As the dancing continued, Eleanor studied the dancers’ movements with a frown. Dancing was chaotic and unpredictable. That was the reason Eleanor avoided it like the plague. So many variations, so many choices to make with each new beat of the music. It overwhelmed her. But what she saw in the courtyard wasn’t like that at all. “It’s a pattern. They just keep repeating the same thing.”
Jeanie nodded. “It’s called a Ländler. There are a few variations, but it’s basically just a set of steps that repeats.” She cocked her head to one side. “Careful, or someone might get the wrong impression and think you were willing to give it a try.”
“Well, maybe I am.” Though Jeanie’s mouth gaped at the admission, no one was more shocked to hear these words than Eleanor herself. Fighting the nervous flutter in her belly, she stuck out her hand. “Come on. Show me how it’s done.”
They stepped into the sea of dancers and after facing her and bobbing a quick curtsy, Jeanie took both Eleanor’s hands in hers. “You’re sure?”
Eleanor nodded, focusing on the warm, sure grip of Jeanie’s fingers to fight back her worry. Soon they were stepping in time to the music, several counts of simple walking steps, followed by a series of turns that left Eleanor dizzy and on the verge of giggling. When the whole crowd around them stomped and clapped with the rhythm of the music, Eleanor jumped in surprise, then burst out laughing as the music came to an end.
“See?” Jeanie gasped for breath, laughing heartily herself. “Wasn’t that fun?”
“I doubt I’ll be tempted by any of the other swing dancing stuff, but this wasn’t half bad.”
The crush of dancers leaving the courtyard prompted Jeanie to place a guiding hand at Eleanor’s waist, and though it was an innocent gesture, Eleanor felt a tremor of desire pulse through her at the touch. Friends, she reminded herself, and felt relieved once again that they’d talked this through already and reached the same conclusion. If they hadn’t, her thoughts and feelings might have tied her up in knots all night. As it was, the decision was already made.
She couldn’t help feeling attracted to Jeanie, but that’s as far as it would go. Still, Eleanor felt a fleeting regret for what could’ve been if they’d had more common ground. There was no intersection between her real life and Jeanie’s, but if there had been, Eleanor wasn’t blind to the fact that it might’ve been nice to see where things between them would go.
They reached an open space apart from the crowd and Jeanie’s hand lingered at her waist just a fraction of a second before dropping. The look on her face made Eleanor wonder if a similar thought had occurred to Jeanie, too.
The sun was low in the sky as they sought out the footpath back down to the road. The walk seemed to take less time, partially because it was downhill, but also because they walked with purpose this time. The ride back to the village was very much uphill, and they would be lucky to get the bikes returned and be back on the ship before dark. At the opening in the stone wall, Jeanie grabbed her bike by the handles and pushed it onto the road. She was just mounting the seat as Eleanor pushed her own bike to the road, stopping with a groan.
“Jeanie, hold on a sec. My tire’s flat.”
“What?” Jeanie frowned as she dismounted and knelt alongside Eleanor to inspect the damage. “Shit. That’s a big gash.”
Eleanor stared helplessly at the hole, cursing herself for her carelessness. So stupid, Eleanor! She felt her chest tighten for the second time that day as the anxiety tried to take hold of her. She fought the urge to scream at herself, or at Jeanie—though she’d done nothing wrong. The cold nerves coiled in the pit of her stomach as she realized there was nothing she could do to get herself out of this mess.
“There’s a patch kit in the bag beneath my seat. Would that help?”
“What?” The vice squeezing Eleanor’s lungs loosened and air rushed in.
Jeanie rummaged through the small pouch and pulled out a repair kit. “The woman at the shop suggested it, and since someone I know keeps reminding me of the importance of planning ahead, I bought one. There’s a can of foam or something in here, too, to fill the tire once it’s fixed.”
Her friend’s surprise preparedness prompted her to chuckle, but her smile faded as she held the patch up to the hole. “It’s way too small. We’ll never get it to work. Maybe you can ride ahead for help?”
“Me? Uphill all that way alone?” Jeanie squeaked. “Honestly, Elle, I was counting on your encouragement to get me back. That, or just being too embarrassed to fail in front of you. You’re a much stronger rider than I am. Maybe you should go, and I’ll wait here.”
