tomorrow afternoon, we will have a guest lecturer here in the lounge who will discuss the daily life of a modern German citizen and share with you information about the culture. Of course, before you return, I most highly recommend you visit the market at the Dom, which is in front of the cathedral. You will certainly find some lovely Christmas gifts there, and I know you will want to sample some Glühwein, which is our favorite drink this time of year when we are meeting friends and shopping. It is a spiced hot wine and it is delicious.”
Sophie sighed. “It sounds so fun. I hope I’ll be able to walk by tomorrow.”
“You probably shouldn’t risk it,” said Sierra.
Sierra was always trying to talk Sophie out of her various illnesses, so seeing that even her sister was taking this injury seriously felt somehow vindicating. But it was also disheartening. Sophie didn’t want to miss out on all the Christmas market fun.
“Well,” Trevor said thoughtfully, “we’re getting bused there so you’ll be off your feet for part of the time.”
“Maybe we can find some crutches somewhere,” said Sierra.
“Or you can lean on me,” Trevor offered. “We could always shop a little and then find a place to sit and eat until the next bus back to the ship arrives. Ice up as soon as you get back on board.”
“I like that idea,” Sophie said. “Except if you want to go do stuff don’t let me hold you back.”
“I want to do stuff,” he said. “With you.”
Trevor March was the kind of man you wanted to do things with. And there’d sure been nothing wrong with his bedside manner. She had to be practical, though.
So far that wasn’t exactly working out. Honestly, life shouldn’t be so complicated.
“And now,” Elsa said, “it is time for our trivia contest. We have some questions for you, and Jacques will be helping us out at the piano. So form your teams and then I need someone from each team to come get a form.”
“Are we a team, ladies?” Kurt asked.
“Why not?” Sierra said with a smile, and Sophie was glad to see her sister enjoying herself in spite of the fact that she still hadn’t heard from her husband.
Teams were formed and the fun began, starting with picking a name. “Let’s be the Chocoholics,” Sierra suggested. “I think Trevor’s turning my sister into one.”
“Nothing wrong with that kind of addiction,” Trevor said, clearly happy with the name choice.
“Here is our first song,” said Elsa. “Can you name it and tell me what group sang it?”
Jacques began to rock out at the piano. Kurt leaned forward and said to Sierra, who was in charge of writing down their answers, “‘Smells Like Teen Spirit,’ Nirvana. Loved that group.”
“Me, too,” Sierra said, and wrote it down.
“All right. Everyone ready for our next song?” asked Elsa. “Take it away, Jacques.”
It was another song both Kurt and Sierra knew, M.C. Hammer’s “U Can’t Touch This,” and they both began dancing in their seats.
“Now, we’ll go a little further back in time. Who can guess this song?” Elsa said, and Jacques began to play a soft, soulful piece.
“Beats me,” said Trevor.
“We know that one,” Sierra said. “It’s our mom’s favorite. ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ by Simon and Garfunkel. I love the message in that song. He’s promising to be there for the other person like—”
“A bridge over troubled water,” Sophie supplied.
“Good message,” Kurt approved, and Sophie suspected that both he and his brother were the type of men who would put the lyrics of that song into practice.
“Now we have a song you’ll all know. Until he could come up with the right lyrics, Paul McCartney walked around singing ‘scrambled eggs,’” Elsa said.
The four looked at each other. “Scrambled eggs?” said Trevor.
The pianist began to play and Sierra gleefully wrote down the answer. “‘Yesterday’ by The Beatles.”
“Jacques now has another song for you from the 1960s,” Elsa said.
“Uh-oh,” Kurt said.
“Uh-oh is right,” echoed Trevor.
Sure enough, it wasn’t a song any of them knew. Something jazzy.
“I guess that wasn’t one of your mom’s favorites,” said Trevor.
“Afraid not,” said Sierra.
The competition continued with songs clear back to the forties and stretching into 2020. They all knew the newer songs, and thanks to Sophie and Sierra’s parents and grandparents the women knew a lot of the older ones. One they were sure was an Elvis song but nobody could think of the title. Sierra wrote down Elvis, figuring a half point was better than no