Did I all of a sudden have a reputation for violence? Well, I guess I did punch Brennan. Twice.
“Come out into the hall,” I said.
“Okay,” she began when we were out of range, “there’s no way to say this but to say it. I was wrong about Langston.”
“What? Did he hurt you? If he did, I’ll smack him.” Whoa. Maybe I was developing a violent streak.
“No, no, no,” she laughed. “Nothing like that. I was just wrong when I thought he could be someone who could sustain a serious relationship.”
“How do you figure that?” I asked, bearing in mind that I was the one all along who said to proceed cautiously.
“Well, he never talks about anything other than the hospital and his charity work. I don’t know how to say anything about that without seeming uncharitable myself, but I don’t think he can ever be married to a woman so long as he is married to the job that he has. Am I making any sense?”
“Perfect sense.” I SO wanted to say “I told you so.”
Not the time, Keira, not the time.
“I think this trip has been a really necessary break for him, but I can tell he’s ready to get back to work. He already has been going into the ship’s library spending a lot of time online, checking in on his next project. I can see him drifting away.”
I nodded without saying anything.
“I wouldn’t be able to deal with someone who had that much devotion to their job. I think I could deal with someone who is serious about their work, but they need to make time for me, you know? And I wouldn’t want to be the person who was responsible for him having to choose.”
“I know. You see it in Cam and Alex. They have separate demanding careers, and they both are serious about them, but you see how much they love each other just in, well, how much they love each other. And in how much they make time for Marco. And I know it will be the same for any other kids they have.”
“Exactly,” she nodded. “Being around your extended family and seeing all these great relationships makes me realize that I need to hold out for one. I don’t know. Whoever thought anyone could find Mr. Right in five days, anyway?”
I pulled her in for a hug.
“I hear you. Look, is there anything I can do for you?”
“No. Got it covered,” she shook her curls and jangled her myriad bracelets. “He’ll be history before everyone has their bags packed and out in the hall for the stewards to take away tonight.”
I put my arm around her waist, and we walked into the theater.
Yep, I thought, and unfortunately, Brennan McAllister would be history in that same time frame as well.
As we had anticipated, Alex’s cooking demo was not only the most popular, but also the one where we had the most difficulty getting the audience to leave. It was past noon before the last person was gone.
“Great job, baby sister,” said Damian as he gave Alex a tight sideways hug.
“Alex, I think you should have your own TV show!” said my mother. She turned to Cam. “And you should be on it as well!”
“Us? We’d kill each other!” Cam laughed. “No, this was fun, but the world turns on its axis better when we each stay in our own specialties.”
“Who’s up for lunch and drinks by the pool?” Alex asked as she flipped her jaunty chef’s cap off her head.
A chorus of “me” came from most of the family, while the two older couples chose to have a quiet lunch on the Boardwalk Deck.
“Pop, I love you, but you are showing your age!” said Alex.
“You get to the pool,” said Mr. D’Ag. “We’ll wait until the sun isn’t as burning hot, then we’ll join you.”
“What’s on for the rest of the afternoon if we don’t meet at the pool?” asked Celia, the planner. “This is our last day on the ship, and it is flying by really quickly!”
“I think we have to defend our title as Trivia Champions, then there’s the dance competition,” said Anthony.
Juliet nodded her head. “Sounds good. If we get separated between now and then, we’ll all regroup at the dance competition to see Anthony’s moves.”
“Hey!” he said. “You sound skeptical!”
“No, no,” said Cam as he pushed Anthony toward the door. “She just wants to take some good footage to enter in America’s Funniest Home Videos!”
I walked slowly, the last of the group.
“What’s up, Keir?” asked Alex, who had returned to make sure I hadn’t been left behind.
I hesitated to share the morning’s encounter, but she was my best friend after all.
“Well, if you ask me,” she said loyally after I told her, “he lost the better end of the deal. As Nonna would say, ‘he no deserve-a you anyway, bella mia. Now have some more pasta’.”
“Is that what she’d say?” I laughed.
“Well, something very much like that,” she allowed. “Come on. Your project is over. You don’t have any further appointments. You were successful. We’ve got the rest of the day on this beautiful ship. No mopin’, sistah!”
Ah, that familiar phrase from our college days. I nodded my head decisively as we continued on our path toward our staterooms.
“You’re right. No mopin’, sistah!”
I took time to complete follow-up paperwork for myself in my stateroom before I left to join the others at the pool. As I stepped off the elevator, I heard a voice I recognized.
“There she is, Rose!”
The Grant sisters.
“Hello, ladies!” I said. “Did you enjoy your classes?”
“Absolutely divine,” said Elizabeth. “Thank you again, dear, for helping us. We were just telling our friends here what an efficient young woman you are, and they agreed that this is one of the best events they’ve ever attended.”
I looked around and saw that they were with several other senior citizens, still attired for the seminar with name badges on and notebooks in hand.
“It is my pleasure.”
“Well, we appreciate it.”
“As far as we can see, everything about this event has been very well organized,” said one of the gentlemen in the group whose name tag identified him as Eli. “Do you just do this for the cruise ship?”
