A Very Merry Christmas
A sweet Christmas eBook
Sail Away
Sophie Lillie stared out the window
of the limo, feeling like a kid again as she peered at the cruise ship docked
at the Port of Los Angeles. She’d taken many cruises with her family and had
sailed to exotic locations all over the world, but at twenty-nine, she still
hadn’t outgrown the rush of excitement that always filled her heart on the day
of departure to a fun-filled destination.
“There’s the Bird of Paradise,” she said to her older sister, Dawn, as she gazed
up at the imposing, fifteen-deck vessel with rows upon rows of rectangular
windows gleaming in the December morning sun. Her father had booked their
annual family Christmas cruise on this luxurious ship bound for the Hawaiian
Islands. “Isn’t it beautiful?”
Dawn paused, responding to Sophie’s
question with a cursory glance and a shrug, then went back to searching for
something in her purse. “All cruise ships look the same to me—a huge, white box
filled with too many people.”
Sophie’s older brother, Reid, snapped
his laptop shut and grabbed his black, Under Armour backpack off the floor.
“I’m looking forward to the food,” he said as he shoved his computer into the
large, square bag and zipped it shut. “Just thinking about it makes me hungry.
As soon as we board, I’m heading for the buffet.”
Dawn gave him an amused look.
“You’ll be standing in line with half of the people already on the ship. It’ll
be like feeding time at the zoo.” Holding up her phone, she checked her
appearance using her camera, tucking her straight, chin-length hair behind her
ears. “I’m going to visit the spa and make appointments for a facial and a
massage.”
Sophie clutched her pink leather
purse on her lap, thinking about what she wanted to explore on the ship. “The
first thing I want to do after I drop my carry-on bag in my stateroom is to check
out the hot tubs.” She looked at Dawn. “We’ll need a nice place to relax after
our morning workout.”
“Workout?” Dawn countered with a
droll grin as she slipped her phone back into her Louis Vuitton purse. “You’re
not getting me on a treadmill. The only heavy lifting I plan on doing for the
next twelve days involves a wine glass.”
The limo driver pulled open the
passenger door and Sophie stepped out first, checking the time on her phone as
she waited for Dawn and Reid. They were supposed to meet their father inside
the terminal at one o’clock. She wondered if he’d already arrived or if he was
still on his way from the airport.
She and her two siblings had flown
in from Minneapolis a day early and stayed overnight in a hotel close to the
terminal. Their father, Brad Lillie, had originally planned to join them there
so they could all ride to the port together. Sophie didn’t know why, but at the
last minute, he’d suddenly changed his plans to arrive this morning instead.
They followed the driver to the back
of the vehicle to retrieve their luggage, each suitcase equipped with a special
tag provided by Aloha Cruise Line to ensure the baggage handlers loaded them
onto the correct ship. The happy trio then handed their checked bags to a
porter stationed curbside and proceeded into the terminal to meet their father.
Scores of people swarmed into the
sprawling, noisy building. Cruise line staff stood at key points to direct
passengers to their correct check-in locations. A large family pulling
suitcases cut across Sophie’s path and separated her from her siblings. She
maneuvered around them as quickly as she could and glanced about, searching for
her brother; a geeky-looking guy in his early thirties with thick, curly hair,
a “Pink Floyd” t-shirt, sandals, and cargo shorts. Reid and Dawn both had the
same tall, lean profiles as their father. Reid had sandy-colored hair like
Brad, but Dawn’s short locks were a tad lighter with a natural reddish tint.
They weren’t easy to spot. By the
time she’d located Reid, he and Dawn had blended into the maze-like check-in
line for the Bird of Paradise and
were slowly disappearing into the moving crowd. Obviously, they hadn’t realized
yet that she’d become separated from them.
“Reid!”
Reid and Dawn turned at the sound of
her voice and vigorously waved at her to catch up to them. Sophie ducked under
a black nylon rope and quickly joined them in line.
