Santa Cruise Read Free

Tuesdays. Cal is a trustee of their local hospital, and it needs help. Anyhow I got carried away, I admit, and I won a Caribbean cruise for two. I never heard another word about it and didn’t realize it was a Christmas cruise. It’s been such a crazy year that, to be honest, I forgot all about it until this afternoon, when a FedEx envelope arrived from a cruise director. There had been some kind of slipup, and the cruise I won at the auction is set for next week. It leaves on December 26th and comes back on the 30th.”
    â€œThree days from now! That’s mighty short notice,” Jack said. “Are you going to go? If not, you could probably force them to put you on a different cruise. It’s their fault you didn’t get sufficient notice.”
    â€œBut this is a very special voyage,” Alvirah explained eagerly. “They’re calling it the SantaCruise. Everyone on board is someone who either won the trip by being the highest bidder in a charity auction; or who is a part of a group that did a great deal of good helping other people during the year; or who, after submitting proof of making a generous donation to a worthwhile charity, was selected in a random lottery.”
    â€œYou mean no one’s paying?” Luke asked incredulously as he accepted a menu from the waiter. “That cruise line must be rolling in cash!”
    â€œI have the brochure with lots of pictures and all the details,” Alvirah said, reaching down and fishing it out of her purse. “The ship looks gorgeous. It’s brand new. Well, almost brand new—it was refurbished from stem to stern. If you can believe it, it even has a helicopter pad and a rock-climbing wall, just like all the new big ships. The best part is that the cruise director is so apologetic about the notification mix-up that he wants us to bring four people as our guests to make up for it, and he offered two luxury rooms with balconies—just like our cabin.”
    She beamed at the four Reillys. “I want you all to sail on the Santa Cruise with us.”
    â€œOh, that’s impossible,” Nora answered quickly, shaking her head and looking at Luke to back her up.
    â€œAaaah, we’re just planning to relax nextweek . . .” Luke began clearing his throat as he tried to think of a stronger excuse.
    â€œHow better to relax than on a cruise?” Alvirah insisted. “Think about it. You two are going to the South of France after the first of the year. Regan, I know you and Jack are meeting friends to ski at Lake Tahoe on New Year’s Eve. What do you have planned for those four days after Christmas that beats sailing in the Caribbean?”
    It was a rhetorical question. “Regan,” Alvirah continued, “I just heard from Jack’s own lips that he’s on vacation for two weeks. What are you committed to do the day after Christmas and the three days after that?”
    â€œAbsolutely nothing,” Regan said promptly. “Jack, we’ve never been on a cruise together. I think it would be fun.”
    â€œThe weather prediction for the New York area next week is freezing to frigid or the other way around, whichever is colder,” Willy said encouragingly. He knew that in the couple of hours since that FedEx package arrived Alvirah had set her heart on having the Reillys join them on the cruise. “We’re hiring a private plane to fly us to Miami on the 26th,” he added, hoping that Alvirah wouldn’t admit that this was the first she’d heard of that plan. “Think about it. A beautiful ship. Fine people as our fellow passengers. Swimming in theoutdoor pool in December. Sitting on the deck reading a book. I’ll bet lots of the people will be reading your books, Nora. What do you say?”
    â€œIt sounds too good to be true,” Nora said matter-of-factly, but then she paused a moment and added, “I certainly know that we always have a