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I take the dish and stop myself from uttering the "thank you" that's on the tip of my tongue, the little voice in my head screamingDon't encourage him!
Dane pauses momentarily and then mumbles, "Good night," disappointment evident on his face as he takes off down the hall.
His expression strikes a chord in the unpissed part of me, and I wonder if I should be nicer.
Then I shut the door.
Chapter Eight
Brittany
The panoramic view of Budapest is breathtaking as I stand on one of the terraces of the Fisherman's Bastion, high on Castle Hill on the Buda side of the city. The structure is majestic, with its cream-colored stone, wide arches, stairs, and seven spired towers representing the seven chieftains who founded Hungary. I've spent the last few hours touring both sides of the Danube with my fellow passengers, and this is our last stop before we get back on our buses and drive an hour away to Visegrad, where we rejoin our ship, which departed Budapest after we left for our tour.
A white-haired gentleman with black-framed eyeglasses and a pleasant face joins me under one of the arches.
"Beautiful view, isn't it?" He gazes across the river, a wistfulness in his voice.
"Yes, it is." I turn toward the man. He's tall and slender with soft blue eyes. Guessing his age, I'd place him somewhere in his mid- to late seventies.
He gives me a faint smile. "I saw you in the dining room with the four ladies. Are you traveling with them or here by yourself?"
"I'm traveling solo."
"Me too, although I'm on the cruise with a group from my senior center. I live in a retirement community outside Phoenix. My wife and I always wanted to take a cruise on the Danube, but she passed away almost two years ago."
"I'm so sorry. That must make the cruise somewhat bittersweet." My heart tugs a little at the sadness in his tone and the distant look in his eyes.
The man seems deep in thought as he sighs. "In a way, but my wife would have wanted me to come. I feel like I'm here for both of us."
"That's sweet." I peek at the man out of the corner of my eye. His voice is soft, calm, and evenly paced. He reminds me of Marigold from the few times I've heard her speak.
"I'm Larry, by the way. Larry Sommers." He extends his arm to shake my hand.
"It's nice to meet you, Larry. I'm Brittany Walker." I take his hand and give it a quick shake. It dawns on me when I drop my arm that it's quiet around us. Oddly quiet. The buzz of voices is suddenly gone. I take a look over my shoulder and see our group has left. Too absorbed in my thoughts, I hadn't noticed. "Oops, I think we're supposed to head back."
"I'll accompany you to the bus if you don't mind. Actually, would you mind if I sat with you on the bus too? One of the men in our group is difficult to be around for any length of time. He's a nice guy, but verbal and never happy. And I hate to say it, but he's getting on my nerves."
"The complainer?" I blurt without thinking.
"You've met him?" Larry asks with a chuckle.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said that. No, I haven't met the man. There's a lot of talk about him on the ship. You must have beenpart of the pre-cruise group because some of them have dubbed him 'the complainer,' and he's driving a lot of people crazy."
"That's Jerry for you. He's a retired civil engineer and a know-it-all, and he thinks he's special."
"That's too bad. But, yes, you're welcome to join me if our guides will let you switch buses. Although I can't think of a reason why that would be a problem."
"Me either, but I'll ask."
Larry motions for me to lead the way. A brisk walk catches us up to the others, and after a brief discussion with our guides, Larry joins me on my bus. I retake my seat from earlier—third row from the front by the window. Larry slides in beside me. Rose and Marigold sit in front of us while Iris and Dahlia occupy the seats at the front of the bus.
We pull away from Castle Hill, and a few minutes later, I can see Rose peeking at me through the space between her and Marigold's seats. It looks like she wants to say something.
I lean forward, my face close to the back of their seats, to hear her.
"If you don't mind, could you switch seats with Marigold?"
"I guess. Is there a problem?"
