“What! You and Alexandria were the belles of the ball in college. You two were everywhere constantly!”
“Uh, yeah. SHE and I. She’s the only reason I ever got out of the dorm room in my four years. Otherwise I would have sat there and pined away for my parents and my home and my wisteria.”
“Wisteria?” He seemed confused.
“It’s a whole thing.” I waved him off. “My dad planted wisteria on the side of our house for me because they’re my favorite. Back to you. So you decided that you needed to turn into some sort of playboy to be successful?”
I looked away, fearful of his answer.
“Not turn into one,” he shook his head. “Act like one. Inside I was always, still am, the same old same old Brennan, the same old Capone! It wasn’t a problem, though. Everything was going along smoothly until—”
I looked up at him.
“Until you came on my ship on Sunday.”
He continued. “I never thought I’d see you again. Why would I? You had graduated, and someone said you had gone on to a successful career in high-tech. How would our paths cross? Then I got the purser’s list, and I saw the star next to your priest friend’s name and saw that he was traveling with the Keira Graham party. Can you imagine how my heart jumped when I saw your name?”
I wanted to doubt his word, but one look in his eyes and I knew he was telling the truth. He continued his story.
“Then I walked up to you after the mustering, and I didn’t even have to ask if I had the right person. That hair and eyes, burned into my memory forever. You were the one that no one could ever measure up to. I could tell you didn’t recognize me. Who would? I knew I had to take a chance with you before you did recognize me and all you would ever see me as was goofy old Capone.”
“You never were goofy to me, Brennan. Even hiding behind the beard and glasses.”
He reached over and caressed my hair, and soon his caresses pulled me closer.
“You’re not going to punch me again, are you?” he whispered as he kissed me delicately near my ear.
I shivered as I shook my head to indicate no.
“Good.”
He gathered me toward him for a kiss, but the arm of the theater seat was in the way.
We both giggled as I moved to sit sideways on his lap on his own seat, and our kisses moved on to the type that Sister Regina might not have approved of.
Many exquisite moments were passed in this way before I broke slightly away.
“Brennan, can I ask a question?” I whispered.
“Mm-hmm,” he moved to kissing my forehead.
“What’s the deal with the reports?”
“What?” He seemed distracted by the pearls cascading down the exposed back of my dress.
“The reports. Every day after the cooking demos.”
“Oh. I made that up.”
“What!” I moved my head away.
“I made them up,” he tried to pull me back to him. “I just wanted you to see what it was like having to fill out all that documentation back in school.”
“Are you kidding me?” The mood was definitely broken now. “I didn’t need to do them? Don’t need to do them? You did that as some sort of revenge?”
“Not really revenge, Keira,” he shrugged. Then he realized his mistake as he tried unsuccessfully to rationalize. “But come on, you remember what your nickname was. Everyone knew what a hardcase you were. I just wanted to give you a little taste of your own medicine, Graham Cracker.”
“I can’t believe it!” I began, then did the only thing I could do.
I punched him in the stomach, jumped up, and ran out of the theater.
“Here she is,” my mother looked up and smiled when saw me approaching our family group sitting together in the cozy Champagne Bar. But then her eyes widened.
The others also looked at me, and I realized that I must look a sight with mussed-up hair and wild eyes.
Russ jumped in smoothly. “Is it windy on deck? Didn’t you say that you were going to step out for a minute?”
I shot him a thankful glance.
“Oh, I decided to try a new look—disheveled chic. What do you think?” I threw one hand on my hip and the other behind my head.
“I’m not a fan,” Alex said pointedly. “Since when have you ever been less than picture perfect?”
“Since when have you had the common sense to keep your lip buttoned?” I shot back as I sat next to Russ and pulled my hair back into a hasty braid.
Alex and I had a wordless conversation with our eyes in which she conveyed her curiosity about Brennan’s whereabouts, and I let her know that I would fill her in later. How she managed to not blather about the fact that she had left me with Brennan was a mystery to me.
“Keira, maybe you can help us here,” Anthony said with a strange look at me. “Cam and Ali are doing the dance contest tomorrow afternoon, and Celia doesn’t want to do it.”
“I didn’t say that, Tonio,” Celia shook her head. “I just said I didn’t want to wear matching outfits.”
Anthony looked at me with a “see?” expression and waited for my opinion.
“She’s doing the contest, isn’t she?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Then what does it matter what she wears?” I concluded.
“Thank you, Keira,” Celia looked at Anthony with her own “see?” expression. “I knew I could count on Keira to be the voice of reason.”
“Thanks, Keira,” Anthony pouted. “Just once in this family I’d like to get my way.”
The table exploded in laughter as he got pelted with cocktail peanuts.
Then, just as quickly, silence fell, and everyone looked over my shoulder. I turned to see Brennan standing there. My face flamed as I jumped up and pulled him away from our group.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed.
“You left your purse,” he held out my evening bag. I could either take it from him politely or look like an idiot.
“Thank you.” I looked over my shoulder. If I weren’t so embarrassed, I would have laughed out loud at the family and their attempt to be nonchalant.
