The cab parked in front of the house bright and early to whisk Mina and Kent to the small island airport. In the distance, the morning sun danced on the ocean.
Kent swallowed the last sip of his coffee. So many things about this place, these people, were going to be hard to forget. Especially one in particular. “A penny for your thoughts?”
“The sunrise is so beautiful. I’m torn between the need to get back to my sisters and the desire to stay here getting to know everyone better.”
He could certainly understand that, but as far as he was concerned, there was only one person he really wanted to know better. Though if he were honest with himself, he already knew enough about Mina Ummarino to know she mattered to him. A lot. The question was what was he going to do about it.
“It’s been lovely having you with us.” Cecilia stood in the open doorway. “If you’re ever back this way again, look us up.”
“Will do. I promise.” Mina leaned in and gave her hostess with the mostest a kiss on the cheek. “We had a wonderful visit. Thank you.”
“Yes.” Kent stuck his hand out to shake with Ramon. “I wish we could stay longer. If you’re ever stateside, you make sure to call.”
Even though their hosts nodded and agreed, he knew they’d probably never see each other again. He also knew he would never forget a single thing about the last two days.
He waved an arm toward the cab. “Ready?”
“Not really, but let’s go.”
Settled in the backseat, they waved at their former hosts standing in the doorway until the small house and the two people disappeared from view.
“I’m going to miss them.” Kent leaned his head back. “And this place.” And in a few more days, the company at his side too.
“I wonder how Jo and Ginnie are doing?”
“They’re probably having a ball. Especially Jo with her scuba lessons.”
Mina laughed. “I actually forgot about that. I wonder if she roped Ginnie into joining her.”
“Do you think she might have?”
She shrugged. “Normally I’d say no, but after the last couple of days I think I have a better understanding of expect the unexpected.”
“True.”
The cab came around the bend and the small port town came into view. “I thought town was farther away.”
“When you’re in a car everything seems closer. It’s when we have to walk that it’s so far away.”
Mina chuckled. “You do have a point there.”
“You want to try to buy a phone before we get back on the ship?” Kent asked.
“I thought about it. But overall, we’re going to be together and reception seems to be a challenge more often than not. I might as well wait till I get on the ship and buy it there.”
Kent nodded. “Then we’re off.”
The cab driver pulled into a small parking area outside the open air terminal. On the tarmac one plane in particular caught his eye. Not since his trip to the Big Island had he seen a commercial aircraft parked with a rollaway ladder in front of the airplane door. It was easy to forget that modern gangways with airplanes unloading people directly into the airport terminal were not commonplace worldwide.
They had less than an hour before their flight left so they didn’t waste any time in the small terminal. Once they’d settled up with the bike rental place and paid for their seats on the plane, Mina paused a time or two at a kiosk to glance at some of the souvenirs sold by the locals.
“I wish I had thought to offer to buy some of Ramon’s driftwood pieces.”
“Look on the bright side, it gives you an excuse to come back and bring your sisters.”
The corners of her mouth tipped upward in a sweet smile. “I wonder if they have a nice hotel in this town?”
“Do you really think if you were to come visit with your sisters Ramon and Cecilia would let you guys stay in a hotel?”
Mina threw her arms up in the air and laughed. “What could I have been thinking?”
The loudspeaker overhead called the passengers to board the plane. Keeping her small backpack with her, Mina led the way. The flight was short. They barely had time to take off, hit a few patches of turbulence, and then land at their ship’s next stop. In many ways most of the islands looked very much the same: lots of greenery, lots of colorful housing, plenty of beachfront, and warm ocean breezes.
Nonetheless, this port town was a bit bigger than where they had just come from. Kent glanced at his watch. “The ship should be docking within the hour.”
“Actually,” Mina held her hand over her brow, “I know lots of ships stop at this port but I think that one out in the distance is ours.”
Kent followed the direction of her gaze, and nodded. “I think you may be right. I can see the ocean view lounge at the back of the boat.”
“You know,” Mina turned to face him, her hand still over her brow, her grin a little brighter, “I’m actually even more excited than I was when we first decided to take the cruise.”
“Really, how?”
