Separate Cabins

Something should have forewarned her. Until this moment she hadn’t given a thought to where he might be seated. But it was obvious they would be seated at the same table. They had been assigned to the same cabin, so naturally as man and wife, supposedly, they would be assigned to the same table.

That moment of shocked realization flashed in her eyes, and Gard saw the flicker of surprise in their gray depths. A smile played at the edges of his mouth. Rachel faced the table again and reached for her coffee cup, trying to keep the grim resignation out of her expression.

“Sorry I’m late,” Gard said to the table in general as he pulled out the vacant chair beside Rachel and sat down. “It took longer to shower and change than I thought. Has everyone ordered?”

“We just got here, too,” said Jenny, of the young married couple, assuring him quickly that he wasn’t the only late arrival. “I’m Jenny, and this is my husband, Don.”

The round-robin of names started again, but Rachel stayed out, not needing to introduce herself to him. “I’m Gard MacKinley,” he finished the circle and unfolded the napkin to lay it on his lap. “Is this your first cruise, Jenny?”

“Yes. It’s kind of a second honeymoon for Don and me,” she explained. So far, Rachel couldn’t recall Jenny’s young husband saying a word. “Actually I guess it is our first honeymoon since we didn’t go anywhere after our wedding. Both of us had to work, so we kept putting it off. Then the baby came—”

“You have a baby?” The balding man looked at her in surprise. Helen’s husband—or was it Nanette’s? As many times as their names had been said, Rachel would have thought she’d have them straight, but with Gard sitting beside her, she wasn’t thinking too clearly.

There was a crisp darkness to his hair, still damp from the shower, and the familiar scent of his after-shave lotion drifted to her. No matter how she tried not to notice, he seemed to fill her side vision.

“You don’t look old enough to be a mother,” the balding, forty-year-old man insisted as he eyed the young girl.

“Timmy is six years old, so I’ve been a mother for a while.” Jenny laughed. “I’m twenty-five.”

“Where’s your little boy?” Helen or Nanette asked.

“Grandma and Grandpa are keeping him so Don and I could take this cruise. It was a chance of a lifetime, and we couldn’t pass it up. The company Don works for awarded him this all-expense-paid cruise for being the top salesman in his entire region.” It was plain to see how proud she was of his achievement. “It’s really great, even if I do miss Timmy already.”

“Nanette and I have three children,” the man said, providing Rachel with the name of his wife.

“We have four.” Which meant that woman was Helen. Helen with the henna-hair—Rachel tried for a word association and discovered the woman had turned her glance to her. “How many children do you have?”

“None,” she replied, knowing how much she regretted that now. The waiter came and set the orange juice and papaya before her, thus relieving the need to add anything more to her answer.

“You’re leaving it a little late, aren’t you . . . Gard?” Helen’s husband hesitated before coming up with his name.

“I suppose I am,” he murmured dryly and slid a bemused glance at Rachel.

The elderly couple was one thing, but Rachel didn’t intend to let this misconception continue. Her cheeks were warm when she looked away from him to face the rest of their companions at the table.

“Excuse me, but we aren’t married, even though we do have the same surname.” Her assertion attracted startled and curious looks to both of them. “I know it’s all very confusing.”

“I’m sure you can all appreciate that it’s a long and complicated story.” Gard quietly followed up on her statement. “So we won’t bore you with the details. But she’s right. We aren’t married to each other.”

There was an awkward silence after their announcement. Rachel had the feeling that henna-haired Helen would love to have been “bored with the details.” There were a lot of questions in their eyes, but Gard’s phrasing had indicated they wouldn’t be welcomed. For the time being, their curiosity was being forced to the side.

A minute later everyone was trying to talk at once and cover up that awkward moment. The waiter took the last three breakfast orders while his assistant served the meals of the first ones. With food to be eaten, there wasn’t as much need for conversation.

“What kind of work do you do?” Rachel heard someone at the table ask of Gard. It probably seemed a safe inquiry. She slid him a curious, side-long glance, realizing again how little she knew about this man.

“I’m an attorney in Los Angeles,” Gard replied.

Rachel had never prided herself on being able to fit

people to occupations by sight, yet she wouldn’t have guessed he was in the law profession either. There was no resemblance at all between Gard and John Kemper. Thinking of her friend’s husband, she was reminded that John thought he had recognized Gard. Since they were in the same profession in the same city, it was probable he had.

“Is this your first cruise?” Jenny put to him the same question he had asked her.

“No.” There was a brief show of a smile. “I’ve sailed on the Pacific Princess many times. The engineer happens to be a personal friend of mine. This is about the only way to spend any time with him, since he’s out to sea more than he’s in port.”

Which explained to Rachel why it had appeared he’d been given preferential treatment when he’d been allowed onto the ship prior to the normal boarding time—and why the purser had known him.

The table conversation digressed into a discussion of the crew, the advantages of working aboard ships, and speculation about the length of time they were away from home at any one stretch. Rachel mostly listened while she ate her breakfast.