Read Online Separate Cabins by Janet Dailey - Free Book Online

“I’ve sailed on the
Pacific Princess
many times. The engineer happens to be a personal friend of mine. This is about the only way to spend any time with him, since he’s out to sea more than he’s in port.”
    Which explained to Rachel why it had appeared he’d been given preferential treatment when he’d been allowed onto the ship prior to the normal boarding time—and why the purser had known him.
    The table conversation digressed into a discussion of the crew, the advantages of working aboard ships, and speculation about the length of time they were away from home at any one stretch. Rachel mostly listened while she ate her breakfast.
    She stayed at the table long enough to have a last cup of coffee after the meal. When Nanette and her husband pushed back their chairs to leave, sheelected to follow them. Gard still had a freshly poured cup of coffee to drink—not that she really thought he would make a point of leaving when she did, or even wished to avoid it. But when she left the dining room, she was alone.
    The ship was huge, virtually a floating city with a population of almost a thousand. It was amazing to Rachel how many times she saw Gard that first day at sea, given the size of the ship and the number of people aboard. Some of it was to be expected, since he was assigned to the same station when they had emergency drills that morning. Naturally she saw him at lunch—and again in the afternoon when she went sunning on the Observation Deck.
    Soon she would be meeting him again at dinner. It was nearly time for the late-sitting guests to be permitted into the dining room. In anticipation of that moment a crowd had begun to gather, filling the small foyer outside the dining room and overflowing onto the flight of steps. Rachel waited in the stair overflow, standing close to the bannister.
    With the suggested dress that evening calling for formal wear, there was a rainbow of colors in the foyer. The style of women’s dress seemed to range over everything from simple cocktail dresses to long evening gowns, while the men wore dark suits and ties or tuxedos.
    Her own choice of dress was a long flowing gown in a simple chemise style, but the black tissue faille was a match with her jet-black hair. A flash of silver boucle beadings and cording was created by thesplintered lightning design across the bodice, a compliment to her pewter-gray eyes. Rachel had brushed her black hair away from her face, the curling ends barely touching her shoulder tops. Her only jewelry was a pair of earrings, dazzling chunks of crystal. The result was a striking contrast between the understatement of the gown’s design, with its demure capped sleeves and boat neckline, and the sleek, sexy elegance of black hair and fabric.
    Near the base of the stairs Rachel spotted the henna-haired Helen and her husband, Jack, standing next to Nanette and her husband, whose name Rachel still hadn’t gotten straight. She considered joining them, since they shared the same table, but it would have meant squeezing a place for herself in the already crowded foyer, so Rachel decided against it.
    Her attention lingered on the couples. Helen looked quite resplendent in a red and gold evening dress that alleviated some of the brassiness of her copper-dyed hair. When she turned to say something to Nanette, her voice carried to Rachel.
    “I don’t care what you say,” she was insisting. “No one will be able to convince me those two are brother and sister—or even cousins.”
    Nanette’s reply was lost to Rachel, but she tensed at Helen’s remark. Although Helen hadn’t identified the people by name, Rachel had an uneasy suspicion she was one of them. A second later it was obliquely confirmed.
    “You heard both of them say they weren’t married,but they are still sharing the same cabin. I know,” Helen stated with a smug little glance. “I was looking at the roster of passengers this afternoon to find out what cabin the Madisons were in so I