Claire Gulliver #04 - Cruisin' for a Bruisin' Read Free Page B

For all those years, while living and working in the same neighborhood in San Francisco, she was always acquiring new friends. She always knew who moved into the neighborhood, who had a baby, who was sick and who died.
    “Well, concentrate on finding us some eligible dance partners, will you Millie? It would certainly spice up the trip.” Lucy, a very attractive woman in her fifties was checking out the room. “See there? That one. The big guy over there? He looks interesting. And he looks about your age Millie. He could do for you or Ruth, don’t you think, Claire?”
    Ruth extended both hands, palms out and shook her head. “Oh, no, not me. I’m just here for the fun, no romance for me.”
    Claire looked at Ruth with surprise and then inquiringly at Millie.
    Millie explained, “Ruth has a new beau.”
    “Ruth! Who? When did this happen?” Lucy and Claire said in unison.
    “Why didn’t you say something?”
    And then, “Who is he? Where did you meet him?”
    Ruth waved the waitress to bring another round and shrugged, a little embarrassed by their interest.
    Millie tried to help her friend by explaining. “Remember me telling you about Sam Ng. He was the man from San Francisco, who was at our cooking school in Tuscany with his wife? And she got sick at the school and died right after it was over. You remember, Claire? I told you how sad that was.” She paused for Claire’s nod, then continued. “Well, at the school a group of students always played cards whenever we had spare time. And you know who is the card shark?” She indicated Ruth with her head. “So this summer Sam Ng was having a poker party with some of his friends and he invited Ruth and Randy Jackson, another of our fellow students from down on the peninsula, to join the game. And Ruth has been playing with them ever since.”
    Ruth nodded. “And that’s where I met him. His name is George Chang and he’s a prominent local businessman. He’s a widower with two grown children. We just hit it off.” Ruth actually simpered.
    “Ruth, that’s wonderful. Is it serious?” Claire eyed her mother’s friend with curiosity. She had known Ruth all her life. Ruth was like an aunt in lieu of the siblings neither her mother nor her father had. Ruth was gregarious and fun loving. She was proud of the fact she still wore the same size she did in high school, and while she still wore her hair and make up in the style of her younger years, she wore the current fashions in clothes, no matter whether or not they suited a woman of her years. Ruth had been married four times, two ending in divorces and two in widowhoods. Usually she was interested in any opportunity for romance.
    Until now! This avowal she wasn’t interested was an entirely new response from Ruth and one that made Claire wonder about George Chang. He must be special.
    “Don’t be silly, Claire. Of course it’s serious. Why else would she be swearing off men for the entire cruise?” Lucy smiled at Ruth. “Good for you, Ruth. There’s nothing like a little romance to stir the blood and brighten your life, right?” Then she turned and looked directly at Millie. “I guess we’ll have to see if we can catch that good looking fellow for you, Millie.”
    Millie looked shocked. “Me?” Her voice actually faltered.
    “Well of course. Don’t worry, I’m watching out for Claire and me, too. I think a tad of romance for each of us is what we need to make this cruise perfect.”
    Claire laughed. “Well, good luck, Lucy, but that might be a big undertaking. I understand there are way more single women on these cruises than there are men.”
    “Well, we only need three. That doesn’t sound too hard, does it?” Lucy appeared very confident and actually the way she said “only three” didn’t sound impossible.
    “And we only want a little romance. We’re not looking for life commitments.”
    Claire nodded, although she was dubious about Lucy’s plan. It was easier to agree and worry