“I’m coming right behind you.” His friend reached for his uniform shirt and thrust his arms in.
❧
Charlotte felt as though she were in a daze while Gareth led her to his quarters. She didn’t notice anything about the parts of the ship they passed.
When they arrived, Marilyn stood in the doorway of her husband’s apartment. “Is there anything I can do? Maybe bring something to eat or drink?”
Charlotte looked at Gareth, and he nodded. “That would be nice.”
Marilyn brought a tray over almost before Charlotte was settled on the couch. Doug came in behind her, followed by three other crewmembers. He quickly crossed the room and perched on the edge of the sofa beside Charlotte.
“Do you have a picture of your daughter we can show our people? Or should we look in the photo shop?”
“I think I have one here.” Charlotte pulled the chain handle of her small purse from her shoulder. She had almost forgotten it was there. She rummaged in her wallet until she found Chelle’s school picture. That was the only one she had. She handed it to the purser.
Doug stood and gave it to one of the people waiting by the door. “Each of you should look closely at this. Memorize the girl’s features, then search the ship. Spread out and don’t miss a single place that’s open to passengers.” He looked at the one female in the group. “Aretha, you take another woman you can trust with you, and check every women’s restroom and dressing room on the ship. One of you can stay outside the door and watch the corridors while the other one goes in. That way if she walks by, you won’t miss her.”
He turned toward Charlotte. “Can they take this picture with them?”
Charlotte nodded. “Shouldn’t I go, too?”
Gareth placed a hand on her shoulder. “We need to keep you in one place, so whoever finds her will know where to bring her.”
When the crewmembers left, the purser went with them.
Marilyn set the tray on the table in front of the couch. “Here’s coffee, iced tea, cookies, even ice water. What can I get for you?”
Charlotte knew that if she ate anything, it would catch on the lump in her throat. “I am thirsty. Maybe some water.”
Marilyn put ice cubes into a tall goblet. They tinkled against the glass, making tiny musical sounds. Charlotte recognized that the container must be crystal. What funny things you think about when you’re trying not to be upset.
After she gave the glass to Charlotte, Marilyn turned to Gareth. “Do you want me to stay here, or should I get a cabin steward for you?”
Gareth looked down at Charlotte. “Which would you prefer?” How like him to be so caring.
“I’d appreciate Marilyn’s company. . .if she wants to stay.”
“Okay, I’ll join the search.”
In one way, Charlotte was glad, but in another, she wished he would stay with her. She didn’t really know what she wanted. . . except for Chelle to be all right. What if she fell overboard? If she were with other teenagers and they did something stupid, it could happen. They might be afraid of getting into trouble, and maybe they wouldn’t have told anyone. . . . All these wild thoughts were making her crazy.
Marilyn sat beside her on the couch. She patted Charlotte’s clasped hands. “I know you’re probably imagining all kinds of things that could’ve happened to your daughter. Don’t. Let’s not think about the bad things. Let’s believe that God is taking care of her, and she’ll be with us very soon. Can I pray with you?”
Charlotte agreed. Why hadn’t she thought about praying? Because she hadn’t really turned to God for anything since He let Philip die. She had attended church, but she was just going through the motions because she wanted Chelle to be involved. Was God trying to get her attention? Oh God, please don’t take Chelle away from me, too.
❧
When Gareth arrived in Doug’s office, the search party was dividing the ship into sectors for each of them to cover. Gareth and Doug took decks nine, ten, and eleven. They went in opposite directions when they stepped off the elevator near the front of deck nine. That way, they could cover twice as much area. Gareth walked through the Oceanic Grille, even though it had been closed for hours. The band playing in front of the bar near the outside pool almost deafened him. The people who liked to party late into the night were also the ones who made the most noise. He met Doug in front of the solarium.
“So you didn’t find her in the pools or whirlpools?”
Doug shook his head. “You know they’re reserved for adults.”
“I have a feeling this teenager thinks she is an adult.”
