“You could always take meoutto breakfast and solve that whole problem, especially, um… forme.”
Colin nodded and rose. “Wanna save some time and shower with me?” He waggled his eyebrows and grinned.
“I know that look. We’d end up having lunch rather than breakfast.” He waved Colin toward the stairs. “You go shower. I’ll get dressed.” He toyed with his coffee mug. “I wish David had told us which cruise line he was booking us on.”
“So you can go online and check their safety record?” Colin asked, his voice growing fainter as he climbed the stairs.
Joshua winced in guilty embarrassment and muttered: “Smart ass!”
“Iheardthat!”
* * *
As Colin predicted,the sun had not yet set when David booked a mini-suite for himself and Nate and an adjoining balcony stateroom for Joshua and Colin. Both suites were beautifully appointed and would offer spectacular views of the Alaskan landscape.
Colin held out his iPad and pointed as they watched TV that night. “There’s our room.”
“Wow! You meanrooms,don’t you?” He glanced at the image, then, intrigued, he took the iPad from Colin’s hand to look closer. After a moment, he turned to face him, his eyes wide. “That’sours?”
“Theirs is even bigger,” Colin chuckled.
“My god,” Joshua whispered. “That had to have cost him a fortune!”
Colin shrugged and retrieved his device. “He’sgota fortune! And clearly, he doesn’t mind spending it.” He laid the iPad aside and took Joshua’s hand. “I think it’s going to be amazing.” He lifted Joshua’s hand to his lips and kissed it. “You gonna be OK with this?”
“I’ve got an appointment with Adam already,” Joshua said, referring to their doctor, Adam Casey. “He’ll hook me up with some motion sickness meds, and I’ll be fine.”
“That stuff really works?”
“I suspect we’re destined to find out.”
Colin’s iPad sounded a familiar tone, and he lifted it to view a message. “David and Nate want us for dinner on Sunday. We have to discuss shore excursions.” He turned to Joshua and grinned. “Nate is already doing cartwheels over walking on a glacier.”
“He likes glaciers, does he?”
“I think he’s more in love with the helicopter ridetothe glacier.”
“Helicopterride?” Joshua exclaimed, turning to stare at Colin wide-eyed. “Isn’t there any other way to get there?”
“I suppose we could walk,” Colin offered with a wink.
“Aww, dammit, Colin!”
“Don’t tell me. You’re…”
“Scared of helicopters. Yes. Well… at leastnervousabout them.”
“Have you everbeenon a helicopter?”
“Well, uh… actually…” He shot Colin a sheepish look. “No.”
“That’s what I thought. Look, babe. Just think of it as an airborne limo complete with the most fabulous views imaginable,” Colin’s grin broadened. "And besides, the pilot is probably the most overqualified chauffeur on the planet. Those guys are well-trained! A license from ‘Bob’s Flying School’ wouldn’t get them hired for this kind of work.”
When Joshua did not respond, Colin elbowed him and said, “Babe, it’s a ten-minute ride.”
Joshua wrinkled his nose and grimaced. “I justhatethe idea of being suspended in mid-air. What if the helicopter decides it's had enough and retires in mid-flight?"
Colin chuckled and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Helicopters don'tretire; they just gracefully descend. When was the last time you heard of an incident while ferrying Alaskan tourists? Or the first time, for that matter. Plus, we're going with David and Nate. If anything goes wrong, Nate can use that sassy mouth of his to bitch the chopper into cooperating."
