The Unsinkable Greta James(40)

She pushes off the rail and heads inside.





Chapter Sixteen


Greta is on her way to the auditorium that evening when she gets a text from Asher.

I heard you stopped by to see Dad last night. He seemed glad. It’s been a tough start to the trip.

She pauses on the red-carpeted staircase, thinking of the way his face had looked so drawn and pale. I know, she replies. I feel bad for him.

Not exactly what he was picturing.

Well, she writes, that ship had already sailed. So to speak.

A few beats go by before Asher responds: When people ask what it’s like to have a rock star as a sister, it takes a great deal of restraint not to tell them what a dork you are.

Don’t worry, she writes. When people ask me what it’s like to have a bank manager for a brother, it’s the first thing I mention.

He sends back an emoji with its tongue sticking out.

Outside the theater, a crowd has gathered, everyone eager to get in and find good seats for the eight o’clock show. For a second, Greta considers doing a U-turn and walking straight back to her room. Or escaping to one of the outer decks and disappearing under a blanket again. Anything but ninety minutes of cruise ship entertainment. But then Davis Foster—towering over everyone else—spots her and lifts a hand.

“You all look nice,” she says when she reaches her unlikely crew, all three of them dressed up for the night. “What’s the occasion?”

“No occasion,” says Davis, tugging at his sports coat. “Just a totally arbitrary dress code for the dining room.”

“Gala attire,” Eleanor says with shining eyes. She’s wearing a sparkly black dress, and her hair is curled at the ends. “Todd already scarpered off to get out of his suit.”

Davis gives his wife—who looks elegant in an emerald-green dress—a mutinous look. “Lucky him.”

Mary shakes her head. “A couple more hours won’t kill you.”

“No, but a couple hours of musical theater might,” Davis says cheerfully.

The ship, which had been steady all afternoon as they lingered in the bay, has now begun to roil again. Even after only a few days on board, Greta can feel it like a metronome inside her; she’s begun shifting her weight from one foot to the other almost without realizing it.

Eleanor stumbles forward a step. “How on earth is anyone meant to dance in this?”

“That’s their whole job,” Mary says. “They’re obviously trained for it, which means they can handle—”

The ship lurches hard to the left, and someone crashes into Greta from behind, shoving her straight into Davis, who laughs as he helps right her again.

“Guess we know how you’d do onstage in this,” he jokes. But Greta isn’t listening. When she turns to see who nearly managed to take her out, she finds herself face-to-face with Ben. He looks as surprised as she is, and there’s an awkward beat as they stare at each other.

Eleanor Bloom is the first to speak: “Jack London!”

Ben glances over at her. He’s wearing the same tweed jacket as the day of his lecture, elbow patches and all, and his hair has been neatly combed. On his red tie, there are tiny embroidered dinosaurs.

“My friends call me Ben,” he says after a moment, an effort at humor that collapses entirely when he turns to Greta, straight-faced and serious. “Sorry about that. Guess I still don’t quite have my sea legs.”

“Gets a lot harder after dinner,” Davis says, miming a drink, then shrugs in response to Mary’s look. “At least for me.”

Ben steals a glance at Greta. He looks like he’s about to say something, but she beats him to it. “Everything work out with the tooth fairy?”

He gives her a pained look. “Yes. Thanks.”

The doors are open now, and people are starting to file into the theater, hurrying to get the best seats.

“You going to the show?” Davis asks Ben, who—much to Greta’s surprise—nods.

“You are?” she can’t help asking. “Why?”

Eleanor and Mary both snap their mouths into thin, disapproving lines, a couple of substitute moms mindful of her manners. But she ignores them.

“I like musical theater,” Ben says stiffly.

“Yeah, but…on a boat?”

“It’s a ship,” he says, and she rolls her eyes.

“I bet you five bucks one of the dancers bites it.”

“Greta!” Mary says, looking shocked.

But Davis laughs. “I’d take that money,” he says to Ben, who doesn’t seem to hear him. His eyes are locked on Greta’s. He looks like he’s trying very hard not to be amused.

After a moment, he clears his throat. “I should probably…”

“Yeah,” Greta says. “Enjoy the show.”

“You too,” he says, then nods at the others and heads inside.

“Goodness,” says Eleanor once he’s gone. “What did you do to him?”

Inside the auditorium, they find a row of seats toward the back. Greta goes in first, then Eleanor, then Mary, then Davis, who takes the aisle since his legs are so long. A minute later, Todd appears with his field guide tucked under one arm.

“Ah, go on,” Eleanor says, rolling her eyes at him as Greta shifts over to make room. “You brought a book?”