by Amber Crewes
“I don’t,” she admitted. “Though they’re saying it might have been a murder…”
“A murder?” Mrs. Sheridan screeched, and the other customers turned to stare at her. “I heard it was a heart attack. You know how those show business types are—they work so hard and stress themselves out. That reminds me; I need to see my doctor when I get back to Sandy Bay. I want to start working out again, and I need to get cleared. I want to look my best for my darling Frank.”
“There’s a doctor aboard the ship,” Meghan informed her. “You could get checked out while you’re here.”
“That’s a fine idea,” Mrs. Sheridan praised. “I’ve been seeing signs all over the ship for fitness classes, and I think I would enjoy getting in better shape.”
“I bet Karen would help you,” Meghan suggested. “You should talk with her.”
Mrs. Sheridan shook her head. “She can be a little much for me. I want to work out with that fitness instructor I keep seeing around the ship. Selena? Celeste? She’s cute as a button, and so fit.”
“Celia Hendon?”
“Yes, that’s her.”
Meghan took a bite of her quiche. “This is delicious,” she murmured. “What did you order for breakfast?”
“I just wanted a cup of decaf coffee, but they messed it up,” Mrs. Sheridan complained. “Say, have you thought about working out with Celery?”
“Celia,” Meghan corrected. “It’s Celia.”
“Whatever. Have you?”
Meghan finished swallowing another bite. “Not really,” she said. “I’m trying to enjoy myself. There will be plenty of time to work out when I get home.”
Mrs. Sheridan delicately placed her hands on Meghan’s stomach. “Not too much time,” she insisted. “You won’t be able to work out much in the second trimester; that’s when the morning sickness gets unbearable.”
“Morning sickness?” Meghan nearly spat out her hot chocolate. “Excuse me?”
Mrs. Sheridan winked. “You didn’t think I’d notice? What a joy. Your parents will be delighted to hear your big news. Was it right after the wedding?”
Meghan stood up from the table. “I’m not pregnant, Mrs. Sheridan,” she gasped in horror as she touched her own stomach.
“That’s a belly if I’ve ever seen one,” she replied. “Are you sure?”
“I’m positive,” Meghan sighed. “Maybe I need to take a fitness class too….”
“We can go together,” Mrs. Sheridan suggested. “You and I’ll have fun exercising with Serena.”
“Celia,” Meghan again corrected. “Yeah, we should look into that. I’m going to get into better shape, even if it kills me.”
6
After finishing her breakfast and saying goodbye to Mrs. Sheridan, Meghan was in a sour mood. She felt self-conscious about her weight, and even though she felt good, Mrs. Sheridan’s comments had gotten to her.
“I need to treat myself,” she decided as she leaned against the railing of the ship, staring at the dark blue waves crashing. “I know! I’m going to get my nails done.”
She wandered back to the VIP section and walked into the salon on the upper deck. It was a glamorous place; with its pink Moroccan-inspired tile floors, luxurious gauzy curtains hanging around each station, and white leather chairs, Meghan felt like a princess as soon as she stepped inside.
“How may I serve you?” the attendant asked. She was a young red-haired woman dressed in a pale blue smock. “Have you visited us before?”
“I haven’t,” Meghan told her. “I need a little pick-me-up, and I think a manicure would do the trick; I just got married, and I chipped my nails right after the reception, and a manicure would be great.”
“Wonderful choice,” the attendant praised her. “Please have a seat in the chair on your right; someone will be right with you. Would you care for a drink? Sparkling water? A martini?”
“Green tea,” Meghan answered politely. “Please.”
The attendant nodded and scurried away, and Meghan took her seat. A moment later, a different attendant appeared with a steaming mug. “Here you are.”
“Thank you.”
The attendant walked around the small bamboo table and sat in front of Meghan. She examined Meghan’s hands and smiled. “You have beautiful hands,” she began. “But your fingers are shorter than most. The polish you had on previous was dark, no?”
“It was,” Meghan confirmed. “I usually pick dark polishes.”
“You should gravitate toward lighter colors. That will make your hands look longer,” the attendant told her. “May I make a recommendation? Let’s try a soft rose color today. Would you like that?”
She nodded. “Let’s do it.”
The attendant reached beneath the bamboo table and pulled out two sky blue towels. “These are for the hot towel treatment,” she informed Meghan. “We’ll start with that.”
The pampering began, and Meghan and the attendant began to chat. They talked about Meghan’s wedding as she massaged lotion into Meghan’s hands, and soon, Meghan felt relaxed. “This is just what I needed,” she sighed as the attendant rubbed tea tree oil into her cuticles.
“I’m glad you’re enjoying it. Have you done any other fun activities on the ship?”
“We did the bake-off last night,” Meghan said, immediately regretting her words when she saw the look on the attendant’s face.
