was planning; she’d actually been a little jealous. But not for long, not after she remembered all those poor people quarantined on those cruise ships.
“It’ll be fun.”
“Yeah, until some disease breaks out.”
“Cruise lines are being extra cautious now. You could be safer on a boat than you are here at home. Think of it—quaint German villages, beautiful scenery, sister adventures. Shopping.”
The magic word.
“It’s all paid for.”
More magic words.
“I don’t want to go by myself,” Sierra confessed. “It’d be too depressing.”
“That would be hard. You’d look like the loser of the high seas.”
“We won’t be at sea. We’ll be on a river.”
“Oh, yeah. Right.”
“It really does look like fun and I know we’d have a good time. So what do you say?”
“Um.”
“Come on. The only time you’ve used your passport was when we did that family trip to Canada. Don’t you want another stamp in it?”
Actually, she did. And a weeklong cruise with her sister would be a fabulous way to start the holidays.
Um finally turned to yes and Sierra ended the call sounding happy instead of miserable. Sophie, too, was feeling a little swell of excitement. She and her sister always had fun together and she was sure they’d both enjoy this trip. Well, as long as neither of them got sick.
She went to Costco to shop for her friend. While she was there she bought a giant bottle of Airborne gummies. And on her way home she stopped and bought pills to prevent seasickness, several bottles of hand sanitizer (even though she already had three in her bathroom cabinet) and a mask to wear on the plane. Okay, let the fun begin.
2
Trevor March and his brother, Kurt, sat in Pok Pok, the only restaurant to go to in Portland, Oregon, for great Thai food. It was also where they’d been meeting every Black Friday evening since their mom died five years earlier.
Now it was a tradition, and about the only one they had left. Dad had moved out when they were in their teens and started some new traditions of his own with the big-boobed, small-brained homewrecker down the street. Dad never got invited to Pok Pok.
Kurt stuffed a piece of kai yaang in his mouth. “Come on, change your mind. There’s plenty of room in my stateroom. It’ll be good bro time.”
Trevor pointed his chopsticks at his brother. “You’re not looking for bro time, you ass. You’re looking for a sucker to help you babysit.”
“Huh-uh. I just want to be able to talk to someone once in a while whose frontal lobe has fully developed. Of course, in your case, who knows?”
“I thought Misty was going with you.”
“Can’t. Her grandma decided to come out for a visit the same time as the cruise and she has to help entertain her. That means I’m stuck on my own with an extra plane ticket.”
“With a dozen college kids who’ll get lost, get drunk and make trouble or fall off the boat. Yeah, sign me up.”
“Come on, man. I need help.”
“You sure do. What were you thinking?”
“That it would be a good experience for my German class. Easier than renting a bus, and someone else will be on hand to help with the head count.”
Trevor shook his head. “You’re lucky all twenty-five didn’t decide to go.” He signaled their waitress, who he’d been enjoying flirting with, and she hustled over. “I think I need another drink,” he told her.
“Whatever you want,” she said, and hurried off to fetch it.
Trevor grinned. “I like the sound of that.”
“Don’t get your hopes up. She didn’t mean it that way,” Kurt said.
“Jealous,” Trevor teased. “You don’t have the gift with women.”
“I also don’t have a chocolate company and unlimited bribes at my fingertips.”
“You also don’t have any charm.”
“Hey, who’s got the girlfriend?”
“Poor woman. She has no taste. You sure lucked out.”
“No, I just got smart. Which is more than I can say for you with some of the women you’ve picked.”
“Hey, I’m not psychic,” Trevor said in defense of his poor choices.
“Like you had to be psychic to figure out that Angela was a loser? I never saw a grown woman pout so much. Talk about manipulation.”
“She wasn’t like that when I first met her.”
“Yeah, she was,” Kurt said. “And Sarah.” He shook his head. “What a leech.”
“Okay, already. Are we done talking about my love life?”
“We are. It’s too damn depressing. You gotta quit being so shallow. Look for someone with some heart.”
“Thank you, Dr. Phil.”
“You’re welcome. Now, back to the cruise. Are you