Page 18 of Snowed in with the Rancher

He grinned. “It's a cost-saving measure. We can take twice as many trips because they'd cost half as much.” Then he winked at her, and she knew she was in trouble. So she kissed him as if it was the last thing she'd ever do. She couldn't think of a better way to go.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Olivia stood dripping from the shower, looking at the wrinkled sundress she'd worn the night before.

“I am going to have to go back to my cabin,” she told Tate as he pulled on a pair of board shorts. “This reeks of sunscreen and sweat, and I can't go to breakfast in my bikini.”

“That's a damn shame,” he told her. “You'd be doing the males on board a real service if you did.”

She rolled her eyes and grimaced as she pulled the sundress on. “I'm going to go change, then I'll meet you in the restaurant, how's that?”

“Afterwards, let's go get the rest of your things and bring them here. There's no point in you going back and forth constantly for the remainder of the cruise.” He paused. “I mean, if you're okay with that?”

She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. “Very okay with it.”

As she walked back to her cabin, she thought again about what he'd said. Taking vacations together. She smiled and did a little skip as she walked through the corridor. He might want to see her again. And she definitely wanted to see him again. This was turning out to be the best vacation she'd ever had.

As she approached her cabin, Olivia saw two ship's porters knocking on her door.

“Excuse me?” she said as she approached. “That's my cabin, but you don't need to clean it, I haven't been there for a couple of days.”

They both turned to look at her.

“Ms. Olivia Wickham?” the older one asked.

“Yes. That's me.”

“Ma'am, we have an urgent message for you to come to the captain's office.”

She wrinkled her brow in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“There's been a ship-to-shore call for you. It's a family emergency. If you'll come to the captain's office, you'll be able to return the call.”

Olivia's heart raced. A family emergency? But what could possibly be wrong? Her parents were in perfect health, and her grandparents had all passed away years ago.

“Who was the call from?” she asked as the porters closed her cabin door again and led her down the hall.

“A gentleman named Jeffrey Coldwell, ma'am.”

Her father's best friend. Olivia's heart froze in her chest.

“Did he say what was wrong?”

“Just that there had been an accident, ma'am. And that you need to call him right away.”

* * *

Forty minutes later, Olivia was an orphan. No, that wasn't right—she'd been an orphan for nearly a day. She'd just found out about it forty minutes ago. And who knew how long it would be before the truth really set in? At the moment, she felt shocked and numb as the small motorboat took her toward the shore, five long miles away. From port, she would take a taxi to the airport and then fly home to Spokane, where preparations were already underway for her parents' funerals.

She looked at the receding ship behind them, still in shock and unable to do much except follow directions. The captain and Uncle Jeff had made all the arrangements. Olivia had simply stuffed her belongings in a bag and gotten on the transport boat.

But suddenly, it hit her. The realization that in the midst of the nightmare, she'd forgotten one very important thing—Tate. What she wouldn't give to have him by her side, his strong arms wrapped around her. But she'd left him behind, hadn't even said goodbye. For a second, she wanted to tell the sailors to turn the boat around, but she doubted they'd listen to her, even if she tried. She had a plane to catch, places to be, and she'd missed her chance.

She'd just have to get in touch with him later, when her head finally cleared and the world made sense again. She'd get to that point eventually…or so she hoped.

NINE

Tate smiled at Olivia as she came downstairs.

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