Trevor looked shocked. “I don’t know if I’d go that far.”
“Don’t mind her,” Sophie said. “She’s...” She stopped herself. The last thing her sister needed was an open discussion of her love life. She forked off another bite of her slice. “It is good, though.”
“It is, but sex is better,” Trevor said.
Sex with Trevor March, that sure sounded like a treat. Any man who made the kind of chocolate goodies he did had to know a lot about the other one of life’s greatest pleasures. And he’d already given a pretty good indication that he did, indeed, know plenty when he’d kissed her.
Sierra finished her cake, then eyed Sophie’s. “Are you going to finish that?”
“No, I’m done,” Sophie said, and pushed it her way, then watched in amazement as her sister shoveled the remains down like a starving woman.
In a way she was. Starving for affection.
“That was fabulous,” she said when she’d finished. “Thanks, Trevor.”
“You’re welcome,” he said, looking a little dazed at how quickly a piece and a half of cake had disappeared.
“You know what? I think I’m going to go buy me a cuckoo clock,” Sierra announced. “I’m worth it.”
“You are,” Sophie agreed. “Want me to come with you?”
“No. I want you to get me another piece of cake.”
“I guess she liked it,” Trevor said as Sierra marched away.
“She’s been a little stressed,” Sophie said.
He nodded. “Stuff happens.”
Yes, it did. Sophie chewed her lip and watched her sister go. Had Sierra heard from Mark again and not wanted to tell her? If he was leaving her what kind of Christmas would Sierra have?
A darned good one, Sophie decided. She’d take her sister to see the gingerbread house display at the downtown Sheraton, drag her to lunch at the Pink Door in the Pike Place Market, organize a chick flick night with her friends. Talk about all the bad things they’d like to have happen to her rotten husband. Yes, she’d find a way to make sure Sierra got through the holidays.
Trevor’s hand over hers brought her back into the moment. “Your sister will be okay,” he said. The man was psychic.
“She’s...wait. How do you know?”
“That something’s not right? Not too hard to figure out. She’s married, got the ring on, but she’s doing this cruise with her sister instead of her husband, and for these last few days she’s looked like she’s having trouble smiling. It doesn’t take a Sherlock Holmes to figure out she’s not exactly in a happy place right now.”
“She’s not,” Sophie admitted.
“And you’re wishing you could rush in and make everything better.”
“I wish I could do...something.” Find a magic wand and wave it over her sister, beat up Mark.
“Sometimes people have to figure out their problems on their own,” Trevor said.
She supposed he was right. There were some things you went through hand in hand with people. Others you went through alone, even when other people were present. No one traveled down the birth canal with you and no one escorted you into the next life except God Himself. She supposed it was the same with the death of a relationship. In the end you had to wrestle with the pain yourself.
“It just stinks that he didn’t come on this cruise with her. It was supposed to be his Christmas present but he said he couldn’t get time off.”
Trevor didn’t say anything, just nodded to show he was listening.
“Do you think that’s the case?” Sophie asked hopefully.
“I dunno.”
“She’s worried he’s going to leave.”
He frowned. “It sucks when people split up. We were kids when my dad left. It felt like a bomb had been dropped right in the middle of our lives. Blew everything to hell.”
“I can’t even begin to imagine how hard that must have been.”
“Let’s just say it didn’t put him on the top of our Christmas list. I don’t want to ever do that to my kids. Or to the woman I promise to love. When I get married it’ll be for keeps and I sure want to find someone who feels the same way and is willing to work through our problems.”
“I think that’s admirable,” she said.
“It’s just the way it has to be, so I won’t rush into anything because I do want it to be for keeps. Good relationships are like making good chocolate. You gotta work at them.”
“I like that analogy.”
“And I like you. What do you say to working at a relationship after the cruise?”
“I say I think that’s a good idea.”
Did she really need to be practical and marry a doctor? Doctors worked long hours. She could wind up marrying one, then go into cardiac arrest when he was in the middle of surgery or with a patient and she’d have no one to drive her to the hospital. So what good would that do? And marrying a man who knew all about the body didn’t guarantee he’d know all about the soul. Trevor March, with his insights and kindness, was a man who knew about the soul. She owed it to her soul to really give him a chance.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s help your sis pick out a clock.”
Yep. Trevor March was no doctor, but he was an expert in a lot of the things that mattered.
15
Back on the ship, Trevor looked in vain for Sophie in the lounge. He concluded she was having a sister shrink session. He didn’t see them in the dining room, either, when he joined his brother at the students’ table. Thank God propinquity had worked. Harriet had glommed on to the kid named Hugh and was happily giving him a pop quiz, making him name various items at the table. The giggler was still giggling, and correcting Hugh’s grammar every once in a while, and two other guys at the table were getting loud and Kurt had to settle them down.
“I think I’m ready to go home,” he said under his breath to Trevor.
“It hasn’t been that bad,” Trevor said.
