A Haven on the Bay - Nicole Ellis Page 0,14

laughed. “I think we’ll have spaghetti for dinner again. I never thought we’d eat so much spaghetti, but with the kids’ sports schedules, I’m just glad to have something that’s quick, cheap, and not McDonald’s.” She pushed her chair back under the table and walked across the kitchen to the dining room where Kaya was scribbling on a sheet of white printer paper. “Time to go, sweetie.”

“Okay, Mommy.” Kaya showed her what she’d been coloring. “See? I drew Grandma and me having a tea party.” She held it out to Debbie. “It’s for you, Grandma.”

Debbie’s heart melted as she crossed the room to take the paper from Kaya. “I’ll treasure it always.” She walked Kaya and Libby to the door, hugging them both tightly before they left.

When the door closed, Debbie took a closer look at the picture. Kaya had drawn a large red heart between the two figures. Debbie sat down at the kitchen table and ran her fingers over the waxy red heart. Taking on more catering jobs meant she’d have far less time with Kaya and the other kids. But, Libby needed her. Sometimes it seemed like being a mother meant sacrificing her own desires in favor of what was best for her children, but she wasn’t sure she’d want it any other way.

4

Samantha

Sam blew a few short blasts with her whistle. “No running around the pool,” she shouted to two teenage boys racing each other to the deep end. They slowed to a rapid walk, but she had no doubt she’d soon be reprimanding them for trying to dive headfirst into the six-foot-deep water. Like most of the older kids at the massive pool located on the twelfth level of the Scenic Waves cruise ship, their parents were nowhere to be seen.

She sat back in the elevated lifeguard chair and scanned the water through the dark lenses of her sunglasses. There was a lively game of Marco Polo happening in the deep end. Over in the shallow end, toddlers wearing life jackets stood nervously on the pool steps while their parents coaxed them in with outstretched arms. The Caribbean sun beat down on her, warming her arms through the UV-protective sleeves of her zip-up uniform jacket. There were definitely worse places to be on a summer day.

She hadn’t planned to work as a lifeguard over the summer, but when her friend, Miranda, had to cut her employment contract short when her mother fell seriously ill, the cruise line hadn’t been able to find a replacement lifeguard on such short notice during the busy season. They’d asked Miranda if she knew anyone who’d qualify, and knowing that Samantha had worked as a lifeguard in the past, Miranda had recommended her for the temporary job.

As a PE teacher at Willa Bay High School, Samantha usually worked whatever jobs she could find over the summer to make ends meet until the school year started. Normally, she wouldn’t have been so keen to travel halfway around the world on a moment’s notice and leave behind her boyfriend, family, and friends, but this opportunity had given her the much-needed time and space to think about where her life was going.

Her reprieve from the real world would soon come to an end, however. Miranda’s mother had made a full recovery and her friend was due back in a little over a week.

“Has it been pretty slow this afternoon?” A man in his early twenties asked from below. Samantha glanced at her watch and then down at him. “Is it three-thirty already?”

He laughed, pulling his sunglasses off his tanned face to clean them with the hem of the white t-shirt he wore over his red swim trunks. “Yep. You’re free.”

She climbed down from the chair and gave him a quick rundown on the issues she’d seen that day. “Have fun!” she said, flashing him a big smile as she walked away. She’d been working in the heat since the pool opened at seven that morning and all she wanted to do was grab a snack from the crew mess and flop lazily onto her bed to relax.

She picked up a bagel and cream cheese from the cafeteria and brought them back to her room. Her cabin mate, Kellie, was already there, kicked back on the lower bunk while she watched a movie on the TV affixed to the wall. When she saw Samantha enter, Kellie removed her headphones. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Samantha set the food on the small table that folded out from the wall