With the exception of a group of college students, most everyone appeared to be forty or older, which made Sophie and Sierra two of the younger passengers on board. That didn’t bother Sophie. She liked older people. Her parents were in their sixties and they were great. So was her grandpa, who was eighty-four and still the life of every holiday party with his light-up bow tie and his repertoire of silly jokes.
She especially liked older people who were doctors. Rudy Nichols was so handsome. Considerate. And easy to talk to. A doctor! She’d already met a doctor and they hadn’t even left the dock yet. Oh, yes, this cruise was meant to be.
“We are going to have a ball,” Denise was saying.
Yes, they were. Sophie looked to catch her sister’s eye and share a smile, but Sierra was busy checking her cell phone in hopes of finding a text from her husband. He’d said he couldn’t come on the cruise, but what was stopping him from sending her a message—broken fingers? If he ruined this trip for Sierra, Sophie was going to throttle him.
No, no, she wasn’t going to let Mark do that. She was going to make sure Sierra had a good time.
The ship’s cruise director appeared, a round-faced cheerleader type with light brown hair cut in a short bob, dressed in a jaunty uniform of slacks and a dark blue jacket over a white blouse. She wore a red scarf tied around her neck in a jaunty bow. She looked about Sophie’s age, and she was bubbling over with enthusiasm. She introduced herself as Elsa.
“We have many wonderful excursions planned for you,” she told everyone. “And, of course, we know you will enjoy visiting the Christmas markets in the various towns we visit. Every evening we will tell you about the next day’s adventures so you can plan what you would like to do.”
What you would like to do. Sophie would like to get to know the good doctor better.
“And we, your crew here on the Heart of the Rhine, are going to make sure you enjoy your time on board with us. We have our fabulous chef, Bruno, who will be making many German specialties for you along the way. Say hello, Bruno,” she called to the man wearing a white jacket and a chef’s toque who stood by the entrance to the buffet in the stern. Bruno waved and everyone acknowledged him with polite applause. “And Peter here in the lounge will make sure you enjoy all manner of wonderful drinks. You will want to try his candy cane cocktail.”
“That sounds good, doesn’t it?” Sophie said to Rudy.
“Indeed, it does,” he said, smiling at her.
“You’ll have to try one,” his daughter said to him, not even looking Sophie’s direction. Not very friendly. Sophie wasn’t sure she liked Athena.
Next Elsa pointed out a stocky man in a black suit, seated at the baby grand piano. “And we have Jacques here at the piano to entertain you with your favorite songs. We have some fun activities lined up and a music trivia game. Maybe your team will win a prize.”
“That would be us,” Denise said to the group.
“And now,” Elsa said, “I would like to introduce you to our captain, Captain Hans Ritter, who will lead us in our toast to our voyage.”
As she spoke, servers had been circulating through the lounge, passing out glasses of champagne. “Free champagne. Pretty cool, huh?” Sophie said to her sister.
Sierra nodded and smiled. Sophie could tell it was a forced smile.
Thank you, Mark, for not even bothering to text your wife and see if she landed okay. She was barely gone and already forgotten.
Mark had taken them to the airport and said all the right things. Such a shitty deal he had to work. He was sorry he was going to miss seeing all those cool places, but he knew the sisters would have a good time together. Maybe he’d been trying to make the best of things, but it seemed to Sophie that he hadn’t had to try all that hard. He’d seemed almost chipper as he said bon voyage to his wife. Glad to have her gone for a week? Sophie hoped not.
She also hoped her sister would be able to enjoy herself. Between “I’m going” and “We’re now boarding” Sierra’s moods had bounced from excited to depressed and back again. In the end Mark had managed to find just the right blend of regret and encouragement