Toronto Collection Volume 2 (Toronto Series #6-9)

by Heather Wardell

  Eventually our time was up, and we reluctantly let our real tour guide corral us back to shore.

  I scrubbed dry with a towel and put on my skirt and sweatshirt, rolling my eyes as Stephanie's Rob said, "You do know what Caribbean means, right? Wicked hot. You don't need all that stuff on."

  "She does," Nicholas and Wendy said together, and we all laughed.

  "Hey, I'm usually cold, and now I'm comfy." I grinned at him. "You walk around in your bathing suit if you want."

  "It's too hot for that." He reached for the strings at the waist of his suit.

  Stephanie slapped his hands away. "Bad enough I have to suffer through seeing you naked. Why inflict it on everyone else?"

  "Suffer?" Rob's mock misery made us laugh again.

  They kept bickering in the same goofy way as we settled onto the sand beneath big umbrellas. I'd been a little nervous that the closeness of Stephanie and Rob and Wendy and Mark would make me feel uncomfortable with Nicholas, but that didn't happen at all. The four of them were great fun, and not annoyingly lovey-dovey, and Nicholas and I fit right in. It felt like three couples hanging out.

  Well, two couples and two friends, of course.

  We lounged, relaxing and chatting about nothing, until Rob said, "I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting hungry."

  Over the chorus of agreement, Nicholas said, "There's a café down the beach that serves great roast chicken. We could go there."

  In minutes, we were licking our fingers and complimenting Nicholas on his suggestion.

  "I'll never fit into my dress if I keep eating like this." Stephanie gave Rob a big smile. "And I don't care."

  Rob began singing, "Here comes the bride, thirty feet wide," but a light slap from Stephanie's greasy hand shut him up.

  They were an odd couple. They clearly enjoyed mock-fighting with each other, but unlike when Mark and Wendy teased each other there didn't seem to be an undercurrent of sweetness and emotion beneath the words. Curious, I said, "Hey, Rob?"

  He wiped his face and turned to me. "Yup?"

  "Did you really drop Stephanie's engagement ring in her lap instead of proposing?"

  She burst out laughing and he said to her, "What did you do, post a sign on the ship? Everyone's asking me that."

  "I thought they should know something about you," she said primly.

  "And that's what you picked? Not my gorgeous body or huge bank account?"

  Her lip quirked as she fought back a smile. "I prefer not to lie to people."

  "Ouch." He turned back to me. "In my defense, I meant to hand it to her but the box slipped. But, kind of."

  We laughed, and he said, "Was your proposal that much better?"

  "Every proposal in the history of marriage has been better." Stephanie grinned at him.

  "Was I talking to you, dear? No, I was not. Well, Melissa?"

  Wendy already knew, of course, and I thought maybe Nicholas did too because his expression didn't change as I told them briefly how I'd met Owen at New Year's and then about the box of chocolates and the ring half-embedded in one.

  "Imagine if you'd eaten it by mistake," Rob said. "Crisis! He'd have had to wait to propose until you pooped it out."

  Stephanie clapped her hand over his mouth. "You are a disgusting human being. I'm ashamed to be seen with you."

  He shrugged and I saw his smile peeking over the top of her hand.

  She released him, rolling her eyes, and he said, "Well, fortunately you didn't eat it. Wendy?"

  She hadn't been willing to say much in the dining room about her proposal, but now she said, "We were walking along talking and then he took my hand and he had the ring in his palm. I felt it and..." She stopped, grinning, her eyes filling with tears.

  "One of the few times I've seen her speechless." Mark wrapped his arm around her shoulders, smiling at her.

  She cleared her throat and cuddled into him. "Don't get used to it."

  Rob turned to Nicholas. "Remembering all these ideas for when you propose to Nicole?"

  "Is that in the plan?" Stephanie said before he could respond.

  Nicholas's neck turned a dull red. "Not sure. We've only been together six months, so..."

  Stephanie nudged me. "Way too early to get engaged, right? Only six months?"

  Picturing Nicole, it definitely felt like it.

  "Enough of all this mushy talk," Rob said when I didn't respond because I didn't know what to say. "Nicholas, what other excursions should we take on this cruise? We've got something booked for tomorrow but after that we're open."

