“He should be,” he said. “I did another full search last night, found no one else, and then came in and Killian took over.”
“Right,” she said, “that makes sense. I guess there’s food?”
“There is,” he said. “Not a ton of food but bread and maybe jam.”
“Even that,” she said, “with a cup of coffee, would be lovely.”
“There’s coffee,” he said, “a little, but it’s pretty thick and strong.”
“And again, even that,” she said, “would be lovely.”
He smiled. “In that case,” he said, “let me take you down to the galley.”
And together the two of them walked out into the hallway.
“Are all the other women okay?” she asked worriedly. “I’m particularly worried about Jessie and the woman whose leg was injured.”
“I did check in, but I didn’t see anybody, other than those sleeping,” he said. “I’m hoping that Killian will have had a head count. Otherwise we’ll do that when we’re up top.”
“He’ll need more sleep.”
“And he won’t get it,” he said.
“Because we’ll be docking soon, right?” she asked. “Well then, he gets the first nap next time.”
Jerricho chuckled. “We’re used to going on a no-sleep basis,” he said, “so don’t you worry too much about it.”
“I just know that I couldn’t do that,” she said. “All I want to do is go home now. I’m hot, tired, sticky, and this is definitely not how I expected my life to go.”
“Well,” he said, looking at her intently, “it seems like a lot of things that I used to know about you are no longer true.”
“No,” she said, “they are true. But like I said, I changed. I made a very concerted effort to become somebody I was proud to know. Somebody who wouldn’t get left at an altar like that ever again,” she said, her voice breaking softly.
He swore again. “I still want to punch his face,” he said. “That’s a shitty thing to do.”
“What a day it was,” she said. “But I certainly won’t harp on it anymore.”
He led her down to the galley, and there they found several of the women, sitting with Killian. Jessie hopped up and gave her a quick hug. Even in the other woman’s arms, Brenna’s gaze was on Killian and his bright smile, when he saw her.
Brenna walked over and gave him a big hug. “Thank you,” she said. “I’ll probably just say that every time I see you now.”
He burst out laughing. “Did you give Jerricho a hug?”
“Nope,” she said, “I didn’t.”
“Why not?” Jerricho joked. She walked over, gave him a great big hug. He kissed her gently and kept an arm wrapped around her shoulders, as they turned to face the rest. The other women looked at him with a knowing look. She just smiled, looked at Killian. “Where’s Annie? Is she okay? Is everybody accounted for?”
He nodded. “She is fine. And people are starting to relax a little bit.”
“What about the young woman with the leg injury?”
“She’s doing okay,” he said. “She’ll need medical attention, when we get her to land.”
At that, Brenna looked around and asked, “Are we almost there?”
“We are.”
Jerricho walked over, put on a large pot of coffee, and said, “We can have a cup hopefully, before we land.”
“I would like that,” she said.
One of the women said something, slicing big slabs of flatbreads. Brenna walked over, snagged two pieces, and smiled at the woman. Even though she didn’t know what language she spoke, she was so happy to see these women, and they were equally happy to see her. It’s like they’d all been given a whole new lease on life.
As Brenna thought about that, she realized that, not only was that true, but for her, it really was another lease on life. Another chance, another day that she could assess her life and could move forward. And it felt not quite as momentous but, in a way, was just as momentous. Back then Jerricho hadn’t been in her life. She had already split with him, but now here he was again. She’d made a concerted effort to change her ways, and here she was, looking at maybe a complete life change. Certainly a career change because she didn’t think she could stomach coming overseas again.
But did she want to just cover society pages? That would make her want to vomit. Somewhere along the line, she had to find a happy medium, and she knew it should be now—at this time, with the pressure right now, because of everything going on. It felt momentous, yet another milestone. As she stood here, pondering and chewing on her bread, Jerricho reached over, squeezed her shoulder gently, and asked, “Are you okay?”
“I am,” she said quietly, “just lots of thoughts.”
“And thoughts are good,” he said. “No reason not to think about everything.”
“Have our families been told?” And, if they had, would they reach out to her? And, if so, when? Not to mention how? She sighed. Still such a long way to go, before her life returned to normal.
“Yes,” he said. “At least the authorities have been notified. I presume they passed on the news. The fact of the matter is, we still aren’t free and clear yet, but we’re getting there.”
“I know,” she murmured. And, with a cup of coffee, he led her back up on deck, the other women following behind, somehow knowing it was time to leave the ship. As she turned to look, Jerricho ushered the last of them up onto the deck with her. As they walked across the wooden surface, she saw land in a distance. She stood here for a long moment.
“How is it,” she murmured, “that just the sight of land makes our hearts uplift? I guess we weren’t intended to be water travelers?”
“We were always intended to be water travelers,” Jerricho said. “But that means traveling from one point to another point. And so much more is in our world that it’s all about getting to that next point.”
“What if you don’t want to do any more traveling from one point to another?”
“I think you get a chance to sit down and to relax then,” he said. “And, if that’s the point you’re at because you’re where you think you should be—or at least where you’re ready to stop and to reassess—then let it be,” he murmured.
She smiled, nodded, and said, “Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“It would.”
She watched, huddling over her cup, a thick, rich sludgy coffee, as land approached, closer and closer. Finally she saw other boats and vehicles on the other side. “Are they here for us?”
He nodded. “Yes, for the women with some medical issues,” he said. “They’ll all go for treatment first. And we have government representatives for the masses of them.”
“Good,” she said. “I presume there’ll be a consulate for us.”
“Not a consulate likely in a small town but they are on their way. I believe,” he said, but an edge was in his tone.
She glanced at him. “Problems?”