Page 11 of A Ferry Merry Christmas
“Ha.” She laughed. “I see you’ve got a sense of humor.”
“Come on, give me a chance.”
She hesitated, looking at his undeniably handsome face, his well-defined cheekbones and the twinkle in his deep brown eyes. It would be far too easy to be swayed by his strong masculine appeal.
“Come on, Avery, what do you say? It could only be a few minutes and then you’ll be free of me forever, if that’s what you decide.”
“And if I don’t agree?” she asked.
He was quick to answer. “Then you can spend the rest of your life wondering if you passed up the chance of a lifetime.”
Avery couldn’t help it, she laughed again. “Okay, okay, we can chat for as long as it takes the ferry to reach Seattle. When we dock, though, the decision is mine and mine alone.”
“You got it.” He held out his hand and the two shook on it. “You won’t regret this, I promise.”
“That remains to be seen,” Avery said, and hoped she wasn’t making a mistake. She had to admit, though, he put up a good argument and she was tempted. His interest felt good, even if this was never going to go anywhere.
Her head shouted that this could be foolishness on her part, and at the same time her heart was busy telling her a short conversation wouldn’t hurt. And once the ferry docked, they could each get on with their lives as if this interlude had never happened.
They reached far enough into the cafeteria to realize nearly all the food items had been purchased.
“It doesn’t look like there will be much of a choice left,” she commented. With every step Avery moved forward, the food options disappeared from the display cases.
“I noticed a vending machine with chips earlier. I’ll check to see what’s available there. Can I get you anything?”
The vending machine looked like it might be all there was, if that, too, hadn’t been depleted.
“Okay, only I want to pay for it.” She started to dig inside her purse when Harrison stopped her with a hand on her elbow.
“Wait. Let’s see if anything is left first.”
“Okay.” That made sense, although she wanted it understood she didn’t want to owe him.
“If there’s a choice, what would you like?” he asked.
“At this point, I’ll take whatever is left.” She didn’t hold out much hope, as the offerings at the cafeteria looked as bare as Old Mother Hubbard’s cupboard.
Harrison disappeared around the corner and Avery eased her way to the cashier. When she reached the front of the line, she discovered that the only item left for sale was a small bag of popcorn. “I’ll take it,” Avery said, grateful for that.
“I’d pop more, but this is the last batch. We were scheduled to load up on supplies in Seattle,” the cashier told her. “No one could predict something like this would happen.”
Avery agreed. She paid for the popcorn and nearly bumped into Harrison as she exited the area.
“We’re in luck,” he said, proudly holding up a bag of Skittles.
“The only thing left in the cafeteria besides coffee was popcorn,” she said, taking a handful from the top and sampling the salty goodness. Hungry as she was, it tasted like a slice of heaven.
“Shall we share our treats?” Harrison suggested.
“Ah . . .” Avery hesitated, not because she was unwilling to share, though.
“It makes sense, don’t you think?” he quickly added. “If we’re going to talk and get to know each other, we should at least be sitting together. Being close means we can pool our resources.”
His reasoning made sense. She glanced over to where Beth and Olivia were and saw the woman with the tin box on one side and Beth and Olivia on the other side of her empty seat.
Harrison’s gaze followed hers. “There’s plenty of room where I’m at,” he offered.
“I see,” she reluctantly agreed.
