Chapter Thirty-Three
Sail each day as though it’s your last voyage.
The meal at lunchtime on table twenty-eight was another happy affair and Lady Eleanor had made the effort to rise and join her new friends. Together with Margaret, she sat beside Leticia and Jim, and was pleased to see that Henry and Joy were there too.
‘You two look like love birds,’ the old lady said with a knowing smile and a twinkle in her eye, as Henry exchanged glances with Joy.
‘I take it you had a lovely evening?’ Leticia whispered to Joy as everyone discussed their activities for the final day.
‘Couldn’t have gone better,’ Joy replied, ‘I can’t tell you how happy I am.’
‘Bottle that feeling, my dear, and keep it close, you deserve it.’
Kenneth, arriving late to the table, and uncharacteristically polite, informed the group that Barbara, regrettably, wouldn’t be joining them.
He thanked Leticia for her kindness in offering a lotion for his wife’s skin condition and added that the Atlantis Spa management had been exceptionally attentive.
Barbara was receiving treatment and hoped to rejoin them all later.
Remarkably, Kenneth looked somewhat improved.
His hairpiece had lost its tufty troll-like appearance and sat neatly in place, smoothed down to a respectable sheen.
Lady Eleanor hoped that everyone would be heading to the Emerald Art Studio, where Lucinda was holding an exclusive exhibition of the work she had completed during the cruise. ‘It is an opportunity for you to own a treasured piece and a lasting reminder of your holiday,’ she added.
‘I rather liked my painting that Lucinda inspired in class,’ Joy said and thought of her fishing village in acrylics that would look lovely on her dining room wall.
None of the guests were quite sure how Lucinda’s wild and whacky artwork could possibly resemble memories of the cruise, but once in their living rooms, they agreed that the pieces would be conversation starters for visitors, to kickstart stories of Arctic adventures.
Even Henry decided that he would head up to the studio later to see if there was anything suitable to take home for Audrey.
Margaret said that she was looking forward to An Audience with the Captain, which would take place in the Triton Lounge after dinner and hoped that Captain Lindholm would enlighten them, and they would discover what it took to captain the Emerald Dream and sail around the world.
Plans were made for the afternoon ahead and the group drifted apart, their curiosity stirred, each wondering what secrets the captain might share later that night.
With passengers making the most of their final hours on the ship, Henry and Jim had taken themselves off to Bill Zhang’s last talk.
Both were keen to see the guest speaker’s most popular photos of the aurora borealis and the stories behind them.
Leticia, insistent that the masseur avoid any seaweed-infused products, was enjoying a full-body massage in the Atlantis Spa.
Joy, after stopping by the Mermaid Theatre to listen to a concert entitled, Music of the Homeland decided that she wasn’t in the mood for Grieg’s Norway and would prefer something less wistful.
She was about to head to the Bookmark Café, where the Women’s Institute members were holding their final meeting, when the phone in her pocket rang.
It was Susan, and feeling guilty from their last conversation, Joy decided to wait to take the call in her cabin, where she could concentrate on her daughter’s demands.
‘Why didn’t you answer straight away?’ Susan cut in with no preliminaries when Joy called her back.
‘Sorry, I was walking around the ship.’
‘Walking or wandering around in a fog? Honestly, Mother, I do worry about you, I’m sure you’ve been overdoing your iron tonic.’
Joy sighed. Would Susan never let up? ‘Did you manage to sort out your Stinking Bishop?’ she asked.
‘Yes, no thanks to you, but my cleaner came up with a solution.’
‘I hope you’re paying them overtime,’ Joy said dryly, fully aware that Susan regarded working in her designer-inspired home as a privilege, one that never justified more than the minimum wage, even on a bank holiday.
Ignoring her mother, Susan went on. ‘Your cruise ends tomorrow, and as you’ll be going straight home, I just wanted to let you know that Hugh and I are taking a New Year break and heading out to the slopes in St Moritz for the skiing. The snow is pristine at this time of year.’
Joy heard Susan yawn before she continued.
‘So, I won’t be seeing you for a while, but I wanted to ask if you’d like to come to us for a visit in February?’
Joy knew that Susan would be wiping the snow off her boots in St Moritz faster than Hugh could say ‘Glühwein’ and would spend more time enjoying the après-ski than any exertions on the slopes.
She was also aware that February was Susan’s month for spring cleaning her immaculate house and unwilling to be roped in for hard-core scrubbing, Joy decided to nip the invite in the bud.
‘Actually, dear,’ Joy began, ‘I’m rather glad you caught me before you go away because I wanted to let you know that I shall be in Ireland for the New Year.’
‘Ireland?’
‘Yes, I’ve been invited to celebrate as a guest of Lady Dunmore.’
‘What? Lady Dunmore? B … but where will you stay?’
‘I believe we’re being accommodated in a hotel on the Dunmore Estate.’
‘You can’t mean Dunmore Boutique Hotel in County Kildare?’ Susan was aghast, as though she’d just heard a salacious scandal.
‘Yes, that’s the place, is it nice?’
‘NICE?’ Susan shouted. ‘It’s the most exclusive hotel in Ireland, Hugh and I have always …’ She paused, realising that she’d been outdone.
