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“Sure. Couldn’t make myself out to be a liar.”
Stormy scanned faces, worried. “I keep trying to remember what he looks like, but my mind goes blank. Winging it doesn’t seem like such a terrific idea now that we’re here. I didn’t expect such crowds.”
“Getting cold feet?”
“No!”
“Look, Mom, there’s where you get drinks,” Liane said, pointing to a set of self-serve juice dispensers farther up the deck. “May we go get our own?”
Stormy nodded. “Walk! Don’t run.”
“Crowds are better for us,” Tyler reassured her. “We’ll watch for an opportunity and strike when we can. And if that doesn’t work, we’ll make our own opportunity.”
Stormy took her gaze off the girls and eyed Tyler. “I can tell you’re not worried.”
“Nope.”
“You spotted them already?”
“Nope.”
“You’ve done something sneaky.”
He smiled.
“Okay, have your little game. I have some news, too. The ship has supervised activities for kids from ten in the morning until ten at night. We only have to collect them for meals in the dining room.”
Tyler’s green eyes were suddenly backlit with a gleam of anticipation. “You don’t say.”
“And after they’re in bed, the cabin steward will look in on them as necessary. For a tip, of course. Which means we’ll both be free to be in the casino.”
“Or to take a nap in my cabin.”
Stormy gave him her most alluring smile. “The possibility exists. You didn’t forget to pack pajamas, did you?”
“Never fear. I’m going to be modestly covered from neck to ankle as long as I’m anywhere near the girls—the little perverts.”
Despite his remark, when Liane and Janelle returned, carefully bearing plastic cups filled to the brim with orange juice, he insisted on challenging them to table tennis on the pool deck until it was time for orientation. Stormy went below to unpack suitcases.
Havingto line up wearing life vests in this heat, listening to announcements over the PA that she couldn’t understand, Stormy felt a bit frazzled, but Tyler assured her it was par for the course and would be over soon.
After the emergency procedures finally ended, the welcoming orientation was a show in itself, put on by the ship’s staff.
One bit of information dismayed Stormy. The emcee announced that once docked in Nassau, the ship’s casino closed. Gambling then was done in the hotel casinos on the island.
Tyler squeezed her hand. “Not to worry,” he said quietly.
Fifteen minutes into his spiel, the emcee called up all the children. Liane and Janelle were out of their seats in a flash. Big fluffy characters and costumed counselors led the children out of the room for a special tour. Parents were told to collect them at the playhouse doors at the end of the orientation.
The emcee then gave out bottles of champagne to newlyweds and couples celebrating wedding anniversaries. Then he called for Henry Foley to come up.
Stormy went rigid. “Tyler!”
“Hush,” he said.
There was a commotion in the back, and finally, H. B. Foley made his way forward.
“That’s him,” Stormy breathed when the man came into view.
