Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 03 - Secrets at Sea Read Online Free Page B

three slices of bacon. I pointed to the plate. “Hey, this is too much food.”
    “It’s what you usually eat.”
    “I know, but I’m going on a cruise. The food is supposed to be fabulous and I need to lose a few pounds before I get there.”
    Tom lowered his head and grimaced. “You think the food is going to be better than mine?”
    “No.” I took a deliberate bite of eggs, then continued, “But I hear you can eat twenty-four hours a day.”
    He set his own plate next to mine. It had one waffle, an egg, and no bacon. “I see. Does that mean we’re going to go from one food table to another the entire cruise?”
    “Maybe.”
    He shook his head. “I hope they have a gym on the ship.”
    “I think they do.”
    “Good. If I’m going to be eating all day long, I’ll need to exercise.”
    “Maybe I’ll exercise with you.”
    Tom leaned his head back and his eyes went wide. “You, the Never Exercise Queen?”
    “Maybe.” I shrugged.
    “This trip is sounding better and better.”
    Shelby sneaked up and I gave her a piece of bacon. Tom frowned at me, but I ignored him. “Hey, by the way where did you leave Duke?”
    “Jessie is watching him.”
    “Oh, that’s great. She loves him.”
    “Yeah. She still calls me Sheriff D and spends many hours at the station. I think she might become a K-9 police officer.”
    “You never know.” I didn’t want to burst his bubble, but Jessie told me she was going to be a teacher. She was an amazing girl. There aren’t too many who can be kidnapped at five, brainwashed, rescued ten years later, and just pick up their lives again.
    Tom interrupted my thoughts. “What time do you want to get going?”
    “As soon as we can. I made reservations at a Long Beach Motel for tonight. They know we won’t be there until late afternoon. We can’t get on the ship until one o’clock on Sunday.”
    “That’s fine. Do you have a map to the motel?”
    “No. But I’ve got the address.”
    “Perfect, my SUV has a GPS system.”
    I still hadn’t bought a new car since I crashed my 1962 red VW bug into a ditch several weeks ago. I just couldn’t decide what kind to get. I had bought the VW used and it had worked well for the ten years I owned it. But I didn’t like the new VW bugs, so I needed to spend a few days going from car dealer to car dealer, test-driving cars — an experience I didn’t want to endure. Maybe I could get Tom to wear his uniform and take me. Who would lie about the price to a cop?
    Tom and I enjoyed his wonderful meal and then he loaded our suitcases into his car while I cleaned up the kitchen and showered.
    After giving Shelby several doggy treats, we were finally on our way! The drive was long and boring. We drove down Highway 5, where every mile looks exactly like the last, brown hills covered in ugly scrub oak trees. I filled the time by telling Tom the latest news about Justin and my call from Jordan. Later I tried to doze, but I was never good at sleeping in a car. Tom hummed along to the radio, which was another deterrent to my falling asleep.
    We stopped for lunch at a fast food restaurant, not Tom’s favorite food.
    “Can’t we just go to Denny’s?” he begged.
    “No, I want to get to Long Beach and settle into the motel.” Actually, I wanted to see if any of my parents’ friends were staying at the motel, but I wasn’t ready to share my real reason for taking the cruise with Tom, just yet.
    “But fast food is just that, fast and terrible.”
    “Not really, some places have salads and wraps, now.”
    “We’ll see,” he huffed.
    We drove past one fast food restaurant after another, while Tom complained about their menu choices. Finally I got him to stop at Quiznos. He ordered a huge salad with flatbread. I had a Chicken Carbonara. It was hot and oozing with cheese, mushrooms, and carbonara sauce, whatever that was, and it was good.
    “This is pretty good,” he said between bites.
    “See, I told you all fast food isn’t