Denise, on the other hand, wouldn’t have worried about such a fine point. But then she had one of those large personalities that bravely went where lesser women never dared to go.
Catherine didn’t like confrontation, much preferred diplomacy and a soft word. Looking at Rudy’s kind face, she wanted to spend more time with him, simply for the pleasure of it, nothing more. She’d have to find a way to convince his daughter that she wasn’t out to steal away her father. How could she when they barely knew each other?
And yet he’d already stolen Catherine’s heart. She was going to hate to see this cruise come to an end. If only she didn’t have such uncertainty waiting for her in the new year.
She wished she didn’t have so many treatments looming. Sadly, she’d waited too long to make that appointment with her gynecologist. She’d seen the tiny spots of blood but they’d been so rare. She’d concluded she had a kidney stone. Blood in the urine was a sign. Surely that was all it could be at her age.
It hadn’t been. If only she’d realized what was happening sooner. The doctors could have simply removed her damaged uterus and that would have been that. By the time her cancer was diagnosed the alien baby had chewed its way half through the uterine wall and her oncologist had worries that some cells might have escaped to do damage elsewhere. So it would be on to six rounds of chemo followed by radiation. She wasn’t looking forward to losing her hair, she wasn’t looking forward to dealing with possible side effects of the chemotherapy. She wasn’t looking forward to the new year at all.
At least she’d have the wonderful memory of this trip to look back on. And the memory of Rudy Nichols’s smile.
“May I order you a drink?” he asked her.
She could almost feel Athena stiffening on his other side. Drinks, charms...what next?
“No—” she smiled as their waiter approached “—but I can order something for myself. Can your bartender make me something festive and sweet?” she asked the man.
“I think he can,” the server said.
“Tell him to surprise me,” Catherine said.
“Does this mean you’re not going to let me buy you any more drinks?” Rudy joked as the man left.
“It means I’m not about to take advantage of you,” she replied.
Athena looked surprised and then suspicious. Was her father a soft touch? He was obviously generous, and sometimes generous people got taken advantage of.
The server soon returned with a white drink in a martini glass that had been sugared around the edges. “This is called a Winter Wonderland,” he said to Catherine.
“What’s in it?” she asked.
“Cream, white chocolate liqueur, crème de cacao.”
She took a sip. It was the tastiest thing she’d had in some time.
“Tell him it’s delicious,” she said to the server.
“I think I want one of those,” Denise said, and then Sophie decided she did, too.
Sierra hadn’t joined them yet but Catherine assumed she’d be along soon. “Should we order one for your sister?” she asked Sophie.
Worry skittered across Sophie’s face. “No. She won’t be coming. She’s not feeling too good.”
Her sister had seemed fine earlier. There was not feeling good and life not being good. Catherine wondered if, in Sierra’s case it was the latter. She’d taken a liking to the sisters, and hated to think of such a once in a lifetime experience being marred for either of them by something bad.
Charlie joined them just as the waiter was serving their cocktails. “I see we survived another day in the fatherland,” he observed. “I’ll take a drink,” he said to the waiter. “Not that, though. Scotch, rocks.” To the others he said, “I need something stronger. Denise shopped till I dropped. My feet are killing me.”
“Poor man,” she said, patting his arm.
“But I don’t mind,” he added, seeing her other conquest sauntering their way.
Soon everyone had a festive drink and their table had a fresh bowl of bar munchies.
“Did everyone have fun today?” Denise asked.
“Oh, yes,” Rudy said easily.
His daughter opted to sip her drink rather than speak.
“How about you?” Denise asked Sophie. “Did you find anything special in the market?”
“All kinds of things,” Sophie said, and proceeded to list them, finishing with, “And I got a gorgeous scarf for my sister.” At the mention of her sister, her enthusiasm faded a little.
Denise wisely moved on. “You never did tell me what you got,” she said to Catherine.
“I found some beautiful ornaments for my daughter and daughter-in-law,” Catherine said. “They’re shaped like bells.”
“I hope you got something for yourself,” Denise said sternly.
Catherine would have liked to mention the charm and bracelet Rudy bought her. She didn’t want to appear ungrateful. But since his daughter hadn’t exactly been happy about the purchase she decided to keep her mouth shut about it. No sense bringing up a sore subject.
“This trip is what I gave myself,” she said.
Their cruise director had arrived on the scene, and taken the mike. Her greeting to the travelers spared Catherine from having to say anything more. She decided she would be sure to thank Rudy again later for his kindness.
Meanwhile, their server had returned with more drinks and Elsa was asking everyone if they had enjoyed Cologne.
“Tomorrow,” she said, “we will be stopping in the village of Braubach. Many of you have signed up for the excursion to Koblenz, where you will enjoy a walking tour of this beautiful Roman city. And we also, in the morning, have the excursion to tour Marksburg Castle, the seven-hundred-year-old fortress that is the only Rhine castle never to have been conquered. It will provide you with excellent views.”
“That sounds good,” said Arnold, who had joined them and claimed the empty seat on the other side of Denise.
