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“That’s what she said,” Marge teased. Alice burst into laughter and slapped her with a high five.
“I don’t even know what that means, but I know it was dirty. You two are disgusting.” Doris turned away, pointing her nose in the air.
I laughed too and was still laughing when Alejandro strolled over, leaning down and placing a soft kiss on Alice’s lips.
“Do you need anything, Cariño?”
“Another one of those.” She grabbed his shirt and pulled him down for another toe-curling kiss. The sparkling wedding ring on her left hand glimmered in the sunlight. He’d proposed just two months after Tom and I had been married, and they’d had a beautiful ceremony at a tiny little restaurant in the Bahamas where they’d had their first date. It was intimate and simple. So different than what the old Alice would have wanted for her wedding. But with Alejandro, she allowed a different side of her to come out. He softened her edges like a gentle piece of sandpaper sliding across a jagged piece of wood. The two of them worked beautifully together, and I’d never seen her happier.
When she finally let go, he kissed her once more on the lips, then the nose, and finally the forehead. “Tom said to tell you the food is ready. I’ll bring you a plate.”
“I’ll just take a salad.”
He shook his head. “You don’t eat just salad at a BBQ. I’ll bring you some real food.”
She opened her mouth to argue, but he lifted his finger and pressed it over her lips. “And I don’t want to hear one word about you getting fat or cellulite or anything else. You are beautiful, and you can eat a burger without dying.”
He didn’t give her time to argue back, instead turning away and heading back to Tom at the BBQ.
“That seaman of yours sure knows how to handle you,” Marge said, then chuckled at her own little joke. “Seaman. Alice has a seaman.”
Alice inched up an eyebrow. “He’s nothandlingme. He’s just making sure I stop living with so much pressure on myself to be perfect. And you know what? It’s amazing.”
“Good,” I spit out. “Life is way too short to pass up a good cheeseburger.”
“When we were on that last cruise around Greece, you should have seen how much shit I ate. I swear I worried the ship would sink if I ate anymore.”
“When’s the next cruise?” Doris asked.
“In six weeks. We’ll be sailing around Italy for almost three weeks. As always, you ladies and your spouses are invited.”
One of the perks of her marrying a cruise ship captain was that we all got access to any cruise that didn’t sell out. Tom and I had joined the other couples on three cruises already, and we’d seen so much of the world I’d never have gotten to explore otherwise. Alice joined him on the ship often and usually put on at least a few dancing shows while she was there. It let her dance in front of an audience and feel like a star again without the pressure and stress of her own big production.
“I’ll see if Tom wants to go. I’ve been dying to see Italy!”
“My homeland! Count me in!” Marge raised her hand. “And I know my wife will want to see Italy.”
“I can’t imagine Axel won’t want to go. He loved the last few cruises we went on. He didn’t get off the ranch most of his life, so he’s all about seeing as much of the world as he can now that he’s partially retired.”
“Great. I’ll let Alejandro know to book the rooms. We’re going to have a wonderful time.”
“And speaking of wonderful times.” I waggled my eyebrows and pulled a pool towel off the basket I’d had hidden beneath it.
“Oh! The basket! Are we doing it? Right now?” Marge sat up straight, eyes sparkling.
“It’s one year today. I say we pick our wishes now and see where our next adventures are taking us.”
Doris squirmed in her seat, grinning widely, and Alice pulled off her sunglasses, narrowing her eyes like she meant business.
“But first.” I grinned widely as I grabbed the bottle of whiskey I’d hidden beneath the towel as well. “Tradition. It wouldn’t be right without whiskey.”
Alice’s eyes lit up when I popped the cap off the whiskey. I took a long swing then grimaced as I swallowed it and passed it to Marge. One by one, we each took our sips, sputtering and laughing as the familiar liquid burned its way down. Doris passed back the bottle, her face still contorted from the unpleasant taste.
I grabbed it and put the cap back on. “There. Now that that is done, it’s time to find out what the Wilder Widows are getting up to next.”
I was about to pull the lid off the basket when I heard Tom come up behind me. “Whoa! Is this it? Wishes time? Can we see how this works?”
Axel walked around behind Doris and placed a hand on her shoulder. “If you ladies want to do this alone, we’ll understand, but I sure would love to see how ya’ll draw your wishes.”
