Page 11 of Honeymoon for Seven

“Salads are good for rabbits.” Nick straightened and tugged at her hand. “We’d better get moving or the crowds will beat us.”

She almost winced when Nick let go of her hand. She wasn’t sure he’d realized how long he’d been holding it. And she wasn’t sure why she felt so comfortable with her hand in his. Many a date, with guys she’d known well, had been spent avoiding contact like that, and yet, everything about that last few minutes felt so very normal. If her sisters knew what she was thinking, they’d be rolling with laughter too. Ginnie was the practical sister, and she never, ever ran, for any reason. Not even in school. She was very much allergic to sports and exercise. So why did she have an overwhelming urge to familiarize herself with the ship’s gym?

Inside the buffet area, they grabbed a plate, went through the line, and Nick led the way toward the wall of glass. “How’s this?”

“Perfect.” She loved a table with a view.

Settling into her seat, she realized she’d forgotten to grab a knife. Pushing her chair back, she stood and stopped. “Where did all these people come from?”

Nick turned toward all the tables and let out a short laugh. “Looks like we beat the crowds by a hair.”

From the looks of it, every soul in line downstairs must have made their way to food. The few tables left empty were quickly filling up and there were more people mulling about the food stations. Another minute and she was back in her seat and ready to dig into the beef and broccoli. The baked ziti had been tempting, but after running up the stairs she opted for anything that resembled protein and vegetables.

“How is it?” Nick watched her dig into her meal.

Swallowing quickly, she nodded. “Pretty good. The food rarely disappoints. It might not be worth writing home over, but it’s always tasty.”

“You mentioned you’d sailed… was it twice?”

He remembered. “That’s right. The first time we came when our neighbor’s husband was deployed unexpectedly and gave us their tickets. None of us had sailed before.”

“Us?”

“My sisters and me. There was a little snafu with the reservations. Long story short, we wound up in a suite and my sister Mina met her now husband.”

“Nice perk for a snafu.”

“She thinks so. Next cruise was with my sisters again for her bachelorette trip.”

“Mina or another sister?”

“The trip was for Mina, but as it turns out, my younger sister Jo met her now husband on that cruise.”

“No more siblings to travel with?”

She shook her head. “I won this trip from my company. This was the last cruise before the award expired, and neither of my sisters could get away.”

“So you decided alone was better than not at all?”

“Seemed like a good idea at the time. Everyone needs a little R&R from time to time. To unplug from this crazy world.”

“I’m afraid we’ve invaded on your R&R. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, no.” Again she shook her head. “Your family has been a pleasant surprise. Phoebe is such a sweetie. Though I do feel badly about your mother, and hopefully you’ll have word on your sister soon.”

“Yeah.” He glanced out the window at the gray skies. They were still surrounded by dark clouds and splashing rain, but he could see in the distance the sky was a shade or two lighter. “Hopefully, we’ll all be in cell phone range soon.”

“I’m sure she’s fine.”

His gaze met hers. “I hope so.” He chuckled softly. “Actually, I hope that little island has enough hotel space for all the people. I think we had to have left more than half the ship.”

“Good thing you came along with your mother to help. That was very nice of you.”

“Not that nice. My dad was supposed to come but he came down with Covid after the wedding. Well, he probably had it during the wedding but we won’t tell anyone that.”

She shook her head and drew her hand across her mouth. “My lips are sealed.”

Over lunch she heard more about how his sister lost her husband in a car crash and then almost immediately learned she was pregnant with their third child.

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