Page 35 of Too Far To Sea
“Where are your crutches?”
“I don’t need them anymore.”
“I thought you were going to stay on them and make sure you didn’t ruin Cheyanne’s wedding.”
“I stayed on them longer than I would at home. I am being careful.”
“You could have fallen and ruined your sister’s wedding. I saw you wandering about town today with that steep hill. It is practically a cliff.”
Dana had passed a woman on a knee scooter going to the cathedral, it wasn’tthatsteep. “A short walk. No harm.”
“No harm? You are trying to ruin my wedding.” Sheila’s voice rose.
Her wedding? That would be a shock to Chandler.That and a herd of other snappy comebacks raced through Dana’s mind. “I’m being very careful not to do that.”
Cheyanne joined them. She touched their mother on the shoulder. “Mom, Dana is trying. She even gave up going to a castle today. Lay off, ok?”
Sheila snorted and turned away.
“Come on Dana, Chandler is meeting us in the bar.” Cheyanne’s statement wasn’t as much of an invitation as it was a direction.
Without the crutches, Dana didn’t have a good excuse to skip joining in. The bar would serve her an overpriced bottle of water or a carbonated drink as easily as anywhere else. Dana followed as the women navigated to the other end of the ship and up three levels.
The bar was surprisingly cozy. Plush seats and couches were arranged in comfortable groupings around the room. Chandler and the groomsmen claimed a section in the corner.
“About time, Luv.” Chandler pulled Cheyanne into his lap and locked his lips with hers.
Cheyanne squealed and tried to get up. “Not here.”
“I hardly get to see you. And I haven’t had a good kiss in hours.”
“That is the point of a bachelorette cruise.” Amy-Kate sat in the vacant seat next to Chandler. “Not seeing the man you are going to spend the rest of your life with for a week.”
A groomsman stood with his drink, allowing Dana to take a seat. “Wonkiest bachelorette I’ve ever been to, and with the bride’s parents no less. It’s like being on a high school trip with chaperones running all over.”
“Have you ever been to a bachelorette before?” asked Dana.
“No. But I’ve imagined them. There was more drinking…” He gave her a crooked smile.
Dana put up her hand. “I don’t think I want to know.”
“You are the one that doesn’t drink, right?” asked another groomsman.
“Correct.”
“What is up with that? Are you in AA or something?” This one spoke in a decidedly American accent, Ron, if she remembered right.
Dana hated this part. Why did people need to defend their choice to not drink? It should be normalized by now. If someone needed AA, it was Ron. She had yet to see him without a drink in his hand. Maybe she should point out that the “Friends of Bill W.” meetups in the cruise newsletters were for Alcoholics Anonymous.
“I like to keep my hands free in case I need to throw the first punch.”
Another grooms-minion snapped his fingers. “That’s right, you’re a bodyguard. Right? Apparently, they are an equal opportunity thing.”
Dana ignored the comment. Her superpower was that she wasn’t what she appeared to be. If she looked like a supermodel weight lifter, she wouldn’t blend in.”
“But you aren’t at work.” Ron leaned closer.
“Yet, I still don’t want a drink.” Even water. Dana hoped he’d turn his attention elsewhere. She wasn’t in the mood to fend off unwanted passes.