“Ooooh. The bake-off. I heard about that…”
“What did you hear?” Meghan inquired. “I heard it was a murder. Is that what people are saying?”
The attendant pursed her lips. “I have no idea what you are talking about.”
“Are you sure?” Meghan prodded, seeing the anxious look on the woman’s face. “What’s the crew saying about all of it? I’m sure you know more than I do.”
The attendant paused. “Look,” she said in a hushed tone. “I can’t talk about it. The crew has been ordered to keep this situation under wraps as best as we can.”
“Come on,” Meghan insisted, “I won’t tell anyone.”
The woman shook her head. “I have five kids at home in Seattle, Ma’am,” she told Meghan. “I need this job. I can’t risk getting fired over running my mouth to a guest.”
Meghan was immediately ashamed of herself. “I’m so sorry,” she apologized. “It wasn’t my place to ask.”
The woman raised an eyebrow as she picked up Meghan’s right hand and gently rubbed her palms. “It’s okay,” she replied. “It’s just been a little odd around here lately; the other day, Oliver Winterburn’s wife was in the salon, and we all wondered if something was up.”
“What do you mean?”
The attendant bit her lip. “I shouldn’t have said. You look like you can keep a secret, though, right? Well, she looked pretty familiar with Winterburn’s assistant, if you know what I mean.”
“Reuben?”
“I didn’t catch his name,” she explained. “But I heard him say something about being Winterburn’s assistant. We all kinda wondered if something was going on between the guy and Mrs. Winterburn…”
“Something going on? I didn’t even realize Winterburn had a wife,” Meghan said. “Who would marry that jerk?”
She laughed. “The wife wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, either,” she informed her. “She was rude and snippy to us, but she was sweet as pie to the assistant. My friend, Delilah, saw them walk out of here together, hand-in-hand.”
“Really?”
“Really. But don’t tell anyone I said that. I don’t want to risk my job.”
“It will be our secret,” Meghan assured her.
After her manicure, Meghan returned to her suite. She was eager to see her husband and show off her new nails; she adored the new color, which reminded her of a sunset, and she couldn’t wait for Jack to see.
“Babe?” she called out as she skipped inside. “Are you here?”
“Hey,” Jack answered as Meghan stepped inside of the living room. Jack was seated on one
of the couches, his feet resting on the matching ottoman. “How is my beautiful wife this morning?”
She crossed the room and sat next to him. “I’m great. I had a manicure and guess who I ran into at breakfast?”
“Who?”
“Mrs. Sheridan!”
“What?” he nearly spat out the coffee he had had taken a sip of. “Here? Sally Sheridan is here?”
“She’s on her honeymoon. Frank is here, too.”
Jack laughed. “Well, that’s unexpected.”
“How was your workout? Your face is still red. Are you okay? I’ve never seen you look like this before, babe...”
“I’m fine,” he dismissed. “I just went hard today to make up for all the naughty food I’ve been eating.”
“Oh.”
He kissed her on the cheek. “How was the manicure? That’s a nice color.”
“The attendant recommended it. The salon is lovely; we should get massages there, or pedicures.”
“I don’t know if I could handle a pedicure,” Jack said sheepishly. “My feet are so ticklish.”
She giggled. “Massages then, honey? At the salon, I heard something strange.”
He raised a blonde eyebrow. “What do you mean, my love?”
She took a deep breath. “I promised the attendant I wouldn’t tell this to anyone,” she began. “But you are my husband, and I trust you with my life.”
“Tell what?” he pried.
“Oliver’s wife and his assistant, Reuben, might have been having an affair,” she told her husband. “They were being touchy-feely at the salon earlier in the week, and everyone in there noticed. What if Reuben had something to do with Oliver’s death? Like a jealous lover or something?”
Jack’s blue eyes narrowed. “Babe, you’re putting a lot of stock into salon gossip,” he chided her. “That’s a pretty big accusation.”
She instantly felt embarrassed to have brought it up. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have said anything,” she said apologetically.
He shrugged. “All you need to worry about is enjoying yourself, honey. Not idle chatter in a ship salon. Now, what do you want to do today?”
“I think I want to work out,” she told him. “I want to jog.”
“Jog? You? Are you sure?”
She frowned. “Yes, I’m sure. I can jog, Babe. Sometimes I run at home.”
“Right,” Jack agreed. “Sometimes, you do.”
“In fact, I’m going to go jog right now,” she declared, and she ran into the bedroom and changed into a pink running outfit. “I’ll see you soon.”
Meghan left the suite and took off toward the outdoor running track. She and Jack had taken a few walks up there, and she thought it would be the perfect place for an early afternoon run.
As she entered the track, she smiled when realizing she was the only one out there. Meghan liked her privacy when working out, and she instantly felt more comfortable as she began a slow jog.
