Veritas (2 page)

The strange silence seemed to go on forever, until Lauren blurted, rather inelegantly, “I cook.”

The brunette nodded slowly, a look of understanding and panic flashing in her eyes. “Lauren Murphy?”

“Yeah.
” Lauren looked back over her shoulder at the galley and shrugged. “I’m the, uh, new chef.”

“Right,”
the brunette muttered, forcing a small smile as she held a hand out in greeting. “Grey Wells. Welcome aboard the
Veritas
.”

“
Thank you,” Lauren murmured as she reached for Grey’s hand, and it was then that she remembered her waiter’s words from the night before.

Not even Wells can sleep with
that
many women.

But, Lauren surmised as she shook Grey’s hand, her waiter was wrong. She had no idea how many women Grey was rumored to have bedded, but she had no doubt that the brunette could pick up pretty much any woman if she tried. Grey was simply too beautiful to ever be turned down.
Lauren smiled shyly at Grey as she released her hand and turned back toward the galley. “I’ll need to check the pantry to make sure I have everything I need before I head over to the farmer’s market to pick up the fresh produce for the trip.”

Grey nodded,
clearly relieved that Lauren seemed more interested in examining the boat than making nice with her. “It’s stocked with pretty much everything that I think you could possibly need, but I’ll let you look for yourself after we get your things stowed away. So—” she clapped her hands, grateful for the opportunity to look anywhere but at Lauren, “—I’ll give you a quick tour, and then we can get to it. This is the salon.” She waved a hand at the open space they were standing in. “Galley, dining room, lounge, and navigation center. Through there—” she pointed at a narrow oval-shaped doorway that was nestled between the dining area and the lounge, “—are two guest cabins that share an en suite. The other guest cabins are along the starboard side, both with full en suites.”

Lauren looked at the stairs by the desk Grey had called the navigation center and nodded.
Grey was obviously trying a little too hard to sound upbeat, and when she glanced at her out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Grey was studiously avoiding looking at her. There was a stiffness to her posture that told Lauren she was anxious about something, and Lauren could not help but wonder what in the world she had done to make her act that way.

“Crew cabins are this way,” Grey continued, waving a hand for Lauren to follow her as she made her way pas
t the galley and down five narrow steps to the landing that separated the
Veritas’
two other cabins. Floor-to-ceiling cabinetry filled the outer wall of the small area, and she pointed at the door that was at the stern. “My cabin is there, yours is at the bow. You have your own en suite, and there is a closet with drawers inside it for your things. All cabins have televisions that are wired to the boat’s electronic entertainment system, so you’ll have full-access to the digital library. The boat also has WiFi via satellite, if you need to check emails or go online while we’re out on the charters. The WiFi network is called Veritas, and the password is
opensesame
—all lowercase, no spaces.”

Lauren looked at the oval doorway that led to her cabin. “Got it.”

Grey nodded and tried her best to appear calm. Her heart rate spiked as her eyes locked onto Lauren’s, and she immediately looked back toward the salon, desperate for some kind of an escape. “Excellent. Well, the Muellers won’t be here until midday, so you have some time now to stow your gear. I’m assuming you have a copy of the food profile they filled out when they scheduled their charter?”

Lauren nodded, even as her mind clicked through the basics. Family of five. No allergies. Three young boys who are adventurous eaters but do not like anything too spicy.
“I do.”

“Awesome. Well, w
hen you’re done unpacking, I’ll show you the pantry. You can dig around in there and the fridge, make notes on whatever it is you’ll need that I haven’t already bought, and then we can go to the farmer’s market in town. There’s a fishmonger I like who always has a stall there, and we can pick up the steaks, chicken, and whatever else you’re going to need from the butcher on the way back to the boat.”

“Okay,” Lauren said, her
brow furrowing slightly.

Grey forced a smile that was more akin to a grimace, and hooked a thumb over her shoulder.
“Great. I’ll be on deck, just come on up when you’re ready.”

Standing at the
Veritas’
helm, the one place that had been her sanctuary over the last three years, Grey ran her hands through her hair and looked out over the familiar expanse of Charlotte Amalie’s harbor. Now that she was no longer fighting to control herself for appearance’s sake, her hands shook, and she was seriously tempted to fire Lauren before she had prepared a single meal. Grey knew that it was not really an option—there was no way she was even close to being capable of preparing the meals for the next two cruises that Lauren had signed-on for—but that knowledge was not enough to keep her from thinking about it.

She took a deep breath, held it for five seconds, and then let it go. And then she did it again. And again. Eventually, the regulated breathing calmed her racing heart and eased the shaking in her hands, but it did litt
le to stop her mind from spinning.

The past came back to her in flashbacks. A warm smile. Gentle eyes. Tender touches. Whispers of affection that were laced with so much emotion that her heart would skip a beat. Harsh fluores
cent lighting. Beeping Machines. And then nothing. Always nothing.

If there was one road Grey could not allow herself to travel
, it was that one. She knew that time was supposed to heal all wounds, but the gaping hole in her heart was just as all-encompassing as ever, and she had yet to find anything that could make it go away. Drinking herself into a stupor worked to a degree, as did losing herself in the desperate embrace of a woman whose name she never particularly cared to learn, let alone remember, but neither of those coping mechanisms were going to work for her now because she had guests arriving in a few hours and a new chef making herself at home below deck.

