Table For Eight

by Tricia Stringer

  When she opened the door it was Celia who waited on the other side.

  “Oh, you’re dressed already,” Celia said.

  “Took me a while but I managed. I had to pick things with no buttons.”

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Much better, thank you.” Ketty hoisted her arm. “Except for this sling. It’s driving me mad. Are you in a hurry? Would you like to come in?”

  “Yes. At least, no…”

  Ketty waited.

  Celia looked her squarely in the eye. “I’m not in a hurry and I’d like to come in.”

  “Good. Go out on the balcony. It’s glorious out there this morning.”

  “Oh gosh, what a view. Lifou looks beautiful. And we’ve stopped.”

  Ketty followed Celia out. “We’ve been at anchor for a while.”

  “This is the first I’ve been outside. I was awake early and went down for breakfast. Thought I’d call in here on my way back to my room.”

  They both sat. Celia kept staring towards shore, while the fingers of one hand fiddled with the edge of her shirt. Last night she’d looked vibrant in the red blouse she wore over white pants but today she was insipid again in a wishy-washy top of pale yellows and muted browns.

  “Is everything all right?” Ketty leaned forward a little. “You look distracted. Did you talk to Maude?”

  “Yes, I did, and no it’s not.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. Didn’t she take it well?”

  “Maude?” Celia blew a little puff of breath over her lips. “She took it in her stride as Maude does with everything. I couldn’t have made it any plainer.” She grinned. “I even imagined you sitting on my shoulder, but I don’t think she got my point at all.”

  “Perhaps after she’s slept on it.”

  “She certainly slept all right. She tends to snore after a few drinks. I on the other hand tossed and turned all night. Thus this sallow complexion and I might see if Josie has something to help hide this.” Celia put her fingers to her cheek.

  Ketty could see the bruise was turning the colours of the rainbow.

  “This morning when I left for breakfast Maude was still sleeping. I couldn’t face her.”

  “Sounds like you had a good try at a talk. If she didn’t…”

  Ketty’s voice dried in her throat at Celia’s stricken look.

  “She thinks I’m having an affair with Jim.”

  Celia looked very distressed. Ketty opened her mouth and closed it again. She suppressed the chortle that wanted to escape.

  “An affair?”

  Celia flapped her hands. “Well, a relationship. I can’t remember her exact words.”

  “And are you?”

  “Ketty! I’m friends with him, same as you, and that’s it. And you of all people know how fragile Jim is. He’s still up to his neck in grief for his wife.”

  Ketty nodded but didn’t speak.

  “I like his company and we’re definitely friends…but…damn.” Celia flapped her hands again. “We’re not in a relationship.”

  Ketty thought about her dinner with Leo the previous evening. If someone had put her feelings under the microscope she’d be flustered like Celia. They’d kept things casual in the end. After they’d made plans to meet on Lifou this morning he’d given her a chaste goodnight kiss on the cheek and left. Ketty hadn’t slept straight away with so many thoughts whirring in her head and her arm aching on and off.

  “Try not to think about it,” she said. “Putting a label on feelings often makes them into something they’re not.” She shifted her arm slightly into a more comfortable position.

  “Ketty, I’m so sorry. Here you are helping me with my problems and you have your own.”

  Ketty studied Celia. No doubt Josie and Bernard had filled her in about Leo’s dining with her and their past link.

  “Your arm,” Celia said. “You’ve got enough to deal with.”

  Ketty let out a breath. “Truly, it’s much better this morning. The odd twinge that’s all. How was dinner last night?”

  “Strange but nice.” Celia grinned. “It was only Jim and I.” The smile slipped from her face. “Not because we planned it. None of the others turned up.”

  “Really, that’s odd. Bernard and Josie may have taken the opportunity to dine alone. Leo was here—”

  “Was he?” Celia glanced around as if she was expecting him to appear. “I thought you had a lot of dishes for one person.”

  Ketty regretted her slip. “I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want you jumping to conclusions like Maude.”

