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cruise line on their website under tips and recommendations. Bryce hadn’t read anything, having hopped on the plan last minute, so he didn’t have any special tags to make his luggage stand out. It would take a while to find his black Samsonite suitcases, which blended in with the other hundred rolling by.
    “Remind me to buy you some pom-poms when we go into town,” Seth mentioned. “We’ll never find your bags at this rate.”
    “Like hell you will,” Bryce said. “I’ll find my luggage.”
    “Why? Are the pom-poms too fruity for you?”
    Bryce snorted. “No, more like geriatric. You’re acting like we’re in our sixties, dude.”
    “It wasn’t my idea,” Seth said indignantly. “The cruise line recommended it.”
    “Because a lot of their passengers are retired,” Bryce said. Turning toward Seth, he inquired, “Do you even know the age demographic on this cruise? Will there be young people, or will we be trampled by wheelchairs and walkers?”
    Seth’s eyes widened. “What is it with you and aging?”
    “I don’t like old people,” Bryce admitted. “They’re depressing as fuck.”
    “Not all of them,” Seth protested.
    “The ones I’ve had business dealings with are pitiful. I don’t need a preview of my future, Seth. I’d rather dwell in the here and now and be around people who energize me by living in the moment instead of reminiscing about the past.”
    “Sometimes memories are all they have,” Seth said somberly. “Have you ever thought of that?”
    “I try not to think of them at all.”
    “You’re being unrealistic for someone who’s approaching fifty. You will age whether you like it or not. Why not accept it graciously rather than fight it every step of the way?”
    Bryce said something under his breath Seth didn’t catch, and before he could ask him to repeat it, the guy was leaning forward to pluck his two suitcases off the moving belt.
    “Let’s go,” he said brusquely, putting an end to their conversation.
    At customs, they were asked the usual questions about fruit, animal products, and firearms. Seth and Bryce replied in the negative and were waved through. At the arrival area, Seth scanned the crowd, looking for someone with a sign or a uniform identifying them as employees of the cruise line.
    “I was sure we’d find someone from the shuttle service to pick us up,” Seth said. “We paid for transfers from the airport to the hotel.”
    “So where are they?”
    Seth shrugged. “I don’t know.”
    “Did they give you a number to call?” Bryce asked reasonably.
    “No. All I was told is that someone will meet us in the arrival area.” Seth hated to sound like an idiot, and he knew his voice had risen to a needy whine, but he was exhausted and cranky. He hadn’t slept on the plane, unlike Bryce, and all he could think of was soaking in a hot tub and then going to bed.
    “Do you have the number of the cruise line on your phone?”
    “Actually, I do,” Seth said, livening up. He pulled the iPhone out of his shirt pocket and turned it on. Staring at it expectantly, he frowned as the phone kept buffering, looking for a signal, and then finally asking for a password when the airport Wi-Fi came up in the little window. “I don’t know the password,” he said, nonplussed.
    “Shouldn’t it be free?”
    “Apparently not.” Seth was annoyed. “It’s ridiculous. An airport should have it for free.”
    “Turn off your Wi-Fi and let it roam.”
    “Do you have any idea what the costs will be?”
    “I don’t give a fuck, Seth. I’ll pay the goddamn bill.”
    “That’s not the point,” Seth countered.
    “What then? Do you want to stand here all day or get going?”
    “Of course I want to go,” Seth relented. “I’m tired and sleepy.”
    “Why don’t we just take a cab to the hotel? It’ll probably cost as much as the long-distance call if you have to use roaming.”
    “I guess we could do that.”
    “Come on,” Bryce said, heading