Page 88 of The Cruise Club

Carmen wore her floaty dress with beaded straps. As she nestled into Ruskin’s arm, she felt a thrill as his bare skin brushed her own. A breeze caught her hair, and as he reached out to tuck a stray strand behind her ear, their eyes met, and he kissed her.

‘I so enjoy doing that.’ Ruskin smiled.

Sitting on the sun-warmed stone, Carmen was thoughtful as she looked at the view. ‘I almost feel sorry for Holden, and for Mum too,’ she said. Earlier, she’d explained the events of the previous evening.

‘Theo will have taken Betty to speak to Peter about her necklace. And try not worry about her relationship with Holden, it wasn’t meant to be.’

‘I know Holden’s idea of fun doesn’t match up with Mum’s, but in the brief time they had together, he made her happy.’

‘When he wasn’t stepping on her toes…’ Ruskin laughed.

Carmen smiled and checked her watch. ‘We’d better go down. The guide will be gathering everyone for the tapas trail.’

A little while later, in the lively streets of Cartagena, the guide led the group to a hidden gem of a bar. There, in a sunny courtyard, they were greeted with a glass of sangria and invited to try fried potato cubes in a rich tomato and garlic sauce.

‘It’s called patatas bravas,’ Ruskin said, ‘and these meatballs are albóndigas.’

‘Delicious.’ Carmen smiled as Ruskin held out a small dish. ‘And what have we here?’

‘Pulpo a la gallega. It’s octopus, tuck in.’

At each stop, everyone passed dishes back and forth, sharing small plates that included salty anchovies, tiny green peppers with a spicy kick, melt-in-the-mouth Iberian ham and hot clams in a delicious seafood sauce.

‘Try this tortilla,’ Ruskin urged and forked a wedge of thick creamy omelette.

‘I’ll have no room for the gala dinner tonight,’ Carmen said, rubbing her stomach, but despite her words, and encouraged by several glasses of wine, she eagerly took a bite.

By the time they came to the final stop, the nervousness Carmen had felt when setting off with Ruskin had lifted, and now she felt a comfortable intimacy as they sat together, tasting tiny slices of creamy flan and sipping from glasses of sweet sherry.

‘I’ve loved being with you today,’ Ruskin said. ‘We have a lot in common, from a love of history and architecture to guzzling a great deal of food.’

The air was filled with chatter in the bustling bar as glasses chinked around her, but Carmen barely noticed any of it. Ruskin was smiling and leaning in to listen to her every word, and Carmen couldn’t help but replay the moment in the piano bar when he’d told her he was attracted to her. It all felt surreal, like a dream she didn’t want to wake from. Ruskin’s quiet intensity intrigued her, and she looked forward to any time they spent together in the future.

But as their guide called out that everyone was to return to the ship, reality pressed in. Freed from Holden, Betty would reclaim her time and attention and the weight of it felt heavy.When the cruise ended tomorrow, Carmen would no longer be a woman with fleeting freedom on a luxurious ship.

As she strolled hand in hand with Ruskin through Cartagena’s cobblestone streets, they paused by a squarewhere a musician played a guitar. To her surprise, Ruskin let go of her hand and pulled her into a slow, impromptu dance. Carmen rested her head on his shoulder and thought how much she’d enjoyed the Roman Theatre and the centuries of history. As the warmth of his body touched her own, she realised that she hadn’t just fallen in love with the cruise and everything it offered, she’d fallen in love with the man whose arms enveloped her so effortlessly.

Ruskin wasn’t just part of this journey. He’d become her journey.

Chapter Thirty-Six

As the sun dipped towards the horizon, a gentle radiance fell over the harbour in Cartagena, casting shadows over the elegant ochre façades of buildings along the waterfront where intricate ironwork balconies and arched windows were framed with carved stone friezes. Carmen and Ruskin walked arm in arm along the Paseo del Muelle, the wide promenade beside the water, lined with swaying palm trees and bustling with activity. Tourists and locals sipped drinks at outdoor tables, and Carmen browsed handmade crafts in stalls and looked at the many glamorous shop fronts.

‘I adore the old-world charm of this city,’ she said as they approached the ship where the decks of theDiamond Starbuzzed with passengers returning from their day out.

As they made their way aboard, Peter came forward to speak to them. ‘Holden Jackson has reported that he’s misplaced a valuable watch.’

‘Holden has lost an item too?’ Carmen was flabbergasted.

‘Between you and I,’ Peter confided, glancing over his shoulder, ‘Holden’s lost watch is a fake, a copy of a gold Rolex.’

‘He wears a fake?’ Ruskin chipped in.

‘Very sensible too.’ Peter nodded. ‘Holden took me to his room to show me the real Rolex, which was in his safe, in a box with papers authenticating its provenance. I was impressed.’

‘Why does he travel with such an expensive item?’

‘Oh, passengers like to show off their wealth, especially on the last night of the cruise, but it would be foolish to go ashore wearing the real thing. The old boy is worth a fortune. I’ve met him on previous cruises.’

---