Chapter 10 #2
Bess is already consulting her guidebook, reading facts about the waterfall’s history and geological significance, while Nettie has wandered dangerously close to the edge despite the safety barriers and is posing for a selfie that’s definitely going to look like she’s about to plunge to her death.
Let’s hope she’s not.
Ransom’s phone pings and he frowns down at his screen. “It’s Quinn. She has a few procedural questions she wants to ask. I’d better give her a quick call.”
He steps away and I spot the exact redhead I was hoping to speak with this afternoon standing apart from the crowd as she looks on at the natural wonder, staring at the falls with an expression I can’t quite read.
I quickly make my way over, and I’ll admit, it’s hard to tear my gaze away from the giant blue basin. It’s as if the entire world opens up in some magical portal here. I’ve never seen a waterfall so beautiful, especially from this vantage point that places us nearly above it.
“Hey.” I approach carefully, trying not to pant from the trek over. “Mind if I join you?”
Marina does a double-take my way and offers a small smile. “Not at all.”
I sidle up next to her and wince a little. “About what you saw on the bridge—”
“Trixie, you don’t have to explain.” She looks as if she means it, but there’s a layer of sadness in her eyes and I don’t know where it’s coming from.
“Yes, I do. Because there is absolutely nothing going on between Wes and me. What you walked in on was a misunderstanding involving a ghost, a hug, and the world’s worst timing.”
Marina inches back. “Did you say ghost?”
“It’s a long story.” I wrinkle my nose at the thought that I let that slip.
“But I promise you, Wes and I are just friends. He used to have feelings for me, but that was before I married Ransom, and now he’s moved on.
He offered you a private bridge tour, Marina.
Trust me, Wes doesn’t do that for just anyone. ”
She laughs softly. “It was just a nice gesture on his part, I’m sure.”
We stand in comfortable silence for a moment as the waterfall roars beside us, the chill in the air making us tighten our arms around ourselves.
She looks my way and presses her lips together as if she’s about to take the proverbial plunge. “Can I ask how you ended up living on a cruise ship? It seems like an unusual life choice.”
A laugh bubbles from me. “I guess it is unusual. The funny thing is, I never sought out this life—it sort of found me.”
She studies me for a moment. “Really? How did you end up there? What’s your origin story, Trixie?” She says that last part with a wink.
“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” I say with a laugh. And here’s hoping I can glean a little more about this mystery woman who has settled into our midst.
“Okay.” She shrugs. “You first.”
I take a breath. “A little over a year ago, I caught my husband cheating. We’d been married twenty-five years, and I thought we were happy.
It turns out he’d been having a very happy affair with his secretary, and with just about everyone else for who knows how long.
” The familiar anger flares up, but it’s duller now, worn smooth by time.
“On the morning we were set to leave on our cruise, I stepped out to get my nails done only to come home and find out he was getting himself serviced by a handful of women.” I shake my head at the horrific memory.
“He wanted me to forgive him, to go to couples therapy, to pretend it never happened. But I couldn’t.
So I took our twenty-fifth-anniversary cruise alone—the one we were supposed to take together—and it was the best decision I ever made. ”
“Is that when you met Bess and Nettie?”
“Yes. They were already living on the ship, and they took me under their wing. They made sure I stayed and helped me get the art instructor position. Of course, I met Wes and Ransom, too, and suddenly I had a whole new life I never expected. And a whole new family.”
“It sounds like a happy ending.” She smiles. “Do you have kids?”
“I do,” I say. “I have two kids from my first marriage—Abbey and Parker. Abbey’s twenty-one and studying narrative studies at Dexter University.
She’s dating the captain’s son Owen, and she has this amazing ability to see through people’s nonsense.
Parker is twenty-four and just finished his undergrad at Dexter.
Now he’s in grad school at Hollingsworth University in Cambridge studying Digital Social Media.
He’s dating Emerson, who is Ransom’s daughter.
Parker is the tech genius of the family.
They both think I’m a little insane for living on a cruise ship, but they also think I’m happier than I’ve been in years. And they’re right.”
“Wow.” She laughs. “Your daughter is dating the captain’s son and your son is dating your new husband’s daughter? Talk about keeping it in the family.”
I laugh. “Well, you know what they say. It’s a small world after all—even smaller if you live on a cruise ship.”
Marina tips her head my way. “I have to give it to you. It takes courage to start over like that.”
“Says the woman who boarded a cruise ship with a suitcase and tears in a Copenhagen bar.”
She laughs, a deep belly laugh this time. “You got me there.”
“So, it’s your turn,” I say. “If you don’t mind sharing. Do you have any children?”
“No, none for me. I wouldn’t have minded them, but that just never happened for me.” She gives a ragged sigh. “I’m at peace with it.”
She looks out at the waterfall, and I watch as a few emotions play out across her face.