Authors: Sheila Horgan
“You want to come over tonight?
I’ll cook.”
“I can’t.
Jessie and I are going to go out tonight.
I want him to leave here with really good, bonding, know-I’ll-track-your-ass-down if you do anything with that other woman thoughts of me.”
“That sounds really healthy.
You don’t need to visit with a mental health professional at all.”
“That’s what I’m
sayin
’.
I’ll call you tomorrow.
Get busy with all things Alaska, figure out if we want to do any shore excursions, they’re not included with the tickets, price wise, but I have a gift card thingy that will pay for at least part.”
“Excursions?
Anything you’re particularly enamored with?”
“We could look for whales.”
“I’d love to see a whale in the wild.”
“They have boats that get really close.”
“Yeah, I saw that on the Internet, the big
ol
’ whale came crashing out of the water and hit the boat.
I think it broke the mast.
Poor whale.”
“Yeah, well, had I been on that boat I’d have had a heart attack and died, then who would you be feeling sorry for?”
“The whale.”
“I should have known.
Anyway, you can get close enough for the spray to hit you if you get on the right excursion.”
“You do realize that’s the whale blowing his nose on you.
You get that right?”
“It is not.”
“Silly me, you probably think of that as one more skin treatment.”
“Don’t go there, I’m still sensitive.”
“How is the rash from hell?”
“Mostly gone.
I still have patches where my skin stays warm.”
“
Eww
, that doesn’t sound good.”
“It’s not.”
“That’s what I’m trying to tell you.”
“What?”
“The whale, it’s snot.”
“Are you in 3
rd
grade or what?”
“Sorry, couldn’t resist.”
“Oh, and Cara, I got a call from Steph, she is moving forward with the cards, she uploaded them, and there is some pretty disturbing stuff, most of which is self explanatory, but a few of the things are just weird.
She works with an investigator and he is going to look into it a bit.”
“That sounds expensive.”
“Pro bono.”
“Why?”
“The investigator is trying to get his new business off the ground, and thinks that if he comes up with something really important, it will be covered by all the media, and that it will pay for itself with free advertising.”
“Great, my goal was to keep it quiet, not spread it around for free advertising.”
“According to Steph, there is no way this is going to stay quiet, she used words like ‘salacious’ and ‘degenerate’ and ‘nefarious’.”
“Crap.”
“Nothing we can do now, now it is in the hands of karma and the universe.”
“Don’t go all new age on me, it doesn’t suit you.
Now I’m nervous all over again.”
“I would be too.
I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
“Oh, I need the details for the cruise so I’ll know where we stop and everything.”
“I’ll email all the stuff I have within the hour.”
“Did you think maybe Mom and Daddy might want to join you?”
“Well, it is just for two, and I thought about just giving the tickets to Mom and Dad, but they said they’re all about Ireland.”
“So, I was closer to the bottom of the list than I thought?”
“Cara, you know how it works, we’re a big family, we’re all loved just the same.”
“Yeah, right.
But still, there is a pecking order.”
“I wouldn’t say that, I’d say that due to circumstances, you are blessed to be accompanying your favorite sister on an adventure to Alaska.”
“That’s why they pay you the big bucks, you can make anything sound good.”
“True, you should hear how I describe you.”
“Shut up and thanks and good bye.”