Chapter 4
CHAPTER 4
F amily Group Chat:
Parker: Mom! We are so excited to see you soon! And you too, Ransom!
Abbey: Yes, Ransom, we can’t wait to give you a proper welcome to the family! (Even Dad says he can’t wait for the wedding. I talked to him yesterday and he promised to behave when you walk down the aisle.)
Trixie: That’s good to know. Can you get him to behave on the cruise, too? That would be a good start.
Emerson: Wait, what?! Trixie, is your ex on the cruise with you now? I hope MY dad behaves himself. Dad, don’t pull your weapon. It’s not worth prison!
Parker: Agree!
Abbey: Dad, are you on that ship with Mom?! I thought we all agreed we’d meet up in New York next week for the wedding! What are you even doing?
Stanton: Neelie—the true love of my life—wanted to see the world.
Abbey: Come on, Dad. I can’t believe you did this. Mom, I’m so sorry.
Parker: Dad, please steer clear of Mom. This is a special time for her.
Stanton: It’s special, all right—because I’m here now. Just wait until you see how special it can be.
Trixie: Stanton, keep this up and the only thing special about this cruise will be my ability to stay out of jail. Just. Stay. Away.
Neelie: Oh, hi everyone! I hope you don’t mind but Stanton added me to the family group chat! I’m so excited to meet you all in person! And don’t worry, Trixie—Stanton promised me he’ll be on his best behavior.
Abbey: Ugh. This is going to be something else, I can tell.
Emerson: Can we just keep the drama to a minimum? We’re here to celebrate my dad and Trixie.
Parker: Let’s make it a week to remember—for good reasons.
We finish up the muster drill (a necessary evil if ever there was one). Although this time the Royal Lineage Cruise Lines, the owners of the Emerald Queen , have introduced a virtual muster drill that passengers can watch and complete from the comfort of their cabins.
Talk about convenience! Let’s face it, if push comes to shove in the realm of a ship-wide evacuation, then that whole virtual nicety will most likely come back to bite them on the rear. As much as it was a pain to traipse to your required deck and don a life preserver, it was the only certain way to drill the lifesaving info into people’s brains.
It seems the Emerald Queen is changing with the times and everything is about to change for me, too.
But I digress.
Once we wrapped up our new virtual meet and greet with the ship, Bess, Nettie, and I boot-scooted our way to the front of this mammoth vessel, right to the bow where a true-blue pain in my rear has procured one of the fanciest cabins on this magnificent ship.
Fun fact: Ransom had a double-decker cabin with a private hot tub for years, but the ship decided to reclaim it and turn it into two luxury suites, thus the fact he’s been pitching a tent on the fourteenth deck along with Bess, Nettie, and me. Of course, we’re all in separate cabins just the way we like it. But come next week—oh my word! I haven’t even thought about Ransom and me sharing a cabin. That is going to be wild in the very best way.
“There she goes again,” Nettie says, snapping her fingers in front of my eyes. “You’re dreaming of a naked Baxter, aren’t you? Don’t you try to deny it either. I can see your pupils morphing into hearts.”
“I won’t deny it,” I say. “Even if I wasn’t doing so, that’s a darn good idea. Thanks for putting the thought in my head.”
“Here we are,” Bess says as we come upon a mob taking up residence around the entry to the cabin at hand. Each one of these people is dressed to the nines, polished to perfection, and laughing while holding a fruity cocktail in their hands.
It’s clear the party is well underway .
The three of us thread through the bodies until we make our way inside.
Jazz music floats through unseen speakers, and the scent of expensive perfume and something savory and delicious blend together, not to mention there are enough bodies in this place to fill a concert hall.
“ Geez ,” I say, taking a quick look around at the palatial and yet majestic suite. I haven’t seen the inside of that many cabins, but one thing is for sure, this one takes the cake.
Merritt Garrett’s luxury cabin is the sort of place where even the chandeliers look as if they know they’re better than everyone else. I swear they’re twinkling extra bright with a touch of smugness, and they’re so crystal clear you can see tomorrow in them.
It figures.
The room is covered in luxurious creams and gold, and the entire suite is a plush, opulent affair that’s bigger than my first apartment.
In the back I can see a set of French doors that open onto a private balcony, giving a glimpse of the sunset over the endless sea.
The suite boasts of plush blue sofas, an ornate bar set up in the corner, and a buffet that looks like it could feed a small army. Or a hungry group of people who share the same inexplicable urge to worship the queen of mean at hand.
The place is already packed to the hilt with glossy people mingling about, sipping champagne from crystal flutes and nibbling on hors d’oeuvres that I can hardly identify, and yet I’d swear those tasty treats are flirting with me, just daring me to inhale them all at record speed.