“In my wildest dreams, I could not have imagined how yesterday would have turned out. Even though I’d rather not have any more crazy accidents, I’m really looking forward to what the rest of this cruise has in store for us.”
For us. He liked the sound of that. Though he doubted she was referring to him and her. Most likely, the us was her and her sisters. Too bad. He really liked the idea of being part of an us. Much more than he ever thought he would.
“What does it say?” Jo stood behind her sister, looking over her shoulder at the message another steward had delivered. Apparently ship to shore communications worked much better for the cruise line than passenger’s cell phones did.
“Not much.” Ginnie handed the paper the steward had delivered to her.
So much to tell you. Great couple of days. See you in port today.
“Doesn’t say much, does it?” Jo handed it back to her sister.
Ginnie stared at the page frowning. “Great couple of days. As in honeymoon days?”
“Well,” Jo shrugged, “I’m wondering about what so much is she going to tell us. As in why the heck she missed the boat, or as in why the heck did she get married without us there?”
“Do you really think they got married?” Ginnie continued to study the page as if the paper would magically begin speaking to her. “Without us?”
“I don’t know. It makes no sense to me either, but we’re docked. They’ll let us off the ship soon. Should we wait here for her or meet her somewhere in port?”
Ginnie shook her head. “No clue.”
“Do you think Jim knows anything more?”
“He got in pretty late last night. I wouldn’t expect to see him any time soon.”
“I didn’t get in that late.” Jim smiled at the two sisters and scratching the back of his head roughly, yawned loudly. “I’m in desperate need of caffeine.”
“Room service brought us a carafe.” Ginnie pointed to the coffee table. “It might still be warm.”
“Thanks.” Jim sat on the sofa and fixed himself a cup of the still warm, though not quite hot, coffee. “This hits the spot.”
“Have you heard from Kent?” Jo sat in the chair across from him.
He shook his head. “Nothing since the odd message we got telling us they were safe.”
A rap sounded at the cabin door. Since she was the only one standing, Ginnie crossed the short distance and opened the door. On the other side, a large bouquet of flowers greeted her. From behind the flowers, a male voice announced, “Delivery for Mr. and Mrs. Harwood.”
The words had Jo’s head snapping around to meet Ginnie’s startled gaze.
Shaking her head, Ginnie snapped herself into the moment. “Thank you. I’ll take them.”
The steward handed her the flowers.
“Is there a note?” Jo followed her sister to the table she set the flowers on. “What does it say?”
Ginnie glared at her sister. “Will you give me a minute, please?”
Now Jim was on his feet, also looking over Ginnie’s shoulder. “I’m with Jo. What does it say?”
Dearest Mina and Kent, it was an absolute joy having you here the last couple of days. Wishing you a lovely rest of your trip and hope you come back again some day soon. All our best, Ramon and Cecilia.
Jo looked at the envelope the note came with. “Mr. and Mrs. Harwood.”
“I guess that answers all our questions.” Jim whistled softly. “I still can’t believe they got married. How did I miss they liked each other that much?”
Ginnie stared at the flowers. “They tracked each other when they thought no one was looking.”
“What?” Jo had absolutely no idea what the heck her sister was talking about.
Fingering the name on the envelope, Ginnie turned to face her sister. “I noticed that first day at sea. They tracked each other. Whenever they thought we weren’t looking, Kent followed Mina’s movements and visa versa. I knew there was interest, but I didn’t see this coming.”
“Mom is going to have a cow.”
“If she doesn’t have a stroke first.” Ginnie sucked in a deep breath then blew it out and plastered on a big smile. “Whatever their reasons, we have some work to do before they come on board.”
“We do?” Once again, Jo had no clue where her sister was going with this.
“We do!” Ginnie slapped her hands together and rubbed them with more enthusiasm than Jo understood. “I’ll call down to the concierge.” She spun around and waved a finger at Jim. “And you get dressed. I don’t know how much time we have so let’s get moving!”
Jim and Jo stared at Ginnie dialing down to the main desk. Whatever her sister had in mind, she was in full command mode. Heaven help anyone who got in her way.
“There she is.” Mina pointed to the ship in port. “She looks prettier than I remembered.”
Kent chuckled. “If you say so.”
