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Mary Lynn…

Stunned, Mary Lynn sat still in the medical center. The guardian had brought her a cup of tea that was growing cold in her hands.

“Have you an idea of what she wanted?” The bird-like nurse in front of Mary asked, “Do you know what plans your mother had in place?”

“Mother-in-law”

Encouraging and kind, paperwork open on her lap, the nurse nodded again. “Her body could be flown back to the United States.” She opened the folder in front of her. “Not all funeral arrangements cover the transportation of a body from outside of the country.”

“Can’t you just…” Mary swayed her head back and forth. “Dump her body into the sea?”

“We absolutely can not.” The nurse leaned forward, small bright eyes flicking glances this way and that. “Is there a family member stateside that could contact her lawyer? Or check where she keeps her important papers?”

“Her house was looted.”

Folding the file closed, the woman shifted her glance to the guardian seated next to Mary. “Maybe we can talk again in a few hours. I know this must be a great shock for you to have lost your mother.”

The guardian didn’t correct her. “I will pay for her body to travel home. If there is an insurance policy or arrangements, I can arrange for reimbursement. Please, take the necessary steps. I am assuming there is a way to keep the body cold until we arrive in Spain.

“Yes, Sir. Of course.”

The guardian tucked his hand under Mary’s arm and lifted her to standing. His voice was shockingly calm and even. “We need some time to process this loss. I’m sure you understand.”

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Mary tried to pull away from his touch, but he held her steady and drew her closer to him. “Come along, Mare.”

As they cleared the door and entered the mass of regular cruisers, the festive environment seemed acidic and forced to Mary. Who were these people making themselves have a good time, trying to beat the numbers game of the drink package? She hissed to the guardian, “I bet they are going to stuff her body in next to the ice cream. Don’t think they won’t. She’ll be propped up with boxes of pork chops stacked around her.”

“I’m sure that isn’t how they handle this kind of thing. With the median age of cruisers, you have to think an onboard death happens a handful of times every year.”

“But why this time?”

“Mary, I will handle it. I’ll have the Wolves near her home look for any paperwork she might have hidden.”

“That old bat didn’t think she was going to die.” A sob caught in Mary’s throat, and an unexpected surge of sorrow filled her body. She would not allow her face to leak in public over that woman. They’d each wished for each other’s death more than once. But… now that she was gone. Mary Lynn’s throat tightened. “What if she doesn’t have any money? That might have been why she cheaped out on the medicine Kennedy needed.”

He turned her toward a blessedly empty elevator.

“I have to tell Kennedy.” She blindly walked into the metal box as he pressed the button for her floor. She’d have the room to herself now. Mary’s heart clenched. Nana was gone.

The guardian placed his warm hand on her back. “I’ll let you use my phone once you’ve had a little time to calm down.”

“But what am I going to do?”

*

The smell of wall mud banished the lingering aroma of roses. The large patches looked stark and strangely white against the torn faded wallpaper. The older woman wielded a trowel, sweeping a thick layer across the sealed surfaces.

Once the patches were complete, they sat on the floor and looked at their work. Together, on either side of the door to the mother’s room, they marked the sign for protection Terry’s mother had taught her. It was the same mark she put at the edge of her doors.

Just to be sure, Kennedy swept her fingers across the wet mud spread over the patch and the dirty wall leaving the mark on the faded wallpaper, sealing the sign with dust and dirt. The house creaked as if it was settling, and a loud crack sounded to her left. From the base of the floor to the ceiling, the damage crept along the wall, and Kennedy imagined she glimpsed the surface bow outward.

Terry’s mother placed both hands on the wall. “Hush now. Both you and the baby are safe, together.” The wind moaned and cried just outside the house. “You go on and cross. Those who hurt you are long gone.”

“No…” Kennedy heard the word, thready and thin, close to her ear and jumped.

Kennedy looked toward her future mother-in-law who had become oddly pale. “What do we do?”

“There is another.” The woman looked uneasily around the house. “Her sister.”