Page 7 of Honeymoon for Seven

Nick’s gaze shifted to the entryway at either side of the lounge. “I’d have thought Mom would have been here by now.”

“Ladies and gentlemen.” The deep voice over the loudspeaker cut off the elevator music that had been filtering through the ship. “I’m sure you’ve noticed the unexpected storm that has moved in.”

“We’d have to be blind and stupid not to have noticed,” Ginnie muttered.

“Agreed.” Nick almost chuckled.

“Unfortunately, this storm is only going to get worse before it gets better. Remaining anchored is not best for the ship or the safety of the passengers. As a result, we’ve had no choice but to pull anchor and sail as quickly as we can out to sea in an effort to bypass the storm.”

“He does mean after we load all the passengers in port, doesn’t he?” Nick’s gaze darted to the doorways again.

“Since it is not safe for the tenders to sail back to shore, all passengers in port will be housed until weather permits them to be transported to meet the ship at the next available port.”

Nick’s jaw dropped, his gaze shot to Phoebe before shaking his head. “This is so not good.”

“Excuse me.” An officer approached them. “Are you Mr. Maroney?”

“I am.”

“Your mother said we’d find you here. I’m afraid she’s had a little accident.”

“What?” Nick sprang to his feet.

If she thought Nick’s eyes had widened at the captain’s announcement, right now his eyeballs looked ready to fall out of their sockets.

The officer lifted his hand. “She’s perfectly all right, except she’s injured her left ankle.”

Ginnie looked from the dark and stormy water outside the wall of glass windows, to Phoebe, grinning up at her. Right about now, little Phoebe might be the only happy person on this ship.

Panic quickly surged through every blood vessel in Nick’s body. “Where is my mother?”

“She’s in the infirmary. I just happened to be coming out of the elevator when the ship rocked and she tripped down the stairs.”

“She fell down the stairs?” Could this get any worse?

“Just a few steps. She was trying to avoid a couple of teens running up and just as she stepped down, the ship went left, she went right, and her foot snapped out from under her. The doctor is taking x-rays now, but she’s more worried about you than herself.”

“Can we see her?” Nick reached for Phoebe but his precious niece latched more tightly onto Ginnie.

“Yes. I’ll be glad to take you to the infirmary.”

Nick tried to coax Phoebe away from her newfound friend.

“Why don’t we all go?” Ginnie shifted Phoebe to her other hip.

The only one in the group smiling was his niece. The last thing he needed was for the little girl to start screaming if he insisted on separating her from Ginnie. “If you don’t mind.”

Ginnie smiled and followed the two men out of the lounge, into the elevator and down a narrow hall below deck. All sorts of things were scurrying around in his mind. How badly was his mother really hurt, how could he reach his sister and her new husband, how long before they could rejoin the ship, how were the other kids doing at the Kids Club, and how amazing Ginnie was to step in and care for a clingy Phoebe.

“Hello, dear.” His mom looked awfully pale.

“There are easier ways to ditch me.” He snatched his mother’s hand. “Why were you coming down the stairs? You went into the bathroom outside the lounge.”

“The bathroom was being cleaned so I went to the one on the next floor up. I should have waited for the elevator, but I didn’t want to keep you waiting.”

“Do we know anything more?” He waved his chin at his mom’s foot.

Just then, the ship’s doctor came through a doorway. “Hello.”

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