“Sounds like a kick!” said Juliet, never one to be caught off guard. “How did that happen?”
I recounted the story for her.
“I guess you girls need something more exciting to do than last night, right?” asked my perceptive mother.
Juliet looked at me quickly, then looked away.
“Waiiit. They’re not telling us something,” said Alex. “Did you girls not go straight to your staterooms after the show?”
“We may have taken a detour.” I tried to deflect the tale of meeting Langston in the Piano Bar.
“And?”
“It’s no use, Keira. We have to tell them,” said Juliet. She took a deep breath. “We went to the ship’s casino and gambled our money away at poker all night.”
“Ha.” Alex squinted.
“Come along,” Russ took her by the arm. “We will hear this story, if indeed there is a story, when these two want to share it. But I think they need to get to the event room, if I’m not mistaken, to earn their pay. And you need to join your husband in the Outrigger Bar for the first round of many trivia competitions that you will dominate.”
“This isn’t over,” Alex said over her shoulder.
No, I knew it wasn’t.
I turned to Juliet expectantly.
“Well, missy, you got off the hook with them, but you better start talking to me!”
Her eyes were earnest when she blurted, “He’s the most wonderful guy I’ve ever met!”
I searched her face to see if she was kidding but could see no signs of joking. How could this be? She just met this guy yesterday! In an elevator! On a cruise ship!
“You just met this guy yesterday! In an elevator! On a cruise ship!”
“I know, I know, I know,” she said, nodding. “If I heard me say what I just said, I wouldn’t believe it either. But seriously, Keira, he’s more than just someone to share a dance and a few laughs with.”
I pulled myself back from saying all the things I wanted to say and kept it to an edited version.
“Look, Juliet. Do you think you might be swept up in the romance of being on this ship? You can’t honestly tell me you’re buying into that playboy image?”
Oops. Not a terribly supportive statement. Yes. I could tell by her flashing eyes that she didn’t appreciate my “concern.”
“What? Just because he’s dashing and well-dressed with a killer smile, it means he’s a playboy?”
“No. It’s not that.” It kinda was that.
“Or is it because he preferred me over you?”
“Hey! Wait a minute! What makes you think that?”
She stopped and turned to me. “I could tell last night that you expected Langston to be for you and Owen to be for me and got upset when Langston paid more attention to me after his brother didn’t show up.”
Where was that coming from?
“Juliet, can you hear the words that are coming out of your mouth? I didn’t expect either of them to be ‘for’ either of us. If you remember, we were just going to have a nice evening of drinks. Geesh. When only one of them showed up, I didn’t realize we were going to have to play a game of rock-paper-scissors to see who ‘got’ him.”
“Then why were you so weird, Keira?”
“What do you mean ‘weird’?”
“It just seemed to me that after he made his choice obvious—”
“Again, I wasn’t aware that you and I were like items on a menu.”
“You know what I mean. After he started paying more attention to me, you seemed distant.”
“Juliet,” I began, unsure of how to proceed. “I was actually relieved.”
“What? Are you saying you really DON’T think he’s good boyfriend material.”
“How did we circle back to that?”
“Well?”
“I was RELIEVED that I didn’t have to make small talk with EITHER of them,” I hastened to finish. “They seemed like perfectly nice guys, but I just was not up to small talk with anyone last night, okay?”
“Really?”
“Really.”
She was mollified, and we continued walking.
“But, Keira, do you really think he’s just a playboy?”
Hmm. I knew Juliet well enough to know that she had good judgment in these matters and could spot a fake. I decided that I really needed to step back.
“You know what it is, Jules? I just never see you all giggly and squeally. This is new for me, and I overreacted.”
“Believe me, Keira, I know what you mean. The whole time we were talking, I just kept thinking that there is no way this can be for real. But the more we talked, the realer it got.”
“Realer?”
“More real. You know what I mean. It wasn’t about the grammar, Keira.”
“I know.” Wow. She was serious if she couldn’t take a bit of ribbing.
“Sooo, what else happened?”
“Well, we left the Piano Bar after a while and went out for a stroll on the deck. Eventually, we just sat on deck chairs and talked for what seemed like hours.”
“It must really have been a lot of hours if my mother noticed how late you came in.”
“It was pretty late, but he was a real gentleman and walked me to the door.”
“No wild moonlight kisses on deck?” I joked.
“Well, there might have been some smooching in the moonlight,” she said with a cheeky grin, “but a chaste good-night kiss at the door.”
“It all sounds normal. What now?”
“I don’t know.” She turned from cheeky to pensive. “I’m kinda falling for him.”
Seriously? After a couple of glasses of wine and romance in the moonlight?
“I know what you’re thinking, Keira. You’re thinking this is really fast.”
“Aren’t you thinking that, too?”
“Well, yes, but ... I don’t ... It’s just ...”
Was this my calm, poised Juliet? Juliet who could chew through dates and leave them wondering what happened.
“That’s ... great?” I couldn’t help sounding skeptical.
“Here’s the thing. I know that on the surface, he is tall, dark, and handsome.”
