Chapter Six
Six
Beyond a doubt, Wes felt like he was a passenger aboard a luxury liner. Then again, most cruise ships were nice, but this . . .
Even the deck furniture was elegant; deep, rich carved wooden chairs and lounges with plush upholstery. Barstools were comfortable;
the bar itself was handsomely carved mahogany, he thought.
What wind and rain must do! But then again, he assumed the crew was ready to protect the extravagance of the furniture when
the weather threatened.
And now, of course, he was curious about the areas George had described.
As a crew member coming aboard, George had been privy to some of the different areas of the ship.
A lower deck that carried ballast.
One for the immense piles of garbage a ship at sea accumulated.
One for all the mechanics needed to oversee the power for the giant vessel.
Another for the crew, which was, George had explained, kind of like a massive dormitory, and which also had stowage compartments for those larger items that had come aboard, and passengers couldn’t keep in their cabins.
George had painted a good picture for him with words; he’d also explained the different passages that led to the unseen parts
of the ship.
And, of course, he knew that Chloe was anxious to learn what they had discussed, but she would stay patient and allow things
to play out for the time being.
As she was doing now . . .
“What was it that you said everyone was feeling like tonight?” she asked Celia. “There are choices, choices! One of these
nights, we want to do the elegant seafood restaurant—”
“Ah, you don’t think that sushi is elegant?” Jeff teased.
“No, I do love sushi!” Chloe assured him.
The sushi restaurant was one that included both an inside and an outside area. Celia suddenly turned to wave at someone.
“Oh, look! There’s Amelia Swenson—she has plenty of room at her table. Let’s head that way!” Celia said.
“Sure, sounds great,” Wes said, heading through the tables and passengers to reach the table.
He noted that the man who had accosted Celia and Jeff, Howard Markowitz, had also opted for sushi that night. He was several
tables away, seated close to a woman with long dark hair Wes assumed to be his wife.
There were others at the table.
Howard looked up, glancing over at Wes. He simply nodded gravely.
Wes gave him a nod in return.
He hadn’t come to have sushi in order to attack Celia and Jeff again; he had gotten there first and Wes was pretty sure that the nod meant he didn’t intend to cause any trouble.
And yet it was interesting; they either knew or had met and become friendly with the others at their table as there seemed
to be a lively conversation going on around them.
And he wondered how many people on the ship—while appearing to be so delighted and intrigued by the classes—weren’t wondering
as well how all these people weren’t more concerned about what had happened.
The other deaths hadn’t been connected to the incident in Broward, not in the press.
And, of course, it was sad, but people did lose their minds and do horrible things.
“The menu is wonderful, everything you can think of! Sashimi, sushi, rolls, bowls, salads . . . There’s even seaweed, rice
paper, lobster rolls, you name it!” Celia said happily.
“And it’s mostly all stuff that’s good for you, too!” Jeff announced, looking over at his wife. “Celia likes to limit red
meat, make sure she has lots of vegetables, you know, the body is a temple and all that!”
“Hey, he’d have a bacon cheeseburger for breakfast, lunch and dinner!” Celia told them. She smiled at him, but it was, Wes
thought, a warning smile. It was just another little below-the-surface type thing that she said or did that cemented her as
the alpha dog in the duo.
“Well, we’re in the right place, then!” he said, nodding to Amelia as they all took seats at her table.
“Hey, guys, welcome!” Amelia said, looking up from her menu.
“Thanks, cool that we’re joining you all?” Chloe asked.
“Of course! Table seats ten. I can’t take up all this room on my own,” Amelia said.
“And it’s good when we get to talk to people—you know, besides taking different classes,” Celia said. She leaned forward and said quietly, “You wouldn’t believe what just happened!”
“What?” Amelia asked. “I mean, not—”
“No, no, just some idiot followed Jeff and I down to the hospital area, wanting to know how we’re all acting so casual and
not worried because of . . . of what happened with Jane. It made me so mad! They didn’t know her. Oh, I’m sorry. Yes, we all
knew her. You know, through the years, software events—just getting together. She had to have been in the deepest, most horrible
bowels of depression!” Celia told her in a whisper. “I mean . . . there’s no way not to think about it and get a little worried
now and then!”
Amelia glanced at Wes and Chloe.
“And then—” she began, frowning slightly, as if this was something they shouldn’t have been discussing in front of others.
