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The following day, the storm continued to rage outside, so they toured the ship and watched several shows and concerts, enjoying an easy and relaxing day at sea before dressing for the last Captain’s dinner.
Beth spent a little extra time putting herself together as they had decided to take a new set of pictures, this time displaying her betrothal ring. They knew exactly where they were going this time, so getting to the two photo stations ahead of the crowd was much easier. When the photographer suggested a sweet kiss, Bethany didn’t balk but instead leaned in to place a sweet kiss on Chad’s lips. The smile in the following photo nearly outshined the flash.
As the hostess led them to their assigned table a short time later, Beth considered turning around when she saw their final dinner companions were none other than Sally and Stewart. They should have paid closer attention to what time they ate their meals and selected a different time since Chad had registered them for open dining.
“Oh, it’s you two! How exciting! I’ve been wondering when we would meet up again. For such a small ship, we certainly haven’t crossed paths like I expected.” Sally’s voice rang out loud enough for all the tables in their section to hear her.
Chad pulled out Beth’s chair so she could sit before claiming his seat across from Stewart. The two men shook hands, and before long, the waiter was there to take their orders. Once again, Beth considered excusing themselves and taking their meal in her room. The trip was ending on such a high note, and she didn’t want anything to dampen the excitement she was feeling.
As she reached for her water glass with her right hand, an ear-piercing squeal went up from across the table, and Sally grabbed her hand, taking a closer look at the ring on her finger. Unfortunately, that left Beth with only her left hand to stop the water glass as it toppled in her direction. Her efforts were unsuccessful, and a full goblet of iced water poured into her lap, sending an immediate chill up her spine. Chad jumped into action, sweeping the ice from her lap and pressing his napkin to her dress as Sally retained her death grip on Beth’s right hand, seemingly oblivious to the chaos and discomfort she had caused.
“Oh dear, I just knew you two were in love. It was plain for everyone to see. This ring is gorgeous! Tell me, are you of a different religion or something? Why is it on your right hand and not your left? He did propose, didn’t he?” she inquired, still holding the fingers that Beth was attempting to pull from her grasp.
Beth had met a lot of personalities over her nearly forty years in nursing, but Sally just might take top billing for most… eccentric.
“We have discussed marriage and agreed that is what both of us want. I need to speak to my children before he officially proposes, so this ring is sort of a betrothal ring, if you will,until I feel comfortable saying yes to an actual engagement and planning the wedding.”
“Oh, Stewart, isn’t that the sweetest thing you ever heard,” Sally said, wiping a tear from her cheek.
“If you will excuse us, it is rather chilly in here, and I find I am in need of a change of clothes if I don’t want to fly to Massachusetts tomorrow with a cold. It was a… good meeting you both. Safe travels home,” Beth said as Chad pulled out her chair and offered his arm to her as they exited the dining room. Their server met them at the door with two covered plates of food.
“I am so sorry for your ruined dinner. If you wish to return, I will request that you be seated at a different table; I also took the liberty of having your meals prepared. This is everything you ordered. You are more than welcome to take it to your room with the maître d’ blessing.”
“Thank you for your thoughtfulness,” Beth said, squeezing his arm.
Chad pulled the envelope with the waiter’s tip in it out of his coat pocket and exchanged it for the trays. “Thank you. I greatly appreciate this.”
Placing his left hand on the small of Beth’s back he escorted her to their staterooms several floors below. Once inside, they stowed the food on the table while Beth changed into a pair of lounge pants and a warm, long-sleeved shirt before they sat down to enjoy their delicious four-course meal.
Halfway through her dinner, Beth started laughing. Not the soft tinkle of a laugh that usually came from her, but a full-throttle belly laugh that sent tears down her cheeks.
Catching her breath, she said, “What a character! I was about to thank her for bringing clarity to our relationship that first night when she dumped ice-cold water in my lap and had me second-guessing my gratitude. In all honesty, though, I do thinkwe owe the current state of our relationship to her. She is a lot like a swift kick to the head, but she definitely got me thinking.” Another chuckle escaped as she took her next bite.
“Whatever the reasons, I am just glad we are here. I can’t wait to see you after your trip to see Sarah and Saraphina. It is like my life is on hold until you return.”
“I know. This is a short trip, just a short three-day weekend, and then I will see you at work on Monday, and we can talk all about it over lunch.”
“You do plan on calling me while you are away, don’t you?” Chad asked, a hint of expectation in his voice.
“Chadwick Spencer Fox, I am not your wife yet or your child. I will not be expected to call home every evening to give a recounting of my day.” Her expression reflected annoyance, but a grin threatened to curve the corner of her lips. She couldn’t hold the smile back and gave up her ruse. “Yes, I will call you and give you an update, but don’t expect me to set a schedule or call every day. I will be focused on loving my grandbaby and talking through things with the kids. I will reach out when I have news, or want to hear your voice.”
The last part almost slipped right by him. She saw the surprise and pleasure light his face before he leaned in and kissed her softly. “I will eagerly await your call. If I am in a meeting, please do me the honor of leaving me a voicemail so that I may hearyourlovely voice,“ he said softly as he kissed her once more before pulling away to finish his meal.
“I had forgotten how much fun the flirting and banter could be,” Beth confessed, smiling as she took the last bite of her salad.
“The best is yet to come, Bethany,” Chad promised, and he meant that with his whole heart.
Chapter 21
Disembarking from the ship, making a mad dash to the airport to catch her flight to Massachusetts, then collecting her luggage, locating Eric at the passenger pick-up, and finally making the hour-long ride to the small town of Hickory Falls, where Sarah and Eric lived wiped Beth out. Sarah and Saraphina were asleep when she finally arrived at 2 am. Eric informed her that Saraphina had been restless and not yet sleeping though the night, so both she and Sarah were exhausted. He encouraged her to sleep as late as needed in the morning as he had no intention of waking up his girls before they were ready. Beth agreed, and they bid each other good night even though it was much closer to morning.
The smell of bacon and coffee awoke her the next day, and as she walked down the stairs a few minutes later, having dressed and made herself presentable, she heard Saraphina babbling and cooing.
The sight of Sarah sitting at the kitchen table feeding her little one warmed Beth’s heart. She couldn’t think of any greater gift than watching her daughter become a wonderful mother. Sarahjumped up and hugged her as soon as she noticed her at the base of the stairs.
“Mom, I am so glad you made it! Sorry for conking out on you last night. Somebody has been a grumpy pants lately.” This statement was directed towards her infant, but the affection in her voice was unmistakable. “Sit, eat. Eric already finished and went to wrap up some urgent work in his shop before he comes back to take this little angel off my hands. I called Tom earlier, and he will be over around nine am so we can have our little pow-wow. Oh man, that is in just fifteen minutes! You probably didn’t have “serious talk with kids” on your list of things to do first thing this morning, but your trip is so short I wanted to make sure we got the important stuff out of the way first so you can relax and enjoy your visit.”
Sarah was right; Beth had not expected to jump right into things but leave it to Sarah to rip the band-aid off and deal with the consequences head-on. Her stomach became unsettled, so she sipped her coffee and entertained her granddaughter as she nibbled on bacon.
