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Val

“What do you mean, we’re having dinner with the captain? Isn’t that a special privilege?” I asked Abby as I got dressed.

“I guess. I wouldn’t know. I’ve never been asked before,” she replied.

“I don’t know why he wants to dine with us,” I said, unzipping my dress.

“Mom, what are you doing? You’re supposed to be getting dressed,” she said.

“I can’t wear this to have dinner at the captain’s table. Maybe I should wear the black dress. It’s a little more formal.” And less sexy. I had no idea why I even packed something like this. It was something I would wear to a date, not a family dinner, and definitely not a dinner with the captain of the ship.

“Mom, you don’t have time to change. We’re going to be late.” She came up behind me and zipped my dress back up. “You look fine. And besides, you know red is my favorite color.”

And blue is Rick’s.

Why can’t I stop thinking of him?No matter the topic, he popped into my mind. Being on this ship wasn’t helping, either.

“Mom, are you listening to me?” she asked.

“Yes, I was just…thinking about the last time I was here. It was…” I really couldn’t talk about this with my daughter. “Nice.”

She laughed. “Since you’re blushing, I would say it was a lot more than nice.”

“Abby, I’m not going to discuss my love life with you,” I said firmly.

“So, you admit that you have one? Or that you want one? Oh wait, you are admitting that instead of me here with you, you wish it was Rick.”

“That’s not true. And besides, you cannot compare the two of you. You’re my daughter and he’s….”

“The love of your life. Why don’t you give him a call after the cruise? Tell him how you feel?”

“That’s not as easy as you’d think,” I said.

“Why?”

“Because he sent me a text a few weeks ago. I guess he was in Boston and I…didn’t reply,” I said.

“Because you don’t want to see him or because you’re afraid of how you will feel when you do?” Abby asked.

She was asking the same questions I had been asking myself. “I’m not afraid of my feelings. But…I’m not sure how Rick feels. He’s…battling something I can’t help him with. And you know me. I’m…settled. He seems to be…” a man on the run from memories.

“Are you guessing, or have you asked him?”

No, I haven’t asked him. If he answered, then that would be final. At least this way I can live in hope that maybe…he…could find his way back to me. If he does, I will be here waiting.

“Can we please talk about something else. I already have this dinner on my mind,” I said, hoping she’d take the hint.

“Don’t be so nervous. It’s just dinner. And really, I think he only invited us because Grandma talked him into it. You know how she is, a talker.”

“Funny, I think you’re a lot like her.” Because here I am on a cruise ship that I didn’t want to be on. Again.

She smiled. “Thanks. I’ll take that as a compliment. Now let’s go. I’m starving, and I’m eating for two.”

“Don’t we have to pick up Timothy?”

“Nope. He’s meeting us there. So are Grandma and Grandpa.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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