Dawn glanced at the time on her
phone. “We should call Dad and coordinate where we’re supposed to meet him.”
She scanned the organized chaos around them. “It’s impossible to locate him in
this place.”
As if on cue, Reid’s phone rang.
“This is him now,” Reid said as he lifted his iPhone to his ear. “Hey, Dad,
what’s up? Are you in the terminal or have you already boarded the ship?” After
a brief conversation, he ended the call and shoved his phone back into the side
pocket of his shorts. “Dad says he’s running late. He’ll meet us later at the Sail Away party.”
A surge of apprehension filled
Sophie’s heart. She hadn’t seen her father in months—six to be exact—and though
she desperately wanted to make things right between them, the thought of facing
him made her nervous. The last time they’d spoken was the day after her
mother’s funeral where their conversation had turned into a heated discussion
over his disapproval of her boyfriend and her lifestyle. She’d refused to
listen to his warning about Avery Newman and in defiance, walked out,
stubbornly determined to do things her way.
It
proved to be the biggest mistake of my life.
The Bird of Paradise would be at sea for three days before arriving at
Hilo, Hawaii, on Christmas day. She planned to approach her dad tonight with a
long-overdue father-daughter talk that she hoped would begin to repair their
relationship. Christmas wouldn’t be the same this year without her mother,
Maggie, but Sophie still had her dad and she needed to make things right
between them again by offering a sincere, heartfelt apology.
It took about fifteen minutes to
reach the head of the line. A staff person quickly directed them to the next
available representative to check them in. Sophie handed her boarding documents
to the friendly dark-haired woman handling the process and received her “sea
pass,” a plastic card containing her picture and pertinent information. It
served as her room key, her boarding pass, and a credit card aboard the ship.
Once they’d checked in, they headed
across the terminal to enter the ship. A small crew of cruise line staff stood
at the entrance to the covered gangway to take their “Welcome Aboard” picture. The
female photographer stepped behind her tripod. “Smile!”
Sophie and her siblings stood
together in front of a large poster of The
Bird of Paradise with arms outstretched and wide, exaggerated grins.
The woman laughed as she pressed her
finger on the shutter. “You guys have done this before, haven’t you?”
“Every year since we were little,”
Reid said and grabbed his backpack off the floor. “Mom used the picture for her
family Christmas card, but she’s gone now, so…”
An awkward silence fell over the
group.
Reid looked up. “I guess I’ll give
my copy to my girlfriend instead.”
Dawn sniffled as she retrieved her
carry-on bags off the floor. “Thank you.”
“Check the photo kiosk on the ship tomorrow
morning,” the photographer said. “It will be ready for viewing by then.”
Dawn signaled to Sophie and Reid to
be on their way.
They walked across the gangway to
the entrance of the ship. After they passed through the security line, they
headed for the elevator bank and stood waiting for the next available car when
Reid’s phone rang again. This time the ringtone sounded different. His face lit
up at the sound of Billy Joel singing “Uptown Girl.”
“It’s Ashley,” Sophie whispered to
Dawn, referring to the current love of Reid’s life. “He told me this morning he
changed her ringtone to that song because it reminds him of her.”
Dawn rolled her eyes.
Sophie grinned.
Preoccupied with his call, Reid
handed his backpack to Dawn and punched the elevator button to take him to the
Hibiscus Star Buffet. Sophie and Dawn waved goodbye to him as they got off at deck
eight to view their staterooms and drop off their small bags. All of their
staterooms were next to one another on the port side of the ship, only a few doors
away from the elevator bank and central stairwell.