“Well, then Wes swept in and politely calmed the idiot down,” Jeff said.
“Truly the hero of the hour!” Amelia noted, staring at Wes.
He grimaced. “Hey, we’ve come to really like Edward and it wasn’t right for someone to follow you into the hospital area like
that!”
“Edward was okay?” Amelia asked.
“Edward was good. Chloe was in with him,” Celia said.
“The guy was just—I think he just had a panic attack because he saw the news on his computer or something. Gee. Computers
are so great! Every once in a while, though, the way they can give and give and give can be a pain,” Wesley added.
“It’s not the computer’s fault if someone chooses to watch the news,” Chloe pointed out.
“We’re on a ship! A cruise ship! No one should be watching the news on a cruise ship,” Amelia advised.
An older woman with beautiful silver-white hair and a friendly face came to the table, pulling out a chair and asking, “May
I? Sally Brookins, all way down from Toronto to take a trip out of Miami.”
“Please, please, of course!” Chloe said. She introduced the group around the table.
“And you three are with the folks helping out Milestones,” Sally said, nodding toward Celia, Jeff and Amelia. “And you!” She
beamed at Wes and Chloe. “You are the miraculous swimmers, divers! Who went down into the deep blue sea for Mr. Thompson!”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Brookins,” Chloe said.
“Please, we’re on a cruise! I’m Sally. And I’m not going to talk your ears off during dinner about your classes, but I will
tell you this! I booked this cruise the moment I heard about these classes, sessions, lectures—or whatever one may call them.
Okay, I’m going to start by kissing your feet just a tad here! Sad to admit, but obvious, I’m afraid, I didn’t grow up in
anything that resembled the computer age, and I am going to be so glad to put my grandchildren in their places because I am
learning so, so much! Now, I don’t need to advertise any business because I retired seven years ago, but I am going to know
how to post on social media, answer people on social media and torture my entire family with my absolute savvy! I am so grateful!”
“Sally, that’s wonderful and so much fun!” Celia told her.
“That is very fun!” Jeff told her. “You’ll know what’s going on with the younger crowd!”
She nodded, smiling. “That I will. When my kids were young and cell phones first came about, I thought that they were a ridiculous extravagance. Then I discovered that you could find people that way when you were worried about them. I am all for moving into the future full speed! I just wish . . .” Her voice trailed.
“What is it?” Chloe murmured softly.
“Oh, that nice man, Mr. Thompson. I wish that he hadn’t fallen, that he was going to be out among us more! He really put this
all together, didn’t he?” she asked.
“Well, there are a few of us he asked for help. But, yes, his company execs had the idea. He worked with the cruise line and
then the captain and had a cruise director especially assigned to him,” Jeff explained.
“Edward is an invaluable human being!” Celia said enthusiastically. “Not just to his company but to all of us. He’s just ahead
of the curve in so many things and, well, he does have one great job. When anything like this comes up, Edward is the man
to call!”
The restaurant was getting busy. They all welcomed two other couples to the table, their orders were taken, and they were
left to enjoy casual conversation as the waiter marched away. The talk turned to Jamaica, Sally telling them about a trip
she had taken from Montego Bay to Ocho Rios and then over the Blue Mountains to Kingston when she had been young. “Back in
those days, the mountains were just amazing! All the farmers up there had discovered what profit could be made in growing
grass for tourists, and, well, you know, at that time of my life . . . Jamie and I were good kids, really. Young adults, I
should say, just turned twenty-one and it was our last year in college when we made that trip, but the stuff was good—none
of this fentanyl stuff that’s going around these days!” she assured him.
“We’re all going up the waterfall,” Jeff told her.
“Oh, how nice!” Sally told them.
It turned out the other couples at the table were only doing tours of Montego Bay and Sally said that she was just going to
find a great place for lunch.
“I wonder if we should stay in Montego Bay,” Celia told Jeff. “I mean, if Edward is going to stay and have lunch, maybe we
should keep him company.”
“Oh, I’ll be in Montego Bay!” Amelia reminded her.
“And I would love to keep that man company!” their new friend, Sally, assured them all.
“I don’t think that anyone needs to worry about Edward,” Wes said.
“He has George and the two of them have become fast friends!” Chloe added.
“That’s right. His nurse will be with him,” Celia said, looking at her husband.
“And that’s great! Milestones really cares about George. I mean, this is possibly the most luxurious cruise ship in the luxury