Sam
Before Rose could even open her mouth to respond, the piano lady’s voice rang out across the room. “In honor of the birthday celebration, I’ve cued up a dance mix that I hope you’ll all enjoy. Happy birthday!”
Something that sounded like disco music flooded the room. Sophie started laughing. I twisted around to see Alexis wide-eyed with horror. “Not this,” she shouted over the loud brass section.
“Yes, this,” Sophie shouted back. “And it’s my birthday, so you have to dance to it.”
Alexis tilted her head back until she could see the ceiling, and then clapped a hand to her forehead. After two more seconds, she grinned at all of us. “Okay, you guys. Let’s go. Group dance!”
Everybody stood except Rose and me—and that included Nick. “Woo-hoo,” he yelled.
Sophie wiggled my shoulder. “Come on, you two,” she said, her voice still full of laughter. “We’re all in this together.” Jacques tugged on her hand and led her away.
I turned back to Rose. She was smoothing the folds of her dress, staring at each movement of her fingers as though she were a surgeon. And even in the room’s dim lighting, it was obvious her cheeks were red. Guess this was one of those shy moments. Should I ignore it? Just pull her onto the dance floor like Jacques had done to Sophie? Probably not the wisest move with Rose.
I leaned closer. “Hey. You don’t want to dance?” That seemed like a safe enough question.
She shook her head so fast that I bit my tongue to stop a laugh from escaping. “I don’t—”
“Not allowed,” Alexis said, reaching in to take one of Rose’s hands. “All must dance.”
“No, really,” Rose said. “I can’t.”
“None of us can,” Alexis yelled. “Not even Sam. All he does is jump around like a kangaroo.”
“Hey!” I said, even though she was right. I didn’t think I was born with genes that included rhythm in their makeup. I got up because there’s no fighting Alex. It would be easier to sneak away from the dance floor. “Come on, Rose. Let’s do our kangaroo impressions.”
She gave me a dirty look. “I thought you were on my side.”
I laughed and grabbed her hand, and together Alexis and I hauled Rose to her feet. Alexis let go after four or five steps, wiggle-walking off to the tiny dance floor. I put my mouth practically inside Rose’s ear. “Don’t worry. We can sneak away in a couple of minutes if you want.”
She shivered but didn’t look at me. Instead, she glared at the dancers like she wanted to kill them. Her chest rose and fell with a huge breath. “Let’s do this.”
Um, no. She was not getting away with looking like she was going to her execution. I moved in front of her, took her other hand so that I had both, and walked backward.
She angled her head. “What’re you doing? You’re going to fall.”
“Not if you guide me,” I yelled just as I banged into a chair.
Rose laughed. “Stop. You don’t have to— Look out!”
I hit a table, moved away, and kept going. “You’re not doing this very well.”
She gave me a mock mad look and tried to pull her hands away. I shook my head, trying not to grin, but failing. She was so freaking cute sometimes. I never wanted to let go.
I bumped into someone who turned out to be Alexis. Rose and I had made it to the dance floor, and already that panicked look had come back. Think fast, man. I immediately pulled her toward me in a jitterbug move and then pushed her back out. Back in and then a spin under my arm. I had no idea what I was doing, and it seriously didn’t go with the music, but what the hell. At least now Rose had a smile on her face.
Alexis broke in and grabbed our arms. “No partners! Group dance!” She pulled us more into the circle where Marie, Jacques, Sophie, and Nick were dancing, and I had no other choice. It was kangaroo time.
I jumped up and down, and backward and forward, probably not moving to the beat at all. But one thing was clear—Rose was a little liar. Because her expression had relaxed, and she was dancing, her moves more natural than any of the rest of us. I slowed down with the jumping thing because it was making it hard to watch her. And I could totally get in to watching her.
The music changed, and Uncle David and Cynthia joined us on the dance floor. Like a splash of cold water in the face. Right, Sam. Time to stop having fun. They moved perfectly together, smiling, laughing. Compatible. I faced the opposite direction. When had my uncle become such a good dancer? Come to think of it, my father was a good dancer too.
Good. There was at least one way that I wasn’t like either of them.
***
After half an hour or so of dancing, in which Clio came by to wish Sophie a happy birthday and to warn Nick that he needed to be in his room by eleven, Rose and I threw ourselves onto the couch to take a break. Her face was flushed, her hair wild and gorgeous.
She slipped her shoes off and groaned. “I should’ve done this twenty minutes ago.”
“You want water?” I asked, holding up the carafe. She nodded, and then drew her feet up onto the couch to massage them. I poured us both water and downed mine down in one long gulp. Even as she drank, she worked her fingers against the ball of her foot. “I can do that for you, if you want,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound too eager. Because the sad fact was, I wanted to touch her. Even if all it amounted to was a foot massage.
But Rose immediately folded her legs together like she wanted to hide her feet from me. “No way. They’re gross and sweaty.”
“I doubt that.” I patted my thigh. “Come on. Put your foot right here.”
“Nope.” She pushed her glass practically into my face. “Can I have more?”
“Oka-ay,” I said, refilling her glass. “But you don’t know what you’re missing. I give a mean foot massage.” I winked as I handed her the water.
Her gaze dropped to her lap. “I bet you do. I just don’t like—” She sipped from her glass.
“What?”
“Nothing. It’s stupid.”
“It can’t be any stupider than hating on macaroni and cheese.”
She exhaled a laugh. “It is.”
“This ought to be good then. Tell me.”
She looked across the room as if she were checking to see if anyone was listening. And of course, no one was. The music was still rockin,’ and people were either on the dance floor or talking across their own small tables. She leaned in. “I just don’t like people touching my feet.”
I reared back. “Really? Has this become an issue? Are guys at your school constantly begging to touch your feet?” Because I totally would.
