Page 38 of Too Far To Sea
A door opened and Dana stepped into the hall dressed in leggings and a t-shirt.
“Good morning.”
“Are you following me?”
“No, I was just checking on a problem.”
“The banging on the wall?”
“You heard something?”
“More like someone who needed to find a room.” Dana rolled her eyes. “Was that your problem?”
“Maybe. We are a family friendly cruise line.” He tried to force a yawn down, but it escaped anyway.
“You look tired. Don’t you ever sleep?”
“Usually. In fact, that was where I was headed.” He needed to say something kind or witty, but his brain wouldn’t work.
“Well then, I hope you sleep well. I’m off to do a quick workout.”
“Walking all over Belfast won’t be enough for you?” He hoped the question came out teasing.
“I need to strengthen my ankle. Stretches mostly.”
“Have a good workout then.” He paused at a crew access door, not caring which one it was. He was in danger of saying something stupid, like complaining about how good she looked in her work out leggings.
“Get some rest. I’ll see you later.”
McKay reached his room and his bed. As tired as he was, he should have fallen asleep instantly. Instead, his brain served up images of Dana. The move she used on that creep of a guy was more than impressive to him. He wondered if anyone not in security would find it as hot as he did. And the leggings… Sleep, he needed sleep. Time to start counting sheep like he’d told Gracie to do.
One day in Belfast wasn’t enough. Dana would have preferred to explore the sites without everyone in the bridal party gawking like typical tourists. However, Cheyanne wanted photos in front of city hall. They hadn’t planned on some sort of festival taking up most of the lawn space with food vendors. Chandler moved the photo opportunity to the steps of a cathedral. Then everyone returned to the city hall for lunch at the booths.
Left with a half day to explore, Dana made the best of it, choosing a tourist bus to give her the quick highlights. The guide, a retired teacher, had very strong political opinions about Belfast’s difficult history. Although little remained of the bombings that had once torn the city apart, the guide’s words brought much of the contention to life.
Too soon her phone alarm reminded her it was time to head back to the ship. She joined the long queue of passengers waiting to board. The woman ahead of her complained loudly to all who would listen about the cruise confiscating her scooter and then threatening to expel her from the ship. Dana opened her reading app and stared at it hoping to avoid conversation with the woman.
Concentrating on the words of the first chapter of her new book on the screen was useless. By the time she boarded the ship, Dana decided that the woman deserved to have her electric scooter impounded. Parking it in the hallway was a fire hazard.
The woman quieted as they neared the security check to scan their room cards. The rhythmic ping, ping was the loudest sound in the area.
Dana swiped her card.
“You!” Screeched the woman in front of her pointing at McKay. “You and your security men took my scooter away!”
“Ma’am, if you would please continue on.” McKay gestured to the x-ray machine.
“I will not. I want to see you fired. Taking a way an old woman’s scooter!”
Dana wondered why the woman had a scooter at all. She’d walked the length of the dock, if not more, since taxis weren’t allowed beyond the port entrance.
The woman continued to hold up the line of passengers.
“Please, step aside. We have passengers trying to board.” McKay’s voice was calm and soothing.
A crew member in a security shirt and the chief security officer came down a side hallway.
The woman continued yelling. “I have my rights.”
