Page 38 of Honeymoon for Seven

Nick had to swallow the instinct to scream at Ginnie to stay back. Let the professionals handle this. Not that he didn’t want her helping, but he was terrified if she got too close and the man really jumped, he might take Ginnie with him.

“The view is better from these chairs back here.” She inched a little closer.

Staring down into the black ocean, the guy didn’t seem to notice Ginnie was moving closer. “This was supposed to be the perfect honeymoon. Janice always wanted to take a cruise. Bask in the sun. Visit the beaches.”

“Sounds lovely.” Her gaze remained fixed on the man.

At the same slow pace Ginnie used, Nick inched his way closer to her.

“I have champagne in my cabin every night. And chocolate covered strawberries. Janice loves chocolate covered strawberries.”

“I do too,” Ginnie spoke ever so softly.

The man lifted his gaze and turned to her, then looked over her shoulder to Nick. “Don’t get any closer.”

Nick froze in place.

Ginnie held her hands up again. “If you don’t want me to come closer, can you come back here so we can talk some more?”

“There’s nothing more to say. Janice canceled the wedding with only forty-eight hours notice. Right about now she’s in Vegas with Tommy Hamilton the third. His daddy owns the largest bank in Melville. The Cadillac dealership too. He was supposed to be my best man. Instead he got the best girl.”

“I don’t think so.” Ginnie crept closer and Nick wanted desperately to reach out and snap her back closer to him, but he was still too far away to reach her. To protect her.

“Of course he did,” the man snapped again, throwing his other leg over the railing so he was now sitting on the rail instead of straddling it.

Where the heck is the crew? Nick dared to drag his gaze away from Ginnie and look around again. Doesn’t a ship like this have cameras everywhere? Nick pushed his sleeves up and dared to take another step; he had to get close enough to be able to grab her if he had to.

“No.” Ginnie reached the railing. “The best girl would be here on her honeymoon. She doesn’t deserve you.”

“How would you know?”

She dared to rest her hands on the railing. “Because good women don’t run off with another man two days before their wedding. If I were going to marry, I’d show up at the wedding.”

The man shook his head and leaned forward.

“No.” Ginnie shouted and climbed up onto the rail.

“Ginnie, no!” Nick moved closer still. Terrified if he rushed to grab her, the other guy would take the dive and it wouldn’t take much for him to reach out now and make Nick’s worst fear of taking Ginnie with him a reality.

Instead of answering, Ginnie held up her hand and scooted to the left so she was almost an arms length from the potential jumper. “Do you know why I’m here?”

The man shifted his gaze to meet hers again. “What? No.”

“My friend’s six-year-old niece lost her stuffed bunny. She’s heartbroken. My friend and I are here looking for the bunny. The last thing her father gave her. She misses her daddy.”

For just a second his blank, emotionless expression softened. “I hope you find it for her.”

“If you jump, someone’s going to be heartbroken. Miss you the same as Monica is missing her daddy.”

“There’s no one.”

“Your mother?” Ginnie inched a little closer.

That seemed to give him pause.

“If my mother is any example,” Ginnie kept talking, “to them we’re always their babies. She’s going to feel guilty. Blame herself. Do you want her to blame herself because you jumped?”

His chest seemed to heave with a deep sigh. “It’s not her fault.”

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