“The head steward thought we were unhappy with the service!”
Her grandfather slid an arm around her grandmother and planted a kiss on her. Not a quick buss, either. “That’s what he thought we were doing.”
“You got off the ship. Early.” She couldn’t begin to imagine the logistics of that kind of move.
“Uh-huh.” Her grandfather smiled, clearly less worried than she was by the cruise ship’s rules.
“And they let you do that.”
He snorted. “How were they going to stop us?”
She could think of a half dozen ways. “Don’t they have rules about leaving early?”
“Sure.” A familiar grin spread across her grandfather’s face. “But honey, some rules are made for breaking. You ask your grandmother all about it. I’ve got a mountain of stuff sitting on the driveway to haul in.”
Her grandmother, he always complained—obviously enjoying the familiar refrain—had never mastered the art of packing light. “The overweight fees are bankrupting me,” he tossed out with a twinkle, right before he stepped smartly through the door.
Her grandmother sank back into her chair. “That man is something else again.”
“He loves you.” The pain of that statement was unexpected. The pain and the joy. These two people meant something dear to her. She’d always been happy for them, for their obvious love for each other and the pleasure they took in each other’s company. But now their easy comfort underscored what she didn’t have.
What she could have had but had tossed away.
Daeg was leaving.
She knew that in her heart. She didn’t need to see his bold scrawl in the guestbook—thanks for the good times—to know he’d packed up his battered duffel and gone back to town. Today or tomorrow, he’d be on the ferry for the mainland and she wouldn’t see him again for months or for years.
Perhaps forever.
Her grandparents knew all about breaking rules. Fifty years ago, they’d cashed in their savings, hopped the ferry to Discovery Island and bought the plot of land that had become Sweet Moon. “How did you do it?”
“Jump ship?”
“Yes. Get off the ship early, follow Granddad. All of it.”
“Who do you think put the idea in his head?” Her grandmother grinned at her.
She tried again. “I’d have stayed on board.”
“Would you have been alone?”
That was the question. “What if I wasn’t? What if he got off, but I was too chicken to follow him?”
“And this someone would be a person you care about?”
She felt as though her grandmother could see straight through her.
“Yes.”
Her grandmother’s hand rested on hers. “Then it’s not too late,” she said. “Whoever he is, go after him. Bring him back.”
Dani lifted her head, not wanting to meet those familiar eyes of her grandmother. She always seemed one step ahead of Dani. Dani only felt regret now—and admitted the truth. “He’s gone.”
“Sure.” Her grandmother made a sour face. “But gone doesn’t mean never coming back.”
“In this case, it does.” She thought about Daeg’s last words. He was right, of course.
Her grandmother chuckled softly. “I know that look. Your grandfather inspires it all the time. Some men weren’t made easy.”
“He’s stubborn.”
“So are you.”
“Am I?” She didn’t know. Didn’t know if it was just fear of the unknown or fear of taking a chance. Watching her father upend their lives over and over, betting on each new real estate deal to set them right, she’d decided years ago that risks were bad and safety good. But how did she know that her decision was the right one?
“You don’t,” her grandmother said, as if she’d read Dani’s mind. “There’s no telling whether you’ve decided good or bad, not until everything’s over and you’re looking back on your life. But even then, you’ve made the decisions you have and for good reasons. You’re a sensible person, Dani, but you still have to live your life.” She smiled and gave Dani’s hand a comforting pat. “You going to give me a name, tell me who you’re bringing back to Discovery Island?”
Saying it out loud would make it real. Would put into words the chance she wanted to finally take. She could sit here and let him go. Or, more accurately, watch him go because there was no letting Daeg Ross do anything. The man did what he wanted, when he wanted. He was a force of nature. Her grandmother had said it—life with him wouldn’t always be easy. No, but it might be wonderful. Wonderful should be what she was looking for, not steady and predictable.