Page 50 of His Secret Gift

At first, my instinct is to freak out, but when I sit up and rub my eyes, I see that it’s just Bryant.

“Captain?”

“Oh!” He looks like a little kid who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. “You’re up.”

“What are you doing in here?”

“Um.” His eyes dart from one side of the room to the other. “I, uh, saw some crew members lingering around your door last night.”

“Really?” That’s very strange.

“Yes. I think I scared them off, but I wanted to come back this morning to make sure they didn’t mess with anything.”

Stretching, I look around. “Nothing looks amiss.” Not that I’d expect there to be, not many people have keys to access the inside. Bryant only does in case he has to wake me up due to an emergency of some kind.

He smiles and kind of bows. “However, it looks as though everything is in order, so I’ll just be on my way then. Meet up with you later in the galley?”

“Yeah, sure thing.” His actions seem odd indeed, but he’s been one of my trusty advisors for years now, so I just leave himwithout any more questions. Until he turns around, and I see a little folded up paper hanging out of his back pocket. “Hey Wes?”

He faces me again. “Yes, boss.”

“What’s that in your pocket?”

There’s a little one on the front of his mossy green pajama shirt. “What?”

“No, in the back…”

“Oh.” He feels back and seems to touch it. “Don’t worry about that. It’s just a little note from one of the staff members about um, where we’re going to dock in Morocco.”

“Oh. Okay.”

There’s definitely something off with him, but I’m too excited and distracted by my duty to prepare breakfast for everyone on the ship.

Based on our current destination, I want to get everyone in the spirit by making a traditional Moroccan breakfast ofJbencheese with honey,Baghrirpancakes,Harsha,and mint tea.

“It smells delicious in here,” Bryant comments after walking into the kitchen with Denver later that morning.

“Thanks. I thought I’d try something a little different today.”

“We just wanted to go over this itinerary with you,” Denver adds before handing me a piece of paper.

I scan it and see that it’s similar to what Bryant and I agreed to before his meeting with the staff.

“That’s fine.”

“Thank you,” Bryant says, dismissing Denver.

I’m drizzling the honey over my homemade cheese. “So, are you going to finally let yourself have a little fun?”

He coughs. “How do you mean?”

“In Morocco! Can you think of a better place to let loose?”

He clears his throat again. “Let loose, sir?”

“Yes! Come on, man.” I’ve wanted to have a fun night out with him since he and his wife called it quits.

He then pulls at the collar of his uniform. “I guess we could consider that.”

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