“Anything else?”
Oh, that infuriating smile. Those dimples and those bright blue eyes.
“No, no. Oh. You do know that your lipstick is smeared though, don’t you?”
My hand reached to my mouth. So much for covering up where I had been! The family knew what I had been doing—and now they knew exactly who with.
I turned fully around to see their grins, then swiveled back to face Brennan.
He put his hands on my shoulders and whispered in my ear. “I need to watch my public image while in uniform in front of so many passengers. But meet me on the top deck in the morning.” And with that, he kissed me delicately on the temple.
Out loud to the rest of the family, he said, “Good night all.”
If I could have magically disappeared from the family’s view—better yet, if they could have disappeared at that moment—oh how sweet life would have been. But no, no. I had to turn around and take it like a big girl.
Count to ten. Turn.
“Anything to share with the rest of the class?” I knew Alex would be the one to break the silence.
Resigned to a barrage of questions, I sat back down next to Russ. Fortunately, he put his arm around me and handed me a napkin to wipe my mouth. Unfortunately, he was the first one to ask a question.
“So, I take it that it wasn’t the wind that mussed up your hair?”
“Ha-ha.” I cleared the last of what was left of my lipstick.
“Well, I think he’s a nice boy,” said Mrs. D’Ag. “He’s done nothing but treat us all nice since we’ve been here.”
“That’s his job, Ma,” Alex said. “But I agree, he’s really nice. Even if he’s the one that peeked at me and Beth in college.”
“That’s the boy from the story you just told?” Mrs. D’Ag asked. “You said he was ugly. Brennan McAllister is anything but
ugly, honey.”
“That’s the point, Ma,” said Anthony. “He’s become handsome now, and he wants to date our little Keira.”
“Well, she deserves someone nice.” Mrs. D’Ag turned to my mother. “You know, Maeve, I always wished I had another son for her or could find her a nice boy before it’s too late.”
“Hey!” I jumped in. “I’m right here!”
“Well, sure honey, but we all just want the best for you,” said my mother. “Do you like Brennan? I thought you didn’t.”
“No! I mean yes! He’s a nice enough person, but you guys are missing a big point, aren’t you?”
Blank stares.
“I live in Denver! He travels the world! Don’t you see a problem there?”
I looked to the one person I thought I could count on for sensibility.
“Celia?”
She shrugged her shoulders.
“Keira, I love you to death, but I think you’re overthinking this. Can’t you just enjoy the moment?”
“Auuuughhh!” I jumped up. “I’m going to bed. In case you forgot, I’m working tomorrow.” I looked at Alex. “And so are you, so you should follow pretty soon.”
As I started to walk away, Juliet and Langston joined us.
“Hey guys? Did we miss anything?” she asked as they pulled up an ottoman.
I walked away as quickly as I could.
Chapter Twenty-Three
I tossed. I turned. I tossed and turned.
Sleep would not come. I relived those moments in the theater over and over and over. A hot shower didn’t help. Turning the TV on and off didn’t help. Eventually my clock sounded, and I jumped out of my tiny bed.
As much as I tried to avoid it, I was ready early. Darn my efficient morning routine!
Oh, who was I kidding, I wanted to see Brennan. Looking in the mirror, I made sure I was neat from head to toe, slipped out of my stateroom, and quietly made my way to the top deck, Brennan’s morning hangout. My heart dropped a bit when I saw that he wasn’t there.
The morning breeze was crisp and the sun was delicate, so I walked over to the rail to take in the clear waves of the ocean. Today was a day at sea, so we would be surrounded by this blue perfection all day.
“Hi,” a soft voice whispered in my ear, and I turned around to look into the blue perfection of Brennan’s eyes.
“Hi.”
He was dressed much like the first day we had met on this deck, in a tattered T-shirt, random shorts, and a baseball cap flipped backward. This time the shirt was emblazoned with the logo of our alma mater, Notre Dame.
“Go Irish,” I said as I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“Go Irish.”
He pulled me closer to give me the most perfect good morning kiss.
“Keira, I need you to promise that you won’t punch me.”
I threw my head back and laughed.
“I promise.”
“Good.” He pulled me close for another heart-melting kiss.
“Brennan—” I began, but was interrupted.
“Oh my Gawd, Doreen, have you ever seen such a view?” cut through the morning silence. We turned to see that the colors of the outfit worn by the speaker were twice as loud as her braying voice.
“Yer right, Linda, it’s gaw-geous!” Doreen apparently shopped at the same store as Linda, one that specialized in gigantic bright stripes.
Brennan whipped me around to face the ocean and he himself stood beside me facing outward, pulling his ball cap around and shoving sunglasses on his nose.
“What in the world?” I said.
“Shh. When I’m in uniform I’m on duty, but in civilian clothes I try not to be too accessible. Sometimes it can cause problems.”
“What? Those ladies seem harmless enough.” I turned slightly to the side to view Doreen and Linda on the other side of the deck taking endless photos of each other.
