Free Cooks Overboard by Joanne Pence Page B

and unable to take calls.”
    “It’s very important. A matter of life and death. I must speak with him immediately.”
    “Let me put you through to the nurse in charge.”
    She drummed her fingers, waiting for the transfer to be made. The phone rang.
    “ICU. Nurse Patel.”
    “This is Dagmar Ingerson—Sven Ingerson’s sister. I’d like to speak with him, please.”
    “I’m sorry, but he isn’t able to speak at the moment. Have you talked to his doctor?”
    “Not yet. I really just need one moment with Sven. It’s an emergency. I won’t disturb him again after this, I promise.”
    “I’m sorry. You must speak with the doctor.”
    “Please, Nurse,” she tried to make her voice tearful. “Ten seconds. I’m really desperate.”
    “I’d help you if I could, but your brother…he’s very serious. Critical, I’m afraid. He wouldn’t be physically able to speak with you even if it were permitted.”

16
    That night, Angie approached the bed wearing the beautiful negligee she’d bought especially for this romantic vacation. Some romance! Paavo had been distant all day, smiling and pleasant—and completely out of character. He’d even teamed up as Ruby Cockburn’s partner in a game of bridge.
    The sea had grown rougher throughout the evening, so bad that the captain ordered cold sandwiches for dinner. He didn’t want any cooking going on in the galley, or any chance of hot food being spilled on anyone’s lap. Now, the ship’s rolling made her lurch awkwardly from side to side. She wanted to swing her hips, not her whole body.
    Paavo was sitting up in bed waiting for her, a blanket covering him from the waist down. The area below his left shoulder held only a faint shadow of the scar from the gunshot that hadnearly killed him soon after they first met. She proudly remembered how she had stopped the gunman from firing a second shot as Paavo lay wounded…and she’d been in love with him ever since.
    Standing by the doorway, she slowly removed her dressing gown, revealing a negligee of silk and lace, antique gold in color, that fell unfettered from her shoulders to the floor. By the time the gown dropped, Paavo’s large blue eyes burned with desire. In that area, at least, he was still the man she knew and loved. She walked toward him, step by step, trying not to stumble, and reminding herself of how beautifully the material glimmered as she moved. He seemed to hold his breath.
    When she reached him, he took her hands in his. “You’re beautiful, Angie. I could spend hours doing nothing but look at you.”
    “Sorry,” she whispered, then bent forward and kissed him. “Not good enough.”
     
    Angie was dreaming she was on a roller-coaster ride. On the roller coaster with her was Sven Ingerson, Dudley Livingstone, Julio Rodriguez, and the mysterious cook who’d tried to jump off the ship when she first arrived. She should have followed his example.
    She woke up to find the dream was scarcely an exaggeration. The storm was making a terrible racket; rain and waves pounded the ship and the wind howled. Crushed between the highpadded edge of the bed and Paavo, she had to practically fight her way to a sitting position. The fact that he didn’t wake up indicated just how tired he still was. She couldn’t help but wonder if this constant fatigue didn’t have something to do with his decision to quit his job—not that he was physically ill, because he seemed otherwise healthy, but simply because it was weighing on his mind.
    God, but she felt sick. She clutched the side of the bed, hanging over the edge. She had no idea such a huge ship could bounce around this way. She imagined it looking like a toy boat in a bathtub with a little kid smacking the water.
    She groaned, her stomach feeling queasier with each roll of the boat way, way up, then way, way down.
    Maybe some water would help. She reached for her negligee at the foot of the bed, slipped it on, then, holding onto the furniture, lurched her way