AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Alice rolled her eyes. “Therestof us, thesanewidows, is who I’m referring to, Evel Knievel.” She looked back at Doris. “But if we fulfill this wish, we will survive and be all the better for it. Just like we did with the running of the bulls. And that was far more dangerous than getting in a highly protective cage in the water with sharks who have no interest in eating us.”
“Well, not you, at least. You have no meat on your bones. I have meat!” Doris jiggled her hips.
Sylvie chuckled. “Doris. You can do this. You can at least come on the ship with us, and if you truly decide you don’t want to do the cage diving, you don’t have to.”
“I don’t?”
“No. You don’t,” Alice answered.
I furrowed my eyebrows. “Hey, wait a minute. She doesn’t? I thought we all had to do the wishes together.”
“Shedoesn’t.”Alice gave me another sideways glare. “We do all the wishes together, but we’re never going to force someone to do something against their will. WehopeDoris will swim with us, but if she is too scared, no one is going to make her.”
“You promise?” Doris’s scared eyes passed between us. “You promise you won’t make me go if I’m too scared?”
“No one is pushing you in, Doris.” Sylvie stepped up and slid an arm around her shoulder, gently guiding her past me and up the gangway one step at a time.
“Don’t make promises I’m not gonna keep,” I whispered as I stepped behind them.
“What?” Doris slammed to a stop, but I nudged her up the rest of the way, keeping my body between her and the gangway to make sure she didn’t bolt back off.
Finally, Doris stopped darting her gaze between the dock and the cabin we guided her toward. Once we got her inside, I finally quit preparing to tackle her if she bolted for freedom. We got settled into our rooms, which were far nicer than I’d expected on a shark diving trip, and finally, I felt the ship pull out. I walked with the widows up to the top of the ship that would cruise us out to Guadalupe Island.
“Why did it have to be sharks, Marge?” she whined as we stood on the top deck watching the shore disappearing. “Why not dolphins? Can’t we go swim with dolphins?”
“Sorry, Doris. Gotta be sharks. That was the dream me and Percy had. It’s up to me to go live it. For me and for him.”
“I love that you bring Percy into your wishes,” Sylvie said as she settled onto the bench seat beside me.
I smiled softly. “Yeah. I miss him every day. I love Roxie, don’t get me wrong, but Percy was my person. My best friend. My other half. Life just isn’t the same without him at my side. So, doing these little wishes that I know he would enjoy makes me feel closer to him again.”
Sylvie sighed. “I think the relationship you two had was so special. I wish Bruce and I would have had that.”
“Well, you have it with Tom now,” I said. “And that’s not nothing.”
“No. It’s not nothing,” she agreed, but then she paused and chewed on her lip.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” Doris asked.
Sylvie looked between us, then let out a long breath. “Am I a terrible person for just running off with Tom right after Bruce died? I mean, his body was barely cold in the ground before I ran back to Tom. I know I had no love for Bruce at the end, and he was a real jackass most of the time, but still. I’m feeling like a heartless asshole for not even taking a moment to grieve the man I spent the majority of my life with. It’s really been messing with my head lately, and it’s getting worse the closer I get to the wedding.”
“You don’t need to feel bad.” Alice shook her head. “Bruce was a terrible husband. And even if he wasn’t terrible the entire time, Tom is, and always will be, the love of your life. You spent decades without him, and we’re not getting any younger. There’s no sense in sitting around in fake grief, wasting even one minute of what’s left of your life mourning your dead husband instead of spending it with your true love. We only live once. No sense in squandering a chance at happiness.”
Sylvie’s eyes flashed wide. “Wow. That was surprisingly astute, Alice. Thank you.”
“I have my moments.” She lifted her gaze from us to the man standing behind the small bar at the edge of the deck. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I was promised a bar, and I’m going to enjoy it.”
She walked away and left the three of us sitting together.
“Do you think she’s okay?” Doris whispered. “I’m worried about her.”
“Me too,” Sylvie agreed. “I just wish she’d open up and tell us what happened so we could help her.”
“She will when she’s ready.” I looked over at Alice. She sat tall and proud at the bar, her air of authority dimmed but still visible. “We just need to give her time and respect her wishes not to treat her like glass.”
Sylvie nodded in agreement. “Definitely. It’s hard to pretend she’s not hurting. She admitted she was inlovewith him. Alice. In love. Whatever happened must have been bad, and I just wish she’d share the load with us. But if this is how she wants to deal with whatever happened, then I’m on board. Her choice.”
“I’ve been praying for her,” Doris said. “Hopefully, it will help ease whatever pain she’s in.”
