Chapter 12
“Oh, wait,” I said to Lily, guiding me toward rows of workout equipment in the gym. “I can’t do that.”
“We can start easy at first,” she said. “I see your leg is hurt. We can get you working to strengthen your upper body.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
A sleek college-age girl pressing her bent arms forward in one of those machines stopped working. She gave me a curious look, like why
wouldn’t
I want to do that.
“We used to do exercises like those when I was much younger, but most of us didn’t have machines,” I said. “We did that to try to increase our bust size. Silly, huh?”
“Did it work?”
“I don’t know. I think what increased my size after time was eating too much.”
She exchanged a smile with me and went back to work, maybe pushing herself a little harder than before.
I hobbled farther into the gym. Women and men on treadmills gazed out of massive windows. I saw the pretty town where my son had just crushed my heart. Near me, two men stretched on their backs on low benches and lifted free weights.
“I don’t guess you’re interested in that,” my escort Lily said, and we moved on.
A door marked
Spa
made my heart race. I stopped. “Lily, what time did the spa open after we sailed?”
“That would be written on your newsletter.”
“I know what the newsletter said, but someone told me she had a massage here earlier than the time on that page.”
“In here?”
“Yes,” I said and reconsidered. Sue had told us she’d had a massage. Did she say who’d given it to her?
Lily gave me a weak smile. “And?”
And if Sue did not come during that earlier time, she might have been killing a man instead. I don’t want that to be true.
“And,” I said, trying to come up with some believable excuse, “she’s my good friend, and I’d like to know if she was really so stressed that she needed a massage right after she came on the ship.”
Lily tugged my arm to move me forward. She glanced over her shoulder, probably seeing whether anyone in the gym needed her. “Most people come on cruises to get away from everyday cares and relax. Some get a drink the minute they step onboard. Some take naps by the pool. Some get a massage the minute we open.”
“Could you check and see for me? I’d love to know when she came.”
Lily stood still. Her expression turned serious. “I don’t have access to the names of people who came in the gym before today. That’s a matter of privacy for our passengers.”
“But—”
She raised a hand to stop my words. “Those pages are locked up. You wouldn’t want everyone onboard to have access to everything you do all the while you’re here, would you?”
I considered my fall from my stilt heels caused by jealousy of my aunt. I’d also lusted after Gil and argued with him. I considered my trip ashore to visit my son and my quick boarding again because of what I’d discovered.
“No, I wouldn’t want the world to know what I do.”
I didn’t see anyone else working that I might try to press for information. Spying the exit, I hobbled toward it. “So what takes place on a cruise ship…?”
“Stays on that ship. If we can be of service to you any time, let us know,” Lily said in her previous pleasant light tone.
Sure. Thanks a lot.
I took an elevator away from the area filled with buff bodies and stepped off on a deck with a name I recognized, although I wasn’t familiar with all of the deck names yet. I took a few steps and noticed scores of people shopping.
I wasn’t in a mood to shop for clothes or souvenirs, but dipped in near the checkout of a small place and bought M&M’s with peanuts. Ordinarily I didn’t eat much candy, but today I didn’t feel like fighting temptation. I needed comfort. Neither Gil nor my son gave that to me. I ripped the bag open and let the colorful sweet nutty candy satisfy my immediate need.
Limping along while popping candy into my mouth, I checked show windows of dress shops, hoping to spy friends inside.
Instead, I spotted Randy through the window of a men’s shop. He lifted a sports coat from a rack.
“Hey,” I said, walking in, “how was today for you?”
A pink tinge flashed to his cheeks. “Really nice.” Seeming to recover from whatever caused him to blush, he said, “How’s your leg?”
“Getting better. Where is everyone?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Randy, I was concerned about something today.” I leaned against the wall to get pressure off my achy leg. “I was in my room and heard a woman yelling.”
“You know how some women are,” he said with a smirk. “They can’t help but yell when they’re in the throes of passion.”
“The woman sounded like Tetter.”
“Tetter?” His lips pressed together. His eyes pulled closer together. “Did you see if it was her? What happened?”