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” Celia’s look was contrite. “You said you knew each other a long time ago. It must be strange to catch up after all these years.”

  “Strange is the perfect word for it.” Ketty felt a sudden urge to share. Instead she changed the subject. “Why don’t I give Josie a call? She’s only down the hall and if she’s still in her room she could pop by with her make-up bag of tricks.”

  Celia nodded and Ketty put in the call.

  “She’s on her way,” she said as she replaced the handset.

  Celia had followed her back into the cabin. With the sun shining across her face the bruise was prominent.

  “Celia, I hope you won’t be offended but I’ve been looking at your top and it does nothing for your complexion.”

  “Oh.” Celia looked down. “I got this at the op shop at home. I didn’t think about the colour. Thought the fabric the right weight for the tropics.”

  “So it’s not dear to your heart?”

  “Good heavens no. I’ll probably donate it back when I go home.”

  “I have a suggestion.”

  Ketty crossed the cabin, opened the wardrobe doors and began to rummage with her free hand.

  “Oh my goodness,” Celia said looking over her shoulder. “How on earth did you get all these clothes aboard?”

  Ketty laughed. “Years of practice. And I didn’t have to fly so weight’s not an issue.”

  There was a knock on the door and Celia opened it. Josie came in carrying a small case and flapping an envelope that she passed to Ketty.

  “You had mail in your door holder.”

  Ketty glanced at the envelope embossed with the ship’s letterhead. No doubt another invitation to something in the Diamond Lounge, one of the perks of her frequent traveller status.

  “That looks like one considerable make-up bag,” Celia waggled a finger at Josie’s bag.

  “I take my make-up very seriously.” Josie looked at the open wardrobe. “Ooh. Are we doing a makeover? I love the chance to delve into Ketty’s collection.”

  Celia looked from Josie to Ketty.

  “Not a makeover,” Ketty said. “I was searching for a top to give Celia a bit of a lift. With her poor bruised face she’s in need of some colour.”

  “Won’t that make it worse?” Celia said. “Last night my red top made the bruise look like it was glowing.”

  “Your make-up would have been wrong.” Josie’s tone was matter-of-fact. She reached in and swiped a towel from Ketty’s bathroom. “Have a seat and I’ll get started.”

  While Josie went to work on Celia’s face, Ketty pulled out several tops and laid them on the bed. Her arm forgotten, she went back for scarves and necklaces. This was where she felt at home. She and Josie had had a lot of fun last cruise. Not that much of Ketty’s clothing had been any good to Josie, she was a good size bigger, but they’d played with styles, colours, accessories. Celia on the other hand was more Ketty’s size. Her bust was a little smaller but other than that they were similar.

  “There we are.” Josie stepped away from the front of Celia’s chair so she could see herself in the mirror.

  Celia’s mouth dropped open and she leaned forward. “You can barely see the bruise but that lipstick…you don’t think it’s a bit bright?”

  “What do you think, Ketty?” Josie asked.

  Ketty took in the earthy orange tone. “Perfect.” She lifted a shirt
from the bed. “And this should brighten up your face and those black pants.”

  Celia studied the garment in Ketty’s hand. “But that’s yellow. I thought you said yellow washed me out.”

  “There’s yellow and there’s yellow.” Josie took the shirt from Ketty and draped it across Celia’s chest. “This is a soft colour, not too pale, not too bright, and the little black palm tree pattern ties it in with your pants.”

  They both looked from the mirror to Ketty. “Exactly right.”

  “Why don’t you try it on?” Josie urged.

  Celia still hesitated.

  “We’re used to clothing changes but if you’d prefer, use my bathroom,” Ketty said.

  Celia had her old shirt over her head before any more could be said and Josie helped her into Ketty’s offering. The top was semi-fitted with a side zip, and finished just below the waistband of her capri pants.

  “There you are,” Josie said. “A few years younger already. Not that you didn’t look good before but…”

  “It’s all right,” Celia turned her head from side to side. “I do see what you mean.”

  “Try these with it.” Ketty held up a set of black wooden beads. When Celia put them on they sat above the square neckline of the shirt.

