‘I will bring it momentarily,’ Bernardo said with a wide grin.
‘I think he means straight away,’ Marjorie said. ‘But I could be wrong. He says momentarily a lot and it’s an unpredictable measurement of time. It could be five minutes; it could be half an hour.’
‘You were right,’ Harriet said after she finished, ‘there is such a thing as holiday food brain. I’m absolutely stuffed. I would never eat this much in one day at home.’
‘But they’ve gone to all this trouble,’ Marjorie said, scraping the last of her dessert off her plate.
‘I read in our crib sheet that Susak is a sand island, lots of oregano and no cars allowed,’ Evelyn said, ‘and they celebrate National Emigration Day in July. Some years ago a lot of the population emigrated to New Jersey, mainly Hoboken, so don’t expect nightclubs here. I think it sounds lovely.’
Some of the other people on the boat wanted to go back into the town for the evening, but we decided to go up on the top deck, which by then was lit with strings of fairy lights and looked enchanting.
Doug, Craig and surprisingly Jack were already up there, sitting around a table with some beers while their wives were clustered around another with a bottle of rosé.
Don stood up courteously as we approached and even gave us a little bow, which was a bit odd.
‘There you are, ladies. Now, we are three gentlemen in a fix. I’m going to throw myself on your mercy.’
‘How intriguing,’ Evelyn said as he bowed over her hand. ‘Perhaps we can help?’
‘I know you can. We are looking for a fourth.’
‘What about The Firth of Forth? That’s in Scotland, you’ll need a satellite dish,’ Marjorie said.
Don chuckled rather patronisingly. ‘A fourth at bridge. Our ladies aren’t in the mood and we are. If one of you’ – he fixed Evelyn with a pleading stare – ‘would help out? We will lead you through it very gently if you’re not sure of the rules. Craig and I usually partner up, which leaves Jack here without as it were.’
‘And I haven’t played for years,’ Jack said.
‘We don’t always play for money,’ Don said hastily.
I was trying to decide how to politely refuse when Evelyn spoke up.
‘Well, of course, Don, It’s a while since I played but I think I can hold my own. I have some euros here, let’s see what happens.’
‘Let’s sort this out once and for all, shall we?’ she murmured as she walked away with him.
Astonished, we watched as Evelyn settled herself into the spare place at the table.
I exchanged a look with Jack, and I wasn’t entirely sure but I think he winked.
The rest of us went to sit at the far end of the top deck, and a friendly waiter brought a bottle of chilled water for me, and G&Ts for the others. I saw him take a gin and Dubonnet for Evelyn and realised she meant business.
How marvellous to be that feisty in her eighties, and I determined I would follow her example in future.
For the next hour we sat idly chatting and wondering if it was time to go to bed. Across the harbour we could hear music faintly drifting out from the cafés, occasionally the sound of laughter from people returning to the ship, and down the other end where the bridge players were hard at it, muttered bidding and the occasional groan.
‘I hope they aren’t ripping her off,’ I said.
Marjorie chuckled. ‘My dear Lizzie. Knowing what I know, I doubt that very much.’
* * *
The bridge players were still there when we went to bed so we had no idea how Evelyn and Jack were getting on. The engines roared into life at exactly seven o’clock the following morning, and slowly the ship edged away from the harbour.
I was quite sad to be leaving actually. I had enjoyed my short stay here so much, and it reinforced the feeling that on this holiday I had already visited a lot of places and not really seen them properly at all. Perhaps that is the problem with cruises. But then again it had given me a taste to do more leisurely exploring in future.
There was no sign of Evelyn at breakfast, and it wasn’t until nearly ten o’clock that she came to join us on the top deck. She was wearing a flowing kaftan and looked remarkably bright eyed.
‘Coffee,’ she said as she came to sit down with us, ‘I need coffee.’
