Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
Last Sail Before the Veil—What a Trip!
D ear Trixie,
Help! I’m getting married on a cruise ship next month, and I’m not sure what I’m more nervous about—walking down the aisle without tripping over my dress or trying to make small talk with my soon-to-be in-laws while swaying on deck. My future mother-in-law keeps reminding me how seasick she gets, and I swear my fiancé’s dad is convinced that cruise weddings are just glorified life raft drills. How do I keep from letting these nerves turn me into a shipwreck bride?
Nervous Nellie
Dear Nellie,
Oh, do I ever understand! The idea of walking down the aisle—whether it’s on solid ground or the slightly swaying deck of a cruise ship—can definitely send the nerves into overdrive. But let me tell you how I’ve been keeping my cool.
The secret? I’ve been treating this wedding like an adventure at sea. Every time the nerves come creeping in, I picture myself as the captain of my very own ship. When you’re on a cruise, you’re bound to hit a few waves—maybe the dinner reservation got mixed up, or perhaps your soon-to-be in-laws need a little more coaxing to enjoy the open sea. But at the end of the day, you’re surrounded by beauty, your favorite people, and all the good things in life. And that’s what a wedding is all about. Sure, there might be a hiccup here or there, but when you’re with the right person, it’s nothing but smooth sailing.
Whenever the wedding nerves start to feel like choppy waters, just take a deep breath and remember—you’re on this incredible voyage with the love of your life. And as long as you have your favorite co-captain by your side, no wave is too big to conquer.
XOXO Trixie
I’ve lived in Maine all my life.
All my life I’ve considered Maine my home.
And yet this glorious morning as I look over my balcony at the glorious land I once walked on, I feel a sense of comfort and fulfillment, but not of home—more like a second home in the least.
If it wasn’t clear before, it’s clear at this moment right now that the Emerald Queen of the Seas has taken that chief position in my life and has truly become my home.
The ship docked in precious Portland, Maine, this morning and I sprang out of bed with my adrenaline going, and every happy ounce of me started running around at a million miles an hour posthaste.
But that didn’t stop me from pulling out my sketch pad and some colored pencils and doodling away while trying to capture the beauty that this morning had to offer. I don’t have any official classes to teach today, but that doesn’t mean I can stop. Getting the beauty of nature onto paper is my passion, and Maine is where it all began. It’s an honor to sketch its glory once again.
And besides that, I can’t believe I get to squeeze my children today. Even though Abbey is on fall break from her university, Parker had to fly in for the remainder of the week from his university in England. And even though we communicate with one another each and every day, there is nothing like getting to hold them live and in person. I’m so thrilled I get to see their faces, I can hardly wait.
I also can’t believe I’m headed back to Brambleberry Bay.
For so long that was the only part of my world that existed. Things outside its borders were simply a fable, and now the tables have turned and my hometown feels like a faraway dream that a part of me wonders if it ever existed.
I shower, get dressed, and go straight for the one thing I can’t live without—food, breakfast to be exact.
In other words, I’m on a food rampage, and breakfast is the unfortunate victim.
First, I hit up the Blue Water Café, loading my tray with everything from scrambled eggs to smoked salmon to a mountain of pumpkin spice pancakes (with white chocolate chips, of course), and a bowl of Greek yogurt with fresh berries that almost tipped over due to the sheer weight of the honey drizzled on top. Just to round things out, I grabbed a couple of pastries for good measure—because nothing says ‘I’m trying to cope with the stress of a murder, a vexing ghost, an ornery ex, and have I mentioned a wedding?’ quite like a bear claw and a chocolate croissant.
Ransom is currently escorting Merritt Garrett’s body off the ship and speaking to authorities, but he said he’d meet me on the gangway as we disembarked.
Of course, Bess and Nettie joined me, and once we finished up at the buffet, Nettie decided we should swing by the formal dining room to see what their breakfast offerings had in store.
Why not, right? Who needs arteries?
The formal dining room’s elegance is a far cry from the casual café, with its polished white linens and dainty tea sets, and it’s there that I manage to consume a second breakfast that would make a sumo wrestler blush. Eggs Benedict with a side of Canadian bacon, crepes slathered in hazelnut spread (because I was feeling fancy), and about half a loaf’s worth of sourdough toast bathed in butter. Delicious grass-fed Irish butter.
“You really should take it easy,” Bess tells me with her eyes wide as I polish off another cheese Danish. “At this rate, you’re going to have to roll down the gangway.”
“Please,” I say, taking a long sip of my fresh squeezed blood orange juice. “I’m carb-loading for the wedding. Or murder-solving. Or murdering my ex. Whatever comes first.”
Nettie nods approvingly. “Who says we can’t do all three?”
“Let’s form a pact.” Bess puts her hand out. “Here’s to making sure we make it to the wedding, we solve a murder, and maybe commit a murder, too.”
“Hear, hear,” Nettie and I say as we clasp our hands over hers.
“Now let’s get to Brambleberry Bay,” Bess shouts with glee and the three of us let out a raucous whoop.
Brambleberry Bay, here we come.
I hope there will be food.