Souls' Rescue Part 11

"She's horrible about deleting voice mail. Look, I'll get her to clear out her inbox. Just call her, okay?"

Kelly had agreed and watched Talia's best friend climb into his car and leave.

That was two days ago.

Since then it had been one thing after the other, barely making it to the airport, their hotel reservations messed up, arriving at the s.h.i.+p just before it left. Kelly had scarcely had time to breathe, but her thoughts were on Talia. It would be enough to hear Talia's voice and say good night. Though it would be better to have Talia at her side to enjoy the sunset.

The phone blinked indicating it was still searching for a tower. Kelly cursed under her breath and was ready to turn the thing off when it beeped twice. Finally, a signal.

Kelly flipped open her phone and hit the "send" b.u.t.ton. The phone rang a few times and went to voice mail.

"Hi, Talia. It's Kelly. Look, I haven't had a chance to call you yet and this is the first time I've had a signal. Call me as soon as you get this message." She closed her phone and stared out at the stars again.

Something wasn't right. She was in the same time zone as Ohio, and Talia should be getting finished with her dinner. Why hadn't she answered the phone?

Kelly decided to call her again, in case Talia had been talking to someone else at the time she called. Again, the call went to voice mail. "Hey, it's me. I hate talking to a machine, but I really want to hear your voice. Does that sound lame? Call me. Please."

Kelly closed the phone and cursed herself. She sounded pathetic and desperate. She dialed Talia's number. "Me again. You're very important to me, Talia. And this is too important to leave as a message on your voice mail. So call me on my cell. Please?"

She hung up again and this time tucked the phone into her jacket pocket.

Kelly continued to lean on the rail until the evening chill got to her. Deciding to head back, she took the phone out one last time and strolled toward her quarters. She almost dropped it when it rang. She flipped it open without looking to see who the caller was. "h.e.l.lo?"

"Hi."

It was wonderful to hear Talia's voice. Kelly had trouble forming any words. "Hey."

An awkward silence fell, and Kelly stepped into her stateroom, closing the door behind her. "I've been trying to get a hold of you."

"Yeah. My phone got set to silence, and I didn't realize it." Talia hesitated and Kelly heard her moving around on the bed. "I did listen to your voicemails, though."

"Good. Jacob said you were bad about clearing those out."

Talia laughed. "I am. But when I saw that it was your number I was afraid to listen to them."

"Afraid? Why would you be afraid?" Kelly sat on her bed.

"You didn't call me Wednesday or Thursday and-and I needed you. I couldn't reach you, and I just figured you weren't interested anymore."

"Talia, I haven't stopped thinking about you since the day I left your hospital room. I've been going nuts trying to reach you."

"I'm-I'm sorry."

Was she crying? Kelly thought she heard a sob. "Please. I'm not angry. Don't be upset." She leaned back on the bed, wis.h.i.+ng more than anything that she could be next to Talia. Wis.h.i.+ng she could give her a kiss. "Don't cry, baby. I got a little worried. That's all."

"I didn't think you wanted anything to do with me." Talia said. "I honestly thought you were gently telling me to go away."

"h.e.l.l no." Kelly closed her eyes and imagined Talia beside her, holding her hand. "I'd never do that. Didn't you hear me before? You're all I've been able to think about."

"Seriously?" She heard a hitch in Talia's voice.

"Since the day I first met you." There was another awkward pause.

Talia said, "I've been thinking of you a lot, too."

"Great minds think alike," Kelly said, elated to hear Talia's soft chuckle. She got up from the bed and looked out the porthole. Millions of tiny points of light filled the inky blackness above. "I wanted to share the evening sky with you."

"You did?" Did she hear apprehension in Talia's voice? Or surprise?

"Of course. It's not as much fun looking at it alone. Besides, I find it terribly romantic. I should have warned you that I'm a mushball for romance."

"I like that. I've never been much on romance. Then again, I've never had a reason to be."

"Then I'll have to give you a reason."

A comfortable silence settled over both of them. Talia was the first to speak again. "I've got surgery Monday morning. The doctor didn't sound too optimistic about saving my leg." Talia paused and Kelly waited for her to continue. "Maybe you could call me at sunset and describe how it looks."

"I'd love to share it with you. Tonight's was pretty amazing." She went on to describe the skies, s.h.i.+p, the pool, and the astounding array of food at the dinner banquet. They talked effortlessly, as though they'd known each other for years, until finally Kelly could tell Talia was starting to fade. "I bet you had some meds recently."

"Yeah, sorry. After a while, they make me fuzzy."

"I'll let you go then, and I'll try to call again tomorrow. I hope I can get a signal. I've got plenty more stories to tell you."

"I'd love to hear them." She yawned in the background, which made Kelly smile.

"Please try not to worry too much about the surgery. I'll be there with you in spirit, holding your hand."

"Thanks. That means a lot to me. Good night, Kelly."