“This is great,” she thought. “No one is here to judge me, and I can enjoy the fresh air.”
Her enjoyment was paused, however, when two figures appeared; she squinted, and saw Reuben, Oliver’s assistant, with a young woman. The pair began to walk around the track, and Meghan saw they were arguing.
“That must be Oliver’s wife,” she thought. “I wonder if I can get close enough to hear what they are saying…”
Meghan picked up the pace, and soon, she was only a few feet behind them. She could hear every word they said, and she tried to be discreet as she listened in.
“Your husband is gone,” Reuben stated as the woman shook her head. “Gone.”
“It’s not like I wanted it to go down like it did,” she replied, and Meghan felt her stomach drop.
“It wasn’t your fault,” Reuben assured her. “No one will be able to say that.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
Meghan was close enough to touch them; she tried to be quiet, but she accidentally let out a sneeze.
“Excuse me,” she gasped as the two turned around. “Don’t mind me.”
Reuben’s face became drawn, and he took the woman’s shoulder and guided her off of the track and away from Meghan.
“That was weird,” Meghan said aloud as their figures disappeared. “It was like they knew something about Winterburn’s death. I wonder what they know…”
7
“Babe?” Meghan knocked on the door of her cabin, realizing she had forgotten her keys and cell phone inside. “Jack? Can you let me in?”
Jack did not answer, and Meghan knocked again. “Babe? It’s Meghan. I’m outside.”
He didn’t come to the door, and Meghan slumped down outside. She was exhausted from her run and confused by what she had heard from Reuben and Oliver’s wife. She wanted to talk with Jack, and she wondered where he was.
“Mrs. Irvin?”
She smiled as Hugo rushed over to her. “Hugo, you are a sight for sore eyes.”
“May I serve you?”
“I’m locked out. Can you help?”
“My pleasure,” he assured her, producing a key from the pocket of his uniform and opening the door. “Can I do anything else for you, Mrs. Irvin? Would you like some water? You look quite tired.”
She frowned. “I just went for a run. It’s hard to get back in shape.”
He nodded. “We have resources to help you,” he told her. “Have you thought about a personal trainer? We have them available on the ship?”
“I don’t think I could afford it,” she admitted as she wiped a bead of sweat from her forehead. “A personal trainer is probably over our budget.”
Hugo grinned, his brown eyes sparkling. “It’s free,” he informed her. “We have personal training sessions for our VIP Guests. Would you like me to schedule an appointment for you?”
“That would be great!”
“I’ll call down and let you know,” he told her. “Can I help you with anything else this afternoon?”
“I think that’s all I need,” she said. “Thank you for everything.”
“It’s my pleasure, Mrs. Irvin.”
Hugo saw himself out of the suite, and Meghan took a long, cold shower, feeling better as the freezing water dripped down her body.
After her shower, Meghan settled on the bed and pulled out her phone, scrolling through her wedding photos. The official photographs hadn’t yet been sent over, but she had hundreds of pictures her guests had snapped throughout the night. She grinned at a picture of her friends, Jackie, Karen, and Trudy posing, and felt her heart pound as she turned to a close-up shot of her first kiss with Jack as his wife.
“What a good day,” she muttered to herself, a smile playing onto her lips.
“Hey, Gorgeous,” Jack said as he walked in the room. “What are you up to? How was your run?”
“I’m looking at our wedding pictures,” she told him as she held her phone in the air. “Come, sit with me! I feel like I haven’t seen you much today.”
Jack joined her on the bed and peered at her phone. “That’s one of the best photos of the wedding,” he joked as they pulled up a photo of Mrs. Sheridan planting a big kiss on Frank. “Just kidding. Show me some photos of us dancing. I think we looked sharp, don’t you?”
“Do you remember when Pamela tried to kiss my cousin?” Meghan laughed as she opened a photo of the teenage girl chasing after her relative. “He was horrified. Pamela keeps asking me about him, and I haven’t had the heart to tell her that he isn’t trying to find a girlfriend right now.”
Jack cackled. “Oh, young love. I wonder if we would’ve fallen in love with each other if we had met when we were younger. What do you think?”
She pursed her lips. “I was a goodie-goodie when I was young, and from what you’ve told me, you were a bad boy. I don’t think goodie-goodies and bad boys usually end up together, at least not in high school.”
Jack shook his head. “I wasn’t a bad boy, Meghan. I told you I had detention
a few times and was suspended for my senior prank. I don’t think that makes me a bad boy.”
She winked. “I was never suspended, and I never had detention,” she informed her husband. “I was on the straight and narrow from day one.”
“And look at you now,” he said, his blue eyes filled with adoration. “Married to the bad boy. What would young Meghan say now?”