She laughed again. “Shut up.”
“No, seriously. If they’re harassing you, you should tell somebody.”
“Let me know when you’re through being hilarious so we can talk about something else,” she said, her lips curving.
Man, I wanted to kiss her. I ran a hand through my hair. “I’m never through being hilarious.” In her signature move, she covered her mouth with one hand. “I still need to know why you lied about not being able to dance,” I said.
“I didn’t lie.”
“What? You sat right there and said you couldn’t dance.”
She shook her head. “Neither of you let me finish. I meant to say I can’t dance in front of other people.”
I pointed to the dance floor and edged a little closer to her. “But …”
“That was the first time.”
“Ever?”
Her eyes seemed to glow, just like they had the other night. “Ever.”
My pulse pounded in my ears. Take it slow. Take what slow? I didn’t even know what I was doing with this girl. Humor. Go for humor. I swallowed. “I can’t believe this. Do you have a set of life rules that we in the Briggs family are slowly making you violate?”
“What?” she asked through a laugh.
“First, we make you dance in public. And I bet a foot massage is in your future. Are there any other rules we should know about?”
“I don’t have a set of life rules.”
“Are you sure?” Not able to help myself, I reached over and tugged gently on a strand of blond hair dangling near her face.
She pursed her lips. “Well …”
“Uh-oh. I have a feeling I’m not going to like this.”
“I don’t like to talk to strangers.”
“Mulligan! This is horrible.” She laughed. “I need to update my family,” I said. “We’ve screwed up all your rules.”
She ran a finger around the rim of her glass. “I think I’ll survive.”
“Even through the hard times, huh?”
“Yeah,” she said, and I had to move in closer to hear, “even then.”
Which reminded me. We’d been interrupted earlier right after I talked about my parents. “Speaking of, you didn’t get to tell me what bad thing happened today.”
“Oh, right.” She frowned. “You sure you still want to hear? It’s kind of a long story.”
“Of course.”
“Right. So, remember the other day in Porec when we were joking about a mystery novel?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I’ve sort of been trying to solve my own mystery.”
“Does this have something to do with Clio’s cousin?”
“It might. I don’t know yet.”
“What does that mean?”
She started in on her story. About someone she called the Sun Visor Lady and her sister. About a blond female crew member with a round face that no one could identify and how the thefts were continuing. About wondering if anyone in our group was involved because the bracelet turned up in Marie’s cover-up. About following Jacques into a bar.
While she talked, I moved close enough that I could angle my head down and hear her words perfectly despite the music. But the part about the bar made my stomach tense up. “Wait a second. You did what?”
“I followed him into a bar because he was acting strangely. Turns out he was meeting his dad for a beer. But it could all be a lie. I never saw the face of the guy he was talking to. Jacques made us leave too soon.”
“You think he’s involved in some jewelry theft ring?”
She lifted one shoulder. “I don’t know. It’s possible.”
A dizzy sensation ran through me. “Promise me you won’t do anything like that again.”
“Like what?”
“Like following someone through a town you’ve never been to or walking into a bar where there could’ve been a bunch of lechers sitting around.”
“I can’t promise that. It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
“Rose, come on. It’s a foreign country; you don’t speak the language. You could’ve gotten lost. You might not have found Jacques. Anything could’ve happened.”
She smoothed the already smooth material of her dress. “But nothing did.”
“Wow. Great logic there.”
“Don’t be snarky.”
“It’s my greatest talent.”
She actually looked up to the ceiling as though searching for help. “Can I finish?”
I leaned my elbow on the back of the couch and propped my head up with my hand. “Yes, I need to know every detail of this sordid little tale.”
“Really? ’Cause you look bored.”
“Not bored, just tired. There’s a difference.”
“Okay, well. You were with me when Clio’s cousin followed us today. And I don’t know how it connects, but I’m getting the feeling that it does.”
“So now he’s the one running the jewelry stealing operation?”
“I don’t know.”
“How could he be? He’s not on the ship.”
“He’d have to get someone to steal for him.” She gasped. “Clio.”
“She has red hair.”
“She could’ve worn a wig,” Rose said.
I straightened. “You’re right. She could be doing it.”
“And maybe that was why he was so mad at her in Porec. She’d let him down or didn’t want to steal anymore or told him she was quitting.”
As crazy as it sounded, this was starting to make sense. But we needed to be careful. “Just because she could be the one doesn’t mean she is.”
Her face got a set expression. “You’re right. I need to find out somehow.”
I let myself lift a section of soft hair from her shoulder. “Hey, don’t go nuts now. You don’t have to do this alone.”
“You’ll help?”
“Absolutely.”
I don’t know whether it was my answer or the fact that I was playing with her hair, but her cheeks reddened. “Thanks.”
“Sure. But I still haven’t heard about the bad thing that happened.”
“Oh, right. My journal was stolen.”
I frowned. “What journal?”
“You haven’t seen me writing in it?”
No. But that was probably because I was too distracted by just her. All of her. “Um, maybe?”
“Well, I’ve been writing in a journal about all of this—” she twirled a hand in the air “—and that journal is missing. I kept it in my top dresser drawer, and it’s not there.” She had to have misplaced it. I started to say so, but she raised her eyebrow at me. “And no, I didn’t just misplace it.”
“How—?”
“You’ve got the same look on your face as my grandparents did when I told them. I searched my entire room. That’s why I was late to the cruise update earlier. My journal is gone, which means … someone was in my room.”
The dread I’d felt earlier quadrupled. This had just gotten real. Rose could be in danger. We had to be sure. “How about we search your room one more time?” She opened her mouth, most likely to protest, but I cut her off. “I’m sure you did a good job, but you were in a hurry. Let’s search together. Just to be sure.”
The frown on her face turned to a look of determination. “Okay.”