A new stab of anxiety shot through her. “Leave you here alone? In the dark?” Eleanor shook her head vehemently. “Too risky.”
“I could go back up to the winery and wait there.”
“Of course.” Eleanor smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand. “I don’t know why I didn’t think of it before. We should both go back to the winery, and see if someone can give us a ride. It’ll take over an hour by bike even if we hurry, but it’s just a few minutes by car to get back to the village.”
The hike back up the hill took longer than the first time as they both rolled their bicycles with them since the bike path was inaccessible by car. When they arrived back at the winery, the dinner crowd had disappeared. Their server from the afternoon had changed out of her dirndl into jeans and t-shirt and was scrubbing down the tables under the tent with a bucket and rags.
“Excuse me, Maria?” Jeanie called out, and Eleanor had never been so grateful for her companion’s innate friendliness.
As soon as she heard her name, the server looked up with a welcoming smile. “Ladies, you’re back! Did you forget something?”
“No, I’m afraid we had a little trouble with our bikes,” Jeanie replied, gesturing to Eleanor’s flat tire.
Maria’s smile faded and her brow creased in concern. “Oh dear! Are you staying nearby? Is there someone I can call for you?”
“Actually, we were hoping for a ride,” Jeanie explained. “If it isn’t too much trouble. You see, we’re on a river boat that leaves in the morning, and we have no way to get back.”
“Oh,” Maria said, her concerned expression deepening. “Normally, I’d be happy to. We have a farm truck large enough to hold the bikes. But the headlights aren’t working and with the festival, I haven’t had a chance to get them fixed.”
Eleanor’s shoulders slumped. “Well, thanks anyway.”
“But I could take you in the morning,” Maria added. “When does the ship leave?”
Jeanie looked searchingly at Eleanor, obviously unsure.
“Nine o’clock,” Eleanor supplied.
“The sun’s up well before then. We have a small inn here, above the main building of the winery. It’s mostly booked because of the festival, but someone canceled this evening, so there’s one room left.”
“We’ll take it.” Eleanor replied. “I’ll pay for the room,” she added firmly to Jeanie. “I insist. It was my stupid tire that blew.”
Jeanie flashed a grateful smile, but there was concern in her eyes, and it didn't seem to be the financial kind. As they followed Maria toward the inn, Eleanor felt it, too. Swiveling her head, she saw that it was completely dark at this point. The black sky was filled with twinkling stars, the moon a half circle hidden behind gray clouds. There wasn’t a single sound coming from the main road. This was their only option for the night, and there was just one room left. Eleanor knew she should be thankful for their good luck, but all she could hear echoing in her head was a question of vital concern: How many beds will there be?
Chapter 18
Thank goodness, two beds! Jeanie let out her breath and felt her racing pulse begin to slow as she surveyed the room she and Eleanor had been assigned. She felt Eleanor’s presence close behind her, and heard her companion suck in a gulp of air. “What’s wrong?” she asked, turning to look at her. Surely she wasn’t hoping for a different sleeping arrangement?
>
“Are those supposed to be beds?” Eleanor’s forehead scrunched tightly, her eyebrows nearly touching, as her eyes scanned the room.
Jeanie laughed. “They’re single beds, Elle. Don’t tell me that you, the world traveler, has never seen a single bed before. They’re all over Europe!” She deemed the fact that she hadn’t known they existed either until seven days ago irrelevant under the current circumstances. Not when it gave her the upper hand.
“I’d heard rumors,” Eleanor muttered. “It’s fine. It’s just for the night.”
“Oh, come on, Elle. You have to admit that this room’s adorable.” It was decorated in a traditional, rustic style, with woven red and white coverlets on the narrow beds and exposed wooden beams in the white stuccoed walls. Jeanie thought it was cozy, and a million times nicer than her dreary room on the ship.
“Adorable?” Eleanor scoffed. “At least it’s better than a twenty mile walk in the dark.”
They had no luggage, but Maria had gone in search of extra nightclothes and toiletries. There was a knock on the door and, upon opening it, Jeanie was presented with a towering pile of white cotton and two toothbrushes in plastic wrappers. She handed a toothbrush to Eleanor, and shook the pile of clothing onto the bed.
