Never Say Never (11 page)

When the waiter took Gareth's credit card to run it through the machine, Gareth reached into the pocket of his jacket that hung on the back of his chair and pulled out a small, wrapped box. He placed it on the table between them.

Charlotte eyed the package almost as if it might bite her. “What's that?”

“A little gift for you.” He pushed it closer to her.

“You didn't need to buy me a gift.”

“I know.” He smiled at her. “It's something I picked up on one of the islands. I meant to give it to you before you left the
Pearl of the Ocean,
but I didn't get around to it. It's sort of a souvenir of the time we spent together.”

Charlotte carefully removed the bow and turned the box upside down. Without tearing it, she removed the paper and folded it on the table beside her. After lifting the lid off the box, she gasped and stared straight into his eyes. “They're lovely. You shouldn't have.”

He leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “And why shouldn't I?”

“It's too much. A souvenir should be just a trinket.”

“You looked at these a long time when we were in that store on Cozumel. I knew you liked them. Besides, a symbol of our time together should reflect the quality of that time. To me they were golden moments.”

She relaxed, fingering the golden shells with pearls nestled inside them that formed the earrings. “They were for me, too. Thank you, Gareth.”

❧

Chelle met her mother at the door. “Where were you?” She had beaten Charlotte home. “I called Mrs. Miller next door and asked her, but she didn't know.”

Charlotte didn't want to upset Chelle. “I had lunch with another friend.”

“You usually leave me a note telling me when to expect you. I was worried.” Chelle went to the refrigerator and took out a can of soda, popping the top as she sat on one of the stools by the bar in the kitchen. “Where did you go? You're pretty dressed up.”

Charlotte nonchalantly started pulling the pins out of her hair while she talked. “I had planned to go shopping, but then Gareth called. He was at DFW Airport on his way home to Holland for three months. He wanted to take me to lunch during his layover.” She didn't look at Chelle, because she didn't want to see censure in her eyes. If she ignored it, maybe it wouldn't flare up.

“Oh.” That one word held a world of meaning, none of which Charlotte wanted to hear. Chelle paused as if she wanted to say something else, then turned on her heel and stomped to her room, slamming the door behind her.

Eleven

So much for an even keel.
Once again, Charlotte stared at her daughter's firmly closed door and sighed. Now that school was out, Chelle went to work, to church, and out with friends, but when she came home, she barricaded herself inside her room with music so loud it blared through the walls. At least it was Christian music, but Charlotte couldn't really
get into,
as her daughter said, the raucous beat of some of the CDs. Before this standoff, they had shared a love of many of the contemporary Christian music groups. Charlotte kept KLTY playing on the radio when she was home. Now all Chelle listened to were the groups she knew her mother didn't like.

If only Charlotte could understand what the Lord was doing. She still felt the check in her spirit, keeping her from talking to Chelle about what happened on the ship that last night. They were at an uncomfortable impasse.

Charlotte looked forward to the phone calls from Gareth. Sometimes he stayed up late at night so he could call her in the evening. So far, the four or five conversations a week had been when Chelle wasn't home. Charlotte found herself yearning for those bright islands of peace, and something else she didn't want to define in their relationship, in her otherwise topsy-turvy world.

The youth group at church was meeting that night. Charlotte hoped something would happen there that could reach her daughter. She wasn't making any headway with Chelle. She knocked on the closed bedroom door. When Chelle opened it, she was already dressed to go out.

“Did you want to eat before you leave?” Charlotte kept trying to make nonthreatening overtures.

Chelle shook her head. “No, I'm meeting a couple of the other girls at Bronco Bob's for burgers before group tonight.”

Just as Chelle walked out the door, the phone rang. After reading caller ID, and despite her concern for her daughter, Charlotte smiled. She glanced at the clock and did a minor calculation before picking up the phone.

“Gareth, isn't it one in the morning there?”

“Yes. But I had to talk to you before I went to bed.” She liked the sound of that.
He had to talk to her.

❧

Gareth got a lot done during the three months he was home in the Netherlands. His sister helped him redecorate his house in Oosterhout. He hadn't changed anything after Britte died, and for some reason, he wanted to refresh and renew
everything.

The best part of the time off from the ship was being able to call Charlotte often. Now that he was back in New Orleans and about to leave, that didn't have to change. Sitting on the big leather couch in the living room of his quarters on the ship, he punched in her numbers. He had told Homer not to disturb him for a while.

