Chapter 14
14
There are a few things less pleasant to wake up to than somebody pounding on your door. Dana threw off her covers and padded over to the door. Through the peephole she saw her mother’s fist raised, ready to pound again.
“Just a minute!” Dana ran her fingers through her hair and glanced in the mirror, glad she took the time to make sure all the mascara was off last night.
Sheila pounded again as Dana opened the door.
“It’s about time!” Her mother pushed her way into the room.
Dana counted to ten as her dad had taught her, and bit her lip to keep in any comment she might have felt compelled to utter. Such as the fact it was before sunrise. Taking a deep breath, she waved her mother over to the couch. “Good morning to you too, mother.”
“Don’t you sass me. I’ve been up all night with Amy-Kate, who’s crying her eyes out. We decided that you should trade rooms with her, and I went down to your room and you weren’t there!”
Dana sat on her bed and tried to respond as calmly as possible. “No, I was here.”
“How did you get this room?”
“There was a problem with my old room.”
“Well, this room will be better for Amy-Kate.”
“I am not switching rooms again.”
“Oh yes, you will. I paid for that room you had.”
“And I paid for my space in Cheyanne’s suite, which was more than the value of that interior room you stuffed me into. I have more than paid for my reservations.” Dana tried to push her anger down, but she hadn’t had enough sleep to do it successfully.
“Well, now you can be in Cheyanne’s suite with her.”
“I don’t want to change rooms again. I am quite fond of this one.”
“Amy-Kate can’t stay there.”
“She isn’t my problem.” The repercussions of her actions may be, but Amy-Kate made choices that came with consequences.
“Well, you’re the one who ruined everything!”
“If you wouldn’t mind keeping your voice down. I’m sure my neighbors do not appreciate being woken by your yelling.”
Sheila lowered her voice a decibel or two. “I am not yelling. I am trying to save a marriage. To do that, I need you to change rooms with Amy-Kate.”
“Save a marriage? You want your daughter to marry a man you know is being unfaithful?”
“Mitchell needs the business connections.”
The words hit Dana as if her mother had slapped her. A thought almost too terrible to say out loud formed in Dana’s mind. “Did you know about Chandler’s affair?”
Sheila turned her face to the window where the first gray mists of day dotted the seascape.
“You did.” Dana drew in a breath. “That is why you moved me from the Diamond Suite and put me in economy. You knew I would figure it out.”
“You’ve always been too observant.” Sheila sniffed. A familiar gesture—prelude to tears that never quite materialized. Next, she would ask for a tissue.
How could she have knowingly let Chey marry a man who wasn’t worthy of her? Anger worse than what Dana faced in her youth boiled up. Sheila needed to leave now, or security might have a reason to detain Dana.
“I am not changing rooms.” Dana stood. “Now please excuse me. I am going to get ready for the day.”
“You just can’t dismiss me. I am your mother.”
Any shred of patience Dana held on to evaporated. “Only when it seems to be convenient for you.”
Her mother gasped. “What a terrible thing to say.”
“I don’t want to fight with you. Not now. I need to get ready so I can go as soon as possible.”
“You are not to tell your sister.”
“What I say to my sister is not for you to dictate.”
“But you’ll ruin the wedding.”
“Amy-Kate and Chandler did that. Not me.”
“But the wedding—England. We’ve spent so much money. The connections.” The last words revealed her mother’s only real concern. Money.
“Then I suggest you go pound on Chandler’s door. Since he’s the one who ruined everything, he can pay for it.”
“But if she forgives him, everything will work out.”
Don’t say it. DON’T say it. Dana said it anyway. “I’m sure my father has a different opinion about a cheating spouse and things working out.”
Sheila raised her hand to slap Dana’s face.
Dana easily sidestepped. “Please leave or I will call security.”
“Fine, I’ll leave, but don’t you dare tell your sister anything.”
Dana wasn’t about to make that promise. Chey needed to know.
Sheila slammed the door on her way out. Dana sent a whispered apology into the cosmos for the passengers her mother disturbed.
Foregoing breakfast, Dana was one of the first in the queue to leave the ship. Chandler, accompanied by Officer Alvaro and another security member, was at the front of the line with two large suitcases. Apparently, he was going to take the coward’s way out and sneak off the ship before Cheyanne could return. Dana studied the group. From the stern look on the chief security officer’s face, there might be more to that story. What exactly had Chandler done?
She wasn’t close enough to hear any conversation between Chandler and his somewhat disheveled best man. Their clipped responses to each other indicated an argument. Unfortunately, she couldn’t read lips, though she was fairly certain she heard Cheyanne mentioned repeatedly. Had Chandler contacted her sister yet?
The men left the ship together. Dana waited for her turn to disembark. By the time she reached the port gates, neither man was around. Nor were they at the train station. Dana spent most of the twenty-minute ride thinking of things to say to her sister. Oh, to be three again and not understand the blow she was delivering when uncovering infidelity. Judging from her conversation with her mother and depending on who told Cheyanne about the affair, there were multiple ways this morning could go. There was the real possibility Dana would be the one to deliver the news.
Few people were on the streets as she walked to the lavish hotel. Dana found Cheyanne’s room and knocked on the door.
Erin opened it and let her in. “Don’t talk too loudly. We all have wicked hangovers.”
Cheyanne stepped out of the bathroom, her hair wrapped in a towel. “I don’t have a hangover. Every time someone offered to buy me a drink, I thought of your worried look. I stuck to soda all night long.”