“For you. You got to escape.” He saw the sisters come in the same time as Trevor and said, “By the way, you gonna keep seeing Sophie when we get back?”
“I am.”
“Good decision.”
“Our mama didn’t raise no fool.”
“I guess not, but I was beginning to wonder,” Kurt teased.
Trevor kept an eye on Sophie’s table, and once it looked like she and Sierra were ready to leave, he said Auf Wiedersehen to the students and went to join them.
“Are you ladies ready to stake our claim on our seats in the lounge?” he asked.
“I think I’ll go back to the room and pack,” Sierra said.
“Oh, come on, join us for a little while,” Sophie urged. “It’s our last night and they’re decorating the tree in the lounge.”
Sierra didn’t look all that enthused about tree decorating, but she nodded and went with them.
Poor kid, Trevor thought. A pretty shitty vacation for her. Seeing Germany while your husband was back in the States.
He was sure glad she hadn’t canceled, though. Otherwise, he’d have never met Sophie.
“It’s hard to believe it’s our last night,” she said as they settled in.
“It may be the last night of the cruise,” Trevor told her, “but it’s not our last night.”
“Portland’s not that far,” Sierra said, and smiled at her sister, then at him. Nice woman. Even though she was worried about her own love life she had enough class to be happy for her sister.
“I know you two are going to want to come down and take a tour of the Cupid’s Chocolates factory.”
“Oh, yes,” Sophie said enthusiastically.
“Sounds fun,” Sierra said. Not enough emotional energy for enthusiasm but she was, at least, smiling.
The others joined them and got busy ordering drinks. Even though they’d just eaten, Ch
arlie dug into the little bowl of cocktail munchies on their table. “We’re going to have to all stay in touch,” he said before popping a handful in his mouth.
“For sure,” said Denise. “I don’t have any contact information for you girls,” she said to Sierra and Sophie. “Do you mind sharing?”
“Not at all,” Sierra said.
Sophie had her phone in hand. “Denise, are you on Facebook?”
The next few moments were taken up with friending and sharing other contact information. “Isn’t it funny?” Sophie said when they were done. “You go on one of these things expecting to have a good time, but you don’t necessarily plan to come away with so many good friends.”
“No, you don’t,” agreed Rudy. “I’m sure glad we came,” he added, smiling at Catherine. Oh, yeah, those two would keep what they’d started going.
And so would Trevor and Sophie. He was going to make sure of it. Like Sierra had said, Seattle and Portland weren’t that far from each other, only a little over a three-hour drive apart.
Everyone chatted for a while, and then Elsa made her appearance, ready to oversee the last bit of fun and games. “As you can see,” she said, “our poor tree needs decorating. We have ornaments and we would love each of you to sign your names on them and then hang them on the tree. So please, help yourselves to an ornament and a marker and help us remember this lovely cruise we have all enjoyed together.”
“Fun idea!” enthused Denise, and hopped up.
Charlie was quick to follow her, and they drifted over to the tree. Arnold, who had joined them, stayed behind, visiting with Athena.
Good God, don’t go for him, Trevor thought. What was it with old men and young women, anyway?
“Let’s go sign our ornaments,” Sophie said to her sister. “And take a selfie to remember our time together.”
Sierra agreed, and the two sisters went to the tree and dug out ornaments. Catherine and Rudy followed, and Athena broke away from old Arnold and went after them.
Trevor remained where he was and watched as everyone in the group selected markers, wrote their names and hung their ornaments. He watched as Rudy and Catherine and Athena all passed an ornament back and forth between them, each one signing it. He smiled as he watched Sophie take a selfie of her and her sister in front of the tree. The two sisters were close, obviously good pals, just like his brother and him. What were their parents like? They had to be pretty cool to have raised such nice women.
Sophie hung the ornament, then Sierra said something. A discussion of some sort ensued. Finally, Sophie hugged her sister and Sierra headed for the sliding glass door. Sophie returned to Trevor alone.
“Had all the fun she could stand, huh?” he asked.
“She says she wants to pack. She doesn’t have that much to pack.” Sophie frowned. “I’m sure she’s going to text Mark again.” The frown turned into a sigh. “He’s breaking her heart. It’s so not right.”
“It never is.”
“She’ll get through this,” Sophie said with determination.
“With a little help from her sister?”
“With a lot of help from her sister. And her brother.”
“Whoa, you didn’t tell me you had a brother.”
“I do. He’s great. And really buff. He was a wrestler in college. Scared?” she teased.
“Wrestlers don’t scare me.”
“He’s a cop now. How about cops?”
“No problem. Cops don’t scare me, either. Bring on the whole force. And bring on a fire-breathing dragon, too.” It would take more than that to keep Trevor away.
“And an evil king?”
“The eviler, the better,” he said. “I’ll bribe him with chocolate.”
“Chocolate, huh?”
“Chocolate fixes everything,” he said with a grin.
“Maybe not everything,” she said, then looked wistfully in the direction her sister had gone.
