Page 25 of Honeymoon for Seven

“What else is on that list?” The doors to the elevator opened and they stepped inside. “Are we going up or down?”

“Most of the activities seem to be down. We could get out on deck six and then cross the ship, see what strikes our fancy.”

“Oh.” He smiled. “An adventure. I like that.”

No one would describe Ginnie as the adventurous one. That would have been Jo. Maybe even Mina on occasion, but she liked the idea that someone thought of her as adventurous. Or perhaps it was that Nick thought of her that way.

They’d only made it a short way down the ship when they came to the casino. Nick didn’t say anything but she could tell he was eyeing the different stations with interest as they walked.

“Do you play?” she ventured.

His head turned away from the tables to his left and his gaze settled on hers. “Not really. What about you?”

She almost laughed out loud. “Not hardly. I mean, my grandmother taught us all how to play cards, poker in particular. She loved poker. But my sister Mina is the one with a sixth sense when it comes to games of chance. Or at least, she was when we took our first cruise.”

“So you’ve never played the slot machines anywhere?”

She shook her head.

“What about roulette?”

“Only if casino night at my Catholic high school counts.”

“I thought the Catholics had the corner on Bingo.”

“That too. But casino night was the annual fundraiser. It always brought in the big bucks. One year we got a brand spanking new chemistry lab. Even kids who didn’t like science loved that lab.”

“Is there a story there?”

“Not mine. Though it was awfully entertaining when George Carlyle and Tommy Benson almost blew the place up. If Sister Margaret hadn’t walked in when she did and threw their test tubes out the window, the little explosion that burned half the lawn probably would have blown out all the windows.”

“I see.” His gaze lingered a moment at one of the tables.

“Want to stop?”

“That guy seems to be doing well.” Nick lifted his chin, pointing at a man shaking dice in his hands.

Though she’d never played, or even seen it played anywhere but in a back alley in an old movie, she thought she recognized that table. “Craps?”

He nodded and the guy let the dice roll. From the way the folks standing around the table cheered, she suspected that it was a good thing.

“Let’s stay and watch.”

“You don’t mind?”

She shook her head. If it was with Nick, she’d gladly stand around and watch paint dry. “Can you explain what’s happening?”

His head bobbed. “Sure.”

They inched closer to the table and slid in between two people, forcing her and Nick to stand so close that she could feel his arm brush against hers. She had to resist the urge to lean in even closer.

“Now, if he throws a seven or an eleven, he’ll win. If the dice lands on two, three, or twelve, that’s not good.”

As if the dice were following Nick’s explanation, the two numbers rolled and stopped at eleven and the entire table gave a collective sigh.

“Now what?”

“He can’t do anything now. He has to pass his turn.”

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