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"Guns and drugs," the broker’s wife said "And it ether, and sharing a cabin"

Her husband asked her what that was supposed toto take into account

In their own cabin, Julia said, "I’ay? And ould that have to do with the sick at the saed "Beatsa cabin’ I don’t know if you saw the look she got when she said that, but the schoolmarms didn’t appreciate the i a cabin"

"And they’re annoyed because they’re lesbians?"

"Or they’re not lesbians, and that’s why they’re annoyed At the implication"

"The world’s a complicated place," Keller said

Twenty-Six

The lounge chair Keller selected gave hiood view of the block of four staterooms, one of which housed Cars up, and set about the business of anointing hih SPF nu if there was any point to the whole process Wouldn’t it be simpler to skip the lotion and stay in your cabin? Wouldn’t you come out about the sas, and found that Mr Aldredge Sht below That was unfortunate, because if their removal to a hospital in Nassau had left a Sun Deck staterooht have used it as a base of operations

Keller hadn’t thought to pack a bathing suit, but the shipboard shop had been happy to sell him one It was black, and not too skih less so than if he’d stretched out on the lounge chair in long pants and a shirt And the sun felt good, and the ship had set sail shortly after lunch for Virgin Gorda, wherever that was, and Keller found itsAll he had to do was lie there and relax and keep his eyes open

The third requirement turned out to be impossible Your eyes are closed, he realized at one point, and told hi about it, but by then it was too late His ht off…

And came to abruptly There was no sudden noise, and no one jostled his lounge chair or walked past it to block the sun He wondered later if it ht simply have been an unconscious awareness of her presence that did it, because when he opened his eyes there she was, not ten yards away froe chair of her own, and applying coconut-scented suntan oil to those portions of her anatomy not covered by the scarlet bikini

Which was to say alolden-brown skin, and it see herself asit from the sun He didn’t want to stare at her, but see he knew she was looking right back at him

He looked away, but it was as if he could see her no ain, and she was still gazing at him, with an expression on her face that was not quite a sh it was definitely headed in that direction

Then she turned her eyes froe chair, and worked the controls to lower the back into a horizontal position She was still sitting up, and Keller watched as she put her hands behind her back, uncoupled the bikini top, and reether

She couldn’t have exposed her breasts to hier seconds than e chair

Had anyone else seen what Keller had seen? He looked around and saw no one who gave any evidence of having witnessed the performance Had it been for his benefit? Or had he merely chanced to be present when a free-spirited creature displayed her char twice about it?

Her head was turned to one side, resting on her ar toward Keller Her eyes were closed And she was s

Go back to his cabin? Go to the bar for a drink, or the lounge for a cup of coffee? Find his way to the library and pick out soive up on the sun and return to her cabin, so that he could see which one it was?

Keller closed his eyes to give the ain the combination of sun and waves carried hi, but when he opened his eyes he saw that the girl had changed position She was lying on her back now, and was once again wearing the bikini top

And she was no longer alone On the lounge chair just beyond hers, wearing knee-length Ber shirt with a palm tree on it, sat Carmody himself His feet were bare--a pair of pink flip-flops rested at the foot of his chair--and from the knees down the man was fish-belly white, while from the knees up he was pretty lasses and his pink cotton sun hat covering up most of him

The contrast between the two of thereater beneath the sun Earlier he’d looked old enough to be her father, or perhaps her father’s older brother; now you’d be randfather

She was lying down Carht position, and he sat there looking like afor his number to be called Then, after a few moments, he reached out and rested a hand on his coesture until the hand moved lower and slipped inside a cup of the bikini halter

Keller looked ailling the old goat to keep his hands to hiain it was as if his wish had been Car on the are chair

Well, that was better On the other hand, a little et up and return to their cabin, and Keller could note its number And he wished that would happen sooner rather than later, as there was a limit to how much sun he could handle

But how much sun could Cars, so…