"Good night, Talia." Kelly flipped the phone shut and felt like crying. What had she done to make Talia think she didn't want to be around her? Had she said something? She'd tried to call, but Talia obviously didn't know that. And what about her surgery? Kelly would give anything to have a helicopter pick her up and take her off the d.a.m.n s.h.i.+p.

"It's about time you called her." Marina appeared in the doorway and startled Kelly.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough." Marina flopped onto Kelly's bed. "So, how is she doing?"

"She's okay, I think." Kelly highlighted their conversation. "I wish I could be there for her."

"Just think good thoughts." Marina said. She put her arm around Kelly's shoulders and gave her a squeeze. "No crying. Nothing bad has happened so far, and you're not allowed to think negative thoughts."

Kelly swiped the tears from her cheeks. "Okay. Even if she loses the leg, she's still alive and well."

"And still interested in you, right? After all, she wouldn't be upset that you didn't call if she wasn't interested."

Kelly eyed her mother suspiciously. "Oh, no. You're not getting the whole conversation out of me."

"Why not? I'm your mother. You should be a good daughter and share these things with me."

"I'm a good daughter, but I'm not sharing." Kelly shoved the phone into her pocket. "But I will go with you to the casino."

"And you're buying me a beer."

"You don't drink." Kelly said as she opened the door of their stateroom.

"I do when I gamble."

"Since when?"

"Since I'm on a cruise and I can."

Kelly fell into step behind her.

"And don't you roll your eyes at me, young lady."

"How did-"

"I'm your mother."

Chapter Fourteen.

THE SOUND OF loud music startled Talia awake, and she fumbled about, hunting for her cell phone on the bedside table.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Hi." Kelly said. She sounded distracted.

Talia rubbed her eyes to try to wake herself up. "Hey, Kelly. What are you up to?"

"Hmm, nothing much." Kelly paused and Talia waited out the silence. "I'm just missing you."

"Really? Well that's funny, because I'm missing you right now." Talia felt her face flush with heat. She felt like a teenager talking to her first crush.

"We make quite a pair, don't we?" Kelly chuckled, and the sound made Talia laugh, too.

"Sure do. Are you having a good time?"

"Oh, yeah. Mom has been either playing Bingo or at the slot machines every waking moment, except when I made her leave the s.h.i.+p to go on an island tour today."

"Did she enjoy the tour?"

"Yep, but couldn't wait to get back and play more Bingo. Not only is she addicted, she's on a major winning streak."

"Really? How much?"

"That depends on your math," Kelly said. "My mother's math is messed up. She wins a hundred, plays it back, loses two hundred, wins it back, feeds her money to the slot machine, and then spends her dollars on Bingo and the rip-off tickets. I've never seen her gamble so much in my life."

"Sounds like she's spending your inheritance."

"Hey, yeah. I would be a thousandaire if she'd only stop spending it."

"She's having a good time. What are you doing?"

"I'm getting a tan."

Talia thought for a moment about Kelly in a bikini on a lounge chair soaking up the warm sun, her trim body inches from Talia's reach.

"You still there?"

Whoops. Talia blushed again, glad that Kelly didn't know the contents of her thoughts. "Yeah, I mean no. Guess we must have had a break in our connection or something. What were you saying?"

"I was just saying my tan is more like a sunburn. Redheads don't tan well. Which has nothing to do with the story I wanted to tell you last night. There was this gorgeous woman hitting on me."

Talia felt a twinge in her gut. "Really?" She wanted to ask if Kelly had taken her up on it, but couldn't make herself form the words.

"Yeah. She was pretty bold. I mean, she didn't even know if I was gay or not. It's not like we're on an Olivia Cruise or something. Anyway, she took some swings and struck out."

"She did?" Never much of a sports fan, Talia had trouble processing Kelly's baseball reference. "She struck out?"

"Yeah. As in I said no." Kelly's voice got softer. "I wasn't interested in her, you know."

"Hmm." Talia grinned now, catching on to Kelly's meaning. "Anyone else you're interested in?"

"You bet." Kelly paused, and Talia enjoyed the sound of her breathing. "I need to get going. I'm not sure where Ma is right now, and it's getting close to lunch time."

Talia snuggled beneath her blanket. "I can always sleep more."

"I hear that. What time is your surgery tomorrow?"

"The inhuman hour of six a.m. That's what time I have to be in the pre-op. I don't think the surgeon even gets here until nine. Why do I have to be up if he isn't? I so don't want this surgery."

"I know you don't, baby. But remember I'll be there holding your hand."

Had Kelly called her baby? Talia felt a flutter in her chest and goose b.u.mps on her arms. "Thanks." It was all she could manage to say. Silence on the other end of the line caused Talia to wonder if she'd lost the connection with Kelly. "What? Are you there?"

"I didn't-I hope you don't mind that I called you baby just now. It kind of slipped out."

"It's okay." It was more than okay. "I liked it."

"Yeah?" Kelly sounded unsure of herself.