“Why yes. All qualities that we run from.”
“Hush. You know what I mean. He looks like he’s just surface. But when you talk with him for a while, you get to the real man. You remember he’s a doctor?”
“Right.” I guess I remembered that’s what he said was his profession.
“Well, he’s a heart surgeon specializing in pediatrics at a Children’s Hospital, and he spent time with Doctors Without Borders—what?”
By that time, it was supremely difficult to hide my skepticism.
“Nothing, Juliet. Well ... can’t anyone say that?”
“Yes. But can anyone have pictures on their phone?”
“I guess not.”
I burst into laughter.
“What now, Keira?”
“Oh, honey. I’m picturing you demanding photo evidence to back up every statement he made.”
“Ha ha. It wasn’t like that. Well, sort of not like that.”
“No, no. I’m proud of your detective skills. Remind me again why you are an event planner and not working for the CIA?” She took several steps away from me, stopped, turned, and waited for me with her hand on her hip. “Oh, come on, don’t flounce away from me, Beyoncé.”
I caught up to her and hugged her.
“Come on. I’m sorry. Tell me more.”
“Well, he wants to take me to dinner at the Steakhouse or Giorgio’s—you know, one of the specialty restaurants.”
I nodded.
“I definitely want to go.”
“Well, why not? Although, you realize that for all intents and purposes, you’re part of my extended family while on board, and you’ll have to introduce him to them, right?”
“I know. I thought of that. But it will be good practice for him meeting my big Portuguese clan.”
What!
She was already talking about taking him home to her family. She really must be falling for him.
“And I’ll have to meet his family, too.”
What? At that rate, Father Damian might have to perform a wedding as soon as we return to port.
We reached the event space.
“I’m happy, Jules. Seriously. We’ll have to chat more about him, but I see that our first chef is here for the day. And from the look on his face, I sense that we may have a few nonromantic questions coming our way.”
Corey Webb bore down on us with a look of sheer determination. A proud, self-proclaimed amateur-for-life chef, he had combined the cooking tips he learned from his melting pot of a family and wrote a highly popular blog featuring Asian, Italian, and Eastern European recipes. His shipboard session was entitled “Rice, Rice, Baby.”
“Corey, how’s it going?” I was afraid of the answer.
“Keira, do you see the steam coming out of my ears?”
He could be a bit dramatic for such a big bruiser of a guy.
“I take it that it’s a metaphor for some problem you’re having?”
“Well, that’s the only steam we have. My rice cookers aren’t working properly.”
“I’m on it,” said Juliet, who dashed away.
“Other than that, Corey, how are things?” I hoped that the rice cooker situation was the only problem. I knew Juliet would come up with a solution.
Corey ran his hand through his erratically chopped dyed-scarlet hair and shook his head.
“I guess we’re fine. Are all these chairs going to be full?”
“Packed house, Corey. You are very popular.”
He took several deep breaths.
“I’m not sure I can play to a packed house.”
Corey was notorious for his stage jitters. I knew that once he began his presentation, he would engage with the crowd and be fine.
“Look, let’s run through your menu. All rice today?”
“Why, should I have done some pasta?” His eyes looked forlorn. I looked around to see if his wife, Anitra—usually the only person who could calm him down—was anywhere nearby, but I did not see her.
“It was just a question, Corey.”
“Oh. Right, right.” He pulled a tiny sheet of paper from the pocket of his immaculate chef’s apron and read from it.
“We’re doing Mama’s Stuffed Peppers, Tessie’s Cabbage Rolls, and What’s Shakin’ Bacon Fried Rice.
“Sounds delicious! Rice, rice, baby.”
Juliet returned, a determined look on her own face.
“Well?” Corey wrung his hands.
She began, “Here’s the deal. I can’t find anyone to repair the cookers. BUT”—Corey’s eyes widened, so she hastened to point to the cell phone in her hand—”I have them on standby to cook as much as you need. Just tell me, and I’ll call them.”
Corey paused, then breathed a sigh of relief. Even as a jittery cook, he knew that sometimes a backup plan was the only solution.
“Let me call them. Thank you so much, Juliet.”
He dialed the number and began the discussion. Anitra walked up to join us, and as we helped her unload the boxes of materials she had wheeled into the room, we filled her in on the situation.
“Thanks, guys,” she said, pulling a bandanna around her own hair that perfectly matched Corey’s in scarlet hue. “I guess I should have come down to this room with him before I went to the storage area.”
“No problem, Anitra. That’s what we’re here for,” said Juliet.
“Juliet once again has proven to me that I made the right decision to hire her.”
“As if there was a doubt,” my colleague grinned.
Corey finished his call, handed the phone back to Juliet, and welcomed his wife with a kiss. He had regained his composure and was less dramatic.
“Thank you both. Are you sticking around for the demo?”
“For your stuffed peppers? You bet!” Juliet said.
“Awesome!” His face split into a grin. “Well, let’s get back to prep.”
The couple hustled back to the front of the room.
“Crisis averted. Do you think it will be the only one today?” Juliet asked.
