Page 28 of Too Far To Sea
“It is in the second drawer.” Dana pointed to the closet area.
“What did you do that stressed your ankle?”
“Shopped.”
“I want to see.”
“Hand me that bag. I stuffed everything inside.”
Cheyanne grabbed the bag off the desk where Dana had dropped it earlier. “Oh, I love this sweater. I didn’t even think of buying one. I really should. Did you know Ireland is famous for its sheep?”
A laugh bubbled out of Dana’s mouth. “And here I thought they just liked wool sweaters and the white dots on the hills were cotton balls.”
“Don’t laugh at me.” Cheyanne held the sweater up and looked in the mirror. “The lighting in here is awful. Still, the sweater would look great on me.”
“Not. It is for me to wear in Chicago winters, not for you to wear in England.”
“Can’t blame me for trying. I’ll have to shop at our next port.” The paper bag crunched as Cheyanne rummaged through it. “Chocolate?”
“Don’t you dare open them. They are gifts for my friends. Someone,”McKay, “told me Irish Cadbury is made with Irish milk. Some say it is better than UK Cadbury. I am going to buy the same bars in London and have a taste test party when I get home.”
“Invite me.”
“I think you are supposed to be on your honeymoon and then settling into your new home in the UK.”
“Options, options. Marriage. Chocolate party.” Cheyanne balanced imaginary weights in her hands. “I guess I’ll have to pass on the party.”
“I’m sure you’ll get plenty of chocolate living here.”
“I’m not sure of that. On our excursion, we stopped at a restaurant. And we had Sticky Toffee pudding. So good. Then Chandler reminded me if I ate too much, I wouldn’t fit in my dress. I wanted to slap him. I worked out for an hour with him in the gym this morning and hiked on the excursion.”
“That wasn’t nice.”
Cheyanne set the bag on the bed and plopped down. “It may only be pre-wedding jitters, but Chandler has been odd this entire cruise. It is like Mom is rubbing off on him. He didn’t like the way I got my nails done on spa day, my brand of sunscreen, and last night when we were dancing, he kept correcting me. It wasn’t like we were doing ballroom or anything. Just normal dancing. Tell me I am imagining things.”
Not the conversation Dana wanted with her sister. Chandler had always been condescending to her and joked about her nanny status. However, he made her sister happy. “Has anything else changed?”
“You are going to think I’m stupid.” Chey sniffed one of the chocolate bars. “His kisses are, well, not as passionate. It feels like he is kissing me out of duty. I thought I’d see more of him on the cruise, too.”
Dana leaned against the wall so she could see her sister better. “I thought you both planned activities away from each other.”
“Like tonight’s impromptu ladies’ night because he decided he wanted more time with his groomsmen to play that roleplaying game?”
Dana glanced at the pink paper tacked above the desk. “That’s right, tonight was supposed to be another restaurant and a show.”
“I don’t mind much, as this gives me an excuse to ditch Mom. Don’t ask her on your bachelorette excursion.”
“Wasn’t planning to. I may invite her the day before my wedding as a guest. Then I won’t be disappointed when she can’t come.”
“I should have done that.” Chey toyed with the bag.
“She would have never forgiven you. I have nothing to lose. I am already in the never-forgive box for calling Child Protection Services on myself and then going to court to have custody changed. You don’t want to be there with me.” As much counseling as Dana attended, her mother’s rejection still hurt.
“Wait what? I know about the court thing, but CPS?”
“In my defense I was nine, so you were three-ish? Although their home inspection didn’t show signs of any physical abuse or outright neglect. The report was used in court to show the unequal treatment of her children which my advocate argued was emotional abuse. Mom is never going to forgive me.” The ice pack grew soft as the ice melted and Dana adjusted where it was positioned.
Cheyanne pulled three pairs of shamrock socks out of the bag. “These are cute.”