  "Depends. Are you going back out with us after we hit Fort Lauderdale?"

  To my sadness, they weren't. I'd had a great day with them and I'd have loved to invite them to my wedding.

  "By the way," Stephanie said once Nicholas had given them some suggestions for excursions, "our wedding is this Friday at three, assuming I don't come to my senses before then." Ignoring Rob's "What if I come to my senses?" she added, "We can't invite any more people to the reception at this point but if any of you want to come to the ceremony we'd love to have you."

  "Sure," Wendy and I said together, and she went on with, "We'll see what we can steal to add to Melissa's wedding. And to mine, for that matter."

  Stephanie laughed. "Works for me. Just make sure you picked the right man." She leaned toward me and said in a loud whisper, "Don't make the same mistake I did."

  "Heard that," Rob said, unconcerned.

  "Wanted you to," she said in the same tone.

  We all laughed, and she said, "Look, I haven't even met Melissa's man, and we should celebrate Mark and Wendy getting engaged yesterday. What if we all have dinner together tonight?"

  Everyone but Rob grimaced at once, and Nicholas said, "My mom kind of expects us all to eat together. But a drink after would be great if that worked for you guys."

  "Let's say eight-thirty in the Angelfish Lounge?"

  "I'll be there," I said, but had to add, "but I doubt Owen will. He'll be in the casino."

  Stephanie patted my arm. "Honey, we'll go drag him out if we have to. But we won't. If he's the right man he'll be there."

  She turned her attention to her plate for another bite of chicken, so didn't see me bite my lip. I knew he wouldn't be there. Did that really mean something?

  *****

  Lunch done, we collapsed onto the sand again and stared out at the stunning turquoise water. The umbrellas overhead kept the sun's rays from frying us like the chicken on which we'd gorged ourselves, but even so the day was warm enough that after a while I took off first my sweatshirt then my skirt.

  "Going further?" Rob said, again fiddling with his suit's strings. "Race you."

  Stephanie smacked his arm. "I swear, I can't take you anywhere."

  "Sure you can. You just need to apologize before you can take me there again."

  We all laughed and Stephanie said, "I'm going to spend the rest of my life apologizing for you, aren't I?"

  He smiled sweetly and didn't answer.

  The sand was comfortable, the weather perfect, the view amazing. Only one thing was missing.

  "I wish I had a book," Nicholas said.

  I turned and smiled at him. "Me too. Was just thinking that."

  "You could take the boat back and get one, right?" Wendy said.

  "I'd get my ereader. It's got all the books I could need." I shut my eyes and relaxed into the sand. "But I'd have to get up. And I don't want to."

  A brief silence, then she said, "Actually, I was thinking about going back to get my crocheting. If you give me your key card I can get your ereader from your room."

  "You're going to crochet on the beach?" Rob said before I could answer.

  "Well, I only have until the middle of April to finish a shawl I'm making for my boss's birthday and since I can't do it on breaks at work I was hoping to get lots done on the cruise. I'm still pretty slow at it since Andrea only taught me how at Christmas. How 'bout it, Melissa?"

  I pushed up ont
o my elbows. "Are you sure?"

  She nodded.

  "That's sweet of you." I began digging in my bag for my key. "It's in the top drawer of the desk."

  Nicholas got to his feet. "I forget where my ereader is, but I'll go find it and then come back and hang out with you." He smiled down at me. "If that's okay."

  I smiled back. "Absolutely."

  "We'll stay here," Rob said, looking to Stephanie for confirmation. When she nodded, he added, "I'd love another swim."

  So Wendy and Mark and Nicholas headed back to the pier and the boat that would take them to the cruise ship, and I sat in the shade and watched Stephanie and Rob play-fighting in the water.

  Nicholas returned before they finished. He handed me my ereader, and I said, "Thanks. What happened to Wendy and Mark?"

  "When we got out of the sun Mark started feeling like he's got a bit of a burn, so they decided to stay inside and let his skin recover."

  Our eyes met, and we exchanged little smiles, feeling sure the newly-engaged couple was lying through their teeth about what they planned to do.

