Cabin Fever

“And just what would that be?” He had her smiling now. She liked how easy it was to talk to him.

“She usually has an athletic body, strong arms and an equally strong opinion on matters that count. She eats whole grains, avoids most carbs and never eats anything with hydrogenated or trans fats, but she loves gelato, all flavors, and only has it when she’s on vacation. By the way…Artemis deck, Just Gelato. Best on the ship.”

Becky turned back to the cornucopia of steaming food and added a square of lasagna to her plate. She considered lasagna the perfect food, at least lately. “And you’ve done research on this broccoli-woman theory, have you?”

“It’s just an observation. You can tell a lot about a person from the foods they eat.”

He followed her down the line as she added scalloped potatoes to her plate, and then some kind of stuffing with thick, creamy gravy. She figured this would do the trick. He was looking for a broccoli babe, and right now she was the carboholic.

“And what if a person doesn’t eat vegetables? What does that say about her?” She stopped and turned to him. He looked down at her plate, which was now a mess of carbs swimming in brown gravy. She felt a little of the gravy drip off her plate and onto her toes.

He gave her a sly smile, reached over, swiped the dripping gravy from the side of her plate, and quickly licked it off of his finger.

“They make the best beef gravy on this ship,” he said, wearing a pirate’s smile. Then he turned and walked away.

Becky watched him for a moment, angry at his audacity, but also charmed by it at the same time.

She spotted a waiter, apologized and handed him her dripping plate, then, wearing her own pirate’s smile, she went in search of the broccoli salad.

DAMN IF HE DIDN’T RUN into Ms. Becky Montgomery. And damn if he didn’t have to go right up to her and start a conversation. Dylan couldn’t understand why he hadn’t left as soon as he’d seen her. No. Not him. He’d had to joke with her, laugh with her, and even flirt a little. All right, a lot.

Dylan walked back to his cabin as if he were late for a meeting. He didn’t talk to anyone, nor did he gaze out at the full moon that seemed to hang just out of reach in the black sky. If a staff member had seen him swipe that gravy off her plate and lick his finger, he’d be on the carpet in no time. What was he thinking?

That was the problem. He wasn’t thinking. Not rationally, anyway. He was being led by his emotions and he knew his emotions always got him in trouble. He had to be more logical about this. After all, it couldn’t lead anywhere. She was a passenger.

It had been a long day and he was eager to get to his cabin. He had to admit that when he couldn’t get a good hold on that choking woman at first, dread had crept in and almost made him want to give up entirely. He hadn’t felt that way since he was a little boy and his dad used to take him out fishing off the coast of Twillingate, in northern Newfoundland. It was crazy, but at the time he just couldn’t bear to watch all those cod suffocating around him. He would try to push as many as he could back into the water, and his dad would scold him for doing it, so he stopped. But he never got used to it. Never got used to the thrashing, their need to breathe, their gasping for breath.

He’d had the same feeling with that woman. He’d had the power of life and death in his hands, and for a moment it had scared him to the point of wanting to run. But he hadn’t, and that’s what he needed to hold on to. He hadn’t run. Not this time. He had stayed the course and gotten her through. And because of him, she would enjoy the rest of the cruise and the rest of her life.

He needed a drink to calm down, to stop the internal shaking, but instead he just walked at a fast clip, ignoring everyone around him. He wasn’t rude. He would nod when it was appropriate, or smile when someone looked his way, but for the most part he kept his head down and his feet moving forward.

When he finally reached the crew’s quarters, he unlocked the door to his small cabin and shut it behind him. Then a sense of ease took hold and the shaking began to subside. He took a deep breath and let it out again, then searched for his cranberry juice, poured himself a tall one, sat in a comfortable dark blue chair, pushed off his white shoes, opened his shirt and let the day fade away.

Too bad that the minute he closed his eyes Becky Montgomery came into focus.

“Damn her,” he said out loud, and slammed his now empty glass down on the small coffee table, got up and went in to take a long, hot shower.

THE PLATES HAD BEEN CLEARED from the table and the kids were pestering Becky to make her announcement about the pendant. She was still reluctant.

“It’s time, Mom,” Sarah urged “You have to tell everybody now.”

Estelle, Kim and Bob were at the other end of the table chatting about something that seemed to occupy all their attention. Mark sat sipping his coffee, staring out at the people passing by, seemingly oblivious to anything but the thoughts whirring around in his head.