“Gareth.”

He liked to hear her speak his name with that soft southern drawl, sounding like warm honey. “Charlotte, it was so good to see you again, even though I only had a short layover in Dallas. Your idea for a picnic was just right.”

Charlotte laughed. “Eating it in the new international terminal, instead of outside, is a necessity in Texas summer heat. I don't do picnics during the hottest weather. At least not outside ones.”

“I'm glad things have settled down some with Chelle.” Gareth pictured Charlotte's laughing face he'd seen only yesterday. The hint of hurt had finally left her eyes.

“They have a new counselor in the youth group, who's connecting with Chelle. Last night she came home and asked if she could go on a special three-week mission trip with some of the youth. They're leaving Wednesday to go to Mexico and help build another building for an orphanage in Manzanillo.”

Gareth stood up and walked to the windows. “That's a change for sure. Are you going to let her go?”

“I prayed a lot about it last night, and I believe God wants her to go.” A sigh accompanied her words.

“But. . . ?”

“But it's a foreign country. . . . They'll be near the ocean where it might be dangerous. . . . And I'm afraid she might get hurt. Who will protect her? It's a long time.”

Gareth imagined worry painting lines on her forehead. “If you've prayed, you have to trust her to God's care, don't you?”

❧

When Chelle came home from the final missions' team meeting, Charlotte sat in the den watching a classic movie. “Mom, can I talk to you?”

Charlotte hit the pause button on the DVD remote. “Sure. Let's get something to drink.”

She went to the fridge for a couple of cans of soda then filled two glasses with ice cubes. “Do you want to sit here by the bar?”

Chelle's legs were longer, so she just dropped onto the tall seat. Charlotte had to hike herself up to reach hers, but soon they started sipping the colas. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“The cruise.” Chelle put her glass down and stared at her hands cupped around it on the counter.

Now, Charlotte.
The words sounded as clearly in her heart as if God were standing beside her speaking them into her ear.

“What about the cruise?”

Chelle glanced up at her mother. “Probably the last night, but really all of it. Why haven't you been on my case about it?”

Charlotte didn't expect that question. “I don't know if you'll understand this, but God told me not to say anything yet.”

Chelle nodded. “I do understand. I've been fighting Him, but He's really done some things in my heart and life. Marsha—you know, that new counselor, Miss Connor—has been helping Him, I think.”

“How?” This sounded promising to Charlotte. Maybe God knew what He was doing.
What am I thinking?
Of course God knew what He was doing.

“She's been helping me see what I was fighting against. And it wasn't you, even though it seemed that way. Does that make any sense?”

Charlotte stared into her own cola, watching the ice drift around in small circles. Had she been rotating her glass the way she often did? Evidently she had. Why did she always try to find something to take her own attention off of painful events? Maybe she and her daughter weren't so different. They both ran but in different ways.

“Yes.”

“I wanted to slip out and see what went on late at night. I planned to dress so that I would fit in. Then I saw you in the library with the captain. You were sleeping, and he held you against his shoulder. It made me mad, so I planned to do something to hurt you. I didn't want you to look for another man to take my father's place.”

Charlotte hoped the shock didn't show on her face. “I'm not looking for another man to take your father's place. Can't the captain and I be friends?”
If all I want is a friend, then why does Gareth feel like so much more?
Charlotte's gaze bore into her daughter's eyes, hoping to read her thoughts. “Besides, you do know you shouldn't have been in that club, dressed like that and drinking, don't you?” Charlotte tried to convey how she felt with a loving expression on her face.

“Yeah. It wasn't even fun. . . . And I didn't really enjoy wearing the bikini. I just did it as a form of rebellion. I understand that now.” Tears streamed down Chelle's cheeks. “And I don't mind you and the captain being friends.”

For a moment, Charlotte let that digest. She took a sip of her drink. “Miss Connor is good for you.”

“Yes, she is. She's helping me get closer to the Lord.” Chelle smiled through her tears. “Mom, can you forgive me?”

Charlotte pulled her daughter into her arms, and they both wept.

❧

Gareth paced through his office and out into the kitchen. He had told himself he would wait until he got back into port to call Charlotte, but he couldn't. He picked up his cell phone and punched the speed dial button.

“Hello, Gareth. Aren't you on the cruise?”

“Yes.”

“I thought you weren't going to call me until you got back in port.”

