“Which one is Colin?” Mary asked, keeping her voice casual even as her mind raced.
“He’s the one in the middle,” Diane said, pointing at the man in the center of the group. “So handsome, wasn’t he? Still is, really. Good family genes, if I do say so myself!”
Mary stared at the two men, ignoring the others. Nearly identical in appearance, enough that if you didn’t look closely, you might mistake one for the other.
A strange tingling reached the back of Mary’s neck, the kind of instinctive warning she’d learned to pay attention to during her military service. “They look so alike.” Mary gestured between the two similar-looking men. “Are they related somehow?”
“Who? Oh, you mean Colin and—” Diane leaned closer, squinting at the photograph. “I don’t remember his name. Colin’s roommate. How forgetful I am.” She shook her head, then smiled. “They did look similar, didn’t they? Robert used to joke about it. He once said that Colin told him he and his roommate switched places in a class but were too afraid to get caught, so it was a one-time adventure. But no… there’s no relation.”
Unease still lingered in Mary’s mind as Diane continued to reminisce.
“I feel so bad that I went a number of years and didn’t see Colin very often. He was moving up in his career, traveling, and just enjoying being a young adult. Robert and I were also traveling and enjoying our golden years. When Robert died, we reconnected. Thank God, because I have come to need him.”
The uneasiness now slithered through Mary’s chest. Her phone was in her lap, and she made a split-second decision. While Diane was leaning over to rummage in her nightstand, mumbling, “I know I have another photo here somewhere, a better one of just Colin,” Mary quickly snapped a picture of the photo with her cell phone.
The tingling at the back of her neck intensified. Something about this felt wrong and also felt important. “Here you go, Diane. Put these back so you don’t lose them,” she encouraged.
Diane took the small photobook and placed it inside her purse. Before Mary could ask more questions, the stateroom door opened. Colin stepped in carrying a tea tray, his expression pleasant but his eyes sharp as they tracked between Mary and Diane. Right behind him was Bert, his presence filling the doorway.
“I come bringing gifts of Earl Grey and a blueberry scone,” Colin declared, setting the tray on the bedside table. “Let me get you a glass for your morning pills.”
As Colin walked into the bathroom, Bert moved farther into the room, his hand finding Mary’s shoulder. “Hey, sweetheart. I thought we could see if there is a short excursion we could join this morning.”
“Oh, I so loved the company,” Diane protested, though Mary could see genuine fatigue beneath her protests.
“Another time,” Mary said gently. “You need rest.”
Mary hesitated, then watched as Colin brought in several pills in various colors and shapes. He handed them to Diane before offering her a glass of water. She swallowed the pills and drank all the water. Colin had turned to go back through the connecting door. “I’m going to call for the dining hall to send butter and jam with more scones,” he said.
Mary made another snap decision as soon as Colin was out of sight, and Diane focused on pouring a cup of tea. Mary pretended to sneeze, pulled a clean tissue from her purse, and snagged the now-empty water glass from the nightstand. She avoided looking at Bert as she shoved it into her purse.
Glancing up, she smiled widely. “I’m ready to go, sweetheart.”
Bert’s gaze stayed on her face, but he simply smiled in return. “Colin, Diane,” he called out. “Have a nice day.”
Colin walked back in, nodding toward them congenially. “Thank you. You too.”
They said their goodbyes, and the moment they were in the corridor and the door closed behind them, Bert leaned close. “We’ll head back to our cabin.”
She nodded, forcing her smile to stay in place. She’d taken a risk. Not even a calculated, well-thought-out risk. One that could have alerted Colin to their curiosity. But she had no regrets. The curiosity that hit her when she’d looked at the photographs needed to be evaluated and getting the glass was the only way she could be sure. Glancing up at Bert, she observed his tight jaw.
Blowing out a long breath, she knew she had some real explaining to do once they were alone. We just might have our first argument as a couple. Oh yay…
30
Bert and Mary headed back to their cabin after leaving Diane’s stateroom, moving through the ship’s corridors, both silent. He had no idea what Mary had been up to, but he was furious that she’d placed herself at risk. He’d watched in surprised silence as she pretended to sneeze, grabbed a tissue from the nightstand, and snagged the small drinking glass, slipping it into her bag with such a smooth motion.
An elderly couple passed them on their way to their cabin, and a crew member pushed a service cart past them. Both times, he managed a greeting, hoping no one could see his frustration. He kept his hand on Mary’s shoulder, maintaining their cover as a devoted couple, and waited for privacy before finding out what the hell she was up to. The moment the door closed behind them, and he’d verified they were truly alone, Mary rolled into the center of the room and spun her wheelchair around to face him.
“What the hell was that?” He looked down at her, struggling to hold on to his temper. “Mary, you stole a glass, putting yourself at risk if you had been caught?—”
“I don’t think Colin is who he says he is.”
The words came out certain, cutting through his anger and replacing it with stunned confusion. He stared at her for a long moment, trying to process what she’d just said and failing to make it compute.
“What?” He moved to the chair across from her and sat, needing to be at eye level. “What are you talking about?”
“Diane mentioned Colin hovering. It unnerves her, but since he is her only living relative, she is indulgent. Then she started showing me photographs… she and her husband, Robert. Then her sister, Catherine, and brother-in-law, and their child, Colin. Colin’s dad was tall, dark-haired.”