“Yeah, Mom, you promised right after dinner,” Connor insisted. “Well, it’s after dinner now.”

He was standing next to her, pulling at the necklace’s chain, trying to get it out from under her sweater. Becky kept moving his hands away. The whole thing suddenly seemed ridiculous. She really wanted to just give the thing to one of the kids and let them get all the attention.

She leaned over to Laura. “How about if I slip it to you and you tell everyone you found it?”

Laura turned to her. “It’s all yours. You need the good luck more than I do. Besides, I want to see the look on Grandma’s face when you tell her you found it. She called the captain this afternoon and asked if he could somehow arrange it so that my mom could find it, as a joke.”

“You’re kidding. What did he say?”

“I don’t know, but he invited her to take a private tour of the ship.”

“She’s unbelievable.”

“She’s Estelle. Now, please, show her the pendant.”

Reluctantly Becky pulled the necklace out from under her sweater. Holding the teardrop pendant in her hand, she took another good look at it. She had to admit that although the silver teardrop was rather large and heavy, the necklace looked as if someone had worn it every day for their entire life. If she wasn’t careful, the chain might fall apart with one good tug.

Sarah and Laura had been so excited when they returned that afternoon with ice cream and pickles that Connor had caught their enthusiasm and it still showed on his face. She simply had to go through with this for his sake. It was almost as if the pendant had its own little magic effect on Connor.

“Everybody, quiet please.” Connor held out his hands as if that would make his grandmother and aunt stop their conversation. Instead they simply glanced at him and continued talking.

Laura stood. “Mom. Grandma. Aunt Becky has an announcement.”

Suddenly, Bob, Estelle and Kim began laughing, but never turned their attention to Laura.

Then Mark reached over and grabbed Estelle’s arm. “Becky has something to say.”

Estelle looked up at Mark, pulled her arm from his grasp, mumbled something to Kim, leaned back in her chair, rested her hands on her lap and swung her hair off her shoulders. Apparently comfortable, she looked at Becky and said, “You have my complete and undivided attention, dear. What is it that you want to say?”

Becky felt like a total fool and wanted to simply disappear. She mindlessly slid the pendant back and forth on its chain and thought of a million things she’d like to say to Estelle. Hurtful, mean things. Things that had been on her mind for years. She thought maybe she could do it right now. Clear the air. Get the hostility off her chest.

But instead Sarah came to her rescue, preventing her from putting her foot in her mouth and possibly spoiling the rest of the cruise. “My mom found the moon goddess’s pendant in our cabin! Mom found it! Isn’t she lucky, Grandma? Isn’t my mom the best?”

Sarah beamed as she hugged Becky tight around the neck.

Becky let go of the pendant and it settled heavily on her chest. She put an arm around Sarah to steady her as she knelt on the chair next to Becky’s, and put her other arm around Connor, who stood beside her. Both kids wore grins that encompassed their entire face.

“That’s the missing pendant that everyone’s been looking for?” Kim asked with a large dose of sarcasm.

“Yes,” Becky said, bringing her kids in even tighter.

Estelle slipped on her glasses to get a better look. “But, darling, it’s so tacky. And here I thought it was going to be worth something.”

Becky could actually feel Connor’s enthusiasm waning as his body slumped against her.

“But it is worth something,” Becky protested. “It’s meant to bring good luck to the person who found it.”

“Yeah, especially in love,” Laura added.

“Your aunt already found her one true love with my son, Laura, and no pendant will help her find someone to take Ryder’s place,” Estelle chided. “Once you’ve had love like that, you don’t ever want to replace it. Not ever. And someday, my dear naive child, you might be lucky enough to have the same thing.” She turned and reached for Mark’s hand, but he picked up his coffee cup before she could touch him. Estelle instantly withdrew her hand, but Becky noticed.

Laura excused herself from the table. Becky could tell she was upset by Estelle’s thoughtless reprimand.

Connor moved away from Becky, his expression sullen, but Becky wouldn’t let go of his hand. She reached for Sarah’s and helped her slide off the chair. “This is just a game, Estelle, a charming promotion that someone on this ship thought would be fun and romantic. I happen to agree and intend to wear this pendant the entire time I’m on this cruise.” With those words she led her children away from the table.