They quickly climbed the stairs that led to the jogging track that ringed deck ten. Instead of going different ways, they walked together this time. Gareth almost expected to see the girl trying to rappel on the climbing wall. He remembered Charlotte saying she had told her not to try it. But thankfully, she wasn’t back there, especially since no crewmember would be there to help her at this time of night.
After rounding the prow of deck ten, the two men climbed the stairs that led to the Oyster Shell. When the glass doors slid open, loud voices interspersed with equally loud disco music poured out and surrounded the men as they entered the room. Gareth didn’t like to come up here at night. He never had been one to go to nightclubs, even before he became a Christian.
A constant pulse of variegated strobe lights bathed the dance floor and nearby tables of the dimly lit room. Gyrating bodies crowded the hardwood floor under a rotating mirror ball. Gareth scanned the room, looking especially at the face of every female with long dark curls. There she is. . . . Her mother won’t be happy to see her.
Chelle wore a much too sophisticated, and much too revealing, electric blue dress. With her hair up and heavy makeup, she looked almost as old as her mother did. Of course, Charlotte looked very young for her age. Maybe Chelle hadn’t been drinking. Gareth wondered if anyone would ask for her ID before she was served, since she looked more than old enough to drink. However, while it was ship’s policy not to serve alcohol to minors, it was not strictly illegal when they were out to sea.
He pulled Doug back through the doorway, so they could converse and hear each other. “She’s in there.”
Doug frowned. “I didn’t see any teens.”
“She doesn’t look like a teen.” Gareth nodded his head toward the dance floor. “See the woman in the bright blue dress?” She had her head thrown back and was doing a twisting, shimmying dance—one that had the eyes of every man in the room glued to her. It left little to the imagination.
“That’s Mrs. Halloran’s daughter?” Doug’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “I never would have recognized her from this picture. It’s a good thing we were the ones to search up here.”
Gareth had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. He didn’t look forward to the rest of the evening. Charlotte would be upset and hurt, and he didn’t want to be the bearer of the bad news, but it couldn’t be helped.
“She might not come, or at least she may make a scene if I try to get her to come with me. You go in and get her to accompany you to my quarters, but don’t tell her where you’re taking her. Please be discreet, okay?”
Doug nodded, and Gareth hurried back down the stairs. He wanted to walk around the track and pray before he returned to his apartment. This could be a long, ugly night, and Charlotte needed all the divine intervention she could get.
Gareth punched the deck number on the elevator keypad and lifted the walkie-talkie from his waistband. He clicked the call button before speaking. “We found the lost item. Everyone return to your regular duties. Thank you for your assistance.”
When he reentered his quarters, Charlotte glanced up expectantly. She looked past him into the empty corridor, and her face fell. “I had hoped they’d found her.”
Gareth quickly crossed the room and pulled her to her feet. “We have. Doug is bringing her here.” He nodded to Marilyn, and she left them alone, closing the door softly behind her. “
I wanted to be with you when she arrived.”
Charlotte pulled away and gripped her upper arms as if shielding her heart from harm. “Why? Has she been hurt?”
“No, she’s just fine.” Before he could continue, a knock sounded on the door. “Come in.”
The portal opened, and Chelle stepped into the room. When she saw her mother, she crossed her arms over her chest where way too much skin was showing.
Charlotte gasped. “Chelle? Is that you?” She ended on a screech.
Gareth went over to thank Doug. When he did, he caught a whiff of alcohol on the girl’s breath. Things were worse than he thought. Didn’t the bartender ask to see her ID? He’d have to deal with that later.
After Gareth closed the door behind Doug, the silence turned as thick as molasses in January and throbbed with unspoken words. He looked at Charlotte, and his heart hurt at her stricken expression. He couldn’t think of any way to soften the tension.
Charlotte crossed the room. “Where did you get that dress?” Her voice sounded hard and brittle.
Chelle stood straight and defiant, but she didn’t answer.
