Cabin Fever

Laura turned sideways in her chair and rolled her eyes at Becky.

Becky nodded as if she was listening, but her attention had fallen on Dylan Langstaff. He had just walked across the room toward an officer dressed in white who was talking to a few passengers standing in the food line. Dylan looked even better than she had remembered from that afternoon. His hair was somehow darker in the dimmer lighting and his demeanor even more friendly and casual. He had the look of a genuinely nice guy. Someone Becky wouldn’t mind getting to know, as a friend, of course, but she was sure deep down he must be a flirt.

So why was she so attracted to him? A little voice inside whispered, Because he makes you feel something. And it had been a long, long time since she’d felt anything for a man.

Kim droned on. “I know he’s not very pretty, but I find that the cuter the guy is, the more he’s into his own needs.”

Becky heard herself saying, “Uh-huh.” But she didn’t believe that for a moment. Dylan was over-the-top cute, and from the way he’d treated her kids, she just knew he was a guy who didn’t think of himself first.

There was a commotion of some sort right in front of Dylan, who just happened to be standing next to Bob, who was busy piling fried chicken on a plate. Suddenly a rather large woman staggered into Bob. He froze, still clutching his plate of food.

“And I just don’t have any time for that kind of guy in my life,” Kim said, while a waitress poured her an iced tea.

“Uh-huh,” Becky mumbled as she watched Dylan grab hold of the woman from behind. She was so large he could barely get his arms around her. From what Becky could tell, the woman was choking on a piece of food and Dylan was administering the Heimlich maneuver, pushing air up from her diaphragm and into her throat.

“So, naturally, when I met Bob at Mom’s charity auction three months ago and he told me how he loved to pamper women, well I just had to have him all to myself.”

“Yeah. That’s great,” Becky agreed. Half of the people in the room were watching Dylan, while Bob just continued to stand there motionless, both hands on his plate as though he was annoyed at the interruption.

Becky stood and was ready to try to help that poor woman and Dylan when something flew out of the woman’s mouth and landed on the floor in front of her.

“We’ve been dating ever since, and let me tell you, he really knows how to care for a woman, if you know what I mean.” She sighed as if to make her point.

Becky let out the breath she had been holding and smiled. “You don’t say.” She watched as Dylan and what looked like two women from the ship’s medical team, helped the now-panting woman into a chair.

Bob turned back to the buffet and continued moving down the line, filling his place.

“But I know you’re still mourning my dear brother, so you couldn’t possibly be interested in anyone, could you?” Kim asked with a flourish.

Becky stared at Kim for a moment in complete silence and disbelief. It was as if someone had rung a bell and everyone had turned their attention to Becky, waiting for her reply. Even Laura stopped what she was doing to listen.

“I, uh, no, definitely not. I’m not interested in anyone,” Becky spluttered. But Laura, who had also been watching the whole incident between the choking woman and Dylan, threw Becky that kind of look as if she knew better.

Becky was just about to set Laura straight, when Kim reached across the table and grabbed Becky’s hand. “You poor thing, but I understand. No one can replace my brother. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, just call me and I can put you in touch with some of the best shrinks in San Diego. I’m here for you, Becky. You can always count on me.”

“Thanks,” Becky muttered, slowly pulling her hand away.

“We’ve got something to tell everybody,” Sarah blurted in a loud voice.

“Let’s get our meal first,” Becky countered, hoping that would be enough to stifle her excited daughter.

“But we want to tell everyone now,” Connor chimed in.

Becky was glad Connor seemed kind of excited about the whole thing, but she just wasn’t in the mood to show the pendant off at that exact moment. Besides, now that the room had settled down again after that poor woman’s near-death experience, Becky didn’t want everyone to now turn their focus on her.

“Your mom’s right,” Laura said, getting up. “Let’s have our dinner first.”

Estelle, of course, supported Connor and Sarah, not Becky.

“But the kids seem to want to tell us something now. We should see what they have to say.”

Becky stood.

Mark stood. “I say we should honor Becky’s wishes, Estelle.” He walked to the buffet, taking Connor with him.

Laura went over and took Sarah by the hand, then led her to the buffet. They passed Bob, who was returning with a plate of food for Kim.

“Fine,” Estelle conceded. “Bob, darling, you did such a good job with Kim’s plate, do you think you could do the same for me? It’s been such a long day that I think I’ll pass out if I have to get up and pick out my own food.” She peeked over at Kim’s plate. “No chicken, darling. Do they have any baked white fish? I would love a little baked fish. It digests so easily and my poor little tummy has been slightly upset ever since we boarded. Do you think you could find some, dear?”

Bob nodded. “It would be my pleasure, Estelle.”

Becky shook her head and walked away from the table, knowing perfectly well that by the time this dinner was over, Estelle would have everyone at the table waiting on her, including Becky.

She headed straight for the nearest buffet, grabbed a white plate and began the process of deciding what she wanted to eat. Her stomach was actually growling for food.

“There’s this great broccoli salad you should try,” a voice said just behind Becky’s right ear.

Becky turned to see Dylan’s tanned face smiling at her.

“I saw what you did for that woman,” Becky said, ignoring his opening suggestion, “You were incredible. How is she doing?”

“She’s fine. Resting in her stateroom.”

“You saved her life. That was amazing.”

“Thanks, but she was the amazing one. She never put up the least resistance. That’s what saved her.”

“I’ll remember that the next time I’m choking.”

His grin widened. “Good idea.”

There was a moment of awkward silence while Becky searched for something to say. “Wh-where is that salad?” she stammered at last.

She loved broccoli, but ever since Ryder had died, she found herself eating more and more comfort foods like pasta and homemade breads. She’d put on about ten pounds in the last two years, even though she still worked out with weights. But the strange part was, she didn’t seem to care about the added weight. Or maybe she simply didn’t have the time to think about it.

“On the other side of this station,” he said, eyes shimmering like pools of sea-green water, and a smile that could make a girl swoon. But she wasn’t going to be one of them. Nope, not her. She knew better. Besides, she wasn’t ready for romance, especially with this type of guy. His interest had to be all PR. It couldn’t be real. Or could it?

She didn’t want to reflect on that. She had her kids with her, for heaven’s sake. What would they think of their mother swooning over some man who would sail off again at the end of their cruise. The whole thing was ridiculous. She needed to stop these crazy thoughts right now, before her fantasies got completely out of control.

And she’d start with the broccoli.

“Never mind. I’m not really that fond of broccoli,” she said without flinching at her little white lie, meant to prevent him from accompanying her to another buffet station.

“I would have thought you were.”

“Is there a broccoli type?”

She was sure there was a teasing glint in his eyes. “Well, actually, there is.”