“Oh, no. This is my job on land as well.” I pulled out and distributed some of my business cards from my pool bag. It was a joke that I even carried business cards into the shower, but my motto was “Never lose the opportunity to market.”
“Good to know.” Eli tapped my card with his finger. “Now it says here that you’re in Denver. Would you consider doing an event in St. Louis? Say, a wedding? My granddaughter is getting married, and I’m footing the bill. Darn girl won’t be happy unless it’s an event for at least 350 people. I’d like to know that I’m getting what I paid for.”
Would I consider it?
“Yes, sir. Let me get your information. With your permission, I’ll give you a call when we get back on land.”
“Take my information and give me a call, too, dear,” said a woman whose name tag read Ida. “We have friends in Denver who are having an anniversary, and we’d like to have them talk to you.”
“Absolutely. I’d be happy to.”
All righty then! My step was decidedly light when I left this likable group and reached the others at the pool.
“Wonder what the kids are doing right now,” Anthony said lazily from his lounge chair later in the afternoon.
Celia peered out from under her impossibly large sun hat at him. “Seriously, we’ve been gone for almost a week and you just now thought about them?”
“Stop making me sound like a bad father.” He reached over with his foot and nudged her. “You know this isn’t the first time they’ve come up in conversation.”
“I suspect they haven’t even noticed you’re gone yet,” I said, smiling from my own lounge chair.
“Hey!” defended Anthony.
“You know,” I said, “I’d like to go visit your mother and be pampered for a week, Celia!”
We all laughed companionably.
“Speaking of parents, where are ours?” asked Alex. “They never came to join us after lunch. What time is it, anyway? I didn’t pay attention after Damian left.” She shaded her eyes and looked at the clock across the deck. “Omigosh, you guys, we’ve been sitting here forever! Didn’t anyone notice the time?”
“Don’t you qualify as ‘anyone’?” asked Cam.
“Are you going to substitute for the comedian tonight?” she shot back. “We totally missed the Trivia Contest.”
I sat up. I couldn’t believe we had been sitting that long talking, laughing, eating, and enjoying cocktails.
“We can barely make it to the dance contest if we leave right now, and that’s just to watch it,” I said. “You can’t enter all sweaty like you are.”
As if on cue, the music on the speakers cut out, and I heard the one voice that so recently had the ability to make my heart catch.
“Ladies and gentlemen, if you are participating in the ‘Dancing Like the Stars’ competition, you have exactly twenty minutes to get to the ballroom and sign in. Who are the stars? Why, of course, you are! Come on down to try to win fantastic prizes.”
Brennan’s practiced tones finished, and the music came back.
I looked at Cam, Alex, Anthony, and Celia.
“You guys go get changed really quickly, and Jules and I will go see if we can sign you in. How’s that?” I said. “Everyone else will probably realize we’ve gone there and meet us.”
Cam and Alex looked at one another.
“Worth a shot. Let’s go!”
We split up and went our separate ways. I just hoped our parents and Damian made it in time to get good seats.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Juliet and I skidded into the crowded ballroom and saw that we were safely far back in the line to sign up. Laughing and breathing heavily, we didn’t notice when Damian tapped us on the shoulder.
“You two make an interesting couple,” he said.
“Hush up. We’re here by proxy to sign up for the others.”
“Okay,” he said. “Uh, did you happen to notice who the competition was?”
“I don’t know, people from the ship,” I said as I scanned people already on the floor coupled up, pinning numbers on each other’s backs. Then my eyes lit on two particular couples.
“You’re kidding me.”
The two couples in the spotlight were my mother and Russ, and Alex’s parents! When they saw me, they hurried over.
“Keira! Are you entering? But with whom? And where are the others?” asked my mother.
“Mother ... when did you decide ... how ...?”
“Well, darling, you kids don’t think you invented dancing, do you?” she said. “It sounded like fun when everyone talked about it last night, so today at lunch we all decided what the heck? But aren’t the others entering?” She still looked confused.
“They went to change out of their pool gear. We’re here to enter for them by proxy,” I said.
“Do you have a problem with us entering?” my mother asked, ready, I’m sure, for a negative response. I didn’t blame her, given how childish I had acted earlier in the week.
“No, Mother,” I laughed. “Exactly the opposite. I think it’s great! I just worry for the rest of your competition!”
I hugged her and Russ, and pulled Mr. and Mrs. D’Ag over for a hug as well, then they stepped back to the middle of the floor to get ready. Damian and Jules went to snag seats for us on the perimeter of the floor, while I progressed in the line.
“Next couple.” The perky young crew member named Lisa smiled up at me when I reached the front of the line.
“Well, that’s the thing. They’re on their way. I’m here to sign them in.”
“Oh gosh,” she said in her flat midwestern tone. “I can’t let you do that. The rules clearly state—”
“Oh, I think Miss Graham probably knows the rules,” came a voice behind Lisa. “She is a great fan of rules. She just thinks that others don’t know how to follow them.”