“At the end of our morning tours we will be casting off at 11:45 and will enjoy scenic sailing on the Rhine during which I will be offering commentary for you,” Elsa said. “Then at 3:45, I know you won’t want to miss Chef Bruno’s demonstration of how to make Rüdesheim coffee. We will be serving that and tea on the terrace along with a variety of German pastries.”
“Best pastries in the world,” Charlie informed the rest of the group.
“Tomorrow at approximately five in the afternoon we will be docking in Rüdesheim, famous for their wine, especially Riesling. There you may enjoy walking about the town to shop at the Christmas market or join us for an excursion to the Eberbach Monastery estate for a dinner of German specialties. I know you will want to be back on the boat at nine for a demonstration by a traditional glassblower right here in our lounge where he will create for you a work of art from industrial glass.”
“Decisions, decisions,” quipped Denise after Elsa had finished her spiel.
“What’s everyone going to do?” Sophie asked, looking at Rudy.
Rudy looked at Catherine.
“I think the castle sounds intriguing,” she said. “You can’t come to Germany and not see a castle.” And find a prince.
“I’m up for the castle,” said Rudy.
“Me, too,” Sophie said with a determined nod.
“What did you want to see, Athena?” Catherine asked.
“Actually, I had signed up for touring the castle,” she said.
Catherine strongly suspected that if she and Rudy had opted for the walking tour of Koblenz, then Athena would have switched to that.
“Who knows? We might find a prince,” Denise quipped.
“I was thinking you already had,” Charlie said to her.
“Same here,” put in Trevor. He turned to Sophie. “You may call me your highness.”
“You can call me anything,” said C
harlie. “Just don’t call me late for dinner.”
Judging from his round belly it looked like no one ever had.
The cocktail hour ended and the group of friends made their way to the dining room where Charlie and Trevor and Arnold all found seats at a table near the original six. Catherine noticed that the girl who had been so intently watching Trevor had managed to beat an older woman to a seat next to him. She caught the pained look on his face, quickly covered by polite indulgence. Yes, a very nice man.
Catherine hoped Sophie Miles would wake up to the fact. Why on earth she was so fixated on Rudy was a mystery.
It wasn’t such a great mystery why the college girl kept trailing poor Trevor. He was attractive enough to catch any woman’s eye, young or old. But it was so plain he wasn’t interested. Longing for someone who wasn’t interested was a strange and inexplicable phenomenon.
The next morning Catherine found herself in the omelet line with Trevor’s young admirer and introduced herself.
“I’m Harriet,” the young woman said. “I’m here with my German class.”
“How fun to be traveling with friends in your class,” Catherine said.
“It’s okay,” Harriet said, damning her traveling companions with faint praise.
“I saw you last night in the lounge after dinner. That was quite an interesting-looking man sitting next to you,” Catherine ventured. Trevor had been sure to make himself scarce until Harriet had gotten settled, luring Sophie to a table with some chocolate.
Harriet rolled her eyes. “Hugh? He’s such a child. I prefer older men.”
Ah, so little Harriet was suffering from a superiority complex. “When it comes down to it they’re all children, no matter what their age,” Catherine said. “But the fact that this—Hugh, was it?—is taking such a difficult language, just as you are, says something, doesn’t it? So does the fact that he wanted to come on this tour.”
“He just came for the beer,” Harriet scoffed.
“I can’t blame him. I came for the food,” Catherine joked. And to get away from my pathetic life.
Harriet’s plate was already piled with pastries. “The food is good.”
“Are you going to see the castle?” Catherine asked.
“Oh, yeah. Everyone is.”
“Even your beer-drinking friend?”
“Yeah.”
“Sounds like he’s interested in something besides beer,” Catherine said.
“He’s got to do something.”
“Interesting that he chose the castle. A man with an interest in seeing the world, now there’s a treasure. I bet he’ll give some woman an exciting life.”
She saw Harriet cast a speculative glance to where the boy sat with some of the other students. Maybe she’d planted a seed.
Rudy and Athena had found Catherine and Denise’s table as had Sierra and Sophie. Trevor had stopped by to visit and, though Sophie was talking to him, it was plain to see from the looks she cast across the table that Rudy was still her primary interest.
“Funny how people often can’t see what’s right under their noses,” she remarked to Denise when it was time to embark and they were walking to their room to brush teeth and get their coats.
“Like you’re one to talk. Can’t you see how smitten Rudy is?”
“Of course I can. I can also see how unsmitten his daughter is.”
“That girl definitely has issues.”
“Yes, and I’m one of them.”
“She’ll come to love you. We all do.”
“You’re so full of frijoles,” Catherine said, embarrassed by her friend’s praise.
“I speak only the truth. What’s not to like?”
What indeed? There was certainly something Athena didn’t like. It had to be the threat of another woman, because Athena didn’t appear to be any more fond of Sophie than she was Catherine. Sophie’s sister had opted to stay on the ship, so Sophie attached herself to Catherine during the tour, which meant she was also attached to Rudy.
