Hearts Ahoy by Stephanie Taylor

Author:Stephanie Taylor [Taylor, Stephanie]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2020-09-27T16:00:00+00:00

11

“So why are you in your room and not out with this guy?” Christina asked, watching as her mother moved around her stateroom with her hair on top of her head and a green clay mask on her face.

“Because,” Julia said, stopping in front of the phone’s camera to look at her daughter squarely, “we get to Hilo tomorrow morning really early, and I want to be ready to get off the boat and start exploring—“

“Mom.” Christina’s voice was firm. “Quit lying to yourself.”

“I’m not.”

Christina rolled her eyes. “Julia,” she said, using her mom’s first name to get her attention. It was a trick she’d perfected as a teenager and it still had the desired effect. “You’re afraid to have this guy kiss you and stuff.”

“He already kissed me,” Julia said haughtily, hoping it would get her daughter to pipe down.

“Listen, Mom,” Christina spoke in a quieter voice. “I know this has to be a little weird. But you’ve gotta get back on the horse some time, don’t you?”

“So to speak…” Julia said with a suggestive smirk.

Christina had the good manners to at least blush when she realized what she’d just said to her mother. “I mean, I guess,” she said, laughing nervously with her hands pressed to both of her pink cheeks. “Still. That’s kind of ew.”

Julia laughed. “I don’t want you to worry about me, kid. I promise I’m not self-sabotaging or doing any of the things that a self-help book for a woman like me might suggest.” Julia opened the closet, talking over her shoulder to the phone screen so that Christina could still see her as she picked out an outfit for the next day.

Christina was silent for a second. “You know, it’ll be kind of strange to see you with someone other than Dad. I mean, whenever you find someone else,” she added.

Julia stopped flicking through the clothes hanging in front of her. Her hands fell to her sides. Instead of speaking, she simply nodded, hoping Christina would understand that her words had been heard and appreciated.

“In other news,” Christina said in a louder, brighter voice, breaking the small silence between them. “I think I met someone I kind of like.”

Julia whirled around and walked back to the phone so she could look her daughter in the eye. “What? Are you kidding?” Oddly, her heart was racing in a way that it never had when Christina had told her about a boy she was dating. Was there some element to her daughter’s new romantic life that made Julia less comfortable? She knew deep down that she loved her daughter thoroughly, and that she whole-heartedly approved of her loving whomever she wanted to love, but there was that element of the unknown for her; the idea that somehow a lifestyle she was unfamiliar with might take her daughter away from her, or leave her little girl heartbroken in ways that Julia couldn’t fix.

“No, I’m not kidding.” Christina tucked her hair behind both ears and looked off into the distance before going on.

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