Chapter 40
The last three days of the cruise—Aboard Empress of the Seas
Daniel was alone in the cabin. He hadn’t listened to Leanne when they got back to the ship yesterday, and he was paying for it now.
They’d gone up to the pool deck and spent the afternoon alternately sunbathing and splashing around in the main swimming pool when they returned from Nassau.
“You can get sunburned even when you’re in the water,” she’d warned him. He knew she was right, but he’d never liked how goopy sunscreen felt, so he went without, figuring an hour wouldn’t be enough to cause any real harm.
They’d stayed up there for four hours, and he’d been miserable at dinner—red and sore and itchy. It was worse now that he was starting to peel.
Leanne had gone up to the shops on deck five and bought lotion for him, and three bottles of water. And she hadn’t once said I told you so .
She offered to stay with him all day, but he put his foot down. “You made me go swimming with the dolphins when you couldn’t. I’m not letting you stay inside when you could go to the beach today. It’s the last port visit, please go and enjoy yourself.”
She finally gave in, and right now she was—he wasn’t sure exactly what she’d be doing on Royal Caribbean’s private island. There was parasailing, snorkeling, jet-skis you could rent or just hanging out on the beach.
Maybe the snorkeling. That’s what they’d planned to do two days ago, it made sense she’d try to do it again.
He hoped so, and that she’d get to see—he had no idea. Whatever colorful fish and undersea sights there were, he hoped she was having an amazing time enjoying them all.
She deserved it. And he absolutely deserved everything he was feeling now.
Nora , the same time
Nora stepped onto the white sand, expecting to see Daniel at any moment.
There’d been nothing from “Diane” on the note board last night, or this morning.
But Greg wanted a quiet day on the beach, and there was no logical argument she could make against it, so all she could do was keep her eyes open, her wits about her, and hope for the best.
It was strange, though. Beyond strange.
Daniel had never, ever failed to do what he said he would. Unless something had happened to him. He could be sick, stuck in his room or even down in the sickbay. There was no other explanation.
And if that was true, then she didn’t have anything to worry about. Except for finding a pair of unoccupied beach chairs; it looked like half the passengers aboard ship had the same idea Greg did.
“Over there,” he said, pointing down closer to the beach, where there were two free chairs—next to one that was folded out and occupied by a blonde woman laying out on her stomach. Nora had seen the back of that blonde head before.
In the hot tub, with Daniel. And the next day, in Charleston.
But Greg was already heading her way, and there was nothing she could do except follow him.
He got within a couple of steps, and his shadow fell over her. She didn’t turn over, she just said, barely below a shout, “I told you, my boyfriend is coming back in a minute! Do I need to get security?”
Nora understood the situation instantly.
She wasn’t actually waiting for Daniel; there’d be a towel on the chair next to her if she was.
But she didn’t want a single guy to claim the chair and spend an hour hitting on her, and a dozen single guys had probably already tried that this morning.
She must have thought—totally reasonably—that Greg was just another one.
“No, I didn’t mean anything!” Greg sounded almost panicked. She would have to step in.
“He didn’t. He’s my boyfriend. We were just looking for two empty chairs together,” Nora said, in her calmest voice.
“Oh! I’m so sorry,” the woman said—Leanne, there was no doubt once she sat up to face them. “I had no idea there were so many sleazy guys on this cruise. But I’m not really waiting for my boyfriend, he’s back on the ship. He’s not feeling well, but he insisted I enjoy the beach without him.”
Of course Daniel would.
She reached out a hand. What else could Nora do but shake it? “I’m Nora. And this is Greg. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Leanne. It really is too bad Daniel’s not here. We haven’t made any couple friends on the cruise. My parents always end up meeting other couples when they go, and they try to keep in touch afterwards.”
“I know what you mean,” Greg said, sitting down on the chair farther away from Leanne. “We haven’t met any other couples, either. Maybe on the next cruise.”
Nora couldn’t find her voice. What could she possibly say, anyway?
She felt her stomach churning, and a throbbing behind her temples.
Was meeting Leanne like this God’s way of rubbing her nose in what she and Daniel were doing, the way that some people did to their dog when it pooped on the carpet?
Daniel , four hours later
After a few hours of sleep, and reapplying the skin lotion twice, Daniel was finally starting to feel a little better when the door opened and Leanne walked in.
