Page 102 of His Secret Gift

The next morning, Callie and I wake up bright and early.

She sits up and yawns. “Ready for the sea again?”

“Mhm.” Honestly, I’m just excited to see Jack again. I also hope we can have more private moments on the yacht. Although I know we’ll have to be careful. Aside from Captain Bryant and Callie, I don’t want anyone else on board to know about us.

I also want to ask him about his plane phobia. It’s a tender side of him that I haven’t been made aware of. Not by him, at least. I thought it was a little tasteless of Jenkins and Harper to speak about it so openly in front of everyone, but I was happy to know about it, nevertheless.

After showering, I double and triple check that I have everything packed up.

“How many days do you think it will take for us to get to Greece?” I ask. She has much more experience and knowledge about these things than me.

“Hmm. A few days. But obviously nothing like Florida to here.”

“Right.” I have a basic understanding of geography, so I already assumed that.

“Are you ready?” she asks after slinging her luggage over her shoulder.

“Yep.”

Before we head out, I give our room one last look. I’m excited to leave but also kind of sad.

“Kay?”

Right.“Coming!”

We meet up with Gwen, and the three of us hail a cab.

“How was the rest of the night?” I inquire. Callie and I left earlier than a lot of other people. Fortunately, we left just before she got drunk enough to start crying about Dirk. Of course, I’m happy to be there for her. But from everything she’s told me, it doesn’t seem like that situation is ever going to change. So, getting all upset over it feels kind of like wasted energy to me. Not that she wasn’t warranted in mourning their relationship and their lost future, though.

But back to reality. Gwen didn’t appear to be too hungover, so I figured it wasn’t that wild.

“It was fine. Jenkins was a huge downer though.”

“Um.” My hair is up in a bun, and I push my hand across the top to make sure all the fly-aways are gone. “Did Harper ever come back?”

Callie and I exchange a look.

“Tsk.You know what? No. It was so weird. It was like she disappeared into thin air. I tried calling her a bunch of times, but she didn’t answer.”

My friend then leans over and gives my hand a squeeze. “I’m sure it’s fine,” she then mouths.

I nod.She’s probably right. What’s to say she snuck away to Jack’s room? And even if she did, he’s made it quite clear that he isn’t interested.

When we pull up to the train station, more of the crew is already huddled up.

Denver gives me a big bear hug, and he still smells like alcohol from the night before.

“Have fun last night?”

“Yeah. I slept like a baby after, though.”

“I’m sure.” Like with the Dirk situation, I was also thankful every interaction I had with him that didn’t include a mention of Maria or how much he missed her. Again, totally fair thoughts and emotions to have, but nobody could remedy the situation until he was back in Florida with her.

“Alright, crew!” Captain Bryant’s booming voice says behind me. When I turn to face him, I see a withered Jack next to him.

What the hell?I assume he must be sick… which means I’ll likely come down with something soon.

“Is everyone here?” Bryant takes a moment to look around. “Great. Okay, so same as before. We’re going to board the train, ride to Safi, and then get back onThe Marina. Questions? Concerns?”

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