He had learned to tell how she felt by the tone of her voice. “But you're glad I did, aren't you?”

He heard Charlotte inhale deeply. “Do you know me that well?”

“I hope so.” He tamped down his eagerness. “I missed hearing your voice. We've talked so often the last three months. I couldn't wait that long.”

“I know. It has been lonesome this week without your calls.”

He thrust one hand through his hair that was getting a little long. “Did Chelle get off on her trip okay?”

“Yes. I had international service added to our cell phones. That way we can stay in touch if she wants to. I'm going to try and wait until she calls me.”

He could hear the doubt in her voice. “Do you really think you can?”

“Maybe, maybe not. We'll just have to wait and see.”

He leaned against the bookcase that sat under the windows across the front of his living room. “How about if you have something that will take your mind off her being gone?”

“I'm trying to stay busy. Yesterday Linda and I went shopping after the group left. And tomorrow, I'm going to help stuff the bulletins at the church office.”

He laughed. “That's good, but I had something else in mind.”

❧

Charlotte couldn't imagine what Gareth was talking about. “What's that?”

“How about coming on another cruise?” He sounded so eager.

“It's not in the budget right now. Although Philip had very good insurance, my money isn't unlimited. Our pastor is doing a series on managing our finances, and I'm trying to implement it.”
What am I doing preaching to him?

Gareth's rich laugh poured through the phone. “I meant as my guest. You know I can use a stateroom for guests without it costing me anything. It's a perk of the job.”

A cruise sounded like fun, but could she do it? Or maybe the question should be was it a good idea for her to do it? “Why this sudden invitation?”

“The Voyageana Cruise Line is doing something different with the
Pearl of the Ocean.
This is the last trip from New Orleans. After the passengers depart tomorrow, we'll take the week to sail slowly to Galveston and prepare for our next itinerary. That will be our home port. I'd love to have you on the initial cruise from there. We'll leave on Sunday instead of Saturday, so the first departure will be a week and a half away. That should give you time to pack, and you'll be home before Chelle is.”

How could she do it? Chelle might not like her being with Gareth that much, but she did say it was all right to be friends with him.

“We can even have your calls forwarded to my satellite cell phone, so you can receive her call when it comes.”

When it comes.
He sounded so sure it would. That encouraged Charlotte.

“And I'd be in a stateroom.” She took a deep breath. “Which deck would I be on?”

“You could have the Penthouse Suite on deck eight. It has a baby grand piano. Or you can have an Executive Suite on the same deck. The other suites are booked.”

“Why would I want a piano in my cabin?” She sounded eager even in her own ears.

“Some of the musicians can be persuaded to play for the people in that suite. It's rather nice.”

Charlotte imagined the two of them sitting on a sofa, listening to live music in a fancy suite. Of course, she hadn't been inside one of those cabins, but when she booked the cruise she and Chelle took, she looked at pictures of the different cabins on the Internet.

“Are you sure it wouldn't cost you anything?”

“I wouldn't lie to you, Charlotte.” His earnest tone touched her heart. “Even to get something I really want.”

The last phrase sounded husky. Their relationship must be as important to Gareth as it was to her, which was almost a scary thought. “Okay. I'll do it, but I'm going to call Chelle tonight and tell her. If she doesn't like the idea, I won't come.”

❧

When Charlotte's flight arrived in Houston, a limousine waited to whisk her to Galveston about fifty miles away. For some reason, although she knew there was a Galveston Island, she hadn't realized that the whole city was on the island. She had somehow pictured Galveston on the mainland with an island in the Gulf of Mexico near the town.

The car started up the incline of the causeway with water on both sides, and Charlotte felt as if they were driving in the middle of the ocean. She knew that was crazy, but she couldn't imagine traveling on the older causeway she saw over to their left, which sat so close to the level of the water.

The driver spoke into his radio and told someone that they were pulling up to the cruise dock.

“That isn't the ocean out there, is it?” She scooted closer to the front of the limo. “I see land on the other side”

The driver didn't take his eyes off the road. “The docks are on the Galveston Bay side of the island. Your ship will go around the east end to get to the Gulf of Mexico.”

They passed two ships from other lines before they arrived at the Voyageana sign. Two crewmembers waited with a luggage cart. They loaded her bags onto it then escorted her through the crowd inside the building. At the VIP desk, Charlotte's key card was ready for her, and the young men guided her to a special gate at the front of the line. Everyone else waited behind another, larger gate.