“You never know.” He shook his head. “On my last ship, I tried to avoid being out in public except in uniform and the one time—ONE TIME—I was out in civvies, a nice young lady got the wrong idea and it turned into a whole issue.
“Ohhhh. That explains it.”
“That explains what?”
“Well, Neil said you had a reputation for seducing passengers.”
“What!” His head shot up, but he realized he was too loud and quieted himself. “Once. ONCE. A passenger made a thoroughly baseless accusation. Hmm. Nice to know that my own assistant has my back.”
I turned around to lean the other way on the railing, keeping my eye on the neon twins who were now making a big show of selecting deck chairs.
“Well. I don’t know. Look at what’s happening with you and me.”
He spun me around and faced me.
“Hey. I thought I explained to you that I have been over the moon for you since college. Do you think I’m just looking for a shipboard fling with you?”
“Well, you did say you built this playboy image—”
“Image, Keira, image. It’s what people want to see, so it’s the role I play. Can’t you see where the professional image of me stops and the real me starts?”
I must have paused a moment too long.
“Wow. Now I’d almost rather you would have punched me in the stomach. This is worse.”
He stalked off.
“Where are you going?” I shouted after him.
“To WORK.”
Great. Just when I was halfway ready to take a chance on us, I messed it up and he pulled back.
“Hey blondie,” Doreen and Linda’s sandals flapped the deck loudly as they hurried over toward me. “Wasn’t that the cruise director you were talking to?”
I looked toward where Brennan had walked.
“No, ma’am, I can’t say I know WHO that was.”
Alex’s cooking demo was taking place in the same theater where we had seen Grease. I walked in to find her stage set on risers. We also arranged to have mirrors over the stage so that the audience in the back would be able to see her.
Up on stage, I saw my best friend organizing her tools with the precision of a surgeon. Because she was as perky as a cheerleader, I always forgot that Alex was a renowned chef with her own chain of restaurants and was truly accomplished at what she did.
I shook off my own issues and joined her on the stage, concentrating on my job and what I needed to do to make this demo a success.
Alex glanced up and saw me, and her face split into a wide grin.
“Hey, sister-friend! Are we ready for this thing or what?”
Alex. As filled with joy as I remembered her from that first day of freshman year.
“I don’t know about you, but my part is ready. I got you an audience.” I laughed. “Have you seen Juliet?”
“Isn’t she with you? Where have you been?” She stopped polishing a knife and shrieked, “Noo! Were you somewhere with your Frat Boy?”
“My Frat Boy?”
“Well, what else would you call someone you met through a fraternity at college.”
I stopped in my tracks.
“Technically, we met in a computer lab ... and—”
“Whatever, Keira.” She waved the knife around dangerously. “Now that I know who he is, I can’t shake the Frat Boy image.”
Juliet bounced into the room, singing along to whatever tune was channeled through her iPhone to her ears.
“And where have you been, Jules?”
She pulled her earbuds out and pointed to me.
“I was at breakfast with YOUR mother, who wanted to know where YOU were.”
“I was getting some fresh air.”
“Oh, is that what you kids are calling it these days?” She grinned.
I opened my mouth to answer but knew I would be outgunned by both Alex and Juliet, so I changed the topic swiftly.
“Anyway, ladies, are we set?”
“Like I said, girlfriend, all is set up here.” Alex glanced around her tables. Cam strode in from offstage, tying an a
pron and nodding his head. He was acting as sous chef. The two of them made a striking couple.
“Just bring on the students,” he said.
As if on cue, people started streaming in. Alex and Cam came down off the stage to greet people, and soon the theater was packed. The last guests to arrive were the family, and we ushered them to their seats just before the house lights went down and the stage lights went up. Our music keyed, Alex and Cam hopped to the front of the stage, and their spotlights hit. And so began the final and biggest demo of the cruise.
Alex and Cam had a smooth working relationship that mirrored their off-stage relationship. Their preparation of Chicken Vesuvio was peppered with laughter and anecdotes about their restaurants and their son.
“Shall I tell you about the first time we cooked together?” asked Cam at one point. “I had to save her during a wedding catering mishap!”
“Save me? You were lucky I let you wash the pans we cooked with!” Alex flipped him with a towel.
“They’re good together,” Juliet leaned over and said. “We should send them on the road.”
“Nah. Alex likes running her restaurant too much,” I said. “Oh sure, she’s great in front of an audience at charity events and things, and likes doing the guest shots on the morning shows occasionally, but that’s just her natural bubbly personality—drama all the way.” I smiled as Alex bumped Cam out of the way with her hip. “And he’s so dedicated to his job as VP of engineering, he’d never want to give that up.”
“Hmm. I guess so,” said Juliet. “It’s just that they work so well together onstage.”
“It’s because THEY work so well together in general. It was a match made in heaven, even if it took Alex awhile to figure it out.” I smiled inwardly remembering Alexandria’s dating woes before she finally realized that Cam Grayson was her soul mate.
“Awesome,” Juliet’s tone was pensive.
“What is it, Juliet?”
“Well. If I tell you, you have to promise not to get upset.”
Love on the Lido Deck Page 21