“Here you go, ladies. Whoa. I sense some tension.”
“No tension.” I forced a smile. No need to draw him into our drama. “We were just wondering when you were going to get back with those dogs.”
“I feel like I’ve been roasted on a spit,” he pulled his hands to his chest.
We both groaned at his attempt at hot dog humor as he turned to go back to the stage. We quietly munched on our dogs, neither one wanting to return to the topic. Finally, I began.
“Look, Jules, I think if you want to get to know this guy—”
“Langston. He has a name.”
“Okay. If you want to get to know Langston, by all means keep visiting with him for the next couple of days. But my advice would be not to put too much hope into anything here on the ship. These romances have an expiration date, and they always fade when the ship goes into dock.”
“Ouch. Could you be more negative? Remind me not to ever come to you for comforting if I lose my cat or I get a bad manicure or something.”
Whoa. She had a point. Where was all this extreme negativity coming from? I was usually cautiously optimistic. And I had started the day with such a nice visit with Russ, then a lovely walk with Damian.
I brushed the crumbs from my lap and felt the crinkle of paper in my pocket. Oh. Right. Brennan McAllister.
“See you at the pool? I could use a swim and some afternoon sun.” I stretched my arms over my head after the end of the final demo of the afternoon.
“Langston is meeting me at the gym. Will you join us?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t want to interrupt.”
“Come on, Keir. Don’t be like that. Haven’t we already hashed this out?”
“No, no, I sincerely think you need to visit with him alone if you’re going to get to know him better.”
“But I want your opinion. I can’t think about this in a vacuum.”
“Do you honestly think you’ll be making a decision in a vacuum? He went off with Alex, Cam, Anthony, and Celia all day today. You could have a full report in triplicate if you wanted it.”
We laughed and began to make our way to our staterooms.
“Speaking of reports,” Juliet said, “aren’t you going to do the one for today’s demonstrations before you go to the pool?”
“Rats. I forgot about it.” Now I was sure that the report was just a flimsy gambit for Brennan, but I couldn’t take a chance. “You’re right. I’ll finish it here and get to the pool as soon as I’m done.”
“You need my help?”
“Go, go.” I shooed her away. “I owe you this for the couple of hours this morning.”
“I guess you do,” she said and sprang away.
In the silence of the empty room, I pulled Brennan’s note out of my pocket and reread it.
Keira,
I know you recognize me now and you must understand why I did what I did. We have so much to discuss.
Brennan
What the heck did any of that mean?
I know you recognize me now. Sure. Now. Because you didn’t have the decency to introduce yourself when we met on the first day of the cruise.
You must understand why I did what I did. What do you mean “what I did”? Kiss me and how many other women? And what specifically did you say that I MUST understand?
We have so much to discuss. The way I see it, we have absolutely nothing to discuss, you playboy!
As lovely as the handwriting was, the note was so cryptic. And it was so generic it could easily have been a template that he kept ready to send at any minute (Dear Keira, Susan, Meghan...).
Aargh! How long was I going to dissect this stupid note from him? I glanced at my watch. The sun was going to set, and I was going to miss prime pool time!
I hastened to create a report for the day, sped to the purser’s office to drop it off, and dashed to my stateroom to change into pool gear. By the time I reached the pool, the rest of the family had taken up a corner and were laughing and joking.
I slowed my pace as I arrived.
“Keira!” shouted Cam, who was the first to see me approach.
“Hey,” Alex’s head shot up. “Here you stroll, calm and casual, as if you are the talent making her entrance for a photo shoot. How do you always manage to look like that?”
“Because I always am, darling.” I flipped my hair over my shoulder.
“Sit with me, sweetie,” she patted the space next to her on her lounge chair. Other than my mother, Alex was the only person who knew that my bravado was so often only an act.
“You’re just in time, Keira. Speaking of photos, I have a plan,” said Mrs. D’Ag. “Tonight is formal night, and everyone will be dressed up. I want to meet early on the way to dinner to have a group picture taken.”
“Ma,” groaned Anthony, “those photographers are everywhere trying to get everyone to get a group picture. It’s a scam.”
“Your mother wants a family photo, so we’re doing it,” said Mr. D’Ag with a decisive air.
“Your family will look lovely in a photo, Anthony,” said my mother.
“Oh, no, Maeve, when I say ‘group picture,’ I mean everyone,” said Mrs. D’Ag.
“Do you realize how many people that is, Angela?” asked Russ.
“Don’t argue with her, Russ,” laughed Damian. “She’s a force of nature!”
“I mean EVERYONE, Russ,” she responded. “And that means you. Now, if any of you want to take other pictures separately, that’s your business, but I want one picture with all of us.”
“I guess I’ll tell the photographer to bring the extra-wide lens, Ma,” Damian patted her on the knee.
“Why would he need that? For Anthony’s ego?” asked Alex.
“What?” Anthony shot up, grabbed his sister, and jumped in the pool.
“Cam!” shrieked Alex as she surfaced and sputtered water out of her face. “Aren’t you going to do something?”
“Why yes, I think I will,” he said as he grabbed me and jumped in, ignoring my laughing shrieks.
