Calamity Jayne and the Hijinks on the High Seas by Kathleen Bacus

Author:Kathleen Bacus [Bacus, Kathleen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gemma Halliday Publishing
Published: 2014-10-10T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

The next morning when "Reveille" blew, I woke with my fingers clutched around the box of chocolates.

I'd returned to the cabin prepared to rip the paper off the box with my teeth, close my eyes, select a surprise chocolate, and begin to eat my way through those pricey crèmes and caramels, but for some reason, once I actually stood there, box in hand, fingers at the ready, I couldn't make myself open the box. Maybe because I knew this was one case where chocolate wouldn't comfort me. Wouldn't make me feel better.

Instead, I'd slipped into bed and held the box to my chest all night as I lay awake and pondered what kind of Truman Show extravaganza was playing out around me that cast me as the object of desire to two knock-down-drop-dead-gorgeous men.

A cockeyed cowgirl courtship fantasy, that's what.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I recalled Ranger Rick's shocking stage debut. For him to put himself out there like that, to profess his feelings so publicly, so compellingly, in such an uncharacteristic way, was the very last thing I'd expected from Rick Townsend. The very last.

I was still trying to wrap my head around all the implications. For me. For him.

For us.

And while I wasn't sure Townsend bought the whole amnesiac Tressa story, either way, he seemed to be sending me a very clear message. And that message had the L word in it.

I began to softly hum the music to the song that, from this day forward, would be known as "our song." No matter what happened. It would forever be our song.

"Oh. You're awake." Taylor walked out of the bathroom and greeted me, her gait a bit unsteady. Her eyebrows shot up when she saw the chocolate box in my hands. "Most people prefer to cuddle a pillow or a stuffed animal."

"I'm not most people," I said. "I'm me."

"Are you sure? Because the Tressa I know would have been on those chocolates like there was no tomorrow, especially given the dietary restrictions on board. Yet that box appears to be unopened. What gives?"

I sat up. "Maybe the fall down those stairs affected more than my memory," I said. "Maybe I'm becoming a different person."

"A person who no longer craves chocolate like a drug?" Taylor said. "That's not a change. That's a miracle."

"They do happen," I said, thinking once again about Ranger Rick's crooning. "By the way, how are you feeling?" I asked, thinking it was really suspicious Taylor hadn't had any motion sickness since that first night.

She frowned. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?" she said as she fiddled with a baggie containing pills. Vitamins, I'd bet.

I shrugged out of the covers and put the box of candy at the foot of the bed. "Someone mentioned something about seasickness, and I just wondered because you look just fine."

"I am fine," she snapped.

"Good. So…you've found something that calms the swells in your stomach. That's good. Do you mind me asking? What's your miracle remedy for motion sickness? Just in case I happen to be similarly afflicted at some point.

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