Page 8 of Best Friends' Unexpected Love

“Chad, you are not my keeper. If I was desperate for food, I would have asked. I was saving all my calories for dinner but now, I am famished and am ready to eat a burger and fries and not feel an ounce of guilt over it. Lead the way, captain. If I go first, you know we will be walking in circles all night.”

He chuckled, knowing how directionally challenged Beth was and held out his arm to her. She looped her arm through his, and they left the top deck, ready to begin their adventure.

Upon locating their staterooms, Beth was surprised to find that Chad had booked rooms with private balconies. She could just imagine how much different it would be spending ten days in a room with nothing but walls, versus getting to spend time each day sitting out here in the lounge chair, looking out at the ocean. He walked out to join her on the balcony after inspecting her room to make sure everything was properly cleaned and laid out. Impulsively, she threw her arms around his neck and whispered, “Thank you for the balcony. It iswonderful.”

He obviously wasn’t expecting the hug but quickly responded, wrapping his arms around her and giving her a gentle squeeze, “You are more than welcome. It makes the cruising experience so much more enjoyable, as long as there is no rough weather. If the waves get crazy, make sure this door is secure and bring these chairs inside.”

“Are we expecting bad weather? Hurricane season is almost over, but not quite yet. I didn’t even think to check the weather. That was silly of me.”

“No, I don’t think so. I didn’t think to check the weather either, come to think of it. I was just saying in general. I peeked at our itinerary and we have a towel folding class scheduled in fifteen minutes if you are interested in going.”

“Oh, I forgot I put that on my list. I love those little towel animals they have in the bathroom and would love to learn how to do that. Imagine how cool of a grandmother I will be if I can fold animals out of towels for my grandkids.” The excitement radiating from her was contagious, and Chad now felt a sense of anticipation for this particular experience.

“Well, my lady, let the adventure begin. Towel folding and then ice cream sundaes under the stars. Sounds like a perfect evening to me.”

As they reclined on white plastic lounge chairs on the upper deck enjoying their sundaes, the wind whipping through their hair, Chad smiled, thinking about the towel folding activity. Beth was so excited by what she had learned he wouldn’t be surprised if he picked her up for breakfast tomorrow to find every towel in her room folded into a different shape. He chuckled, imagining her folding wash clothes for her patients when they returned to work. She found so much joy in the simple things; he appreciated that about her.

“What are you thinking about, mister. I can practically hear your wheels turning.”

“You, actually.”

“Me! What about me has that big grin on your face, and I am pretty sure I heard a chuckle a moment ago. Do I have ice cream on my face?”

“No, I would have told you if that were the case.” He assured, giving her face and attire a quick once over, “You are all good. I was thinking about…” he paused, trying to think of how to word what was on his mind, “how long we have been friends and yet how little we know of each other outside of work. I appreciatehow much fun you had learning to fold towel creatures this evening and am looking forward to all the new revelations this trip is going to bring.”

“Oh. Thank you. I do enjoy keeping things simple. I think we know more about each other than you think; we just haven’t seen those details play out in our personal lives very often. I don’t know that there will be new revelations, but definitely new depth to what we know about each other. You are right, though; this trip is going to be a lot of fun, and I am glad I took this step into the great unknown with you. We laughed so hard during that towel folding I thought I was going to wet my pants.”

Removing her ice cream dish from her hand and stacking it inside his, he held his right hand out to her and asked, “Are you ready for your beauty rest, my dear. Our first excursion starts at 10 am, so we need to eat breakfast by 8 so we are not late disembarking and finding our pickup spot.”

“I am glad you are keeping all of this straight, or I would be late and miss out on everything. I had no idea that cruising was so much about schedules.”

“Not all of them are, but you were interested in a lot of things, so my agent booked every excursion she could fit in to meet your expectations.”

“Oh no! That was not what I meant. I thought she would have a difficult time booking things on such short notice, so I marked everything I was remotely interested in so she had options. I didn’t realize she was going to book an excursion for every single one of them. I feel bad!”

“Nonsense. This is going to be an epic adventure. If you feel run-ragged by the second or third day, then we will review everything and start canceling. But, as long as you have energy, we have activities to keep us busy. On a different note, I always run first thing in the morning, before eating breakfast. Do youwant to come walk the path on the exercise deck while I do my laps, or would you rather sleep a little longer?”

“For the record, I know all about your morning runs, and yes, I would enjoy walking at dawn. Feel free to wake me up unless you have a specific time, and I can set an alarm. Say maybe six thirty so we can get cleaned up before breakfast?”

Arriving in front of Beth’s stateroom, he pulled her room key from his pocket and slid it into the slot to unlock the door before opening it and holding it open for her. “Sounds like a plan. See you in the morning, sweet dreams.”

Stepping inside her room, she turned and replied, “Sweet dreams, Chad. See you in the morning.” He then pulled the door closed and turned to enter his room, right next door.

As he prepared for bed, he reflected on the day. Usually, the first day of a cruise was all about the hustle and bustle of getting on board and getting settled. The real fun didn’t start until the next day, but with Beth, the fun had started as soon as he picked her up that morning. He couldn’t wait to see what the rest of the trip was going to be like if departure day already felt like a priceless memory.

Chapter 9

The sun had just peaked over the horizon when Chad and Beth made it up to the exercise deck the following morning. After taking a few minutes to stretch, they began their morning workout. Beth walked at a variety of speeds along the outside of the rubberized track, while Chad ran in intervals on the inside lane. She marveled at his stamina. She knew he ran and had volunteered at many of the marathons he entered. She had never had the opportunity to watch him run for an extended period of time. He kept a steady rhythm unless he was engaging in a moment of high intensity when he would sprint for thirty seconds to a minute, then return to a steady run. He obviously knew what he was doing since he had his original knees and no limp at the age of 65 and ran every single day. He had offered on several occasions to coach her as a runner, but she declined. She was perfectly content with her power walks.

After about forty-five minutes and too many laps to count, Chad slowed his pace to match hers and asked if she was ready for breakfast or if she needed longer.

“What, done showing up these young people so soon?” she teased as a twenty-something year old man jogged by at a much slower pace than Chad had maintained.

He smiled but said nothing as they headed back to their staterooms to wash the sweat from their bodies and dress for the day. After opening her door for her, he said, “We will be riding and walking today, so wear something comfortable. No blisters on day one.”

“Yes, Father,” she quipped with a snarky smile before closing the door in his face and getting ready for the rest of the day.

At 10:00 am on the dot, they were boarding a small electric bus heading on a historic tour after enjoying a light breakfast on the deck overlooking the pier. Beth was excited to learn more about Nassau but a little nervous about eating exotic food. It sounded both intriguing and scary. She couldn’t think of anything worse than having an upset stomach or worse on vacation, and this was only day one. Maybe they should have saved the culinary adventures for when they were headed back home.

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