Page 16 of The Man Next Door
“Cruises and piña coladas just go together, don’t they?” shesaid to her fellow cruisers, George Winston and Wayne Champagne. (“Yep, darlin’, that’s my real name.”)
She’d already met George online. He was short and stocky with a baby beer belly. He owned a tire franchise, and, like Louise, he was widowed. They’d enjoyed several online chats. Like Louise, he loved a good mystery and had said more than once how much he was looking forward to talking books with her. He had plenty of time to read now that he was retired, and homes in both California and Idaho to read in. George was not hurting for money. Not that Louise needed a fortune. Harold had left enough so that she could be comfortable, and she had enough extra to help a little with her granddaughter’s schooling. What she wanted was a man who had a wealth of smiles and good humor, and who loved dogs. George had checked a lot of the boxes.
But George paled in comparison to newcomer Wayne, who was a tall, fit Texan with gray hair and a face like George Clooney. And a Southern drawl. And he could dish out enough flattery to swell a woman’s head and keep it swelled for the whole cruise. He was pumping Louise’s up pretty fast, for sure.
He smiled at her from across the table where the three of them were sitting not far from the table tennis action. “Piña coladas and a beautiful woman.”
He raised his glass to Louise, and she could feel George, next to her, frowning. Louise hadn’t dated since college, certainly hadn’t flirted since she’d been married or enjoyed this kind of flattery. Her deceased husband had been a good and kind man, but never much for flattery. Sucking so much up now was almost more intoxicating than her drink.
A fifty-something woman with long black hair and brown eyes slid into the one remaining empty seat at their table, which was next to Wayne, smiled at everyone, and asked in a throaty voice, “Is this seat taken?”
“No, join us,” said Wayne, and the woman smiled at him.
Louise could tell the woman was plumper than her, but the black sundress hid the thickening waist, and its low-cut neckline accentuated a hefty serving of boobage. She had eyelash extensions and was wearing lipstick as red as Louise’s. She’d overloaded on the perfume.
Louise sneezed.
“Bless you,” said George, but he was looking at the newcomer.
He was also sucking in his stomach. Why did men do that? It was impossible to hold back a beer belly forever. And why was he tummy tightening for this woman? She wasn’t all that great.
“I’m Ursula,” the woman said. She had a slight accent, which Louise couldn’t help envying. There was something so sexy about a foreign accent.
Okay, maybe the woman was all that great.
“Well, now, where are ya from, Ursula?” Wayne asked after they’d all introduced themselves.
“I’m from Germany.”
“An import,” Wayne said, and grinned.
Louise forced herself not to frown. “You came all the way from Germany to do a Hawaiian island cruise?”
“Why not?” the woman retorted. “Anyway, I live in Washington now. I’m divorced,” she added.
“I’m sorry,” said Louise. And in a way she was. Divorce was hard on the heart. She’d seen just how hard close up and had ached for her daughter both times she’d gone through it.
Ursula shrugged. “He was verbally abusive. I was glad to be done with him.”
“Now, I’m really sorry,” Louise said. “I had a wonderful husband.” Harold may not have majored in flattery, but he had been loyal and kind, the bedrock she’d lived her life on.
“You were lucky,” Ursula informed her.
“I was,” Louise agreed. “He was one of a kind. But I thinkthere are still a lot of good men out there,” she amended, sharing her smile with both George and Wayne.
“Hear, hear,” said Wayne, and grinned at Ursula.
And Ursula smiled back. The woman was almost licking her over-plumped lips. She gave her hair a little shake, making it dance like waves. The hair hula.
But Louise was not threatened. Really.
Okay, maybe a little. She’d been enjoying being the center of attention at this table, feeling like the queen bee of the cruise. Ursula was after her throne. And her drones. Well, that wasn’t happening. Younger women didn’t have a monopoly on sexy. People who looked at older women like they were all washed up and their lives were over needed glasses. Louise had lots of life left in her, and she was feeling pretty sexy herself in her cute little skirt and pink top.
The band started playing “YMCA.” Party time!
“Oh, let’s go dance to this, everyone,” she said, jumping up.
Wayne laughed and got up. So did George, and they followed her into the dancing throng. Ursula was in the process of ordering a drink and wouldn’t be joining them. Gee, what a shame.
