Separate Cabins Read Online Free

want to start out on this vacation arguing with her best friend. And somewhere she seemed to have lost her sense of humor. She couldn’t turn aside the conversation with a joke that would make light of it, even though she knew it was the best and the most diplomatic way to handle it.
    “They’ve started boarding,” she said. “They aren’t admitting visitors until all the passengers are on the ship, so you two might as well wait here. I’ll meet you later on the ship—by the gangway.”
    “We’ll be there.” John patted his breast pocket, where he had put their visitor passes.
    With that agreement voiced, Rachel left them and walked briskly to the entrance, her white reflection in the glass following and merging as she passed through the open doors. It would be a slowprocess to board the hundreds of waiting passengers, but this was one time when Rachel didn’t mind the long wait in line. It would give her a chance to simmer down. At the moment she was too tense, her nerves strung out like high-tension wires.
    Voices ran together, creating a low din as Rachel reduced her pace and approached the pressing crowd of passengers. She found a place in the main flow and let it sweep her along to the gate that funneled them into a single line to the door.

Chapter Two
    Shining pristine white, the ship loomed beside the terminal building, tied to the pier only a few feet from the building’s outside walls. Its massive size and sleek, pure lines demanded attention as Rachel followed the slow-moving string of passengers traveling along the raised walk to the gangway.
    On the bow of the ship, high blue letters spelled out her name—
Pacific Princess.
The blue and green emblem of the cruise line, a maiden’s head with long hair streaming out in waves, was painted on the black-ringed smokestack. Rows of portholes and deck railings marked off her many levels. Rachel was slightly awed by her size and stately majesty.
    Ahead photographers were snapping pictures of passengers next to signboards welcoming them aboard the
Pacific Princess.
Usually they took photosof a couple; sometimes two couples wanted their picture taken together; sometimes it was a family shot.
    But Rachel was traveling alone. It was the first time she’d gone on a pleasure trip without Mac or some member of her family or even a friend. The point was brought home to her as she stepped forward to take her turn in front of the camera. She thought she had become used to her solitary state, but she felt awkward and self-conscious. It was an unexpected reaction to something she thought she had accepted.
    “How about a big smile?” the photographer coaxed with the camera to his face so his eye could frame her in the lens.
    Rachel tried to oblige, but the forced movement was stiff and strained. The click of the camera captured it on film. Then the photographer was nodding to her that it was over, smiling at her with a hint in his glance of male appreciation for her striking looks.
    An absent smile touched the corners of her mouth in return, but it faded quickly on an inner sigh as she stepped forward to make room for the couple behind her. She blamed her raw sensitivity on the strain of overwork and quickened her steps to close on the line of passengers progressing slowly up the gangway. After a couple of days rest she’d be her old self again.
    Members of the ship’s crew were on hand to receive the boarding passengers and direct them to their assigned staterooms. Rachel walked onto the rich blue carpet of the foyer and paused beside thewhite-uniformed officer, who inclined his head in greeting to her.
    “Welcome aboard the
Pacific Princess.
Your cabin, madam?” His voice carried a British accent, reminding Rachel that the ship was of British registry.
    “Mrs. MacKinley. Promenade 347.” She had the number memorized after writing it so many times on her luggage tags.
    He turned to a young, blond-haired man in a steward’s uniform and motioned him forward.