Forever (Time for Love Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

to be the professional that you are, no matter who is or who's not on this ship. I'm not going to let you simply hide away if Zach's here. You're going to act as if everything that happened is all water under the bridge."
    Rebecca took a deep breath, marshalling her courage.
    "You'll be fine," Sarah said in a gentler tone. "It just feels awkward because this would be the first time you'll see him again—if he's even here, that is. Just pretend he's one of those clients you'd rather not work with but you have to because it's your job and you're a professional."
    She nodded. "Okay. Let's go find Magda."
    *****
    "N o, I don't expect you girls to follow me around every single minute," Magda said. "All I ask is that you keep your phones with you so if I need you, I can call you. What I want the two of you to do is to enjoy yourselves as if you're on holidays. Because if you have to literally work, that means I'm not well, or I've been injured, or something. I don't want that to happen at any point, so let's all hope that for the whole month, all of us can simply enjoy this cruise."
    "Okay," Rebecca said hesitantly. "So you'd be happy for Sarah and me to watch you from a distance?"
    Magda's laughter rang out in her massive suite. "Goodness, no! There will be times when I'd love for you girls to join me for some company, but no, I don't want you hanging around me all the time. If I need you, I'll call you."
    Rebecca and Sarah looked at each other, overwhelmed.
    "That's so kind and generous of you, Magda," Sarah murmured.
    "Eh!" Magda said, flicking her hand in a dismissive fashion. "Don't mention it. I do want you girls to join me for dinner tonight, though. There'll be ten of us. Unfortunately two of my grandsons aren't here yet, but they'll be joining us in a few days. I haven't mentioned this before because I didn't want you to make a fuss, but this trip is to celebrate my eightieth birthday, which is in two weeks. I'm over big parties, and if I'm on dry land I'll be expected to have one. So that's why we're here this month."
    "Thanks so much for including us, Magda," Rebecca said.
    The elderly woman smiled at them fondly. "You girls looked after me so well when I was recovering from my accident. I've missed you. This was a good excuse to spend some time with you again."
    "May I ask who else is joining us on this trip?" Rebecca asked, keeping her tone nonchalant.
    "Well, there's my sister Miriam and my late best friend's son Phillip, whom you've already met a few times. You'll also meet my friend Olga, her granddaughter Marilyn, my other friend Debra and her granddaughter Vicky. And of course, my three grandsons are joining us, although we won't see Jeffrey and Gregory until we get to the Philippines."
    Rebecca's throat closed up and breathing became hard. Did that mean Zach was already on board?
    "What about your other grandson—Zach?" Sarah asked, glancing at Rebecca surreptitiously.
    "He's here already. He'll be having dinner with us."
    *****
    R ebecca stared critically at herself in the mirror, smoothing her new blue dress. "Sarah, is this cleavage too low?"
    Sarah poked her head out of the bathroom. "Damn, you look sexy, sister."
    "I think I should change," she said, worrying her bottom lip.
    "Why? You look gorgeous!"
    "I don't want Zach to think I've dressed up for him."
    Sarah snorted. "I thought you won't be making any decisions based on him? If you want to wear that dress tonight, then wear it."
    "Well, actually, I originally put it on with him in mind. I don't want to look frumpy when the woman he replaced me with was Miss U-A," she said, trying to erase the picture of the incredibly beautiful Miss Universe-Australia out of her mind.
    Sarah put her hands on her hips. "All the more reason for you not to change."
    Rebecca chuckled. "I thought I shouldn't be making decisions based on him?"
    "This is different. This isn't you hiding away, this is you holding your head up high. So keep that dress on."
    *****
    R ebecca tried