“Look at this!” She held up one of the voluminous cotton nightgowns to her chest and spun around to show Eleanor.
“The last time that thing saw the light of day, the Habsburg Empire was probably still going strong.”
“Here, there’s one for you, too.” She tossed the other nightgown onto Eleanor’s bed. “They’re a little old fashioned, but they’ll do for tonight.”
Eleanor nodded. “It’s better than nothing.” Her cheeks flushed pink and she quickly looked away while Jeanie failed to bite back a teasing snicker. Eleanor rolled her eyes. “You know what I meant. And just so you know, if Maria shows up with dirndls for us to wear in the morning, I’m drawing a line.”
They quickly changed for bed, taking turns in the tiny bathroom. After they’d both climbed into their beds, Jeanie turned off the light. She could hear springs squeak as Eleanor tossed and turned in the darkness. “Everything okay over there? Do you need me to turn on the light?”
“No.” Eleanor gave a deep sigh. “It’s just, each time I move I feel like I’m going to fall off the edge.”
Jeanie giggled into her pillow, conveniently failing to mention that she’d done the same thing her first night on board the ship.
“It’s not funny. Seriously Jeanie, I feel anxious that I’m going to fall off.”
Jeanie stopped laughing. She’d fallen off her bed more than once during the week. There were just so many clothes on her floor that she’d continued to sleep soundly until morning. “When you say anxious, Elle, do you mean that figuratively, or—”
“I mean chest tightening, hard to breathe, starting to feel panicked just talking about—”
“Okay, okay, I get the picture.” Jeanie snapped on the light and hopped to her feet. “Come on, out of bed.”
“What?” Eleanor blinked in confusion. “It’s not going to get better if I sleep on the floor.”
“You’re not sleeping on the floor.” Jeanie fixed her with her most exasperated look. “We’re pushing the beds together, over in that corner. That way you’ll have the wall to make you feel safe on one side, and me on the other.” She felt her cheeks tingle as images of this scenario populated her mind. Some of the possible outcomes were quite appealing. And strayed well beyond just friends territory.
Eleanor swallowed hard. “Jeanie, I’m not sure if that’s—”
“Elle, don’t worry.” Jeanie forced herself to banish her more lascivious thoughts from her mind. “When you hit the edge of the mattress, your body will know to stop. But just in case, this way you can’t fall all the way off.” She gave the beds a final shove and looked at Eleanor in satisfaction.
Eleanor stared at the resulting space thoughtfully. “It’s not quite as big as the bed in my stateroom, but I think it will work.”
Jeanie frowned at the word stateroom. She’d known from the start that Eleanor didn’t share her economy accommodations on D Deck, but for the first time it occurred to her to wonder exactly how fancy her friend’s room was. After all, just the mention of it had certainly gotten Thomas' attention in a hurry. Her curiosity piqued, Jeanie wondered if there was some way to get to see it, but every plan that occurred to her she quickly dismissed as wildly inappropriate if she intended to keep up her end of their no-relationship bargain.
As she turned off the bedroom light and climbed back into her half of the bed, it struck her that she may have been too hasty in stipulating that there was no chance for her and Eleanor. Just because we didn’t meet before in real life, does that really mean we wouldn’t have met in the future? In retrospect it was a stupid rule, but Eleanor had really gotten on board with that idea. Eleanor, who was currently tucked under her coverlet like a stiff board, seemingly afraid to breathe too hard lest their skin accidentally brush past one another in the night. It’s no use. They’d reached an agreement, and that’s how it was going to be. Jeanie rolled onto her side and tucked her own blanket under her chin. I’ll just have to learn to live with my second guessing, she thought as she closed her eyes.
The next thing Jeanie was aware of was the incessant crowing of a rooster somewhere in the distance. As she pried one sleepy eyelid open halfway, early morning light cast gray shadows around the unfamiliar room. There was a slight chill in the air, but Jeanie felt remarkably warm, and so luxuriously relaxed that she thought she might never want to move from this spot. She closed her eye and snuggled deeper into the bed, breathing in the clean scent of jasmine. The pillow she clasped to her body was so comforting, sweetened with the fresh scent of jasmine. So soft and silky. So…alive.
