Candace set a tray of sandwiches on the table.“I think having the Secret Service here with Cynthia helps.The Marshals were acting a bit nervous, even though it was their idea.”
Cynthia, who apparently overheard, snorted.“It nearly took an act of Congress to get approved to be here.I wish I was kidding.”
“I’m sure it’s fine,” Rania said.“The security getting aboard seemed a little over the top.”
“It’s always like that,” Erin confirmed.“Very thorough.Are you guys going ashore in the morning?”
Olive shook her head.“Jerry’s cool staying aboard.I don’t really want to go without him.”
Cynthia came all the way into the room after setting the fruit on the table.“Rick said he had no interest in getting off the ship.I’ve been to the Bahamas before on a mission trip.I’m good with not.”
Erin nodded.“I’ve been so many times.Right off the ship, it’s mostly tourist things.And the vendors can be a little aggressive.Past that, it’s not such a great neighborhood in any direction, if you know what I mean.”
Lynda chuckled.“I’d love to see Bill deal with some aggressive vendors just one time.By the time he would get done talking to them, they wouldn’t know if they should be selling or buying.”
Cynthia gave a half-smile, staring back at some private memory.“That’s because he’d read who they are deep in their souls within a second of speaking to them.He uses that against them.”
Lynda nodded and grinned.“Oh my, yes.It’s definitely a gift he has.”She shook her head.“Then he speaks with that slow drawl, and they underestimate his intellect, and it’s all over from there.”
Olive chuckled.“I’ll remember that when I’m talking to him.”
“Oh, it’s far too late,” Lynda drawled.“He’s already figured you out.You can ask him to sum up his analysis of you if you want.”
Emma interjected, “I spent years conspiring with Bill.I do miss him in the field.”Emma said.“He’s brilliant at reading faces, knowing lies and truth.”
Olive turned to Emma.“It fascinates me that you can do what you do.”
“Yeah, if I thought about it too much, I probably would feel the same.”She brushed her dark hair off her face.“But the more I do it, the better I get at it.”
“Where are you from?”Lynda asked Olive.“I definitely can hear the Alabama.”
“Mobile.Just north of Mobile.”
“Thought so.”
“But I love living in Clarksville.”
“Oh, nice area,” Lynda said.“We were there right before Bill got out.”
“Yeah, I got out of the Army at Campbell and stayed.Definitely nice to have four distinct seasons.”
The women chatted and celebrated the bride.At one point, they moved into the dining area and fixed plates of lunch.Olive piled her plate high with fruit and cheese.She sat down again as she popped a chunk of pineapple into her mouth.The ripe sweetness of pineapple burst on her tongue with the first bite, juicy and sun-kissed.
Melissa spoke up once everyone had a plate.
“I appreciate all you ladies being here.Our guys are so close and such a strong force together that I had hoped we would become friends, too.The more I speak to each of you, the more I’m discovering you all are my sisters as much as our men are brothers.”She held up her lemonade.“This party is for you.Something to give you a quiet moment away from the crowds and a chance to get to know your sisters without our men.”
They chatted and ate lunch, and the longer Olive spent in the company of the women, the more at home she felt.This group didn’t even flinch at the idea of her being a veteran, of her time spent serving.They embraced that about her and shared their own stories and experiences.
She listened to Cynthia recount her story of a harrowing escape from the jungles of Katangela and Lynda’s fake marriage to Bill on a mission in Istanbul.Emma talked about the time terrorists took her prisoner and how the entire time she knew Jorge would find her.Melissa and Lola shared the story about the hurricane in Miami and how Phil had protected them against the cartel members.She knew she was with women who could think like her, love like her, and pray like her.
Long after lunch, she looked at her watch.“I guess we should start getting ready for the evening,” Olive said.“Jerry and I have plans to go see a show.”
“Oh, we are, too,” Emma said, setting her plate in the sink.“We can walk together so we’ll sit next to each other.”
She hugged her new friends and some old ones, then walked out of the suite with Emma.She and Jerry had made plans to meet outside of their rooms at three.She rubbed her thumb over the large round diamond on the new ring on her finger.
After a full day on the water, they woke up in port at Nassau, Bahamas.Most of the group met for breakfast, securing a large section of the dining room.Olive and Jerry sat across from Phil Osbourne and Melissa.Jerry nodded at Swanson as he sat across from Ibrahim and his wife, then turned his attention to Osbourne.
