Adventure in Alaska: An Ocean Cruising Cozy Mystery (Ocean Cruise Cozies Book 2) by Dougan Cheryl

Author:Dougan, Cheryl
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

Adelle looked around the dinner table that night, pleased with her idea to invite Chuck and Wendy to join her group. With Chuck seated beside her and Wendy on her other side, she hoped for an opportunity to discreetly ask Chuck about his hike. However, before she got the chance, Debbie interrupted their conversation.

“Chuck, we saw you following Barb this morning,” Debbie teased.

Adelle’s heart sank. So much for not drawing attention to the matter.

Wendy chimed in, explaining that she had overheard a ranger at the National Park visitor center mention a hiking trail to Barb, and thought Chuck would prefer that to shopping with her.

“You got that right,” Chuck replied.

Adelle observed Barb closely, curious about her reaction to being followed. She didn’t want the news to tip Barb into a dark mood again. The afternoon had been fun and productive, starting with lunch at the Red Onion saloon, where Adelle and the sisters had found Barb laughing with the bartender.

“Do you think Barb has a drinking problem?” Debbie had asked Adelle. “I’ve seen her chatting with every bartender on the ship.”

“She’s asking about Kevin,” Adelle had blurted out before thinking.

“I told you she doesn’t have a drinking problem,” Tilly had said, poking Debbie in the ribs. “She’s looking for her secret admirer.”

Fortunately, the sisters had dropped the topic when Barb joined them at their table. After lunch, the sisters had gone shopping while Adelle and Barb had spent enjoyable time together nosing around Skagway and asking about Kevin. Eventually, they had found a lead. At a café near the dock, a young waitress had remembered serving him that morning and mentioned that he had chartered a fishing boat to Valdez.

“Kevin was looking forward to spending a few days out at sea,” the waitress said. “You’re not the only ones who asked about him today. A man came in earlier, but he wasn’t very nice, so I told him Kevin was going to Anchorage.”

Adelle couldn’t help but think that Dolly might have been right about Kevin. The waitress had clearly been charmed by him, and maybe he did have a gal in every port.

Barb was upset that she had missed Kevin, until Adelle reminded her that their cruise would stop in Valdez in three days. With any luck, they would find him there.

Adelle struggled not to laugh when Barb stared at Chuck and absentmindedly twirled a strand of hair that was no longer there. “The ranger told me about the hike to Smuggler’s Cove,” Barb said. “I didn’t know you were following me.”

Chuck took a sip of water before he replied. “I tried to catch up to you,” he said, “but I’m not as young as I used to be.”

“We know what you mean,” Debbie said, laughing along with the other women. Everyone laughed harder when Chuck described his hike through the birch and pine forest to the tidal inlet as peaceful.

“Not like hanging around with five women,” Tilly added.

“Did you find any smugglers?” Adelle asked, faking a cheerful tone as she remembered that Blackbeard had been following Barb as well.

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