Jacques had settled in at the piano and was playing Savage Garden’s “Truly Madly Deeply.” “Come on,” Trevor said. “Let’s dance.”
He held out his hand and she took it and let him lead her onto the dance floor, and into a nightclub two-step.
But partway through the dance he stopped with the fancy steps, snugged her up against him and whispered in her ear, “Would you like to stand with me on a mountaintop, Sophie? Bathe in the sea?” Her hair was soft against his mouth and her perfume was getting him high. Not to mention the closeness of her body. This woman had to be God’s best creation.
She turned her head and smiled at him. “I think that sounds pretty awesome.”
Her lips were practically touching his. It would have been a waste not to take advantage of that.
So he did.
* * *
Catherine definitely wanted to stay in touch with her new friends. She’d enjoyed getting to know everyone, and the idea that the fun was coming to an end made her more than a little sad.
People didn’t linger in the lounge as long as they had other nights. There was packing to be done, purchases to stow away. Catherine had packing to do also, but this was her last night with Rudy, so she lingered. Eventually, it was just the two of them, sitting side by side on a love seat.
“Do you have plans for New Year’s?” he asked.
You have to tell him. Tell him now. “I do.” He looked disappointed. “Not the kind you think,” she said.
Oh, dear. He looked both relieved and eager. He’d be neither once she explained.
“I’m afraid I can’t get involved with anyone right now.” This was so hard. She bit her lip. What to say next? “I should have told you sooner.”
His smile fell away. “So there is someone.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“What, then?” he asked. “Is it still too soon after losing your husband?”
She shook her head again. Tears burned her eyes. “I had cancer. I’m scheduled for chemo and radiation in the new year.”
The color bled out of his face. “My wife had cancer.”
“I know,” she said.
“I...” He shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”
Say that it doesn’t matter.
He didn’t.
“I’m afraid you’ve had some hard bumps when it’s come to women,” she managed. There was an understatement. The poor man had buried one and been left by another. “I don’t want to add to that. I would wish you a smooth road.”
He gave a snort. “There’s no such thing.”
“Some roads are smoother than others.” She could feel a tear leaking out of one eye.
He reached up and wiped it away. “I’m sorry you’ve had to go through this,” he said. “What kind of cancer?”
“Uterine.”
“The best kind to get if you have to have it,” he said, and wiped away another tear. He frowned. “Usually a hysterectomy does it.”
“Not this time. This had chewed halfway through the uterine wall and my doctor wasn’t comfortable leaving it at that.”
He nodded, took her hand and looked at it. What was he thinking? She was afraid to ask. Almost afraid to speak. Fresh tears were welling up. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep them dammed up inside her.
They couldn’t sit here forever in silence. They couldn’t sit here forever, period. How she wished they could!
She cleared her throat. “I’ve had a lovely cruise, and a lovely time with you and your daughter.”
His jaw was clenched. He nodded.
“I want to thank you,” she added, “for all your kindnesses, for making this such a special time for me. It’s been...magical.”
“I feel the same,” he said.
“Then we’ll both have some beautiful memories to take away with us.”
“Just memories.” It wa
s a statement, not a question. He was still holding her hand, staring at it.
She gently pulled it free. “I should go.”
“I wish you didn’t have to,” he said. “Stay a little longer?”
She couldn’t. This was like pulling off a bandage painfully, slowly.
“I think it’s best I leave,” she said.
Now he did look up, and his expression brimmed over with misery.
Before she could say anything more, he took her face in his hands and kissed her. It made her foolish heart flutter with hope.
“Let’s stay in touch,” he said, but the words sounded hollow.
She nodded, but she knew they wouldn’t. That kiss hadn’t said au revoir. It had said goodbye.
She pulled away, and now it was her not looking at him. She could barely see for the tears in her eyes. She murmured a shaky, “Goodbye,” then fled the lounge. It was nearly deserted, a room filled with the lingering scent of women’s perfume, a giant treasure chest, closed on the collective experiences of a group of travelers gathered together for a short time. She started past the tree. Many people had taken their ornaments when they left. The next day she and everyone else would disembark and whatever was left would be taken down and thrown away and it would be as if this night had never happened.
She didn’t want anyone throwing away the ornament she and Rudy and Athena had signed. She stopped long enough to remove it. It wouldn’t be as if this night had never happened for her. She would remember it for the rest of her life.
The rest of her life. The tears broke loose and she hurried away.
She was too embarrassed to go to the room in tears, so she went above deck, to the top of the ship, and leaned on the railing, crying as she watched the homes on the bank slip by. Most of them were dark. People were in their beds, sleeping, resting for whatever the next day held. Below her, the ship cut through the water, a dark wake rushing past its side.
It made her think of her own life, rushing by so fast, feeling suddenly dark and hopeless. It wasn’t all darkness, she reminded herself. This cruise had been a bright spot. She’d go home, wear her charm bracelet and hang this ornament on her tree and be thankful for the time she’d been given. The tears were gone and night air was not welcoming. It was time to go back inside.
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