“You know what I mean.” The ship was docked but they weren’t letting passengers off or on. From what they’d seen, only delivery personnel were being allowed aboard so far, and not many of those at that. “After missing it the other day, it’s nice to be back.”
He nodded. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Though I’m not looking forward to running into Jim. He’s going to tease me mercilessly about missing the ship.”
“Why? It wasn’t your fault.”
“No, but he told me not to book a private excursion. Had we been on a ship sponsored tour, the ship would have waited for the group.”
“Maybe.” She thought back to the last two days. “I don’t think I would have traded our stay with Ramon and Cecilia.” Or her time getting to know Kent better.
Around the port authority building, kiosks were opening up, preparing for the onslaught of tourists with plenty of money to spend on trinkets and other souvenirs. At the opposite end of the building Kent spied a small café. “Shall we grab a cup of coffee while we wait?”
Tearing her gaze away from the ship, she glanced in the same direction he pointed in. “If you don’t mind, I’d rather wait here. I’m sure they’re going to let us on the ship very soon.”
“Fine with me.” He gestured to a bench near the railing that separated the port town from the dock. They’d barely made it to the bench when the security personnel began moving about and setting up at different stations.
“Looks like the flood of tourists is about to descend on us.”
She pulled out her ID and key card. “Shall we see if they let us on?”
“All ready.” Their cards in hand, she followed Kent to the first security guard at the rail. From there, they proceeded to two more guards before reaching the final doorway to the docks and meeting the ship’s representative.
“Mr. Harwood. Good to see you made it back.”
Kent nodded. “Can we board yet?”
The man nodded. “Yes, the ship is expecting you. Though at this hour it may be a bit like a fish swimming up stream when everyone else is coming downstream.”
“I think we’ll manage.” Kent turned to her and smiled. “Honey, we’re home.”
Mina burst out laughing, clicked her heels together and repeated, “There’s no place like home.”
At the first podium, they slowed only to have the ship staff direct them to the gangway further down the dock.
“I guess this is better than swimming upstream.” Kent eased his hand at her lower back and nudged her forward.
No surprise that Mina wished he’d kept his hand there a little longer.
At the next entry point, he showed his card and the crew member looked at him so long that she wondered what he was expecting to see. The crewman inserted the card, read the screen in front of him and then to Mina’s relief, the man smiled. “Welcome aboard, Mr. Harwood. Glad to see you back.”
“Thank you.” Kent moved forward to let Mina hand over her keycard.
The man smiled at her without expressing the same serious scrutiny he’d given Kent a moment ago. “Here you go, Mrs. Welcome back.”
Mina nodded, not seeing the point in correcting she was a Miss not a Mrs. She was even more surprised when Kent reached back and extending his arm, grabbed hold of her hand. It took a full minute more before he looked down at their joined hands and seemed as surprised as she was that he’d taken hold of it. But even more of a surprise was that once he realized what he’d done, he didn’t try to let go. Instead, he waited for her reaction, and since she had no intention of letting go, he smiled and tugged her forward.
Even though they’d entered on the opposite end of the ship, the clutter of people had them maneuvering past those on line trying to depart and the path to the elevators. A plethora of tourists coming and going, ready for a day of sightseeing and fun. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing different. It struck Mina as almost surreal. They’d been gone for two days and everything felt so different in so many ways, and yet, here on the ship, everything seemed very much the same.
“Where do you think your sisters are?” Kent pressed the up button for the elevator.
“Good question. Let’s start at the promenade so I can pick up a new phone, then we can hit the room. If they’re not in the room, at least I’ll have a new phone to call them with.”
“Makes sense. I’ll plug mine in as soon we get to the room. If Jim isn’t there, I can text him in a few. I doubt he’ll be as concerned about me as your sisters will be about you.”
The elevators to the promenade deck opened and Mina could hear the music playing louder than usual. As she turned the corner, she could see the small band in the atrium playing, but unlike the usual fare the steel bands played, she could swear they were playing Here Comes the Bride.
“Sounds like someone is getting married.” Ken was still holding her hand and looking around at the crowds, studying those stopping to study the band on their way off the ship.
Mina looked at the people standing nearby, not a single one dressed like a bride. “I wonder who’s getting married?”