Page 45 of Adrift

“Yeah, I made them for Emily. She seemed depressed earlier.”

Easton’s grin widens. “Thanks. That’s the nicest thing that anyone’s done for my sister in a long time. She loves cupcakes. My mom used to make them when she was a little girl. You don’t happen to have pink sprinkles, do you?”

“Afraid not, love.” Dante tosses his towel over his shoulder.

“I’ll make sure she gets them,” I say. “I’ll bring them down in a little bit.”

“Thanks.” Easton touches my shoulder and nods to Dante. “Thanks again for the food. It’s great.” And he thumps down the back stairs.

“Oh fuck, there goes our tip,” Dante says. “Unless you can keep flirting with him, Haley. He seems to really like you. You’ve got the whole boat wrapped around your finger.”

We have to finish the service before I can take Emily a cupcake. I grab Brick his drink and head back out. But they’re all gone.

I grab two cupcakes. Emily is a kind soul. I can see it. She didn’t deserve what Candy said. Well, no one deserves anything Candy says. I rap on the door of her suite.

“Go away.”

“Emily, it’s Haley. I’m just checking on you.” She opens the door. “I bring a gift.”

“You had chef make me cupcakes?”

“No, I made them. Chef isn’t a baker.”

“You’re kidding! Oh my. Thank you so much.” She throws her arms around me and hugs me. “You are the kindest person ever.”

“Oh, you’re welcome.” I balance the plate as she tackles me. “Well, I’m glad to help in some small way. Is there anything I can get you before I go to bed?”

“No. Thanks for making up a room for Brick.” Emily smiles.

“Not a problem. If you need to talk, let me know.”

“I will. Things will be a lot better after we take Dad fishing.”

I smile and nod because Dante is right: rich people say the oddest things. From what I’ve seen, there will be no talking any sense into Rocky.

I head back to the butler’s pantry where Shayla is washing glasses. “Shayla, I’ve got the rest. Head to bed.”

“You’re sure, boss? It’s early.”

“This is easy peasy.” I motion my hand around the dining room table. “Thanks for doing the turndown service for Brick so quickly.”

“Easy peasy, boss.” She dries three more glasses and closes the cabinet door. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, you beautiful goddess of a second stew.”

I’m collecting the rest of the decorative blue and white sea glass pieces from Shayla’s amazing table when the ship stabilizer clicks off and we lunge starboard and then back to an even keel. The wind picked up sometime between cocktails and our own episode of Housewives of Fort Lauderdale. The boat lists starboard. Shit, I’ve been on boats that have lost their stabilizers before, and it’s not a fun ride. But this? This feels different. We whip the other way.

Anders clicks on the radio. “All crew, we lost stabilizers, but we’re good now.”

I run down to both floors to see if any of the passengers have gotten up to see what’s the matter. But Rocky and Candy aren’t in the hall and their lights are off. The same thing with the next floor down.

Rich people.

I head off to bed. I change into my leggings and a huge shirt. I always sleep in a sports bra, so I put a clean one on. My eyes flutter shut. I’ve got Calvin’s stuffed animal against my chest, and I drift off.

Then the system-wide intercom clicks on. “Attention all on board. Abandon ship. Abandon ship.”

Chapter 19

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