First Class Voyage (First Class Novels – A Contemporary Romance Series) Read Online Free Page B

been
engaged for three years now and they still had not set a wedding date. His
mother was trying to force their hand, turn the screw, some good old fashioned
prodding. But Mark also knew his fiancée and it wouldn’t work with her. The
more you pushed, the more Katy would dig in her heels and not budge. This cabin
fiasco was just another reason Katy wouldn’t set a date. She didn’t want
Maureen interfering.
    Matt picked up the phone and asked for their cabin steward
to come to the state room. In just a minute or two there was a knock on the door.
Matt answered it and explained to the young man there was a slight mix up in
the cabin assignments and would he please turn this room into a king room
instead of two singles. He took Janie by the hand and Mark escorted Katy out so
the beds could be reconfigured.
    As the two couples walked down the hall, Katy muttered that
she needed a drink. Matt agreed and they all headed up to the Lido deck and the
bar.
    *****
    Patty sat in her cabin and rocked Christopher ‘til he fell
asleep. She had shooed Matt and Janie out to enjoy the warm sunshine and then
had read Ella her story and then put her down for a nap. Now Christopher was
sound asleep and she could unpack her suitcases.
    The offer to come on the cruise had been very generous. She
and Maureen got along well enough, and the opportunity to spend more time with
her daughter and Katy was one she would not pass up. Patty had three daughters
but always considered Katy one of hers as well. And after Katy’s mother died
tragically in a car accident, Patty had tried harder to make herself available
to Katy, to step in and try to fill the void left behind. She had spent the
past few weeks staying at Matt and Janie’s apartment and had loved every minute
of it. She had spent lots of time with Janie and Katy and the children. She
liked to be a hands-on grandmother, but with Janie now living three thousand
miles away, it made it tough. Her grandchildren lived in New York and Atlanta
and so she took every opportunity to spend time with her family.
    With her two grandbabies sleeping peacefully, she unpacked
her clothes and hung them in the closet, ready for two weeks of sun and
relaxation. She was there to take care of the children so Janie and Matt could
have some time together, something she figured they needed after the difficult
pregnancy Janie had lived through. The angels were smiling on their family,
allowing Janie to give birth to Christopher without any additional complications.
Yes, they had been blessed with the addition of this beautiful baby boy.  And
now they could relax and spend two weeks without the business of life getting
in the way.
    *****
    Janie sat at a table by the pool with a lemonade in her hand
and watched her boys laughing on the other side of the deck. She was happy to
say that they fit in well with the Lathem boys, especially Tim and Ben, Matt’s
youngest brothers. They were all together having a good time and Janie sighed
as she lifted her face to the sun.
    Matt sat down next to his wife and took a long drink of his
beer.  He reached for Janie’s hand.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    Janie smiled and nodded,“I was just thinking how nice it was
to see the boys get on so well. I know it’s been a few years, but still, I
admit I was worried.”
    “The boys are actually men ,” Matt chuckled.
“And I think that this is the way it was supposed to be.” He pulled her hand to
his lips and kissed her palm. “This is supposed to be our family now.”
    Janie smiled. “You’re right,” she agreed.
    “Of course I’m right,” Matt laughed.
    “What are you right about this time?” Katy snickered as she
sat down at the table, Mark at her side.
    “About how well our boys have just blended in with the
Lathem clan,” Janie said.
    Katy turned to look at the group of very attractive young
men across the deck at the bar. There were Janie’s twin sons, Adam and Tyler.
They were almost twenty-five years old. And