“Sierra’s still not feeling well?” Catherine asked her as they all entered the impressive old fortress high above the river.
“She’ll be fine.”
“I’m sorry she’s missing so much,” Catherine said.
“She’ll join us later.” Sophie’s tone of voice added, I’m going to make sure of that.
She was also going to make sure she got next to Rudy. As they walked the castle, taking in its massive stone walls, the rooms with their cavernous hearths, the old cannons and suits of armor, it was almost comical watching as Sophie maneuvered to stand near Rudy and make snippets of conversation while Trevor hovered at her elbow. Then there was Athena, never leaving Rudy’s other side and dividing her frowns between Catherine and Sophie. At least she was an equal opportunity antagonist.
“You all looked like you were hooked together with invisible rope,” Denise teased once they were back in their room on the ship. “At this rate your shipboard romance is going to wither on the vine.”
“That’s okay,” Catherine assured her. “I’m having a great time, anyway.” She sat on her bed and sighed.
“You look pooped,” Denise observed.
“I am a little tired.”
“Want to stretch out for a while? I can bring you something from the lunch buffet,” Denise offered.
Catherine stretched out and snuggled down against the pillows. “That would be great. But if I fall asleep wake me up in time for the coffee demonstration.”
“Will do,” Denise said, and started for the door.
“And, Denise.”
She turned.
“Thanks for being such a good friend.”
Denise smiled. “That goes both ways. Pleasant dreams.”
No need to wish her that. Catherine was already living one.
* * *
Athena was both surprised and relieved to see Denise entering the lounge alone with no Catherine in tow. Daddy had already staked out a table in the small dining area at the bow of the boat not far from the buffet and was enjoying a prelunch cup of coffee. Maybe, for once, it would be just the two of them and they could enjoy some worry-free father-daughter time.
“Your friend isn’t joining us?” she asked as Denise stepped behind her in the buffet line and helped herself to a crusty roll.
“She’s a little tired. She decided to rest a while.”
Athena nodded, taking that in. Catherine Pine sure was out of shape. Another reason she was no match for Daddy, who worked out at the gym and played tennis three times a week. He needed someone who could keep up with him.
What was she saying? After what he’d gone through with Nicole he didn’t need anyone. Period.
* * *
Catherine awoke in time to go watch Chef Bruno demonstrate how to make Rüdesheim coffee, a tasty drink made with strong coffee, sugar cubes and Asbach brandy, topped with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. A drink was provided for everyone present.
“I am going to find that brandy and make this for my friends when I get home,” Sophie announced. “I bet Dad will like this, too,” she said to her sister, drawing her into the conversation.
“He probably will,” Sierra said.
Her enthusiasm and her smile had slipped to the bottom edge of lukewarm. It looked like this cruise was losing its shine for Sierra Johnson. Catherine wished there was something she could say or do to help.
If anyone else was noticing how subdued she was no one was saying. Which was what you did in situations like this with people who were acquaintances. Sierra was doing her best to hide her feelings and when someone did that you had to pretend they were well hidden.
“If I buy you some of that brandy will you make me Rüdesheim coffee when we get back to Seattle?” Charlie asked Denise.
“I might,” she said coyly, and Arnold,
who was with them, frowned and took another drink of his.
Sierra finished hers, then excused herself. Her sister bit her lip as she watched her go.
“Are you and your sister going to join us on the monastery tour?” Catherine asked Sophie.
She pulled her gaze back from the sliding glass door. “No, I think we’ll walk around the town.” She downed the last of her coffee and excused herself, as well.
“We’ll see you later tonight, then,” Catherine said as she left.
“I hope so,” she murmured.
“Whatever is going on with the girl, you’re not her mother and you can’t fix it,” Denise said to her that evening as they got ready to leave for their tour of the Erbach Monastery and the wine tasting and dinner to follow.
“I know,” Catherine said.
“She’s young. The young are resilient.”
“Resilient or not, I hate to see anybody sad on a trip like this.”
“Right now, making sure you don’t get sad is all I care about,” Denise said. “Come on, let’s go.”
Catherine felt far from sad as she walked in the monastery’s cloister. She could almost feel the presence of the monks who had once lived there. She thought of the old saying God is in His heaven and all is well with the world. Taking in the simple beauty of the place reminded her that her life was in hands bigger than hers. Whatever lay ahead, surely she could face it with if not a smile at least courage.
After the wine tasting, their group, along with several other cruisers, was taken to the restaurant on the monastery grounds and served a meal with traditional German bread and salad and steak in a sherry-mushroom sauce.
“I’m going to explode,” Catherine said to Denise as they followed the others back onto the ship later.
“Don’t do that. Think of the mess for the maid. Come on, let’s ditch our coats and get a seat for the glassblowing demonstration. It will take your mind off your overstuffed stomach.”
In addition to shedding their coats, the two women also brushed their teeth and freshened their makeup.
By the time they entered the lounge the glassblower already had samples of his work on display—everything from jewelry to ornaments. Catherine was glad to see Sierra there. She and Sophie were perusing the ornaments. So was Athena, her father by her side.
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