Caribbean Cruising (10 page)

"This cruise is supposed to be my best vacation ever," I said. "But it just hasn't started out that way."

"What would make it the best?" she asked.

"I don't know exactly. It's kinda like I'll know it when I experience it."

We sat in silence for several minutes, each lost in our own thoughts.

"You know the very real possibility exists that we could end up on a desert island out here," Brooke suddenly said.

I didn't think so. As a matter of fact I figured she was being a little melodramatic, but I thought she was probably going somewhere with her comment.

"Who would you want to be with you: Heath Ledger or Ben Affleck?" she asked.

"Heath Ledger."

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"I think I'd go with Ben." She sighed. "Or the guy next door."

I sat upright. "Ryan?"

"Yeah. As I may have mentioned, he's really hot."

She stood and leaned against the railing of the balcony. "So should we hit the shops as soon as we dock tomorrow?"

"Sure. But I'm going parasailing in the afternoon."

"Cool! I've always wanted to parasail. I'll invite the guys we met tonight to go with us."

I wasn't really sure how Ryan was going to feel about all the invitations being issued. But how could I possibly tell Brooke, my new best friend, that she wasn't welcome?

"I don't know about inviting the guys we met tonight," I finally managed.

"Come on. It'll be fun."

"Well, the thing is, I'm going with Ryan."

"That makes it even better."

Somehow I didn't think so.

CHAPTER 12

Virgin Islands Day Three

W
e docked at Charlotte Amalie in the Virgin Islands. From the deck outside my cabin, the capital of St. Thomas looked like a peaceful village with its red-roofed buildings sweeping out into the deep green hills. Ships of all sizes—sloops, yachts, sailboats—rocked gently in the waters within the harbor.

Once Brooke and I left the ship I realized that the calm appearance of the town was deceiving. It was bustling with activity.

"Hey! Jimmy Buffet," Brooke announced as we pass by a shop where the music poured out into the street.

She started walking with little bouncing steps, like she was dancing to the rhythm. I found myself joining her, stepping to the beat, snapping my fingers.

"Is this not totally great?" she asked.

"Totally."

We were headed for the shopping district. Most of the shops were converted warehouses where pirates mhtml:file://C:\Program Files\eMule\Incoming\+ Hawthorne, Rachel - Caribbean Cruising....

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had reportedly hoarded their stolen goods hundreds of years ago. Everything was quaint, and unlike anything I'd ever seen before.

Our first stop was the Tropicana Perfume Shoppe. The pink-and-white eighteenth-century building was located in the heart of the shopping district. The fragrances were to die for, and sported the names of so many prestigious companies—brand-name labels that I seldom shopped for at home because they were a little out of my price range.

"How about this one?" Brooke asked, holding her wrist up to my nose.

It was a sweet flowery scent. It seemed to go with the Tropics, but I wasn't certain that it went with Brooke. Still, she knew herself better than I did, but I simply didn't see her as sweet.

"I like it," I assured her.

She wrinkled her nose. "I don't know."

She was suddenly a mess of indecision. I didn't blame her; so was I. Far too many scents to choose from.

I had a feeling most of the morning was going to be a string of hard decisions.

Brooke dabbed another fragrance on her elbow and sniffed. "I like this one. Do you think Cameron would like it?"

I stared at her. "Cameron?"

She bobbed her head. "Yeah."

"But you and David—"

"Oh, he's history," she said with a flutter of her hand.

"Well, I know, but I think Cameron is his friend, and it just seems like it would be a little awkward."

She shook her head and raised her hand. "The rules are completely different on a cruise. Everyone is a player, and everyone is okay with that."

I didn't think I could be totally okay with that. While I was okay kissing different guys, I only wanted to get intimate with one. Part of the reason why I wasn't willing to seriously consider Ryan as one of those guys because I didn't believe long-term relationships could take root on a cruise, and our paths would pass from time to time once the trip was over. And I would be uncomfortable.

As Brooke had said, things were completely different on a cruise. Sometimes I wasn't even sure who I was.

"Did you invite David to go parasailing with us?" I asked.

"Sure. But he'll be totally cool. He had his chance and blew it. So I'm moving on. He'll move on." She gave me a hard look. "You have to move on, Lindsay. Can't wallow around feeling sorry for yourself just because a guy isn't interested."

"Was David not interested?" I asked.

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"Who knows? I didn't give him a chance to say one way or the other. He just wasn't right for me."

She sniffed the latest perfume spritz and sighed. "Chris would like this one."

Chris, her ex. The guy she'd broken up with but still missed.

"Is there a chance you'll get back together with him?"

She scoffed. "No way, Lindsay."

Then why was she worried about whether or not he'd like the perfume? She was trying to forget him with a bunch of different guys, but she'd mentioned him a couple of times already. What was up with that?

"I'm getting this one," she suddenly announced. "How about you?"

I went back to sampling. I wanted something soft, alluring, intriguing. Something I would wear on my special night when I finally met my special man.

Brooke and I were a hodgepodge of scents when we left, each carrying our first purchase. Givenchy adorned her bag; Yves Saint Laurent decorated mine.

Our next stop was a jewelry store. St. Thomas is known for its inexpensive diamonds and emeralds. In fact it's known for its inexpensive everything.

"Get a load of this one!" Brooke squealed, pointing to a necklace. It was fabulous—diamonds and emeralds that just sorta swooped down the neck.

"Where would you wear it?" I asked.

"Who cares? It's a must-have. Absolutely."

I wanted something a bit more practical. I bought an emerald teardrop necklace and matching dangling earrings. Then I spotted the toe rings.

I couldn't resist. I remembered Ryan mentioning that girls talked about toe rings. As if he would know what girls talked about. Just for grins, I bought him one. It probably wouldn't fit him, but that wasn't the point. I just wanted him to know that I was thinking about him.