She’d gotten plenty of sun, and she was smiling—almost giggling to herself.
“I didn’t go snorkeling, it was too crowded, so I just went to the beach, and swam for, I don’t know, an hour?
And I met the nicest couple. You would have loved them.
From Boston. She’s a writer for a science magazine, he’s—something to do with physics, he got talking and he lost me right away with all the jargon.
But they were so sweet. Maybe we’ll run into them again before the cruise is over. ”
So much for feeling better. He wanted to go into the bathroom and vomit, and it had nothing to do with his sunburn.
It had to be Nora and Greg that she’d met.
It was his own fault for getting himself in such a bad state yesterday. Even if he could have gotten to the note board this morning, it wouldn’t have mattered, because how could he have told Leanne what to do or not do on her own?
And now she’d met Nora—and Leanne had no idea that she was talking to the woman his heart truly belonged to.
The woman he’d be breaking up with her over.
He couldn’t wait any longer. This couldn’t continue for three more nights.
He could sleep in the solarium until the end of the cruise. She could smash the window and throw all his clothes into the sea; it was no less than he deserved. But he couldn’t lie to her anymore. He had to tell her now.
“Leanne.”
She caught his tone, and her smile faded. She couldn’t know what was coming, only that it was serious.
“Daniel, what’s wrong? Are you still sick? I thought you looked better, but I can take you down to the sickbay if you want.”
He shook his head. “Leanne, please. This is going to be really hard. Can you sit with me?”
She dropped her purse and came over to the bed. “I’m worried, Daniel. You’re scaring me.”
“I’m not sick. I’m—I don’t even know where to start with this.”
Yes, he did.
He reached into his shirt, pulled out the necklace. “You never asked me about this.”
She stared at it, then back up at him, confusion in her eyes.
“What does your necklace have to do with anything?”
There was no way to make this easier. “I—I’m so sorry, Leanne. I still love—I love the woman who gave it to me. I never stopped. I thought I was over her. It’s been years—we broke up my sophomore year.”
She counted on her fingers. “That’s eight years ago.” The confusion in her eyes was gone; there was pain there, and fire. “What are you telling me?”
“You’re right. It was eight years. And in all that time, I had one girlfriend for a few weeks, and then you.
You’re the only woman I’ve been with since her.
And after we were together that first time, I had to keep telling myself I wasn’t cheating on her.
I thought I believed it. I really did. Bianca’s been after me forever to date someone, to try again, and she introduced us, and you were so sweet.
So smart. Just—you’re so great, and I thought maybe it really was time. ”
“And it’s not.” The pain won out over her anger; he saw the tears start to fall, and felt them on his own face, too.
“She gave me the necklace. Two years after we broke up. The day I graduated. She had it made specially. You know my birthstone is aquamarine. And hers is sapphire. And I haven’t taken it off since she put it around my neck.”
She almost laughed through her tears. “If I wasn’t the one getting dumped, I’d think it was romantic.
But—if you knew you weren’t over her, why…
” She did laugh now, without any humor at all.
“Because she’s on the ship. That’s why you’re telling me now.
Because…I spent this morning talking to her, didn’t I?
” He nodded. “How long have you known she was onboard?”
“Since the first night.”
“You bastard!” Her hand flew at his face, but it stopped an inch away. “You—you’ve been seeing her this whole time. And you didn’t tell me.” Why did she stop herself from hitting him? “Did you—did you—were you with her ?”
“No.” At least he could say that much for himself.
“I had no idea she’d be on the cruise. I saw her the first night.
She was across the atrium, and we saw each other, and—we kissed.
We kissed, and then we talked, and we told ourselves we’d avoid each other and I’d focus on you and she’d focus on Greg and we’d be adults. ”
“But you didn’t.”
“It was in Charleston. She bumped into us. And I decided to find her that night, to try and come up with some kind of plan so it wouldn’t happen again.
I knew she’d be at karaoke. We decided to leave notes for each other on the note board, so we’d know where not to be the next day.
It worked for Florida, and that night. But then our snorkeling got cancelled the next day… ”
He told her the rest, answering every question she had, holding nothing back.
All she had to say when he was done was, “This is why you never told me you loved me.”