‘Wanted to stay there?’ Joy completed the sentence. ‘Well, we’ll be sure to let you know what it’s like.’
‘But, who’s “we”?’ Susan sounded suspicious.
‘Oh, didn’t I mention it? Henry and I will be sharing a room.’
‘Mother, I really think that you need to sit down and consider all this foolishness. You can’t go gallivanting off with a man you don’t know.’
‘Oh, my dear, but I can, and it isn’t as if I don’t know him, intimacy has a way of revealing things a great deal about a person.’
‘Pleeeease!’ Susan was horrified.
‘Well, you did ask …’
‘But, what about the house, my inheritance? This man is obviously after your money.’
‘Hardly, he has plenty of his own, and I intend to spend every penny of your inheritance. After all, you and Hugh do very nicely.’
‘I need to speak to Hugh,’ Susan spluttered, ‘I think we should drive up to Newcastle tomorrow …’
‘I wouldn’t hear of it. Now don’t fuss. Go and enjoy a lovely alpine break and perhaps, if Henry and I are not away ourselves, you can come and visit us in February.’
Joy scrunched her face up as Susan launched into a full-blown tirade, peppered with a string of expletives.
‘Susan, I am going to cut the call now, I’m heading out to dinner and debating what to wear. Maybe that gold number again, what do you think?’
‘I think you’ve completely lost your mind,’ Susan snapped, and before Joy could offer a response, the line went dead.
Joy shook her head. Her daughter would get over it, and if truth be told, Joy knew that all of this must have come as a shock. Her mousey, stay-at-home mum, who’d waited on Susan all her life, had broken out of her domestic cocoon and was heading into the unexpected.
Joy was about to step into the shower when Simon’s cheerful voice sounded through the cabin. ‘Hello again, fellow travellers,’ he began, ‘this is a gentle reminder that your cases will need to be outside your cabin door tonight before midnight. We will arrive in Newcastle just before sunrise.’
Simon went on to inform the passengers that the outside temperature was now seven degrees with a moderate breeze and a slight sea state. He reminded guests that he looked forward to hosting An Audience with the Captain later that evening and hoped to see everyone there.
Joy paused. How quickly this cruise had passed.
Christmas was over, and in the time that she’d spent at sea, her life had suddenly changed.
She thought of Henry and the happiness that they’d found and knew that she must seize the day.
For years, she’d paid the unhappy price of compromise and regret.
But now, she understood that each day was the day to watch the dawn rise, to paint every picture, and to walk hand in hand, without looking back.
And Tom would no longer haunt her.
In their Dream Suite, Barbara lay stretched across the bed, a silk sleep mask over her eyes.
She’d spent the entire day in the Atlantis Spa and, having threatened to sue the company, had been pampered to within an inch of her perfectly polished existence.
To her relief, the calming creams had toned down her blotches.
With a full refund on the seaweed products, she had a complimentary case of marine creams, serums, and bank-breaking beauty merchandise tucked under her arm when she finally came away, and it hadn’t been necessary to contact Simon and apply pressure.
But mysteriously, the photos she’d taken, which contained incriminating evidence against the cruise director, had disappeared from her phone, and it was a puzzle that Barbara couldn’t solve.
Kenneth, another puzzle, was nowhere to be seen, and Barbara sincerely hoped that he wasn’t causing more mischief.
They were due at dinner in less than an hour, and she’d be damned if she missed both the meal and the entertainment that followed.
Barbara’s determination to win over the captain had, for the moment, eclipsed any thoughts of maligning Joy, especially after Margaret’s curt rebuke.
Yet, with no word from the captain, Barbara remained distinctly miffed.
Still with a face like a pockmarked planet, she’d have been in no position to entertain even the most discreet rendezvous.
She heard the door open and, lifting her mask, blinked in surprise as Kenneth stepped in, partly obscured by an enormous bouquet of flowers.
‘Babs, my darling old girl, your Kenny says he’s sorry.’
Taken aback, Barbara stared at her husband. To her surprise, he’d made quite an effort, and the rug on his head looked half-decent. He no longer resembled a startled troll. Dressed smartly and smelling faintly of a scent she didn’t recognise, he stood there beaming.
‘What have you done?’ she spoke sharply. ‘And what’s that smell?’
‘I’ve been to the ship’s barber, and he’s tidied me up,’ Kenneth stepped forward, ‘and I’ve replaced the aftershave you hated with a new one.’
Barbara narrowed her eyes.
‘It’s sandalwood, the barber said you’d love it.’
‘Sandalwood doesn’t cover up bad behaviour.’
‘I know,’ he said, inching closer. ‘I’ve even ironed my own shirt.’
‘You haven’t ever ironed a shirt.’
‘Indeed,’ Kenneth said and held up a bandaged finger.
Barbara was trying to hold onto her indignation, but the beautiful bouquet, the tidied hair, and the clean-shaven Kenny were slowly wearing her down.
‘Well, this doesn’t mean that you’re off the hook,’ she said and sitting up, swung her legs over the side of the bed. ‘But you can pour me a drink.’
Kenneth’s grin was broad. ‘Fizz or gin?’
‘Surprise me, just don’t spill it on the rug.’ Lifting her mask, Barbara tossed it aside and added, ‘Including the one on your head.’