“Lisa.” I pursed my lips in an attempt to hide a smile. Brennan at his best. “My friends are right behind me. They’re entering the contest. Is there really any reason we can’t sign them in and let me have their number to hold for them?”
“Hmm. Is there any reason? Lisa, can we think of any reason?” Brennan addressed Lisa, who at that moment probably wished she were assigned to any other task.
“I ... um ... it’s written ...” she faltered.
“Come on, Lisa,” I said as I avoided Brennan’s eye. “You know you can do this. Don’t punish them for something you think I did.”
“Interesting, Lisa. Miss Graham thinks people shouldn’t be punished for things others ‘think’ they did.”
“But Brennan, we can’t—” Lisa started again.
“Lisa,” I began, “I don’t think we should be unreasonably stubborn here—”
“Lisa, Miss Graham apparently knows that being stubborn for no reason is unreasonable. She apparently—”
“Look,” Lisa broke in with more strength in her voice, “I don’t know what’s ‘apparently’ going on here, but it’s just dancing, Brennan. Work out issues between the two of you on your own time and leave me out of it. I have registration to finish.” She ostentatiously gave me a pair of numbers. She gave him a look that clearly indicated to back off.
“Thank you, Lisa.” I grinned at both of them and turned to walk away, but unfortunately had to turn back. “Um, actually, I need another pair of numbers?”
“What? Oh, here!” she said.
I turned this time with the maximum amount of confidence—knowing full well that Brennan was following my every move—and walked away, hoping, hoping, hoping silently that those guys would arrive already!
“Here!” I shoved the numbers at my friends as they arrived, panting. “And, oh by the way, you’re competing against the parents.”
“What?” They looked around the floor and saw our parents waving at them.
I left them to deal with that and moved to the seat saved for me.
“What on earth was all of that at the sign-in table?” asked Juliet.
“The effects of too much moonlight.”
“What?” She looked at me, then at Brennan, who by this time was in the center of the floor, ready to start the show.
“You’re kidding!” she said. “I thought you guys weren’t—”
“I don’t know what we are or aren’t.”
At that moment, the musical fanfare began. Brennan stepped into the spotlight and explained how the contest would run. The announced dance styles would include common ballroom styles, and the couples would show their best moves. One by one, those who were tapped on the shoulder would be eliminated and asked to leave the floor. The last couple standing would be the grand prize winner. There would only be one break when the number of couples reached six.
Since the floor was so crowded, it was difficult to see the first sets of couples who were tapped out. Eventually it came down to a more manageable number, including all the couples representing our family!
“Do you think one of our couples can win?” Damian asked over the cheering and clapping.
“I don’t know. Stranger things have happened!”
Soon the field was whittled to ten couples. Unfortunately Anthony and Celia were tripped by another couple and were eliminated. When it was time for the break, our three remaining couples were still in!
“Hey, Keira, me love! I see that your family is doing well,” Bryce walked over to chat with me as we stood and stretched during the break.
“We’ll see what happens here.” I crossed my fingers. “How is it that you’re not one of the judges?”
“Conflict of interest.” He shook his head and pointed to one of the couples. “They’re Jinette’s cousins. When it comes to the passengers, Brennan won’t let any of us cross a line that would make it look like we’re playing favorites.”
I pondered that for a moment, then took a chance and asked,
“Bryce, were you on the last ship where Brennan was cruise director?”
“I was.”
“And you got transferred here at the same time?”
“A lot of us did. Loren, Anders, Jinette.”
I had to push one more question.
“Do you know more about why Brennan was moved?”
Bryce looked closely at me.
“Keira, someone didn’t tell you the rumor about the female passenger, did they? That gal was so aggressive. She made moves on all of us. We were just lucky that Brennan backed us all up!” He shook his head vigorously. “I just wish that story wouldn’t have followed him. He’s one of the most stand-up blokes I know. Why, he probably wouldn’t even have let you or Juliet be judges either since you’re considered part of the staff this week.”
What? Oh. Right. I smacked myself inwardly. He made such an issue of referring to Juliet and me as staff. He wanted to protect me and make sure there was no possible appearance of staff/passenger conflict if he and I were ever seen together.
“Oops, the dancing is starting again. I need to get back and be ready to give out consolation prizes,” Bryce said and loped off.
I sat down and thought carefully. I had so misjudged him. And now, whatever he possibly thought he felt was most assuredly gone. Worse, I probably wouldn’t even have the opportunity to apologize since he would be busy this evening, then we would put into port tomorrow morning and I would set off for home. And Brennan would just turn around and set off on his next cruise. Oh well, I thought, maybe we would see each other in another decade or so.
“Hey, get your head back here,” Juliet leaned over and practically had to yell over the crowd’s cheering and clapping. “The competition is starting again!”
I took a deep breath as I stood and prepared to cheer for my friends and family. No time to feel sorry for my bad decisions now.
Six couples were left on the floor. The music resumed and so did the enthusiastic dancing.
Unfortunately, the first couple tapped out was Cam and Alex.
Love on the Lido Deck Page 22