Sophie entered her stateroom of
taupe walls and matching carpeting. The long, spacious room had a large closet,
a lighted vanity with a built-in desk, a cozy blue sofa, and a double bed. She
set a small makeup bag on a corner shelf in the bathroom then walked through
the room, dropping her purse and carry-on bag on the bed on her way to the
balcony. She pulled back the taupe and cream curtains in front of the sliding
glass doors to let the golden December sun stream across the room. Opening the
door, she stepped out onto the balcony and rested her elbows on the smooth,
wooden rail, gazing at the deep blue waters of San Pedro Bay. A warm pacific
breeze and the cawing of California gulls circling about the gentle waves
created a mesmerizing backdrop that slowly began to relax her body and her
mind.
“What’s the matter?” From the
balcony next door, Dawn’s voice suddenly cut into her thoughts. “You look sad.”
Sophie stared at the water and
sighed.
Dawn leaned over the railing and
tossed a cracker into the air. A white gull with gray wings and a black and
white tail swooped down and caught it in midair. “Thinking about Mom?”
Sophie shook her head.
“Don’t tell me you’re obsessing
about Avery Newman again.”
Sophie shrugged.
“Look, Soph, you need to get over
him. He used you, plain and simple. You’re better off without that guy and you
know it.”
“I’m not obsessing over Avery.”
Sophie sighed again. Avery Newman had looks, talent, and an abundance of charm
but no scruples. Leaning over the rail, she reached past the frosted glass
partition that separated their balconies and held out her hand to take Dawn’s
box of snack crackers. “I’m thinking about the money and what I fool I was to
trust him.”
“Thanks to Dad, he didn’t get a
lot,” Dawn said. Their mother had left each of her children a sizable trust
fund. The money had been part of Maggie’s inheritance from her parents. “Dad
knew you’d be upset when you found out you were only receiving a small slice of
your inheritance for now, but he believed he was doing the right thing. We all
did.”
Sophie blinked at this new
revelation. “You mean you and Reid were in on it?”
Dawn gave her an incredulous look as
she handed Sophie the cracker box. “Of course, we were. Dad wanted us unified
on the matter before he talked to you. Reid and I agreed to receive the same
amount that he gave you. Dad wanted to be fair.”
Sophie laughed ruefully. “I accused
him of being unfair anyway.” She tossed a handful of crackers into the air to
feed the growing number of gulls circling the area. “Why didn’t you tell me
this before?”
“Dad asked us to stay out of it.”
Dawn slipped on her sunglasses. “Besides, then you would have been mad at me,
too.”
Sophie tossed a couple more crackers
to the gulls and handed the box back to her sister. She didn’t want to talk
about Avery anymore. Looking back, that portion of her life had played out like
a bad reality show, one that she never wanted to take part in again. “Let’s go
and explore the ship,” she said, turning her attention to their afternoon
plans. “I’ll go to the spa with you if you’ll visit the fitness center with me.
They’re usually adjacent to one another.”
“Okay, but we have to complete the
safety drill by three-thirty and I want to come back here right after that so I
have plenty of time to shower and change before the Sail Away party.”
“Me, too,” Sophie said, looking
forward to twelve days of tropical fun. “I’m going to have a Mai Tai and enjoy
the music. Woo hoo! Let’s get this party started!”
****
The Sail Away dance party started in the pool area on deck eleven at
4:45 pm sharp. Sophie and Reid congregated in Dawn’s room at 4:30 pm, looking
over The Coral Chronicle on Sophie’s iPad, the ship’s daily electronic newsletter
while waiting for Dawn to finish perfecting her makeup.
“Ah, c’mon, Dawn, it’s a pool party,
not the Academy Awards,” Reid complained as he looked at his Apple watch. He
still wore the same t-shirt and shorts he had on earlier. “We’re going to be
late and all the good appetizers will be gone.”
“You just ate!” Sophie and Dawn
exclaimed at the same time.
Reid adjusted his purple and gold
Minnesota Vikings bill cap. “I heard there’s going to be crab cakes and grilled
shrimp on a skewer.” He checked his watch again. “It starts in five minutes.
Let’s go!”
