officer to leave.

After he left, I threw every item I owned and Larry’s into my suitcase and zipped it shut. I was disappointed that I couldn’t see David again, but that’s life.

That’s when a thought hit me. Now I’m thinking of David instead of Henry. It would be nice to have his companionship. I couldn’t tell if that was wrong or not. I shook my head and grabbed the T-handle to roll my suitcase over to Trisha’s cabin.

I knocked on their door and she opened the door.

“We’re ready,” she said as she turned back toward her husband and called over her shoulder, “Larry, she’s ready too.”

All three of us walked down the hallway to the elevators. We had to take the fifth deck exit in order to enter the customs building. While still in the elevator, I suggested we stop at the Registration Desk so I could leave a message for someone.

“Sure, David?” she asked.

“Well, yes. Do you think I shouldn’t?”

“He’s a nice man and as far as we are concerned, he’s just a friend. Don’t worry about this,” she assured.

We arrived on Deck Five and had to swim upstream through the crowd disembarking the ship. We made it over to the Registration Desk where many people were waiting to pay their bill or book a future voyage.

“This might take a while. Let’s sit over here and wait until the crowd thins out,” Larry suggested.

After twenty minutes, Trisha offered to hold my bags while I stood in line. Once I was up to the desk counter, the attendant handed me a card to fill out.

“David Brook:  Thank you so much for being a good friend. I know Ivan is in a better place now and we do plan to attend his funeral. Take care. – Susan Edwards.”

I handed her back the note card and returned to my patient friends sitting at one of the small tables.

“Come on, the crowd has thinned out quite a bit,” I said.

We followed the remaining passengers out onto a covered walking ramp that zigzagged back and forth until we descended to the level of the pier. Crew personnel guided us into the customs building. There we stood waiting for the bus to take us to our hotel–our one last night in paradise.

We stood in line with the group of people waiting for the bus. That’s when I caught a glimpse of my author friend. She climbed on the board with her husband ahead of us. When I arrived at the bus steps, the driver stowed my suitcase in the compartment below of the coach. I climbed in and found a seat where Trisha and I could sit together. The author took a seat just in front of us.

“Hello, I hope you had a good cruise,” I said.

“We did. How about you?” she asked.

“I’ll have to tell you about it sometime,” I said, taking my seat near the window. I wanted to say something, but not with twenty ears tuned into our conversation.

She turned around and asked, “Why, did something happen? We have time before we arrive at the hotel.”

Trisha was about to speak up when I continued talking to her.

“Are you staying at the Waikiki Hotel?” I asked.

“Yes, we are. Why don’t we meet you for drinks tonight at the café outside the hotel?”

“That would be great,” I said.

She turned around in her seat when we heard the bus engine turn on. Our bus guide gave us a short rundown of the city’s history and pointed out the hotel Elvis stayed in during the filming of Blue Hawaii.

We arrived at the hotel, retrieved our bags from the bus, tipped the driver, and headed into the open registration room on the main floor. After checking in, we caught the first elevator going up. My room was spacious as compared with our ship cabins. This time I had a single queen sized bed where I opened my suitcase. Some items inside my baggage belonged to Larry. I had thrown everything I could into my purse and luggage when I left my ship cabin in a hurry. I gathered his belongings up and walked next door to their room. I just bumped on the door since my arms were full.

Larry opened his room door.

“I have a few things of yours,” I said, trying to hold all his belongings.

“Come in, we have some of yours as well,” he said.

I entered their room and deposited my armful onto one of the two queen beds. He handed over to me a sack containing my stuff. Why didn’t I think of that?

Then Larry’s phone rang.

“Yeah, it’s me. Do you want to talk to Susan? Okay, I’ll let her know. Thanks, I know she would want to be there. Bye,”

“Where do I want to be?”

“Mr. David Brook got your message from the ship and said Ivan Ramanoff’s graveside service will be at three o’clock at the Oahu Mortuary. I said you would want to be there,” he said.

“I would. Okay, we have a couple of hours. Where’s the mortuary located? And why didn’t he want to talk to me, Larry?”

“He just told me, he’ll talk to you when you get there. Said he had too much to say over the phone. The mortuary is almost a mile from here. We could walk it in thirty minutes.”

“Okay, I’ll take my things back to my room and take a long needed bath. I just hate showers. I’ll meet you back here before two o’clock.”

I grabbed my sack and rushed out of their room.

—-

“Do you think she likes David?” Trisha said, closing the door behind me.

“Maybe a little, I think I’ll take a shower while we have the time,” he replied.

“Want me to scrub your back?” she giggled, following him close behind.

Chapter 25

The Funeral

Back in my room, I undressed and began filling up the tub. Then my stomach told me I hadn’t eaten anything all day. I pulled out a granola bar from my suitcase and munched on that until the tub filled up. I smiled

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