“Then we’ll be three happy old ladies.” Sookie opened the door into her cabin.
***
The ship had already docked in Mexico the next morning when Ava met the ladies in the buffet area for breakfast. She went through the line, picking up a bagel, an individual package of cream cheese and some thinly sliced salmon, hash browns, and scrambled eggs. The ladies had invited her to go with them on an excursion of the Mayan ruins that day, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to leave the ship.
“I see that you listened to our words of wisdom.” Minnie nodded toward Ava’s plate.
“Yep, and I’ll probably gain fifteen pounds this week if I don’t stop eating so much. I understand y’all are going to see the Mayan ruins today? I’m not sure I’m going. Vince and I were supposed to do that together. It’ll be sad to see the ruins alone.”
“We’ll be with you,” Minnie said.
“Y’all have already seen the ruins, right? Why would you want to see them again?”
“Yep, we’ve seen them twice, or is it three times?” Dotty answered.
“But we want to see them through your eyes,” Minnie said.
“It’s always fun to go with someone who’s never been there,” Sookie added as she drank the last of her coffee.
“That’s so sweet,” Ava said. “I thought this would be a lonely cruise where I would do a lot of crying and trying to figure out what to do about my life and marriage, but you all are making it an adventure.”
“I don’t have children, and that means I never got to have grandchildren.” Sookie nodded when the waiter brought over the coffee pot to refill her cup. “I always wondered what it would be like to go on a vacation with either one. This is a little like having that experience.”
“My grandmother would have loved to go on a trip, but that was way out of her financial reach,” Ava said. “She passed away when I was in high school. My dad died with a heart attack at fifty, and cancer got my mama when I was in college. I was hoping that Delores and I could…” She shrugged. “She’s got more of my sister’s traits—all judgmental, bossy, and money-hungry. So, being with y’all is kind of like having a family vacation. Thank you all for taking me in. Crazy thing is that I feel we were neighbors or at least friends my whole life.”
“That’s the way it is when you live on these big floating hotels,” Dotty said. “You sure you don’t want to live on ships with us?”
“This is lovely, and I’m enjoying it so much, but I have to have roots,” she answered.
“Roots are good at your age, but every now and then you should sprout wings. Maybe once or twice a year you could come cruise with us,” Sookie said.
“I would love that.”
“Or if we decide to take a month off from cruises this winter and rent a cabin in the Colorado mountains so we can see snow. Maybe you could come see us then?” Minnie asked.
“I’m probably going to go back to teaching in the fall, so that might be doable over my Christmas break,” Ava said with a nod.
“But for now, eat your breakfast and we’ll go get on the bus that will take us out to the ruins. They are breathtaking,” Sookie told her. “We’ll probably sit at the bottom of the terrace since these two are too lazy to climb the steps, but I want you to go up there and see them. It’s amazing how when you are up on that cliff and looking around, your troubles don’t look nearly as huge.”
“They really are awesome. The only other thing I’ve seen to compare to the feeling I got when I saw them was when I visited Niagara Falls,” Minnie declared, “and the climb up all those stairs is worth the effort. But Dotty and I are going to wait at the bottom for you. Sookie could take the steps two at a time if she wanted to go. At our age, we should be slowing down, not trying to run a marathon with twenty-year-olds.”
Sookie patted Minnie’s thigh. “I stay fit so I can outrun Henry.”
Ava wondered if she could outrun Vince—or if she even wanted to.
***
Vince didn’t know if he wanted to corner Ava and have a talk with her, or if he wanted to avoid her as much as possible until he got things straightened out with himself and his family. Henry had told him that there was noway Sookie and her posse would even consider going to the ruins again since he was sure they had already been at least three times already.
“How can you know that?” Vince asked. “Are you stalking Sookie?”
“No, sir! I’m not that kind of fellow, but I know because each time was an experience. I first noticed Sookie at the ruins. I was so winded that I couldn’t even speak to her. The second time, I just sat down in the pavilion at the bottom of the stairs, and she and her friends passed right by me. The third time, Minnie and Dotty sat across the pavilion from me, and Sookie went on up the steps to the ruins. I overheard Minnie and Dotty saying that they wouldn’t ever climb up there again, and I had to agree with them. So, I don’t reckon they’ll be going to the ruins today. They’ll probably just stay in this area and do some shopping. Women of all ages like to get a piece of jewelry or a nice purse at the prices they charge around these parts.”
“Why would anyone keep going back to the same old places? If you’ve been there three times, and you know Sookie won’t be there, why are you going back?” Vince figured if he got off the ship and paid for an excursion that it would give him time to figure out how to approach Ava for a talk. Would she ever give him another chance if he promised to start over with their original dreams? He wished that they had gone to England, or maybe Australia, or even France when they were first married.That they would have been a team and come home every night to watch the sunset and talk about their day.
“We go because we like it,” Henry was saying when Vince tuned back into the conversation. “That’s the same reason folks go to the beach or to the mountains for vacation every single year. Are you going with me or not?”
“Yes, I will. Getting off the ship will give me some thinking time. Do we need tickets or does the excursion come with the price of the cruise?”
