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The barista slid Courtney’s smoothie across the counter with a smile. Hoping her nervous stomach would be able to handle the drink, Courtney took it and turned away.
“Come sit with me.” The older woman pointed the business end of her cane at a group of tables by a large window looking out on the ocean.
“My mom told me not to follow strangers,” Courtney quipped, taking a sip of her smoothie.
The gray-haired woman rolled her rheumy eyes, but she smiled when she said, “My friends call me Trudy. You can call me Gertrude.”
Courtney couldn’t hold back her laughter. “Well, my friends call me Corey, but you can call me Courtney.”
The older woman smiled. “Feisty. I like that.”
Gertrude slid into a seat with her back to the ocean, leaving Courtney to face the scenery.
“I saw you last night,” Gertrude started without preamble. “You were asleep on the deck with that handsome fella you’re always with.”
Courtney’s stomach tightened. “Do you go around the ship keeping tabs on everyone?”
Gertrude lifted a bony shoulder. “Sometimes, if they interest me.”
“And we interest you?”
Gertrude smiled, slow but sweet. “Youdo, yes.”
Courtney wasn’t sure what to do with that information. Obviously she’d known the stranger had taken notice of her, but she hadn’t realized the other woman was keeping some sort of tabs.
“Why? Why do I interest you?”
“Kindred spirit.”
Courtney studied the old woman. Her gray hair was cut short, and makeup rather haphazardly covered her face. She even had lipstick on her teeth and blue eyeliner where her eyebrows should be.
“Kindred spirit?”
The woman leaned closer and whispered, “Widow.”
Courtney’s heart sank. Although she’d doubted she and Gertrude had much in common, she’d hoped for something other than this.
“So, you’re what? Following me around, seeing if Seth and I become more than friends, so you can tell me how wrong I am or something?”
Gertrude’s eyes sparkled and her smile turned down. “No, honey. Never that. I just imagine there aren’t a lot of us on this cruise. I see you struggling.”
“I’m not—”
“You are.” Gertrude placed a gnarled hand over Courtney’s on the table. “You and your friend look good together, do you realize that?”
Courtney shook her head. But that was a lie. She’d scrolled through the pictures of yesterday’s excursion all night. In many of the pictures, she and Seth were close together, sometimes with his arm around her so they could fit in the shot. Gertrude was right, they did look good together. More frighteningly, they looked like they belonged together.
“Youdorealize that,” Gertrude responded when Courtney took too long to answer. “What’s the problem?”
Courtney considered telling the woman to butt out, but what would it hurt to voice her thoughts aloud. It wasn’t like Betty White Jr. knew her or any of the people back home. She wouldn’t run back to tell Kyle’s family that his widow was dishonoring his legacy.
“As my helpful friend informed you yesterday, I haven’t been with anyone since my husband died.”
“Because you’re scared or—”
“Because I haven’t wanted to. I don’t know if I was scared before, I never even thought about it.”
“And now you are?”