  “So, is this to impress Jim?” Josie’s question fell like a blanket over the room but she didn’t seem to notice. “He’s a good-looker.” She glanced from Ketty to Celia’s stunned face reflected in the mirror. “Don’t look so horrified. He’s very debonair, relatively trim still. He must look after himself.” She fluffed at Celia’s hair with her fingers. “I’m very happy with Bernie but I can still admire a good man when I see one. Surely you’ve both noticed Jim’s rather attractive.”

  Ketty took in Celia’s jaw which had dropped nearly to her chest and had to stifle her laugh.

  “There is never a dull moment with you two,” Celia said.

  “Pot, kettle, black, Celia,” Ketty said.

  “I’d better get going.” Josie packed up her bag. “I’m meeting Bernie in a while to catch the tender ashore. Leo said he was meeting you mid-morning, Ketty.”

  “Yes.” She began to put away the clothing and accessories she’d spread over her bed, aware that Celia was watching her closely.

  “I think it’s wonderful you two have found each other again after all this time. He told me you knew each other before Marjorie came on the scene but you lost touch. Pity he married her instead of you. We could have been sisters-in-law.”

  Ketty remained rigid on the spot, clutching a bundle of necklaces tightly in her hand. What on earth had Leo been saying?

  Josie had a mischievous gleam in her eye as she reached Ketty’s side. “Still could be.” She gripped Ketty’s hand as she passed. “Since he caught up with you Leo’s been a different man to the one I came aboard with. I do hope things work out.” She began to hum a tune.

  This time it was Ketty’s turn to gape as Josie departed, the door clunked shut and the sound of humming faded away down the corridor. Behind Ketty there was the soft rustle of clothing and the squeak of a chair.

  “He’s the one, isn’t he?” Celia’s voice was little more than a whisper.

  Ketty turned slowly, clutching the necklaces to her chest.

  Celia was standing now. “Leo is the man you said you were a fool over…the married man.”

  Ketty nodded then sank to the bed, her back to Celia again. Now she wished she’d never shared her story. What had possessed her? She was usually the master of keeping things close to her chest.

  “Josie doesn’t know the full story, I gather?”

  This time Ketty shook her head.

  Celia came to stand beside her. “How do you feel about him now?”

  “I…” Ketty looked up at Celia’s concerned face. “I don’t know.”

  “But you did love him once?”

  “A long time ago.”

  “He’s not married now.”

  “No.”

  Celia sat beside her on the bed. “This cruise has thrown us both some curve balls, hasn’t it?”

  “You might put it that way.” Ketty rubbed the beads between her fingers. Meeting Leo again had been a shock and stirred up so many memories and emotions but above all it had renewed hope. Not that Ketty had given up being hopeful about life in general. In the face of obstacles and in her darkest moments she’d always had hope. People talked about resilience, perhaps it was that way of thinking that had kept her afloat. But now she found her hope focusing on Leo all over again and she worried that could be a mistake.

  Celia shifted slightly, turning to look at Ketty. “You know you said to me you were pleased when I told you about me trying to make myself into something I wasn’t for Ed.”

  Ketty frowned. Had she said that? Then she remembered. “I was only relieved you weren’t that person you were trying to be.”

  “Well, now I’m relieved. It’s petty in a way but apart from your confession to an affair so long ago, you seem to have life all stitched up. You’re so self-assured, knowledgeable, as if nothing would ever go amiss for you.”

  Ketty wanted to laugh at that. If only Celia knew all the things that had gone wrong and not just little things, life-changing things.

  “And here you are uncertain like the rest of us mere mortals.”

  Ketty shook her head. “I’m human. Cut me and I bleed.”

  “Oh, I think we’ve had enough injuries between us.”

  Ketty smiled at Celia. She badly wanted to direct the limelight away from herself. “And now I’m going to dispense more of my wondrous wisdom.” She patted Celia’s leg. “Jim has become your friend and I think he’s in need of one. Don’t let something Maude said spoil that friendship. Not only that, I think Josie’s right. He’s darn good-looking and if I were a younger woman I’d give you a run for your money.” She laughed.

