Page 30 of Fire and Ice Cruise

She looks my way and presses her lips together as if she’s about to take the proverbial plunge. “Can I ask how you ended up living on a cruise ship? It seems like an unusual life choice.”

A laugh bubbles from me. “I guess it is unusual. The funny thing is, I never sought out this life—it sort of found me.”

She studies me for a moment. “Really? How did you end up there? What’s your origin story, Trixie?” She says that last part with a wink.

“I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” I say with a laugh. And here’s hoping I can glean a little more about this mystery woman who has settled into our midst.

“Okay.” She shrugs. “You first.”

I take a breath. “A little over a year ago, I caught my husband cheating. We’d been married twenty-five years, and I thought we were happy. It turns out he’d been having a very happy affair with his secretary, and with just about everyone else for who knows how long.” The familiar anger flares up, but it’s duller now, worn smooth by time. “On the morning we were set to leave on our cruise, I stepped out to get my nails done only to come home and find out he was getting himself serviced by a handful of women.” I shake my head at the horrific memory. “He wanted me to forgive him, to go to couples therapy, to pretend it never happened. But I couldn’t. So I took our twenty-fifth-anniversary cruise alone—the one we were supposed to take together—and it was the best decision I ever made.”

“Is that when you met Bess and Nettie?”

“Yes. They were already living on the ship, and they took me under their wing. They made sure I stayed and helped me get the art instructor position. Of course, I met Wes and Ransom, too, and suddenly I had a whole new life I never expected. And a whole new family.”

“It sounds like a happy ending.” She smiles. “Do you have kids?”

“I do,” I say. “I have two kids from my first marriage—Abbey and Parker. Abbey’s twenty-one and studying narrative studies at Dexter University. She’s dating the captain’s son Owen, and she has this amazing ability to see through people’s nonsense. Parker is twenty-four and just finished his undergrad at Dexter. Now he’s in grad school at Hollingsworth University in Cambridge studying Digital Social Media. He’s dating Emerson, who is Ransom’s daughter. Parker is the tech genius of the family. They both think I’m a little insane for living on a cruise ship, but they also think I’m happier than I’ve been in years. And they’re right.”

“Wow.” She laughs. “Your daughter is dating the captain’s son and your son is dating your new husband’s daughter? Talk about keeping it in the family.”

I laugh. “Well, you know what they say. It’s a small world after all—even smaller if you live on a cruise ship.”

Marina tips her head my way. “I have to give it to you. It takes courage to start over like that.”

“Says the woman who boarded a cruise ship with a suitcase and tears in a Copenhagen bar.”

She laughs, a deep belly laugh this time. “You got me there.”

“So, it’s your turn,” I say. “If you don’t mind sharing. Do you have any children?”

“No, none for me. I wouldn’t have minded them, but that just never happened for me.” She gives a ragged sigh. “I’m at peace with it.”

She looks out at the waterfall, and I watch as a few emotions play out across her face.

“I think I mentioned back in Copenhagen that I grew up on a boat,” she continues. “My parents were sailors—they lived aboard and traveled constantly. I was homeschooled until I was twelve, up until we finally set roots in Boston. And fast forward to college, that’s where I met the love of my life. His name was David.” She swallows hard as she says his name. “We got married right after graduation, and for fifteen years, we were happy as can be. Really happy.”

“What happened?”

Her expression darkens. “He died. Heart attack at forty-two. No warning, no time to say goodbye. One day he was fine, and the next day he was gone.”

“Oh, Marina. I’m so sorry.”

My heart breaks just hearing it.

“Thank you.” She wipes at her eyes quickly. “After that, I threw myself into work. Hospitality, event planning, anything that kept me busy and kept me from thinking too much about anything. I’ve spent the last decade working nonstop, and I’m good at it. I’m really good at what I do. But I’m also so very exhausted.”

“I can see why. All work and no play will do that to you.” I pause for a moment. “No romantic interests since?” I ask carefully.

Marina looks off at the falls and seems to struggle with how to answer. She clears her throat. “No. No romance since.”

“She’s lying,” a woman chirps from behind, and I look up in time to see Celeste floating over us with her white gown billowing in the wind.

I frown at the gorgeous specter with her platinum blonde hair and ruby red lips, and, well, that heaving bosom doing its best to ripple right out of her ethereal gown, though I think she might be right. There’s something Marina isn’t telling me. Marina might be good at keeping secrets, but her face is lousy at hiding just about anything.

“Trixie?” Marina looks concerned. “Are you okay? You just went really still.”

“I’m fine. I just—I just thought I saw something.”