-a-milking and separated them to one side, and then snagged another nine-ladies-dancing to form an L-shape. Merissa turned out to be one of the nine ladies. She grinned and wondered if Kyle watched on from heaven, as dancers had been his joke for day nine of the cruise. No grief accompanied the thought, just sorrow for his tragic lot in life
Selene was playing the crowd and it became clear there was a contest on the horizon. It wasn’t until she rounded up ten-lords-a-leaping and lined them across the topside and another eleven-apostles across the bottom side, that the crowd started to cheer. It appeared Chad was an apostle. He winked at Merissa from across the open span. The group was now in a square formation.
Then came chaos. It was a line dance where the sides met, danced around one another, performed a few moves then back-stepped to their original position. The numbers on all sides were uneven, and the slowest one to line up with a man – or woman – left the contest and joined the cheering crowd that gathered to watch. As the numbers lessened, Merissa found it harder to find a man. They were getting eliminated far too fast. She spotted Chad still in the game and made a beeline for him. When Chad caught sight of her, he twirled her around and the steps took on a whole new element of excitement. Once on her feet, she circled around him as he clapped and quacked and when they connected again for the final swing she was out of breath – but not from the exercise. She could smell his aftershave and almost fell under its power. But the competition took over, and she reluctantly separated from his arms and backtracked to her original position to make way for the opposing sides. By the time the dance ended, even numbers of dancers remained on all four sides. Merissa joined in clapping with the others and gasped in surprise when she felt Chad come up behind and turn her round to face him.
“I’m done, Woman. Can’t breathe anymore.” They laughed and Merissa allowed him to lead her back to the seats where they’d dropped their bags.
“That was great fun,” Merissa said.
His eyes melded into hers and she wondered if his shortness of breath was because of the exercise or their dance together. Her heart pounded from both. Chad glanced away and put on his business-as-usual face. Then it hit her. He was waiting for her to make the first move. He’d kissed her twice, but never tried again. She sighed. Merissa had never met a more patient and selfless man. Before she chickened out, she leaned across the table and planted a sweet kiss on his lips. She’d only meant for it to be a peck, but he responded with a quiet urgency – as if he’d been waiting these many days – and soon she succumbed to the moment. As they separated she opened her eyes and met his.
“I’m falling in love with you, Merissa James.”
Could she voice the same sentiment? Was this what love the second time around felt like? He squeezed her hand and sat back.
“You don’t have to respond. I just wanted you to know how special I think you are,” said Chad.
“You’ve become special to me. I feel privileged to know you.”
“I brought something for you to see today,” said Chad.
Chad rummaged through his bag and withdrew a sketchpad. He handed it to her.
“The portraits!” Merissa squealed. “Skip says you show these to no one, ever.”
“You are my inspiration. How can I refuse to unveil the art to you?”
“I never asked,” Merissa said. “I would never force such vulnerability on an artist. I’ve learned you need to be the one to show yourself to the world or the trust dies.”
“You learned that from Kyle. He was an author, right?”
“Yes. His pen name was Aiden Kyle.”
“Really? My mother was his biggest fan! She cried the entire day when the news broadcasted his death in a car crash. She was so upset I made a trip out to see her.”
“It’s a small world.” Merissa looked down and opened the first page. She gasped. “Oh, my!” she examined the portrait of herself at the customer service desk that first day – he’d caught that determined
set of her jaw.
The next one was of a woman in awe of the Hemingway House at first sighting. He’d uncovered that look-of-wonder that Kyle always said he loved about her.
Merissa flipped the page where he’d drawn the group of four seated in the formal dining room that first night. He even remembered what she’d been wearing.
There was one of her at the poolside dance event. He leaned over. “I will do another one of those. Today’s dance merits a brand new clarity into us as a duo.”
Merissa blushed as she remembered their brief but captivating dance-encounter on the deck just a short time ago. “Yes, that dance will provide ample material for your imagination.”
“Was it my imagination?”
She bit her bottom lip and made eye contact. “Probably not.”
Merissa concentrated on the book again. The next sketch was of Chad and her by the rail, lost in their first kiss. The setting behind them so tranquil and tender, making the mood feel sweet and sensual.
The next picture surprised her. It was her right hand with her diamond on the ring finger. Every detail was there but clouded with a mysterious mist. It breathed all of her uncertainty without even showing her face on the page. She sighed and turned to the next drawing.
Chad holding a tray filled with the crafts they’d created, and her stretching to place them on an undecorated Christmas tree made her laugh out loud. “Yes, that was such fun.” With his pencils, Chad caught their excitement, and it filled the entire picture with an air of happiness. “Yes, one of my best memories this week.”
The next caught her breath, and she bolted back. Chad apologized. “I forgot that one was there. I was angry the night that man attacked you and had to get it out of my head and on paper before I could fall asleep. I drew it in the bathroom with the light on so as not to wake Skip.”
Merissa attempted to ease his mind. “I’ll never forget that look on your face when your fist connected with his nose. You are my knight in shining armor. Thank you, sir.” He’d captured its ugliness to a terrifying degree. Merissa turned the page quickly, the memory of the hateful act still fresh in her mind.
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