“You kids be careful!” said Mr. D’Ag, but he was too late as we were joined in the water by Damian and Celia.
“And we thought it would have been rough if we’d brought the grandchildren,” said Mrs. D’Ag.
“So what cotillion are you dressed for exactly, Juliet?” I whistled as she strolled over to join me at our meeting spot. She was wearing a one-shouldered mini covered in the type of iridescent beads that threw off millions of rainbow lights with every step she took. She had found a pair of shoes that matched perfectly and was as sparkly as a glass of champagne.
“You should talk,” she said. “Although I don’t suppose you would have worn that at your actual coming-out party.”
“What, this?” I glanced down at my black silk number, which was high-necked and had sheer sleeves. “Perfectly respectable.”
“Um, twirl around.” She made the spin gesture with her finger. When I spun, you could see that the back was cut devastatingly low.
“Yeah. Respectable.” Her sarcasm could not be hidden. “Right down to the pearls, worn backward and hanging down to your waist. My gosh, Keira, that dress is—”
“Killer.” Langston finished her sentence. He had walked up to where Juliet and I were waiting for the rest of the family. His appraising eyes were not lost on me or Juliet.
“Langston, I thought you and Owen had plans with the rest of your traveling buddies and we were meeting after dinner?” she said, squinting at him viewing me. She needn’t have worried, however; his appreciative glance was just that, a glance. When he turned to her, his face lit up from more than the reflection of the beads in her ensemble.
“Juliet, I saw you walk across the deck from the elevator, and I had to come over to say hello before the guys and I continued with our plans.” He gestured toward his brother and a group of other young men across the deck, patiently waiting for him. “Remember to meet me after dinner for a walk?”
If I di
dn’t know better, I’d say he was a smitten fifteen-year-old!
“Absolutely!” Juliet was attempting to hide it, but her inner high school sophomore was showing as well. Hmm.
A kiss later, and he was gone.
“My boyfriend is so dreamy,” I teased in a whispery voice.
“Hush up!” She punched my arm. “I told you before, we’re just getting to know one another!”
“First of all, ouch.” I rubbed my arm. “And okay, whatever you say. But I have to tell you again, be careful.”
She started to say something, but the rest of the family descended almost at once.
“Well, you two look amazing,” said Celia, who was pretty dolled up herself in a black crepe sheath.
“All of our girls are pretty amazing,” said Cam, hugging his own wife, who as usual had managed to be cutting edge in a black-and-white formal that had the appearance of being printed from newsprint.
“Are we ready for a picture?” asked Mrs. D’Ag, looking around at the photographers who were stationed around the Promenade Deck with various backdrops. She frowned and shook her head.
“I don’t like any of those backdrops. I want to be on the stairs,” she pointed at the ornate stairs that separated this deck from the next.
“But the photographers are all set up, and the traffic—” Juliet began, but Cam put his hand on her arm.
“Shh. Watch. You girls think YOU’RE assertive. Sit back and learn from the master.”
Mrs. D’Ag marched over forcefully to the nearest photographer, and though we couldn’t hear them, we caught the entire conversation in pantomime. Within five minutes, the photographer not only had taken down his setup, but had blocked the stairway from traffic and was ready to shoot.
“Let’s go, kids,” she motioned us over loudly.
“And that,” Cam said, “is how it’s done.”
Chapter Twenty-One
“I cannot possibly have dessert tonight!” Anthony rubbed his stomach.
“Well, my dress is so tight, I’m guaranteed not to have any,” agreed Celia.
“I think that’s the trick to formal night,” said my mother. “We have to wear our girdles under our fancy dresses, so we don’t eat as much on at least one night.”
“Oh, Mother, no one wears girdles! We all wear Spanx now!” I laughed.
“All of us?” Russ asked. I shot him a glance but could see the teasing in his eyes. Honestly, it was so much better being friends with him than adversaries!
Mr. D’Ag waved his hands in the air.
“What the heck kind of conversation have we gotten ourselves to here at the dinner table? Why, I knew everything would go to pieces—”
“When you started letting me wear nail polish and makeup,” Alex interjected. “We know, we know, Pop.”
“What’s for entertainment tonight?” Mrs. D’Ag changed the subject.
“Well, there’s a Marriage Game in the ballroom if we want to go watch that,” said Celia, looking at the daily Lodestone.
“What on earth is that?”
“Oh, Neil told me about that,” I said. “They pull couples out of the audience that have been married for different lengths of time—newlywed, about twenty-five years, and about fifty years—and play the old-fashioned Newlywed Game where they see if they can match answers.”
“Sounds like it could be fun,” shrugged Alex. “Let’s go. Too bad we don’t fit a category, Cam. I bet we could clean up.”
“Not that you’re competitive or anything,” I pointed out.
She just grinned.
“Nope. Come on! Let’s go see if we can get the best seats.”
I crossed my arms and tilted my head to one side. “I rest my case.”
We did manage to get good seats near the front of the ballroom, despite not arriving until about ten minutes before the show was to begin. Energetic music blasted from the speakers, and an air of excitement was in the room.
