AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Janelle only got one thing right,” Liane said, annoyed. “Sperm do look like tadpoles.”
“Perhaps Noreen will let her borrow the book, then Janelle will know as much as you.”
“She won’t believe half of this, Mom. She’s never even seen a pe-nus. It’ll gross her out.” She sniffed. “I’m starving. Do I get a whole steak all by myself?”
That’s all? Stormy thought, baffled.Had one small book of fewer than thirty pages taken away all the curiosity and mystery of life?No, of course not, she realized, relieved. Liane would have to grow into much of it.
“Yep, you do,” she replied, smiling. “Tyler aims to spoil you, I think. Go wash up.”
“Is the great debate over?” Tyler said, entering the kitchen as Liane went out.
“For now, anyway,” Stormy told him. Perhaps twenty years from now, she’d tell him of her conversation with Liane. There was no good reason to let him off the hook any sooner than that. “Any news?”
“Remember when I said I didn’t know where this would take us? Now I do.”
“Where?” Stormy asked, holding her breath.
“How about a cruise to the Bahamas?”
“Save the jokes, Tyler. My future is at stake here.”
“Come Friday, your future—and his wife—are boarding a cruise ship out of Port Canaveral for a three-day cruise to Nassau. One of the delightful adult activities aboard cruise ships happens to be gambling. Among other things, cruise ships are floating casinos.”
Stormy sat down with a thud. “How’d you find that out?”
“Told my guy that as soon as he found Foley, to call him and make an appointment for me to meet with him on Friday, ostensibly to apply for a bank loan. Good old Foley declined the appointment—said he was taking his family on holiday. Didn’t take much chitchatting to get the particulars out of him.”
Stormy’s eyes were shining. “Tyler, we’ve got to be aboard that ship!”
16
Stormy eyed the line of passengers that formed in front of the gangway.
“There must be several thousand people going aboard,” she whispered to Tyler. “I only saw Foley those two times in court. Suppose I don’t recognize him? That image you pulled up on your phone didn’t look anything like what I remember.”
“Photoshop. It seems everyone touches up their online profiles now. I’m sure he looks like good ol’ Foley in real life. The greater worry is that he might recognize you,” Tyler said. “That would put him on guard.”
The line moved slowly. Sweat began to bead on Stormy’s upper lip. “If we don’t get aboard soon, the girls are going to have heatstroke.”
“Good,” Tyler said. “Then they can spend the trip in sickbay.”
“Oh, Tyler, you know I couldn’t leave Liane behind. Trust me, she and Janelle will occupy each other. Besides, I’m certain that bringing the girls along helped convince Mrs. Lowery of the sincerity of what we hope to accomplish.”
Anxiety overrode Stormy’s relief at finally doing something concrete about her situation. The past three days had been a whirlwind of activities. She had that feeling one often does when rushed, that she had forgotten something important. She pulled out her to-do list for the umpteenth time and began to read it over.
Sandy was house-sitting so that she could continue to make candles and use the garage to store whatever loot she acquired at yard sales. Noreen and Elise were working the flea market for her on Saturday. Thelma and Janice had volunteered for Sunday. For proof of citizenship, she had brought hers and the girls’ birth certificates, plus a notarized document from Noreen allowing Janelle to travel. The girls’ teacher had been alerted that the children would be absent Friday and Monday. She had paid her parole fee and had some cash in her purse.
Stormy twisted in the line to face Tyler. “I wish you’d tell me how much all of this is costing. I want to put in my share.”
He grabbed Janelle as she tried to swing on one of the bars separating the lines. “You can pay me back by coming to see me after I have a nervous breakdown,” he groused.
Stormy let out an audible sigh and moved the girls in front of her.
The ship’s photographer snapped their photo just before the captain welcomed them aboard. Liane and Janelle mugged for the camera. Stormy smiled. Tyler faced the ordeal with all the fluidity of a cinder block.
Theirs were connecting cabins on the Premier Deck. Stormy’s was like a minuscule motel room with a sofa bed the girls could share.
On the bed was the ship’s bulletin and, for the children, bags of ChocolateShipcookies.
