Page 37 of It Could Happen
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The ship is absolutely glorious. Eleven floors of pure elegance, and the spa is to die for. I can’t wait to immerse myself in all the luxury tomorrow. Kudos to Mary, the family travel agent, for picking this ship.
Rachel and I settle in at a quaint little bar on Deck Ten overlooking the ocean on one side and the hot tubs on the other.
“Here’s to new friends,” Rachel says, holding up her martini glass.
“Yes. And to being single and carefree,” I add.
“Nice toast,” a deep voice calls.
I spin around in my chair to find Tyler with a wide grin on his face. Ugh. Of all the bars on board, he has to come to this one, which means Leslie won’t be far behind.
“Do you always eavesdrop on other people’s conversations?” I ask.
“Only when they’re good ones.”
I roll my eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to be meeting Leslie?”
“Yes. And everyone else,” he says.
I’m not surprised she conveniently left that part out.
“Well, Leslie made it sound like the two of you were meeting up alone,” Rachel says, before sipping her martini.
“She sure did,” I add under my breath.
Tyler sits in the empty chair next to me. “More importantly, what’s going on here? Are you two trying to avoid the group?”
I glance at Rachel who gives a noncommittal shrug. “Tori and I are just enjoying the scenery. You heard our toast, we’re both carefree and single.”
There’s a slight edge in her voice. Although I’m still not sure how many glasses of champagne she indulged in before I returned to the cabin.
“Yoo-hoo,” Erica calls, interrupting our conversation. She has her arm linked in Christian’s, and I immediately notice they are wearing color-coordinated outfits. She’s wearing a white eyelet dress with a navy sweater, and he’s wearing a white linen shirt with navy blue shorts. Wow.
“Don’t you two look sweet,” Tyler teases.
Rachel’s face falls, and all signs of the confident woman making toasts have vanished. She looks as if she’s about to down the remainder of her drink, so I place my hand on her arm to stop her. She gives me a funny look, and then her eyes grow wide. She must realize that I suspect there’s more to this situation and her feelings for her friend’s boyfriend.
Just as I’m about to ask her if she wants to make an escape and continue our ship tour, Erica joins us.
“Rach, I’m so glad you’re feeling better. Did you get any rest?”
“A little.”
I glance over at Christian, who has stayed by Tyler. I wonder if he knows about Rachel’s interest in him. Or maybe there’s more to this story. One by one, the rest of the group joins us. Caroline looks happier than ever, having everyone together.
“We need to take a picture to document our first night,” she announces.
She asks the bartender to snap a picture and then starts positioning us.
“Everyone say#sweetcarolinegetsmarried,” Erica yells.
“Sweetcarolinegetsmarried,” we all say in unison as we smile for the photo.
“Hey, what about me?” Andy whines. “I don’t get a hashtag?”
“Um, everyone knows that weddings are for the bride,” Leslie scolds.