She could not help but be pissed at
Lauren’s presence on her boat, and she latched onto that anger as she pulled her phone from her pocket. She did not even have to look at the screen to pull up the number she needed, and she gritted her teeth as the call rang through. She knew that what she was about to do was not at all fair, but she was too upset to care. “You fucking suck,” she greeted her best friend the moment she picked up.

Kelly Kipling laughed.
“Sometimes, yes. But why, exactly, do I suck this time?”

“Lauren Murphy,” Grey muttered, rolling her eyes
and running a frustrated hand through her hair. “You were supposed to find me a goddamn chef for a couple cruises.”

“And, judging by her
résumé, I did. She graduated first in her class from the Culinary Institute of America. From the handful of people I talked to while checking her references, I can tell you that she’s widely regarded as one of the best sous chefs in New York, and everybody is expecting her to be given her own kitchen sooner, rather than later. Her bosses at Clarke’s have nothing but great things to say about her. I found you a better chef than you usually get pillaging the local hotel kitchens—mine included, by the way. She didn’t seem interested in relocating, but she looks so good on paper that I was hoping after a couple weeks down here she might be more open to persuasion. So, what’s the problem?”

Grey chuckled darkly and shook her head.
“She’s a redhead. Wild fucking curls, gorgeous fucking hazel eyes, the whole nine yards.”

“Oh,”
Kelly murmured.
“Sorry?”

“I thought you i
nterviewed her.”

“I did interview her, Grey. Over the phone
,” Kelly said, her tone softening.
“It’s not like I can jet up to New York to interview a chef for a short-term position like the one you were trying to fill. I mean, I do have three hotels to oversee on the island here, never mind the two on Saint John, and the one on St. Croix.”

Properly chastised,
Grey sighed and nodded. “Yeah, I know.” The Kipling family had been a fixture in the Virgin Islands for generations, and Kelly was the general manager for Kipling Resorts, overseeing the family’s empire. It was because none of the chefs for her hotels were available for the next few weeks that Grey had asked Kelly if she could help her find somebody to work on the
Veritas
. “I’m sorry…”

“I
t’s fine, Grey, don’t worry about it. Look, you just have to make it through two cruises and then you’ll be rid of her. Just give her a chance, and don’t rip her head off just because she looks like—”

“Don’t even go there, Kip
.”

“Fine,”
Kelly sighed. Really, she should have known better than to try and say Emily’s name.
“Look, I am sorry. About all of it.”
She paused for a beat and then added,
“So, you leave this afternoon?”

“Yeah. We’ll be out for
nine days. I’m just going to follow my usual loop through the BVI and back for this one, nothing spectacular.” Grey held her breath at the sound of footsteps making their way up the stairs to the bridge, and her heart thudded heavily in her chest when Lauren came into view. “I, uh, gotta go.”

“
She’s there.”

Grey nodded, unable to tear her gaze away from Lauren, who flashed her an apologetic smile and quickly ba
cked down the stairs. “Yeah. We need to go do some grocery shopping to stock up for the trip.”

“Good luck
. Call me when you get back. Or, you know, whenever you need to.”

“Will do.” Grey blew out a loud breath
and added, “Look, I’m sorry I went off on you. Thanks for listening.”

“That’s what I’m here for,”
Kelly murmured, her voice tinged with concern.
“Be good.”

Grey laughed,
the sound devoid of any genuine mirth, but she was grateful for the normalcy of the quip when her entire world felt like it was spinning out of control. “When am I ever good?”

“There’s a first time for
everything, Wells. I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah. Later.”
Grey shoved her phone into her pocket and started for the stairs, knowing that they really did need to get going if they were to get back in time to put everything away before the Muellers arrived. Lauren was sitting at one of the tables on the back deck that was sheltered by the bridge, and Grey’s breath caught in her throat at the small smile the redhead greeted her with. It was not fair that she should have to try and continue to survive, day after day, while being confronted with a reminder of all that she had loved and lost.

“Sorry about interrupting,” Lauren said.

Grey shook her head and glanced toward the salon. The ache in her chest was easier to ignore if she did not actually look at Lauren. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not a big deal. I was just talking to a friend. I’ll, um, just show you to the pantry so you can see what we’ve got, and then we can head out.”

“I went ahead and found it on my own before I came looking for you.
Hope that was okay.” When Grey nodded, Lauren continued, “Anyways, I have my list ready.”

“Excellent.
” Grey waved a hand at the dock and motioned for Lauren to disembark first. “Then let’s get going.”

Lauren loved farmer’s markets. There was something about the combination of fresh air and interacting with people who were proud of the produce they had brought to sell that never failed to make her smile. It was difficult, however, for her to find any enjoyment in this particular trip
. She did not like confrontation, but she found herself almost wishing for it as Grey continued to avoid her. At least then she would know what it was about her that irked the brunette so. She had given up trying to draw Grey into conversation after her eighth failed attempt, and they had ended up wandering the market in a tense silence that set Lauren on edge.

She double-checked her list and glanced up at Grey, who
was standing a good four feet away from her and looking like she would like nothing more than to drop the cooler full of fish she was carrying and run away. “I just need to pick up a few herbs, and then I’ll be done.”

Grey nodded and looked around the bustling stalls around them, and Lauren sighed as she made her way over to a small table that was covered with different herbs. She set the bags of fruits and vegetables that she was carrying onto the ground, and began quickly sorting through the bundles of aromatics that were piled in small wooden crates on the long rectangular table.
Everything looked to be at the peak of freshness, and it did not take her long to find what she needed. She stowed the herbs she had chosen on top of their other purchases in her bags as Grey paid, and she forced herself to smile when Grey turned toward her.