  “Ketty!” At first Celia looked shocked then she began laughing too. “Oh, Ketty.” She shook her head.

  It felt good to laugh. Beside her Celia tipped her head to one side.

  “What was that tune Josie was humming as she left? I feel as if I know it.”

  “‘Love is in the Air’.”

  “Oh, yes.”

  They looked at each other and chuckled again.

  “When are you going ashore?” Ketty asked.

  “I had planned to meet Jim…that was before I spoke to Maude.”

  “Forget about Maude. What time?”

  “Nine, downstairs.”

  Ketty thought about the lesson she’d booked at the internet cafe. She was keen to see what Leo had been referring to regarding her website but she could do that later. “Do you mind if I come too?”

  “I’d love you to, as long as you’re feeling up to it. I’d rather it was more than Jim and I.”

  “I’m not letting this arm stop me from going ashore.” Ketty dropped the beads and sat up straight. “Anyway, I’m meeting Leo there later.”

  “That’s right.” Celia stood. “I have a few things to do first. I’ll see you at nine.”

  Ketty remained on the bed after Celia had let herself out. In the past she’d not allowed herself to rely on others emotionally and now she was contemplating allowing Leo to get to know her again, to perhaps draw back the screen she put up around her feelings. Was it foolish? Ketty stood up, inhaled deeply and prepared to go ashore. There was one thing for certain, she wasn’t going to find out sitting in her cabin.

  Twenty-three

  “Come in together, folks.” The photographer waved a hand.

  Jim slid his arms around Ketty then Celia. Mindful of Ketty’s sling he drew both women closer. Behind them the rail of the small landing jetty pressed against his back. A soft breeze ruffled their clothes and Ketty laughed. He smiled for the camera and surprised himself with the thought that he might actually like to keep this photo.

  The photographer leaned in, snapped and looked at his screen. “Great, thanks,” he said. “Enjoy your day on Lifou.”
>
  Celia busied herself picking up her bag. The next group were already lining up for their photo. Jim took up Ketty’s bag in spite of her protests and began to move off down the jetty towards the beach.

  “Shall we find ourselves a spot under the trees?” Ketty suggested. “I’m going to sit and enjoy the view while I wait for Leo but you two should explore.”

  “Oh, yes…well…if you’re sure.” Celia’s head was bent over her bag again.

  Jim nodded and led the way to the grassy area above the beach. He wondered if he’d said something to upset Celia. She’d hardly said a word to him since they met to board the tender and she was rather jumpy.

  He stopped at a flat clearing where the grass was short and the area shaded by palms. “What about here?”

  “Perfect. Would you be a gem and spread my towel under that tree, please Jim?” Ketty pointed at the thick base of a palm.

  He did as she asked and helped her to sit.

  “Isn’t this beautiful?” Ketty waved at the vista in front of them.

  Jim turned to take it in. It was very much like Champagne Beach but this time he noticed the white of the beach, the turquoise of the sea and the earthy smells of the lush vegetation. He felt a different man from the one who’d boarded the ship six days ago.

  Two little pigs darted between their feet. Celia squealed and he chuckled, delighting in the surprise on her face.

  “Certainly is,” he said. Celia ducked her head away from his look and set her towel down on the other side of Ketty.

  “You two should walk up to the little church at the top of the hill,” Ketty said. “The church is interesting and the view amazing.”

  “Are you sure you’re feeling okay?” Celia asked.

  “Quite sure. I’ve hardly any pain this morning.” Ketty lifted her arm inside the sling.

  She was being very stoic but Jim had noticed her wince once or twice when she thought no one was looking.

  “I’m going to ditch this sling soon,” she said.

  “Keep it on a little longer,” he said. “It probably helps to keep it immobilised.”

  Ketty studied him closely. “Words of wisdom and caring,” she said softly. She turned to Celia. “You’ve both been so kind. Thank you for checking in on me.”