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I left my private deck and walked out to the ht of stairs that were closed off, and toward the girl's suite I kept a close eye on the clothing-optional pool, hoping I ain Just like I had that first day Not that I had a lot of hope of that, given how close ere to port

I wasn't surprised when I didn't see them, so, I walked inside and toward their suite

Standing before their suite door, I knocked loudly and waited I strainedto catch some sound, but I heard not a peep caain, louder this ti With only about an hour until we hit San Diego, I kneas running out of time to find her I bent down and slipped an envelope underneath the door It was a note with my business card inside

I let out a frustrated breath, knowing they could be anywhere on thisrew slimmer and slimmer

“Dammit,” I muttered to myself “Goddammit”

Chapter Nine

Josie

Two months later

“Lila, we need to talk,” I said into my phone as I exited the hospital and cliht now, so you better be there”

My heart raced as I disconnected the call My mom's chemo treatments were done, and the cancer was in reh, were fairly high We were looking at another surgery in the next co months, whichthe day

That led me toto be her full-tiiver Not that I really had a lot of choice in theit non-starter And there was nobody but me who could do it

That, however, was the least of my worries As I drove over to Lila's house, I prayed that I was just under a lot of stress, given everything going on Stress could most definitely help explain the lack of my period since the cruise I was amonth!

A few days was one thing, but four weeks was just way too much, and I'd just been too busy to take care of it Now, though, I had no choice I had a couple pregnancy tests in a bag on the passenger's seat of my car as I raced over to her house I was scared to death and I needed my best friend's support to sit with me as I took them

My phone rang just as I was pulling up outside her house

“What's wrong, Josie?” Lila asked, her tone genuinely concerned