swirled the whiskey around in his glass, then took a drink.
“What about the other half?” she asked.
He made a face. “The other thinks it’s the best thing I’ve done since losing your mother.”
Catherine was responsible for that. Sweet, unassuming Catherine. She’d won both their hearts, and now look at them. Athena wanted to slap her.
“Did Catherine tell you she’s going to be doing chemotherapy in the new year?” Daddy asked.
Athena wished she was a better liar. She should have ordered a drink. She could have stalled by taking a sip. Her silence said it all.
“I guess she did.” He took another swig. “She’s a lovely woman—humble and unassuming. She seemed a little lost when we first met her, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she did,” Athena agreed. Unsure of her future, in need of someone who really cared. Maybe her kids did, but if you asked Athena they had a funny way of showing it.
“I wanted nothing more than to help her find herself. Now... God, what kind of man does it make me that I’m put off by the fact that she’s had cancer?”
“The human kind? You went through so much with Mom, and then you lost her.”
“I never thought I’d find anyone who could hold a candle to your mother. Nicole was sure a mistake. But Catherine.” He rubbed his forehead. “I could have told her I wouldn’t let what she was dealing with scare me away, but I didn’t. I think your old man has become a coward,” he said.
“No, you’re not. You’re the bravest man I know.” So be brave. Take a chance.
She couldn’t say that, of course. What if she did urge him to pursue what he’d started with Catherine and things went all wrong?
But things had already gone wrong. Her father had come on this cruise, met someone wonderful and built up his hopes only to have them crushed. So much for her resolve to protect him. How could you protect someone from falling in love?
He grunted, shook his head, finished his drink. Then he looked at his watch. “I guess we should turn in.”
She stood up with him. “I guess so.”
They left the lounge and walked down the hallway to their rooms in silence, her arm linked through his. “Try not to feel bad, Daddy,” she said when they reached his door.
He smiled a sad smile for her. “You’re a good daughter, Athena. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“Me, either,” she said, hoping to inspire a smile.
She didn’t. He kissed the top of her head, wished her pleasant dreams and went into his room.
You got what you wished, she thought as she went into her own room. She hadn’t wanted her father to get entangled with anyone. He was definitely unentangled now. And miserable. So was she. What a mess.
* * *
Catherine slept fitfully. Her dreams were a mishmash of horrible tableaux. In one she was back at Heidelberg Castle, standing on the stone wall and looking down at the city below. Rudy was with her, begging her to come down from where she stood.
“I’m scared,” she said. Then she lost her balance and fell. She could hear him calling her name. “Help me!” she cried. But she was out of reach.
She awoke before she hit, but her soul felt broken. She finally fell back asleep again, only to find herself in a hospital, wandering up and down the halls in her hospital gown, looking for her doctor.
“You won’t find him,” said the nurse who suddenly appeared at her side. “It’s too late.”
Too late. Catherine awoke a second time, with the words ringing in her ears. It was seven o’clock in the morning, time to get up.
Denise was already up and dressed, wearing a black sweater and winter-white slacks, a gold chain around her neck and matching hoop earrings. “You look like you hardly slept,” she said to Catherine.
“I feel like I hardly slept,” Catherine admitted.
“Hurry up and get dressed. We’ll get some breakfast and maybe that will help you feel better.” She frowned. “Oh, what am I saying? As if an omelet can cure a broken heart. I’m sorry, Cath. I wish things had worked out for you and Rudy.”
“It’s all for the best. I need to focus on getting well.”
“You will,” Denise assured her. “You’re going to come out of this just fine.”
Maybe she would. Maybe she shouldn’t have burned her bridges, telling Rudy about the cancer and what lay ahead. But there would have been no hiding it. He’d want to