“I asked you a question.” Charlotte’s voice rose as she stopped in front of her daughter. “Where did you get that dress? You didn’t bring it with you like you did the bikini, did you?”
The teenager dropped her arms to her sides. “No. I bought it at the boutique with the gift certificate.”
“You were planning this, weren’t you? That’s why you had your nails painted that color.” Charlotte took the girl’s hands and stared at them in disgust. “I can’t believe you were so devious.” She must have noticed the smell, because she wrinkled her nose and her face paled. “Chelle, have you been drinking?”
The question hung in the air for only a moment, before the teenager answered with a defiant shake of her head. “So what if I have?”
Charlotte pulled a hand back as if to strike the girl, then turned stricken eyes toward her own hand. She clutched her arms across her chest and strode across the room, stopping to stare out the windows into the darkness. No magic path of light here.
After a moment, she heaved her shoulders taking a deep breath and deliberately pivoted on one foot. “How could you drink that stuff? Have you forgotten that a drunk driver killed your father?”
Chelle looked as if her mother had slapped her, then red suffused her cheeks. Anger glittered from her eyes as she turned to glare at Gareth. He knew, at that moment, the girl hated him.
Without blinking, she whirled back toward Charlotte. “Why can’t I forget? You seem to have forgotten all about Daddy.”
Before Charlotte could answer that indictment, Chelle tore open the door and fled down the corridor.
Nine
Charlotte followed Chelle at a distance and made sure she returned safely to their cabin. Then, not yet ready for another confrontation, she walked past the cabin door and out on a silent, empty deck. She gazed at the vast expanse spreading from horizon to horizon. “God, what am I going to do? Have I made a complete mess with Chelle? How can I reach her? How can I heal the breach that widens between us?”
She waited for an answer, hoping to hear an audible voice. None came, but peace stole into her heart. A soft answer turns away wrath. The words she heard so clearly in her mind came from the Bible, didn’t they? Maybe she had just thought of them herself.
Don’t try to deal with the problem until you are at peace yourself. Well, she sure wouldn’t have come up with that. Had it been so long since she listened for God’s voice that now she was having a hard time recognizing it?
“Lord, it’ll be difficult not to continue what I started with her in Gareth’s quarters. . . . I can’t just let her get away with this, can I?”
Trust Me, Child. Give Me time to work on her heart. I’ll let you know when to talk about it.
Charlotte knew that had to be the Lord. It went against everything within her. Maybe the Bible was right when it said that God’s ways are higher than our ways and God’s thoughts higher than our thoughts. She had to decide whether or not to trust Him in this. She knew she hadn’t done such a good job on her own.
“Lord, it’s not going to be easy, but I choose to do things your way.” Talking aloud to Him out here under the vast canopy of midnight blue heavens studded with twinkling stars made Him feel closer than He had in a very long time. A new beginning. That’s what she needed. A new beginning with the Lord. . .and in other areas of her life.
This thing, whatever it was, with Gareth would have to be put aside for now, maybe forever. Although Charlotte enjoyed the growing friendship, her daughter needed her, and that was what was most important.
When she finally got to the cabin, the lights were still on, but Chelle slept huddled in a fetal position under her sheet. Sprawled across her bed with her makeup smeared, curls rioting around her face, and clutching one of the pillows as if it were a shield, she looked so young. . .and hurt. Tatters of the blue dress were scattered around the floor. For a moment Charlotte was sorry Chelle had wasted her gift certificate by tearing up the dress. Of course the garment wasn’t appropriate for her, but Charlotte had been so glad for her daughter to win something special. Hopefully she had some of her prize money left.
After undressing, Charlotte turned out the lights, but she left the drapes open, even though they would soon enter the Mississippi River. She wanted to look at the stars and keep the feeling of closeness to the Lord. When she finally fell asleep, her mind turned to fitful dreams. She awoke in only a few hours when the early morning sunlight poured through the bare window. She closed the drapes so it wouldn’t also awaken Chelle.
