Page 85 of Falling Overboard

She swayed toward me.

“Just go,” I said, feeling very defeated.

She grabbed the tray and had to walk past me. I shoved my body against the cabinets so that she wouldn’t accidentally brush against me. I was so weak for her right now that I didn’t think I could take even something that small.

Then I felt bad when I saw the expression on her face. She was disappointed, confused, and relieved all at the same time.

As soon as she left, I missed her again. Now I was worried that I’d hurt her feelings, and that was the last thing I wanted.

So I bounded up the stairs after her, intending to make sure that she was okay.

She had already entered the main salon, and I heard Rodney sheepishly say, “I’m sorry to have woken you up.”

“That’s literally what I’m here for,” she said in an upbeat voice. She worked so hard for her guests. I wondered if they even knew.

Or appreciated her.

“You probably think this was a strange request,” he said.

Lucky laughed and my gut clenched at the sound. I loved her laugh. Then she listed off a bunch of requests she’d gotten from other charter guests that included illegal drugs, zoo animals, and an insane amount of toilet paper. “So no, cookies aren’t too strange a request.”

He made an appreciative sound. “This is delicious. Did the chef make this?”

“No, I did.”

“You’re a wonderful baker,” he said, and I had a strange swell of pride in my chest. Rodney was extremely picky.

That’s my girl.

She thanked him and then asked him why he had requested cookies.

“Because of my wife.” Rodney and his wife had been friends with my parents, but I’d never really known him that well. I knew his wife dying had utterly destroyed him and that’s why my parents had offered him the boat. “On our first date, two of the tires on my car had gone flat, so I was an hour late picking her up. I grabbed some packaged chocolate chip cookies from a gas station as an apology. She didn’t give me a hard time about it but said that she would make me her world-famous chocolate chip cookies to let me know what I’d been missing out on.”

I’d heard that story a bunch of times. He had told it at the funeral.

“That’s sweet,” Lucky said.

“And every year since then, she made me those chocolate chip cookies for our anniversary. Today would have been our fortieth wedding anniversary. She died last year.”

Lucky said how sorry she was.

“Thank you. My wife loved the ocean. That’s one of the reasons why I came here. Hank offered it to me last minute and I agreed because she would have loved this. I like to think she’s still here in spirit, enjoying it with me.”

It was obvious how sad he still was. I could hear it in his voice.

“I’m sure she is,” she said.

“You know, I hate to say this, but I think your cookies might be almost as good as hers. Her dream was to open a bakery in Paris when we retired. Now it’s time for me to retire and ...” I could hear him clearing his throat a couple of times. “I’m sorry, I’m not usually this much of a watering pot.”

“It’s okay,” she said. “Would you tell me about her?”

He sounded surprised. “Really?”

“Yes, really. My dream is to open a bakery, too, so she sounds like someone I would love to hear more about.”

And Lucky just sat there with him. Letting him talk about his wife, pour out his heart to her. I glanced around the corner so that I could see her sweet face. This wasn’t trying to placate him for a bigger tip. She was someone who had experienced a lot of loss, and it had made her more compassionate. Kinder.

Definitely too good for me.

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