“Have you seen this show before?” asked a fresh-faced gal who leaned up from the row behind me. “My husband and I are on our honeymoon. We’re going to try to go up. Are you and your husband going to try to go up?” She indicated Damian, who was seated next to me with his arm draped around the back of my chair.
He and I looked at each other, and with his usual quickness, he had an answer.
“I would, but this is my wife’s third marriage.”
“Damian!” I turned to the young lady. “Don’t let him tease you. He’s a Catholic priest.”
She looked befuddled.
“Wow. I didn’t know priests could get married, much less to divorced women.”
“He’s just—” I started, but announcements were beginning on the stage, and I needed to turn around.
“Should have just left it as it was, Princess!” Damian smiled.
“Ha! You are such a troublemaker, Padre!”
I turned fully to the stage and caught the eye of the emcee. It was none other than our cruise director, Brennan McAllister.
“This is a tribute to the joys of fidelity and matrimony,” he announced.
I wanted to leave, but Russ, who was seated on the other side of me, put his hand gently on my knee. I looked over to him, thankful for his strength, and patted his hand and leaned back in my chair. I was with the people I loved. Nothing could go wrong.
“So, we have our newest couple,” Brennan was saying as he pointed to a couple not much different than the young woman and her husband behind me. And we have our most, ahem, mature couple. He pointed to another couple onstage. “Married sixty-seven years, ladies and gentlemen. How DID they do it?”
“He’s deaf!” cracked a jokester from the balcony.
Brennan pulled a face.
“Now, how about a couple kind of in the middle, about twenty-five years?”
We all looked around, but no one volunteered.
“Ladies and gentlemen, that usually doesn’t happen. How about thirty-five to forty years?”
Two couples stood up. Then to my disbelief, Alex pushed her own parents up.
“Right here! Right here!”
“Alexandria! What are you doing!” her father exclaimed.
“Come on, Pop! You can win this thing,” she said.
The camera focused on Mr. and Mrs. D’Ag. And their faces popped up on the screens to either side of the stage. Soon the audience started chanting in unison: “Come on Pop! You can win this thing!”
Brennan, grinning from ear to ear, walked over to us and put his arm around Mr. D’Ag’s shoulder.
“What do you say, Pop? You seem to have a fan club here. Do you think you can win this thing?”
Then Brennan looked straight at me, and his blue eyes bore into my green ones.
“What do you think?”
He put the mike up to my lips.
“I think he can win this thing,” I said without blinking.
Mr. D’Ag looked at his wife and shrugged.
“Well, Angela, it can’t hurt.”
The audience erupted in a cheer as Alex’s parents followed Brennan to the stage.
Brennan explained the game and seated the three couples back to back so that the partners could not view each other’s answers. Then he gave them each a yellow legal pad on which to write. Bryce assisted him onstage, and they traded quips to the audience’s joy.
I kept my eye on Brennan.
How did shy Capone evolve into this suave game-show host? He was asking questions and leaning over the contestants’ shoulders as they wrote, all the while maintaining a playful glee and just the right amount of naughty innuendo.
More to the point, how had I not seen this side of him in college? He was in my computer lab day in and day out like a lot of the freshmen.
I sat straight up.
Freshman.
He’s younger than me. Oh no. Even if—EVEN IF—there had been a possibility of something beginning, after all my hand-wringing about my mother and Russ, wouldn’t that have been hypocritical?
�
��Hey,” whispered Alex from the other side of Damian. “The big show is happening up there. Where on earth are you?”
“What?” I better get my head back to the game. It wasn’t like I had to worry about it anyway, since not only had Capone evolved into suave Brennan, but he moved several steps beyond. I shook myself back to reality and focused on the stage just as the Newlywed husband was answering a question.
“What one thing would I change about my wife?” He tilted his head sideways, and his eyes moved in the classic thinking pose.
Oh no. Don’t do it. Don’t do it.
“Probably her cooking.”
He did it. Groans from the audience and a whap on the head from her.
“Ooooh, no,” Brennan said with an intake of breath. “Sorry, not the answer we were going for. Before we show her answer, how about we go to our ‘Mid-Weds’?” That was Alex’s parents.
“Me?” Mr. D’Ag said as he displayed his card. “Well, I wouldn’t change a thing about Angela. She’s perfect the way she is.”
Cheers from the audience.
Brennan then showed Mrs. D’Ag’s answer sheet, which read “nothing,” and she reached backward and patted Mr. D’Ag lovingly on the shoulder.
“A few more years will give you that wisdom, son.” Brennan walked back over to the newlywed and patted him on the head. “Bryce, what does our mature couple say?”
“Both of their sheets match, Bren,” said Bryce, and he displayed two cards with “Nothing” written on them.
Brennan mugged the audience, raised his hands palms up, and shrugged his shoulders in a “whaddya know” gesture. He moved on to the next question.
Easy when you’re reading from cue cards, you sly devil. How would you handle a relationship if you were ever in one?
Mr. and Mrs. D’Ag were tied with the mature couple. The newlywed couple had long proven that they knew nothing about one another and were no longer in the race. The final question was a nail-biter.
Love on the Lido Deck Page 19