  "Ah, good for them," Nicholas said. "They seem so happy together. Well, let's get back to our books. What are you reading now?"

  I gave him a quick summary, and he said, "Cool. I'm still on the one you told me about. I like how the demons have them all trapped. There's just something about a book with a monster that nobody knows how to stop."

  I nodded and smiled, and we both lowered our eyes to our ereaders. I didn't read right away, though. Instead I wondered whether I wanted to share my book with him.

  I hadn't shown it to anyone else, and I hadn't planned to until it was done. But Nicholas, with his deep knowledge of the horror genre, might be able to help me find the perfect ending.

  I read a bit, and pondered a lot, until Stephanie and Rob sloshed out of the ocean and up to us.

  "Wendy crochets," Rob said, shaking his head, "and you two read. I'm surrounded by old folks."

  "And yet you never get any more mature."

  Rob wrapped his arm roughly around Stephanie's shoulder. "Because you love me that way."

  "Give me a chance to see you another way instead."

  "Nope, can't take that risk. Well, we're going to head back to the ship, guys. You're okay here by yourselves?"

  "Better," Nicholas said, "since nobody will call us 'old folks'."

  We all laughed and Rob said, "Fine, then, be that way. We're out of here. See you in the bar later."

  They left, and Nicholas went back to his book. I stayed staring out at the water, wondering if I had the nerve to share my story with him.

  "Hey."

  I jumped. "Yeah?"

  "Book not keeping your attention?"

  I turned to face him. "No, it's not that."

  "Then what?"

  I looked into his calm brown eyes and knew what I wanted to do. "I've written my own book."

  His eyes lit up. "Seriously?"

  I nodded. "But it's not done yet."

  "Still, that's great. I tried writing one once and it was a disaster. Good for you."

  We sat in a peaceful silence for a moment, staring out at the water, then he said, "If you ever want to let me read it, I'd love to."

  The sincerity in his voice touched me. "I might just take you up on that. When it's done."

  "What does Owen think of it so far?"

  I licked my lips and deliberately kept looking out at the water. "He hasn't read it. He doesn't really like horror."

  This silence wasn't as nice. Nicholas broke it by saying, "I always knew he was crazy," his tone a little forced.

  I chuckled, glad he'd gone that way instead of pointing out that Owen could have read my book anyhow purely because I'd written it, and turned to him. "Well, he's your brother, you'd know."

  "Yup. Hey, has Wendy read it? She loves horror."

  "True," I said, then told him that I hadn't shared it with Wendy because I didn't know if she'd be willing to give me any constructive criticism.

  "Well, I am. If you let me read it, I'll tell you exactly what I think."

  "Deal."

  "Good."

  We smiled at each other then settled back into our books, and we spent the next few hours side-by-side in silence lost in our own worlds. Lost in our own worlds, together.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I started to push my chair back but Stephanie shook her head. "Wendy and I will go get him. You stay here and keep these boys in line."

  "Her and what army?" Rob said as Wendy got up.

  Stephanie shook her fist at him.

  He laughed. "Melissa, you're doomed."

  I made a show of rolling my eyes, embarrassed that my friends had to go fetch my fiancé from the casino even though he'd promised he'd be on time and glad Rob was distracting us all from that. The empty seat beside me was a reminder, though, so I turned my back on it a little more and said to the table at large, "No, I'm not. You're my only problem. Mark will behave. And so will Nicholas."

  "Nicky always behaves." Nicole put a hand on his arm, her deep blue nail polish looking nearly black in the dim light of the bar. "Don't you?"

  "Yes, dear," he said in a great imitation of a hen-pecked husband, then chuckled.

  Remembering how we'd talked on the beach, I giggled, and Mark and Rob grinned at Nicholas.

  Nicole withdrew her hand from his arm, looking grumpy.

  "Sorry," Mark said. "When we were down on the beach today we were talking about how old married couples talk." We all began laughing, remembering how silly we'd been, but tried to keep ourselves under control for Nicole's sake.

  "It was dumb, really, but still funny." I shrugged, trying to make it no big deal. "I guess you had to be there."