Charlotte had forgotten to pack the suitcases last night and leave the luggage outside the door as the instructions said to do, so she and Chelle would have to carry theirs off the ship. She took a quick shower then pulled the bags from the closet.
❧
Gareth spent most of the rest of the night praying for Charlotte and Chelle. He had no idea how their problems would be resolved, but he knew God did. By lifting them in prayer, he felt that he had a part in what God was going to do. Even when he went to the bridge before his ship entered the Mississippi, his prayers continued.
After they docked in New Orleans, his heart urged him to go see Charlotte and her daughter one more time before they left the ship, but he received a check in his spirit. Now wasn’t the time. He would just have to trust God to take care of them. But he could go watch them disembark.
Before he stepped out onto the balcony, Doug hurried through the open door to the bridge. “The Hallorans didn’t put their luggage outside their room. Do you think they forgot, or do they want to carry it themselves?”
Gareth thought for a moment. “I don’t know.”
“Would you like me to tell their steward to offer to help them?”
A good idea. “Do that.”
Doug gave him an exaggerated mock salute, a joke they often shared. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
Gareth chuckled as his friend walked down the hall whistling. What was that melody? A love song? Leave it to Doug to put his own spin on things.
When Gareth went out on the small balcony, crewmembers had just opened the hatch on the side of deck two. Gareth watched them as they scurried around completing each task assigned to them. They worked like a well-oiled machine. He had a good crew, well trained and loyal. He smiled at the brilliant blue sky with a few wispy clouds lazily drifting in a gentle breeze.
The cruise dock was a beehive of activity, and beyond that the city of New Orleans was just waking up. Since this area held most of the tourist attractions, activities flourished all night, so mornings were quiet.
When the first passengers disembarked, Gareth’s attention turned toward the crowd pouring out of the ship’s belly and crossing to the cruise building, where they would go through customs. With all the talking and laughter, they had obviously enjoyed the trip. That’s what he wanted—for happy people to go home and tell their friends how mu
ch fun they had on the Pearl of the Ocean. Good PR. That’s what Doug always said.
Finally, Charlotte and Chelle appeared on the gangplank. Although they each pulled a suitcase behind them, a room steward followed with two more. When they stepped onto the concrete dock, Charlotte turned to the man and tried to give him a tip. He smiled at her and refused. The travel agency she used had included a tip with the price of the cruise. Of course, it would have been appropriate if she gave him more, but the man must have understood that the captain wanted him to help the women. Gareth decided to give something extra to Doug for the steward.
Charlotte looked up just as she had before she boarded the ship. Her gaze connected with his and held for an indeterminate time. Her expression went from happiness to almost longing before she turned away and followed her daughter into the building. Gareth returned to the bridge. The connection between them was still there, but he knew Charlotte wouldn’t pursue it. At least not right now. Maybe he shouldn’t either. But, although his head made this rational decision, his heart couldn’t agree.
❧
When Charlotte and Chelle deplaned at DFW Airport, their next-door neighbor waited by the luggage carousel. As usual, the baggage hadn’t started coming from the airplane when Charlotte and Chelle got there. Charlotte went over and sat beside Linda in one of the chrome chairs with its leather sling back and seat. Chelle crossed her arms and walked restlessly around the room, milling through the crowd and glancing at every sign and poster, even stopping as if to read some of them. Evidently, she didn’t want to be too close to her mother.
Linda turned to Charlotte. “So what gives? Didn’t y’all have fun on the cruise?” Her worried expression followed Chelle’s movements.
“Most of the time.” Charlotte knew her voice sounded weary. That’s what she was—weary of all the hassles. She took a deep breath and smiled at her friend. “There was a lot to do on the ship.”
“The ship? What about the islands? Are they as beautiful as they look in the brochures?”
Charlotte felt thankful for the safe topic. “More beautiful than words can describe.”
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