Page 71 of Deadly Waves

“I generally love storms, but am I the only one worried about getting sick once the boat starts tossing and turning?” Mandy asked, her hand reflexively landing on her stomach. “I can’t remember if I took my motion sickness medication today.”

“You have a stomach like an infant,” Ally complained. “Actually, you have a stomach worse than an infant. Avery throws up less than you do.”

“It’s not as if I can help it,” Mandy complained, rubbing her cheek. “I have no idea why it happens.”

“I think it’s the universe’s way of telling you to get pregnant,” Ally said. “It’s showering you with morning sickness to prod you in the right direction.”

Mandy rolled her eyes. “Not this again.”

“I want you to have a baby,” Ally argued. “I’m going to have one. I want us to have daughters so they can be close.”

Mandy’s mouth dropped open. “You’re pregnant?”

“She’d better not be,” Sophie said. “She’s been drinking more than a sailor on shore leave since we hit this ship.”

“I’m not pregnant yet,” Ally clarified. “Jake and I have talked about it, though. I’m going to go off my birth control pills as soon as we’re married. I don’t want to be fat for the wedding, but we definitely want a baby … and soon.”

“Well, that’s great,” Mandy said, searching for the right words. “I don’t want a baby, though. James and I want to travel and spend time alone. I’m … sorry.”

Ally jutted out her lower lip. “But … .”

“Knock that off,” Sophie warned, wagging a finger. “First off, this isn’t the time for this conversation. Secondly, you can’t force someone to want the same things as you do. Mandy shouldn’t have to apologize to you for that.

“Ally, it’s great that you want a baby and you’re obviously going to make a terrific mother,” she continued. “Not everyone wants to be a mother, though. I’m pretty sure I don’t. Mandy and James have a right to choose their own future.”

“But I always pictured us going shopping for our daughters and spoiling them,” Ally complained.

“We can go shopping together for your daughter,” Mandy said. “I’ll be a great aunt. I promise. I just don’t want to be a mother. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Ally heaved out a frustrated sigh. “Fine,” she said. “I know I can’t push you into this. Jake warned me that I was going to pick a fight if I wasn’t careful. I guess he was right.”

“I think he’s right more often than you give him credit for,” Sophie said. “Besides, Mandy is going to be the cool aunt while you’re the annoying mom. Your kid will probably like her better than you … just like Avery.”

Ally scowled. Avery Hardy’s determination to reach for Mandy every time he saw her was a bone of contention in the Hardy family. Ally went out of her way to dote on the youngster and yet he gravitated toward Mandy. It was as if he sensed he wouldn’t be here without her.

“Don’t bring that up,” Ally said, crossing her arms over her chest. “You’re so mean.”

“I’m sorry,” Sophie said, holding up her hands. “I didn’t mean that. I’m just focused on the problem at hand. We need to find Tabitha, and we have to do it before the storm hits and Mandy starts puking everywhere.”

Mandy was affronted. “Hey! We don’t know that’s going to happen.”

“No, we don’t,” Sophie conceded. “If we play the odds, though, you’re going to be a puke factory before the night is over.”

Mandy wanted to argue, but she couldn’t. Instead she shook her head and pointed toward the far end of the deck. “We haven’t checked down there. Let’s see what we can find. Once it starts raining, we’re going to be stuck inside. I’m not risking being washed overboard and eaten by sharks.”

“You have a one-track mind,” Sophie muttered.

“That’s because she’s Jawesome,” Ally teased. “Come on. Let’s hurry. I’m not thrilled with the idea of surviving a storm out in the open either.”

THE WOMEN made a pointed effort of searching every nook and cranny on the ship – including behind the bars, which were shutting down early thanks to the pending storm – but they came up empty in their Tabitha search. They were about to give up when the sound of voices, one of them very angry, drifted across the night sky.

“Don’t tell me to calm down!”

Mandy pressed her finger to her lips as she cocked her head to the side. Without seeing who was speaking, she couldn’t be sure who the female voice belonged to. She had a sneaking suspicion it was Tabitha, though.

“You need to lower your voice.” The second individual was clearly a man, but Mandy couldn’t identify where the duo was located until she glanced around the fence that kept the private pool Will showed them on the day of their tour separate from the rest of the ship.

Mandy’s eyes widened when her gaze fell on Tabitha. She paced next to the pool, gesturing wildly, as Jon Peterson tried to soothe her obviously frazzled nerves.