  "I guess so," she said, but I'd looked away from her toward Nicholas. When we'd been together, when anyone had said, "I guess you had to be there," he'd always jumped in with, "I was!" like the TV-show alien ALF did, and I wondered if he remembered.

  He mouthed, "I was," at me, and we burst out laughing again.

  "Another inside joke I missed?" Her tone was colder than the ice in my drink.

  "Yeah, sorry." Nicholas calmed himself. "Did you ever watch 'ALF'?"

  Mark and Rob began quoting lines from the show, but Nicole said over them, "Once. I thought it was stupid."

  "Well, it was, kind of," Nicholas said. "But that's why it was great."

  Nicole didn't speak but her silence said a lot.

  "So," Mark said after a moment, his voice even on the single word a little too cheerful, "what did you do all day, Nicole?"

  She still looked disgruntled but as we all turned to her and made her the center of attention she tossed her hair over her shoulder and gave him a bright smile. "Well, I slept in because I was out late last night. Didn't get up until nearly noon."

  "Big party last night?" Rob pouted. "And you didn't invite me?"

  "Hadn't met you yet," she said, turning the bright smile on him.

  "I suppose that's acceptable." He smiled back, but when she said, in a slightly too sexy tone, "Next time I will," he said, "That'd be great, Stephanie and I would love it."

  Nicole didn't acknowledge this but turned back to Mark and began telling him about the two-hour massage she'd had and then the nap she'd taken to recover.

  Rob's eyes met mine and he winked at me, and I smiled, liking that he wouldn't allow even a hint of a possibility that Nicole could come between him and Stephanie.

  "Look what the cats dragged in," Stephanie said behind me, and I turned to see her and Wendy each holding a sheepish Owen by an elbow.

  "Literally dragged?" Rob said, standing up to meet Owen.

  "Not really, but we thought it'd be funny to look like we had to."

  They let Owen go, and he said, "Sorry, I lost track of time."

  Stephanie wiggled the watch on Owen's wrist but didn't comment.

  Rob and Owen shook hands then took their seats, my fiancé finally occupying the empty seat beside me.
<
br />   "Sorry, Mel," he murmured as he settled himself.

  I didn't answer, because I didn't trust myself to speak. I'd gone down to the casino after Nicholas and I had reluctantly left the gorgeous beach on the last boat back to the cruise ship, and I'd told Owen exactly what we were doing and when. When he'd said he wanted to go back to the casino briefly after dinner, I'd actually set his watch alarm to remind him to come back. He hadn't lost track of time. He'd just ignored it.

  Ignored my desire to have him spend at least a little time with me.

  "So," Owen said to Rob, "I hear you're getting married this Friday."

  "Unless one of us comes to our senses, yup. Oh, and for the record, I meant to hand her the ring box but it slipped."

  Owen blinked, and for the first time I saw Rob look embarrassed. "Oops. Melissa didn't tell you?"

  Stephanie laughed. "He's probably the only one on the ship who doesn't know about your pathetic excuse for a proposal," she said, then filled Owen in.

  "I honestly meant to hand it to her," Rob said plaintively. "Nobody believes me, though."

  Stephanie patted his hand. "They're getting to know you, that's why."

  We all laughed and Rob shook his head. "Tell me again why I'm marrying you."

  "Nobody else would have you? And I'm thirty-four so I'd better take what I can get?"

  He leaned back in his chair. "That's right, I keep forgetting."

  We laughed again, but I had to force mine. They didn't really mean those things, did they? Most couples I knew joked at least a little about their relationship but Stephanie and Rob seemed so much more serious.

  That impression didn't change as we talked about their upcoming wedding. Stephanie revealed that she had brought along a little electric buzzer that she could hide in her palm so when Rob reached to take her hand at the ceremony he'd get a shock, and before we'd even finished chuckling about that Rob said he'd have a roll of paper with him and when the captain got to the 'does anyone have a reason why this wedding shouldn't take place?' part Rob would unroll his long list out across the floor.

  They went back and forth, and while they were clearly joking and having fun tormenting each other the whole thing filled me with strange emotions. Owen and I would never joke about ruining our wedding with buzzers or bailing out at the altar. On one level, I liked that, but on another, I wondered: would a marriage filled with jokes and silliness be better than what Owen and I would have?