Page 51 of Love on Deck

I stood with my back to the mirror, pushing my finger lightly against my shoulder blade and watching the skin turn white where I pressed, only to contrast the increasingly pink skin around it. Maybe it would only be a little sore. It wasn’t bad yet, and I did layer on sunscreen before getting in the water.

A girl could cross her fingers and hope.

The shower turned off. I made a split-second decision to avoid Jack and slid my feet into my sandals. Knocking lightly at the bathroom door, I leaned close. “Meet you at dinner! Bye!”

“Wait,” came his muffled reply. “Lauren—”

But I was already out in the hallway, the door swinging shut behind me. We needed a little space and distance, because my heart wanted to listen when he was telling me he wanted to put our past behind us, but this entire arrangement wasn’t real. I knew he was just fooling himself. He was caught up in the cruise and all the time we’d spent together; it wasn’t a lasting situation.

Besides, I wouldn’t have time for a relationship once we were back on land. The only reason I was free to spend so much time with him now was because he’d made it illegal for me to check in with work. I dreaded the sheer amount of emails piling up in my inbox right now.

My body itched to find a quiet corner and my laptop and see what kind of mess was waiting for me back home in the office, but it wasn’t worth sacrificing the MediCorp conference over. Jerry would just have to limp along this week until I was back to set everything to rights again.

My champagne-colored dress was a little Marilyn Monroe above the subway grate in shape, but a little longer, and it swung with each step I took.

“Hey fancy lady,” a woman called behind me. I turned just to see who she was talking to and found Annie coming toward me, her black dress made of lace with a slip beneath it and bell sleeves that flared at the wrists. She was, of course, wearing bright teal cowboy boots.

A laugh bubbled from my chest when I realized she was talking to me. Fancy? “I’m really not.”

“That’s a killer dress.” She ran her fingers over the fabric at the hem.

“We’re supposed to dress up a little tonight for dinner.”

Annie gave a shimmy. “Which is why I dusted off this gem.”

“You look great.” I glanced down the hall behind her. “Where’s Levi?”

Annie pulled a face. “Sick. He thinks he had bad shrimp at the port today. I’m going to dinner on my own because he doesn’t want me sitting around the room while he empties his stomach.”

That took so much more confidence than I possessed in my pinky finger. “To the dining room?”

Annie put up her hands and shook out her blonde curls. “I’m all dressed for it, aren’t I?”

“You should join us.”

She started walking beside me but blew a raspberry through her lips. “Not necessary. I don’t mind sitting alone, and I don’t want to intrude on your wedding week.”

“We’d love to have you. It’s more of an elopement, so the group is really small. Honestly. You should just have dinner with us. Jack would love it.”

Annie shook her head. “Don’t know about that, sugar.”

An alarm went off in my head, reminding me that this woman had known Jack since they were babies. “Why not? Because he’s distanced himself from your family lately?”

“He’s always been distant. That boy was jumping to leave Arcadia Creek before he could walk.” She shot me a smile. “Not really. I mean, he just never wanted to stick around. It’s no surprise to any of us that he loves his fancy Dallas job.”

“Then why—”

“I’m a reminder of home, I think,” she said gently. “He probably doesn’t want me around his big city friends.”

That didn’t really sound like Jack, but Annie would know better than I would. I threaded my arm through hers. “I want you around. So come as my guest.”

“I don’t know.”

“Just come,” I said. “I’m an old lady to my sister and her friends. If anyone knows how it feels for your family to put up with your presence, it’s me. Trust me.”

Annie threaded her arm through mine, grinning. She fairly bounced with every step. “All right, Lauren. I’ll be a Golden Girl with you.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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