They arrived at the party just as a
four-piece Hawaiian band with assorted drums, ukuleles, and steel guitars
started to fill the air with island-style music. Sophie and Dawn parted company
with Reid at the seafood appetizer buffet and made their way through the
milling crowd to the poolside bar to get Mai Tais.
“This is just what I needed.” Sophie
sipped her fruity drink and tapped her foot to the strumming of the ukulele.
She wanted to dance, but had no partner. Dawn wouldn’t risk messing up her hair
and Reid was too busy wolfing down his Hawaiian barbequed chicken to care about
jumping around to the music.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her free
hand and twirled her around.
“Ryan Scott!” Sophie burst into
laughter as she whirled to the music. “What are you doing here?”
Ryan let go of her hand. “Getting
away from the rat race, like you. Didn’t you know we were here? I was looking
for something different for our annual company bonus trip and Brad talked me
into taking my staff on this cruise.”
Brad Lillie leased all of his
company cars from Ryan Scott’s Mercedes dealership and had been a customer for
years, long before Ryan had taken over the business from his father. Ryan and
his father were clients of Brad’s brokerage firm as well.
Sophie smiled. “Have you ever been
on a cruise before?”
Ryan’s brows deepened with
apprehension. “Ah…no.”
“Hey, there’s nothing to worry
about. The ship isn’t going to sink.” She patted him on the arm. “Believe me, you’ll
enjoy it so much you’ll want to go again.”
During her teenage years, Sophie had
harbored a mighty crush on the tall, dark, and ruggedly handsome guy, but Ryan,
who was five years older, had always been more interested in his snowmobile and
talking football with Reid than flirting with her. However, they were both
adults now, and perhaps…
Ryan grinned broadly. “Have you met
my wife?”
My…what?
Sophie’s smile froze as a petite
blonde with long, layered hair walked toward them carrying a small plate of
fresh veggies and fruit.
“Hi,” the woman said warmly. “I’m
Katie.”
“H-hi.” Sophie extended her free
hand. “I’m pleased to meet you. How long have you been married?” To the guy I used to dream about in high
school…
“Not long,” Katie replied. “We tied
the knot last summer on Enchanted Island.”
“Oh, really? How was it? Enchanted
Island, I mean.” Sophie had only seen pictures of it online but knew that
Enchanted Island was a beautiful, heart-shaped isle off the coast of Florida.
“I’ve heard it’s the newest, hottest thing for destination weddings.”
Katie stared at Ryan with an adoring
smile. “It was absolutely wonderful. It’s a territory of the United States so our
marriage was legal there. We didn’t have to go through the ceremony again once
we got back home. I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat.”
I
don’t have a future wedding to plan. I don’t have a steady boyfriend or even know
anyone I’d want to have coffee with, much less a date, Sophie thought
glumly. Nowadays, her life consisted of her business and her cat. Since she’d
broken up with Avery, she’d watched more television than she had in her entire
life. At least, it seemed like that, anyway.
The ship had begun slowly gliding
out of the harbor. Sophie and Katie moved to the railing to watch the buildings
along the oceanfront methodically slide by as the vessel began sailing across
the vast waters of the Pacific Ocean to Hilo, Hawaii.
The band started to play an old
Elvis hit, “Blue Hawaii.” Sophie turned around and leaned against the railing, watching
them play when something caught her eye, or rather someone. A tall man with unruly blond hair approached Ryan wearing
khaki shorts and a sky-blue polo shirt that emphasized his broad, muscular
shoulders and arms.
Who
is that?
Golden brows furrowed over deep blue
eyes as the man spoke to Ryan. Sophie couldn’t hear the conversation, but when
Ryan shook his head in a manner that conveyed uncertainty, she wondered what
they were discussing.
The breeze blew the man’s thick,
wavy hair across his forehead. He lifted his hand to brush it away and when he
looked up, their gazes collided. For a moment, she couldn’t look away,
mesmerized by the intensity of his bold, confident stare.