Whoa! Where did that thought come from?

"What's wrong?" Brooke asked. "You look seriously upset."

"I was just thinking about my friends back home, trying to decide what to get them."

A little white lie that I didn't think would really hurt anyone. If Brooke and I had a history, I could tell her the truth. Julie would understand my confusion, would help me sort out my feelings and frustrations.

But Brooke, well, she was just a pal. Someone I'd recently met. Secrets and yearnings weren't something I was ready to share with her.

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"You should probably get them something local," Brooke suggested.

I'd almost forgotten what she was talking about. "Good idea."

I ended up with dangling bracelets for my friends—and the toe ring for Ryan.

Brooke and I scoured through the shops with our wallets getting thinner and the bags we carried getting heavier. Candles, more jewelry, clothes. While shopping on the islands I planned to only use the money I'd earned and saved for this trip, but there were too many wonderful things to choose from.

Although we would have liked to have shopped until we dropped, we didn't have time. We'd even shopped for tattoos, but I hadn't purchased anything there, nor had I done any piercing.

I had decided that having any needles placed into my skin could wait until I got home and could be sure the establishment was hygienic and up on the health laws. No reason to get carried away so early into vacation.

We barely had time to return to the ship, cart our bags to our cabins, change into shorts and a bathing-suit top, and head back into town. We hooked up with the guys at Enrique's Parasailing.

I'd neglected to mention to Ryan that others would be joining us when he'd given me the reservation information that morning. Now he looked exactly as I figured he would when he discovered the truth: not happy.

And I didn't blame him. I should have told him what had developed, and given him the option of telling me to forget the whole thing before we had an audience.

"We're taking dumb, dumber, and dumbest along?" he asked.

"I invited Brooke, Brooke invited them. The guys aren't really that bad. I was thinking the more the merrier." I furrowed my brow. "Although I'm surprised they were able to get seats on the same boat as us. I figured there would have to be some adjustments made."

"Not when I reserved the boat."

I lifted my eyebrows. "You reserved the whole boat? Not just a couple of spaces?"

He shrugged. "Walter took care of it."

"He is way too generous."

"Tell me about it. He likes to go first class, and he can afford it, so why not?"

"I guess. I just always feel badly spending his money. Will it be a problem for these guys to come along?"

"I guess not."

He didn't sound utterly convinced or convincing.

"Hey, look!" Cameron called out. "We got food here. Dog, this is going to be too cool."

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I looked at Ryan. "You brought food?"

"I thought you might be hungry after shopping all morning," Ryan said.

"Oh." I felt uncomfortable with his consideration, and wondered if he'd been planning for us to picnic somewhere. I really should have checked with him about inviting people before I let Brooke take over the excursion.

I wanted to make things up to Ryan. I reached into my pocket. "I bought you a present."

"You did?"

He brightened up so much with my pronouncement that I felt guiltier because the present was supposed to be a joke. Still, I pressed it into his palm.

"A ring?" he said in disbelief.

"A toe ring."

He chuckled, crouched, and slipped it onto his second toe. He was wearing baggy shorts and sandals.

Somehow the ring seemed to belong.

"Hey, not bad," he said with a grin.

"It was supposed to be a joke," I admitted, "because you said girls talk about toe rings. But it really does look good on you."

"Does this mean we're going steady?" he asked.

My eyes grew big and round. "No way. That idea never crossed my mind."

"Are you guys going to mess around all day or what?" Brooke asked. "I'm ready to fly the friendly skies."

We all climbed aboard the speed boat. We met Pete, who would be driving the boat, and Rick, who would be helping us harness up. We took our seats and headed out toward the blue waters.

"Anyone parasailed before?" I asked.

"No way, dude," David said.

The others all shook their heads. Everyone except Ryan.

He was sitting beside me, and I couldn't help thinking that if he wasn't Walter's godson, I'd've shown a lot more interest in him. But in all fairness I couldn't do that when I wanted something short-term for the cruise. And he certainly hadn't given any indication that he wanted anything more than someone to pal around with. I figured our getting involved would only lead to our being uncomfortable around each other when our paths crossed at school or at Walter's.

"You've parasailed," I said to him, finding myself intrigued by him when I knew I shouldn't be.

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"Catalina and Mackinac Islands, in the Pacific and on the Great Lakes. And of course, off the coast of Texas."

"You must like it then," I said.

"It's totally cool."

I really thought Ryan was being a good sport with the unexpected company. Everyone was dipping into the ice chest, helping themselves to drinks as we cruised out beyond the harbor.

The boat slowed. Rick crouched down in the middle of where we were all sitting. His flowered shirt was completely unbuttoned, his baseball cap on backward. He was barefoot and deeply tanned. I figured most of these guys were envying him his job. Casual, in the sun, and on the water. What could be better?

"Okay," Rick began, "you paid to have the boat for two hours. Takes about thirty minutes to get you up and to get you back down, so some of you are going to have to go in tandem."

"I'll go with Lindsay," Ryan said before anyone else could get a word out.

I knew he'd responded quickly simply because he was watching out for me, as Walter had requested. I might have objected if I'd been interested in any of the other guys traveling with us.

"How exactly does 'in tandem' work?" I asked.

"You're harnessed together and go up at the same time," Rick explained.

Harnessed together?
I darted a quick glance over at Ryan. I had a vision of us plummeting into the sea like a sack of rocks. I looked back at Rick. "Won't we weigh too much?"

"Nah. You'll be fine." He gave me a wink.

"Now which of you guys is going to pair up with the other babe?"

The "other" babe? That meant he considered me a babe. I gave him a closer inspection, but couldn't quite see me hanging around with a beach bum. Not that he was a total bum.