Jeanie held her breath, but found that the pillow in her arms continued to inhale and exhale rhythmically. Her eyes flew open to find a mass of short, messy curls resting on her chest against the starched white of her borrowed nightgown—a gown which had started out looking so Victorian the night before, but looked decidedly less so in its current condition, with buttons popped open and the front splayed so far apart that she could see the outline of her nipple peaking through, and feel the gentle tickle of Eleanor’s breath across her skin.
Cautiously, Jeanie shifted her focus and discovered that the hem of the gown had shifted up as well, and that her limbs were so entwined with Eleanor’s that she wasn’t sure how to get them undone. They were completely and inextricably wrapped around one another at every possible point, like vines that had grown together in the night. And infuriatingly, they were so evenly sprawled across both beds that it was impossible to tell who’d started it. Someone's to blame! Jeanie held her breath again, her heart racing, as she slowly eased each of her body parts back to her own mattress and prayed that Eleanor would continue to sleep. If she woke up, it wouldn’t matter how little evidence there was. Eleanor was sure to assume it was Jeanie's fault.
Safely back where she belonged, Jeanie closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. While waiting for Eleanor to stir, she thought about how they would get back to the ship, about the places she would tour in Vienna later that day, about anything and everything that she could, other than the memory of waking up in the sweet perfection of Eleanor’s embrace.
The bright green tennis ball bounced hypnotically on the end of Eleanor’s racket as she waited for Jeanie to join her on the court. Around her, passengers sat on the observation deck and grumbled. The bell from the village church had just tolled two o’clock, but the ship still sat motionless in place. The disabled ship in Vienna that had led to their initial detour also yielded an impromptu safety inspection of their own vessel, and maintenance had yet to clear them for departure.
The best estimate from the crew was that they’d be lucky to reach Vienna before nightfall. In the meantime, without tours or classes to pass the time, the atmosphere aboard the ship grew increasingly restless. Were
she the dancing type, Eleanor might have done a jig at discovering that Jeanie played tennis. As it was, she’d had quite enough dancing the day before to last her. Maintaining the just friends status quo was much easier without the intimacy of the dance floor.
The flutter of a white skirt caught Eleanor’s eye and she looked up to see Jeanie, dressed in a pleated white dress, white shoes, and even a white scarf around her head to tie back her curly locks. Who dresses like that for tennis? It was like something from a fashion magazine. The only place she’d seen a getup like that was on trophy wives at her sister’s posh suburban tennis club. And none of them knew how to play.
Eleanor groaned inwardly, regretting her decision to challenge Jeanie to a game. She’d assumed the fact that Jeanie mentioned bringing tennis clothes meant she knew her way around a racket. Now she realized it was just Jeanie’s excuse for a costume change. Eleanor sighed. She’d been looking forward to a little friendly competition to work out some stress, but she suspected she wouldn’t find it here. I’ll have to go easy on her.
Jeanie took up her position on the court and grasped her racket. Eleanor lobbed the ball squarely across the net. It had been as gentle a serve as she could muster, but Jeanie still missed. And dropped her racket. “Oops!” she called out with a shake of her head. “I guess I’m a little out of practice.”
As Jeanie bent to retrieve the fallen racket, the top of her tennis dress gaped to expose her chest. Eleanor’s throat went dry. It was a familiar view, one Eleanor had woken up to just that morning. Her stomach clenched as she recalled the chilly morning air and the rooster’s cries, and the shock of finding every inch of herself wrapped tightly around Jeanie’s slumbering frame. Her sleepy eyes had been met by a plateau of sun-kissed flesh, sloping upward in a gentle curve, with just a shadowy outline of a nipple as the skin disappeared beneath white cotton. Eleanor had stared for some time at the lovely view, until it occurred to her disoriented brain exactly how she’d come to be enjoying it. Then she froze in place, afraid that any movement would wake Jeanie, between whose breasts her face was currently nestled, her lips resting in a puddle of drool. It was a safe bet that many of the frustrations she sought to work out on the tennis court had their start at that moment.
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