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“You grew up Catholic, didn’t you?”
I grinned. “How’d you guess?”
“I am familiar with Catholic guilt. I dated a convent girl, once.”
I nodded looking down at my drink.
She considered me closely. “You’re a lot tougher than you look.”
I huffed a laugh. “Thank you?” I didn’t know where to look.
She nodded. “You’ll be alright. And for what it’s worth, you have my blessing.”
I cocked a puzzled eyebrow at her. “Blessing?”
“For you and my brother.”
“Oh.” I looked down to hide my blushing face. “Thanks, I guess.”
“He does want you. You know that, right?”
I cleared my throat. “Uh, yeah.”
“Well, he does. And I know this isn’t the right time but… when you’re ready.”
I glanced overboard, thinking of the body we’d just gotten rid of, and then I looked at Alexei, his fair hair blowing in the wind, his face a closed book. If there was ever a time I needed someone, it was now.
I got up and went up to him, standing next to him as he steered the boat.
“You alright?” he asked, without looking at me.
I nodded. “Yeah. I’m fine. Just…” I shook my head. “Long day.”
He huffed in agreement. “When we get home, maybe you could eat something and try to rest.”
I folded my arms. “Still have to make funeral arrangements… real ones this time. And tell my grandmother that I found Celia and wasn’t able to save her.”
He looked at me, his eyes sympathetic. “You saved her. Maybe not her life, but you savedher.”
The lump was back in my throat. I was terrified that I might burst into tears again and embarrass myself in front of Katya and Vlad. I turned away, letting the wind blow my tears away. I walked over to the gunwale and looked down into the churning sea, sniffing as quietly as I could.
“You’re not alone,” he said, stepping up behind me.
I looked towards the helm to see that Katya had taken over the wheel. “I know I’m not.”
He put his arm around me. “I’ll help you with all of it. All you need to do is mourn in peace. Don’t worry about work, I already told your supervisor that you’re on leave.”
I turned to him in surprise, my heart jumping as I remembered Mrs. Smith for the first time in days. My work at the hospital seemed like a whole other lifetime ago. “Thank you.”
“No problem. I figured you probably didn’t want to think about such things at the moment.”
“You were right about that.”
He nodded. “And obviously, you don’t have to show up for your shift at the club.”
I nodded, my mind slowing with exhaustion.
“I expect you want to hand in your resignation for that one.”
