Chapter 1 - Aggie
AGGIE
How did we end up on a cruise ship on Christmas Eve? Well, that’s another story altogether.
It was just a normal fall day. We were sitting at the breakfast table, drinking coffee and eating the breakfast he’d made for us, when out of the blue, he said, “How do you feel about going on a trip?”
Of course, I was instantly excited because the amount of traveling I'd done in my life was next to nothing. So I nodded and asked, “What did you have in mind?”
He passed his phone across the table, showing me a picture of a cruise ship. It was a sort of collage, and I could see pictures of water slides, massages, and even lounge chairs with an ocean view. My eyes immediately went wide with excitement.
“Yes! When can we go?”
He chuckled. “Well, that's the thing. There's sort of a catch.”
“A catch? At this point, I'd cut off my right ring finger to be able to go.”
He raised his eyebrows. “What about your thumb? I need to know how much this is worth to you.”
I laughed. “Just tell me.”
“Well, a travel agent I know got us a great deal—but we'd have to leave on Christmas Eve.”
Yet another stunner from this man.
“You want to spend the holidays away from your family?” I asked.
He and his boys were so close, just like my kids and me.
But we hadn’t gotten together for Christmas in years.
Isa still lived in Dallas and stayed on campus over the holidays so she could be a support to students who had families out of town.
Enzo was finally back in Cottonwood Falls now, but he was seeing someone new and would spend the holidays with her family this year. He’d already warned me.
But Gray said, “I’ve spent over sixty years of my life celebrating Christmas with my family—either with my parents or my wife and children—but I have never gotten a Christmas alone to celebrate you.
That’s what I want to do this year. I want a trip just for the two of us, one where we can go and be alone and enjoy ourselves. What do you say?”
I smiled at him in disbelief, but also happiness. It sounded amazing—time for him and me to be together without the distractions of work, the ranch, or family. “I’d love that,” I answered honestly.
He reached across the table, squeezing my hand, rubbing his thumb over the back of my knuckles. That gesture settled me in a way very few things could.
“I'll call my travel agent and get it booked today,” he promised.
And he followed through on that promise, because we were now shuffling through the line with all sorts of people.
Even as a waitress in a busy diner, I’d never seen so many people in my life.
Gray told me this boat could hold around 6,000—which was almost as many as the whole town of Cottonwood Falls.
I imagined our entire city climbing onto a boat and smiled to myself. Now that would be a party.
For the amount of people, they moved us through quickly.
Soon, we were stepping onto the main level, and the first thing I thought was “opulent.” There was a multi-story-tall art display, people singing, and a glittering bar filled with all sorts of drinks.
And that was just this main level. Imagine what the rest of the boat had in store.
Someone spoke over the speaker system, telling us to meet at our muster stations, which they explained was a place to prepare for emergencies. I squeezed Gray’s hand, a little nervous at the thought of an emergency on a cruise ship. We'd all seen Titanic at this point, hadn’t we?
But he didn’t seem bothered.
He said, “Let’s go to the muster station and then check out our room?”
I nodded excitedly.