“I don’t know. I went out in the hall but didn’t see anyone, so I called her name at doors of surrounding staterooms. Nobody answered.”
His chest lowered as he blew out a breath. “Her room isn’t around yours, is it?”
“No. We’re on different decks.”
His eyes went out of focus as though he was trying to figure out what to do. Randy appeared to notice he held a jacket on a coat hanger. He spun aside and randomly grabbed an armload of other jackets from a rack. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to try these on. I’ll see you later.” He rushed off to a fitting room. It would not take him much time to try on those last jackets. Without paying attention, he’d yanked them from a section marked Big and Tall. He was rather short with a medium build.
But he wanted to get away from me.
I waited, wondering what had caused his reaction. Why would he want to avoid me? Did he want to reach Tetter and not have me around?
My next thought made chills spike down my spine. Could he have been with her and made her yell? And then he was surprised to learn my room was close by?
Staring at the fitting room entrance, I anticipated speaking with him more. What had he and Tetter done in town? Had they stayed with the others? Or had they done like me and returned onboard soon after they’d disembarked?
“Hello. Are you waiting for your husband?” a man wearing a nametag asked. “Or were you looking for something special?”
I mumbled and shook my head, shoving away from the wall I’d leaned against. I looked over a shelf that held wallets and glanced at the dressing room entrance in time to see the top of a man’s head pulling back—Randy’s head.
He didn’t want to talk to me again, which made me want to talk with him even more. What was he hiding? I doubted he’d tell me the truth even if I thought of appropriate questions, and my leg throbbed from the sole of my foot to my knee.
I wobbled out of the shop. Supporting myself on the rail surrounding the Grand Atrium, I wondered what I could do to find out what Randy might want to keep secret. I especially needed to so that I might keep from considering what had happened to my family.
“Cealie! Hey, Cealie.” Jane’s voice barely filtered up through the din of people talking and laughing below. She and Sue stood beside the open bar. Jane lifted a stemmed glass with a pink drink toward me.
I signaled that I was coming down.
I took a glass-enclosed elevator, apprehension snaring muscles in my shoulders. I was glad I’d have Jane to talk to but didn’t relish speaking about anything significant in front of Sue.
How sad was that? Sue was family. I adored my family. But the trepidation building as I approached let me know I wasn’t sure of my feelings about her.
“Hey, girl,” Jane said when I reached her and Sue. “How are you doing now?”
“Better.”
“And how’s your leg?” Sue asked.
I shrugged and nodded, feeling my chin jut out. Sue made me realize Jane may have been inquiring about my son’s news instead of my injured body part. My inner pain was much worse, but I wasn’t ready to share that information with this relative. “I traded in my wheelchair for this boot.”
“Here, sit.” Jane shoved a barstool behind me. “One of these will take the edge off.” She indicated to the waitress that I wanted a drink similar to hers.
I sat, satisfied to get off my leg. The Killer Daiquiri drink of the day came. Jane gave the waitress her sailing card and signed the bill. I thanked her and sipped the sweet drink. Icy cold rushed down my throat. Rum relaxed me a little.
“Did you eat much today?” Sue asked me and let the waitress know she wanted another drink.
“I did,” I said, recalling those M&M’s. I spied peanuts in a crystal dish on the bar and nibbled a handful.
Jane signed the bill for Sue’s drink. “We didn’t do any tours, but shopped and bought the cutest things. That town is adorable.”
“I’ve been here,” I said, and then was sorry. I didn’t want to discuss Tommy now. “Freddy and I often took this cruise.”
Ignoring the mention of my deceased husband, Jane said, “I bought the neatest lap blanket and a sweatshirt and fleece vest.”
“Nice. And what did you get?” I asked Sue, satisfied to have something to discuss with her.
“Bear claws for everyone. They’re flat and wooden, and you can use them to toss salads or pasta.”
“What a great idea.” I took a couple more sips of my drink. My unease lightened but remained. Crowds grew around us and on the visible section of the deck above. I noticed Jane looking at and away from me. Was she concerned that I might start an uncomfortable discussion about Tommy’s changed lifestyle? Or had she and Sue been talking about that when they spied me?