“Are you new to this?” I joked. “We’ll be lucky if it’s the only one this morning!”
Chapter Fourteen
Fortunately, the demos for the day at sea were relatively crisis free. Janet Walsh, the lively host of “Let’s Do Brunch,” was also an award-winning quilter and had brought samples of her designs to display. She actually managed to give a mini-lesson in quilting between whipping up her famous Darby’s Chicken Salad and other brunch favorites.
“I don’t know how she does it,” Juliet said as she attempted but failed to complete a neat row of stitches on the tiny square she was working on.
“Years of practice, I guess.” My stitches were better than Juliet’s but still not as precise as Janet’s. “You’re just lucky you haven’t ended up stitching your square onto your lap.”
“Funny,” Juliet said.
Eventually we reached late afternoon, and in the middle of our final demo, Juliet and I relaxed in the back of the room. Gabriel Francis was completing the last offering in his session, “Saintly Sinners Desserts.” The crowd was oohing and aahing over his Aunt Lydia’s Cheesecake and waiting for the tasting. After a day indoors, and after his earlier Deluxe Lemon Bars, I felt the need to get some fresh air and a walk.
“Jules, do you care if I go for a walk?”
“This is the last demo. I can handle it. Why don’t you just call it a day.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
“Well,” I looked at my phone, “Alex just texted me that they were getting ready to go on the zip line. I might get up there in time to catch them going across.”
“Won’t you do it, too?”
I shook my head.
“Probably not today. They book specific times for it, and I doubt I can get in line at this point. I would like to try to get pictures of the others, though.”
“Get going, then. Oh and Keira?”
I sensed that she was going to drop some information on me.
“You won’t mind if I don’t come and do the parade with you, will you? If Langston and I go to dinner, well ... you know ... I don’t want to have to leave early.”
“I get it. Sure, no problem.”
“You’ll still do the parade, though, right?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’ll see.”
“Come on, Keir! You’re not going to bug out!”
“Oh, no, not like you are?” That was unfair.
“That’s unfair.”
I didn’t want to hurt her feelings.
“Don’t worry about it. Look, I need to get up on the top deck, then I need to finish that little report for our ‘boss,’ then get ready for dinner. I’ve got a lot to do before parade time.”
She still looked unconvinced.
“Okay. Just make sure you don’t give up on it,” she said. “It sounds like fun.”
I tapped my watch.
“Gotta go. Catch up with you later.”
It felt good to walk out of the elevator and into the bright sunshine and breeziness of the Sports Deck. I saw Anthony and Celia at the far end of the deck where the zip liners concluded their wild ride. I waved and walked over to join them.
“Have you guys had your rides?”
“Omigosh! It was so much fun!” Celia had the same glee in her voice that I’d heard so often in her daughter Elisabetta.
“You need to do this, Keir,” agreed Anthony.
I leaned on the railing.
“Is one of our crowd coming next? I didn’t miss everyone, did I?” I was sure that Alex would whoop and holler all the way across.
The next rider pushed off. It was definitely a female and she kicked with obvious glee as she careened toward us. No, not Alex. That wasn’t her bathing suit.
Wait. I knew that bathing suit.
Mother!!
My mouth must have been agape as my mother slid into the pile of cushions beside us.
“Did you get that, Russ?”
I realized that Russ had come behind us to capture a video of the spectacle of my mother—dignified Maeve Graham—zip-lining across the deck of a cruise ship as if she were a teenager!
“May-may, you were fantastic!” he embraced her and kissed her.
“Keira!” She turned and saw me there. “Did you see me?”
“I saw you, Mother.”
“Wasn’t that something?”
Oh, it was something all right.
“Mother. How? What?”
At that moment, Cam slammed into the cushions.
“Mama G., you were amazing!” He said after he was unhooked from his harness.
“I know!” Her eyes were still sparkling.
Damian was the next zip-liner to arrive.
“Mama G., you are my hero!”
Et tu, Damian?
“Well, you boys wore me down with your persuasion. And that little daredevil Alex, of course.”
Of course.
The daredevil herself screamed and screeched upon her arrival. After embracing my mother, she saw me.
“Keira! Did you see your mother?”
“How could I not?” I deadpanned.
“What? Are you mad that she did that?”
My silence spoke for me.
“Keira! You can’t tell me that you’re upset that we encouraged your mother to take a chance!”
“Why no, Alex. And where are your parents?” I peered across the way. “Are they next?”
“No. But what does that have to do with it?”
“So it’s okay for MY mother to act foolish then?” My voice must have been a little too loud because the others stopped laughing and comparing rides, and turned toward us.
“So you think what I did was foolish, Keira?” my mother asked in her normal patrician tones.
“No, Mother, I didn’t really mean that. That was an unfortunate choice of words.”
“Because, I might remind you—AGAIN—that I’m old enough to make my own decisions. I don’t need my adult daughter watching after me.”
“Mother!” I called after her as she walked away, and stopped before making a scene. A normally quiet Russ looked as if he was going to speak up, but just shook his head and strode off to follow her.
Love on the Lido Deck Page 12