Have I mentioned that dealing with Merritt has always made me hungry?
The culinary staff on the Emerald Queen really know what they’re doing—and both my stomach and I are grateful for it.
I’m pretty sure one of those bites just winked at me.
Bess, Nettie, and I squeeze our way deeper inside, and I catch my reflection in a mirrored wall and I take a moment to tug at the glittery navy number I poured myself into.
“Look at you,” Bess says, nudging me with her elbow. “All dolled up like a movie star. You don’t even clean up like this for Handsome Ransom.”
“Nope,” Nettie agrees, and that gray hair of hers that sits piled high on her head gives her a look that says queen of the tumbleweed . “This woman really sticks in your craw, doesn’t she?”
“Of course, she does,” Bess says, giving me the side-eye. “All high school nemeses do. Now what’s the real dirt between you two?”
I frown, adjusting the strap of my dress. “Let’s just say there’s an ex-boyfriend lying in the bounds. He was mine, and she tried to make him hers. And, well, when she succeeded, it ended things between that bad boy and me. But for some reason, the tension and the nastiness never quite went away between Merritt and me. In fact, that seems to have followed us right up until this day. I don’t get her. I don’t want to.”
“ Ah , a love triangle that’s still sharp at the edges,” Nettie says, nodding as if she has firsthand knowledge of such a thing herself. Unfortunately, most women do. “Makes sense why you’re dressed to kill.”
“Speaking of kill,” I say as I nod toward the woman of the hour.
Merritt Garrett has poured herself into a sparkly frock herself, a blood-red number that she’s adorned with enough diamonds to make a jeweler blush.
I check my watch. “Ransom says he’ll be here in a bit. He’s getting his book for her to sign. And as soon as that happens, we are out of here. Besides, we don’t want to be late for dinner.”
“Who needs dinner when you’ve got this feast fit for a king?” Nettie says, sniffing the air and drifting toward the buffet as if it cast a spell on her.
And with those mountains of shrimp, caviar, lobster bites, and those deep-fried mac and cheese treats I love so much, it is casting the most powerful spell of all. One that ensures the expansion of my waistline before I leave the room.
“What a spread indeed. Looks like the captain really came through,” Bess says, her eyes widening as we survey the decadence of the dessert offerings as well.
A plethora of those molten lava cakes that I am absolutely obsessed with are practically taunting me. The captain knows I have a serious addiction when it comes to those molten lava treats. And I see something labeled pumpkin cheesecake with gingerbread crumble. Oh, that sounds divine! The chefs on this ship do not fight fair.
It looks as if my tolerance level for Merritt Garrett will be stretched to the limits tonight. Everyone knows I can’t resist those ramekin-ensconced gifts from chocolate heaven—or a good pumpkin cheesecake.
Nettie nods, snapping up a canapé. “I bet he’s just as smitten with this woman as Ransom is.”
“What?” I balk with my voice a little louder than I intended and it draws a couple of curious glances our way. “Ransom is not smitten with her.” I meant to whisper the words, but they came out more of a rather loud hiss. “He simply admires her as an author.”
“Just keep telling yourself that,” Nettie says, popping the canapé into her mouth.
It might be the same difference, but I’m not willing to acknowledge it.
Before I can retort, my eyes catch a familiar figure across the room.
“As if this night couldn’t get any worse,” I grunt at the sight of my ex. “There’s Stanton and his shiny new fiancée and… wait just a minute.” I lean in and squint at the handsome older man beside them. “Is that Kimball Spicer?” The tall, broad-chested man with spiky brown hair and a handsome, if not slightly rugged, face is indeed the man I remember from the country club back in Brambleberry Bay. “Oh, I do know him! He’s a celebrity chef now, with restaurants all over Maine. Let’s go say hello.”
I make my way over while Bess and Nettie stay behind to load up on all the yum-yums, and wisely so.
“Kimball Spicer, is that you?” I tease as I grin at my old friend. And I can hardly believe I’m seeing him.
His face lights in an instant as he recognizes me. “Trixie Troublefield! Well, I’ll be. Look at you.” He gives me a quick once-over and shakes his head. “You are just as gorgeous as ever and you haven’t aged a day. Still causing trouble, I’m sure. ”
“Only the best kind,” I say as we offer up a quick embrace. “What brings you on board?”
“I’m a part of Merritt’s entourage,” he says, dropping his voice a notch as if it were a big secret. And knowing what a hurricane of a person Merritt can be, I can see why he’d want to keep that information quiet. “What are you doing here?”
“She’s with me,” Stanton says with a touch of pride that only his twisted ego could provide.
Let the delusions begin.