Another concern took precedence over what they thought about me or my family. “Okay, this is bothering me,” I said. “Has Tetter told either of you what her problem is?”
Jane shook her head. “We still don’t know.”
“I’m starting to not care.” Sue took a large swallow from her glass.
Annoyed with her response, I asked, “What did she and Randy do onshore? Did they shop with you two?”
“Uh-uh.” Sue set down her glass. “They had other things to do.”
“By the time I rolled you to your room and went back to shore, they had gone off. Sue sat waiting for me at an outdoor table under a thatched roof.”
“Randy told me they’d see us later,” Sue said. “He said they might take in a tour.”
“Did he say which one? Or did he ask whether y’all wanted to go with them?” I asked.
Sue shook her head, wearing a wry grin. “I don’t think Tetter knew anything about that tour. Randy probably didn’t, either. I believe he didn’t want us with them.”
“Did you see them again?” I asked.
Both women shook their heads.
“They might still be together. Doing
fun
stuff,” Sue suggested, eyeing a good-looking hulk of a man edging to the bar and ordering a drink. He glanced at Sue, apparently knowing she watched him. Their gazes lingered on each other. A smile traced his lips, a wider smile growing on hers.
Uh-oh, was Sue going to pick up this man? The last man I saw her flirt with had a tragic ending.
A more immediate concern was another classmate. “I just saw Randy shopping up there.” I pointed to the upper deck. “But I didn’t see Tetter.”
“Maybe she was exhausted and needed to rest. I’ll drink to that.” Sue lifted her glass in a salute and finished her drink. “One more please,” she said to the waitress, and pointed to my glass and Jane’s, asking whether we wanted more.
I shook my head.
The ship’s horn blasted three times, making Sue jump.
“Three bells. That’s just how a ship calls people to come back to the ship,” I said. “Maybe Tetter is at a gift shop in town and will be one of the last stragglers returning.”
“Maybe so.” Jane offered a weak smile.
Sue met the rugged man’s gaze with a sultry gaze of her own, making me more apprehensive. “I need to move. I’ll see you all at dinner,” she told us and sashayed away, slender hips rolling. She strolled like a model. I wished I could move so suavely on heels—until she stumbled. Actually, her foot swayed like she was going to fall off her shoe. She righted her foot and lowered her face in a seeming attempt to discreetly see if we had noticed.
I considered glancing away, but bad me stared at her face and grinned. I added a slight shrug with an oh-well-we-all-sometimes-do-that expression.
I was not always the virtuous person I would like to be, and often worked on improving myself toward that end. Today was not one of those days.
Sue glared at me, spun, and took off. Her hips did not roll as she marched ahead, stomping on those heels like they’d become army boots.
The handsome man at the bar watched her go.
“She was your Uncle Stu, right?” Jane asked.
I nodded. “Isn’t that strange?”
Jane shook her head. “Unbelievable. I wish I looked like her.”
“Yes, but I’m worried.” I immediately wished I hadn’t said that. What had come to mind was my concern about the possibility of Sue shoving Jonathan down the stairwell.
No!
I told myself. She couldn’t purposely hurt the man. Maybe she’d accidentally done it. Oras she told me, she might have been nowhere around.
Either way, I desperately needed to find out. At this bar Sue had just flirted with the man who kept grinning as she moved away. I stared at him—smoldering blue eyes and chiseled face with a patch of ebony hair dropping over his forehead. Jitters up my spine assured me I considered that he could become a victim.
Or with his substantial size, if Sue tried anything, he would surely wind up the victor.
I gazed ahead, noticing nothing. Was I really considering the possibility of part of my family and murder?
“And you’re worried about—?” Jane peered at my face that I felt wearing a frown.
But she couldn’t know the answer. I did not want to blemish Sue’s name if she was innocent. “Tetter,” I said, concern about our high school friend resurfacing. I preferred not to talk about my son and his new partner and the beloved people I’d lose because of that relationship.
“I’ll check our stateroom and find out if she’s in there now.” Jane rooted around in her large metal-studded gold handbag and dug out a cell phone.
“I never bring my phone on ships,” I said as she waited for Tetter to answer her call.