Ryan spoke again, pulling the man’s
attention away, but that brief encounter sparked her curiosity. She had never
seen the man before and wondered if he worked at Ryan’s dealership. If so, the
grim line of his mouth suggested something wasn’t going right.
“Who is that guy talking to Ryan,”
she said to Katie.
“Oh, that’s Sam,” Katie replied
matter-of-factly as she watched their conversation with interest. “Sam
Alexander. He’s one of our top sales consultants.”
Katie joined Ryan to hear the
conversation, leaving Sophie to sip her drink and wonder what was going on.
“Hello, Sophie.”
She spun around the moment she
recognized the deep timbre of her father’s voice. Tall and slim with silver
streaks in his sandy hair, he looked the same, yet something about him had
unquestionably changed since the last time she had been with him. His blue-gray
eyes sparkled with purpose; his genuine smile widened effortlessly, creating a
window into his frame of mind. She let out a sigh of relief, glad that he was
happy to see her, but wondered what had happened to change his mind. Had Dawn
given him a pep talk before the cruise and convinced him to let their
disagreement go? If so, this was one occasion when Sophie didn’t mind her big
sister meddling in her affairs.
“Hi, Dad!” Ready to begin anew, she
set her drink on a nearby table and fell into his outstretched arms, giving him
a long-overdue hug as she sunk her cheek into his shoulder.
“I’ve missed you so much, honey,” he
murmured and wrapped his long arms around her, holding her tight. “I’m glad
you’re here.”
In the corner of her eye, Sophie saw
a female in her mid-forties with shoulder-length blonde hair standing close
behind him. Too close for a total stranger. The friendly, but tentative
expression on the beautiful woman’s face puzzled her. Sophie pulled back in
surprise.
He turned his head and smiled at the
woman then reached out and took her hand, urging her to come closer.
“Sophie,” he said with a gentle note
in his voice, “I’d like you to meet my fiancée, Carolyn Roberts.”
His
fiancée?
Sophie stared at the couple as her
father’s words sunk in. Mom had only been gone for six months. How could he
forget his wife of nearly forty years so easily? And so quickly?
Carolyn made the first move,
stretching out her hand. The huge diamond on her professionally manicured
finger sparkled in the light. “Hello, Sophie. Brad has told me so much about
you. I’m glad to finally meet you in person.”
Stunned, Sophie mechanically held
out her hand in response. “H-hello.”
Carolyn’s fingers clasped tightly
around hers. “I realize this is quite a shock to you,” she said kindly, “but I
hope that we can become friends.”
Sophie nodded, struggling for a
reply. “How long have you been engaged?”
“Not long.” Caroline marveled at her
exquisite, marquis-shaped diamond engagement ring. “Brad proposed to me about a
month ago. On my birthday.” She looked up. “It was a delightful surprise.”
“How long have you known him?”
“I had a couple of classes with him
in college.” Carolyn slipped her hand into Brad’s. “We met up again a year ago
at our college reunion party.”
That
was about the time Mom got sick…
Brad shifted nervously. “Would you
ladies like a drink? Perhaps a glass of Cabernet?”
“I’ll get it, Dad,” Sophie said and
backed away. The last thing she wanted was to be alone with Carolyn and
struggle to make small talk. She needed time to process this new information.
Did Dawn know about this? Why hadn’t her sister warned her beforehand? Her
heart ached with loneliness for her mom and she swallowed hard, missing Maggie more
than ever as tears of frustration and profound disappointment rushed to her
eyes.
Desperate to get away, she whirled
around to head for the bar, but instead, she slammed into a man’s chest. “I’m
sorry,” she said weakly as she wobbled backward and blinked furiously,
attempting to clear the moisture blurring her vision. “I—I should have looked
where I was going.”
The man’s strong hands gripped her
to steady her. “It’s my fault. I stepped in your way.”
She looked up and found herself in
the arms of Sam Alexander.
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~*~
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~*~
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