“What worried look?”
Cheyanne tipped her head. “The one you are using now. What is wrong? Is Amy-Kate’s ankle broken?”
Dana’s throat tightened. Her sister’s concern for Amy-Kate made this even harder. “You haven’t talked to her today?”
“No.” Cheyanne sat on the end of a bed.
“What about Chandler?”
“No. We aren’t meeting until noon.”
Dana bit her lip. The scenario she most feared. She sat next to Cheyanne.
“What is it? You’re scaring me.”
“Perhaps we should talk in private.”
Cheyanne shook her head. “It was Amy-Kate, wasn’t it? She is the one Chandler has been cheating on me with.”
That her sister already suspected unfaithfulness was not a possibility Dana had thought through. “You knew?”
“I suspected something. I just hoped—” Cheyanne leaned into Dana’s side and cried. Lindie, Erin, and Renee slipped out of the room.
Dana wrapped her arm around her sister, wishing she could shield her from more than just this moment’s pain. If Dana ever saw Chandler again, she would hit him. As for Sheila, Dana would carry her role in this to the grave, or at least for a few days. One blow was enough for the morning. There was a chance her mother would confess her role in the debacle herself. Not much, but a chance.
Only one port left. McKay rubbed the back of his neck, trying to loosen the knot that had been growing all day. Dana and her sister had returned to the ship earlier than most passengers. Shortly after, Amy-Kate had disembarked with more luggage than she could manage. The wedding was off. A sense of guilt gnawed at him.
McKay pushed the guilt aside the best he could. It wasn’t his fault that Chandler was unfaithful. Yet he could have let it be known days ago. Would it have made a difference? He told himself likely not, but the rationalization felt hollow.
The wind whipped around the ship as they headed south. He completed a round of the empty upper decks hoping that Dana might be sitting in the alcove where they met before. A couple played a game of cards in the spot.
In the library, the sole occupant was a leprechaun rubber duck tucked into a cushion. He left it for a passenger to find. Since he didn’t have to clean the ship, McKay found the tradition of passengers hiding ducks cute. Gracie would love to find one or two if she ever sailed. Crew members kept a bucket full of the most unique duckies they’d found in the crew lounge. Pink cowgirl, pirate, and zombie ducks all found their way to the bucket during the few hours when the crew cleaned the ship for the next cruise. They also displayed a board showing the funniest places duckies had been found. Most passengers hid them respectfully, avoiding bathrooms, the buffet, and crew areas. He should take one from the crew area to Gracie. There had to be room in his luggage somewhere.
Dana wasn’t in any of the public areas. With a resigned sigh, McKay opened the communications app from Ogilvie Inc. Would it work? McKay typed in Dana Knight and his heart jumped when her name popped up.
Mac: How did your day go?
There was a pause before a message appeared.
Dana: Security told me not to use this app on board.
Mac: I think you’re ok.
Dana: My day went as expected. No wedding.
Mac: How is your sister?
Dana: Better than expected. His parents are livid and are on her side, so that is helpful. Especially since Chey shipped most of her belongings over to their home. Sheila is a mess. We are ignoring her.
Mac: And you?
He held his breath, waiting for her response.
Dana: Curious.
Mac: About what?
Dana: Why was Chandler escorted off the ship?
Mac: Not sure I can say. Legal is still dealing with things.
Dana: Okay.
Mac: Any plans for tomorrow?
Dana: I still want to *air* kiss the Blarney Stone. Trying to talk Chey into going. She says she wants alone time.
Mac: The castle and stone are worth it. The line can bea pain, but it is one of those things you should do once if you have the chance.
Dana: You’ve been?
Mac: Yes. When I was a teenager on a family vacation. For the record, it worked for my sister.
Dana: Chey says she doesn’t need to because she already has more words than she can say to Chandler.
Mac: Tell her she can deliver the words more eloquently.
Dana: She laughed at that.
She was with her sister. No point in continuing to look for her.
Mac: Good night to both of you.
Dana: Thanks for checking on us.
Alone in his room. McKay made his nightly call to his sister. Gracie was yawning and went to bed without a fuss.
“Are you sad to leave the cruise? You look a bit down?” asked Jen.
He tried to school his features into something less miserable. “Not really. I mean, it is just work.”
“Then what is it?”
“I forced a passenger into an awkward situation and now I am wondering if I should have handled things differently.”
“Explain.”
“I can’t say much.”
“Tell me what you can. It may help you work through things.”
By the time McKay finished explaining what he could, he felt worse.
Jen pondered before answering. “Obviously, I don’t get all the parts you omitted, but having the wedding called off was a good thing. Believe me, no one wants to marry a cheater. It would have been nice if it had been earlier in the cruise, but still awkward.”
“True. It is more that I put her sister in that situation.”
“Did you order the room change?”
“No.”
“Then not your problem. If it really bothers you, tell the sister. Although I don’t see a point. It isn’t like you’ll see her again.”
“I want to.” Admitting it made the possibility seem to evaporate like sea foam.
“What?”
“I want to figure out a way to see Dana again. Away from the ship.”
“Where you can date?”
“Pretty much.”
“Okay, that is unexpected.” Jen’s smile grew.
“I just think she’ll think less of me.” The thought of Dana despising him made his chest ache.
Jen toyed with a pen. “That is a possibility. But if there is an investigation, I don’t see how you can say anything to her.”
“I know, I don’t like it, but I know.”
“She is in security, she will understand… Maybe.”
“I hope so.” It was all he could do.