he did, I felt worse.
Our yacht, the Mercer Star, moved between the outer islands of the Evermere Isles, cutting through water so blue it looked painted.
It had been my father’s wedding gift.
Not ownership exactly.
Use of it for the season.
Thirty-eight meters of white hull, polished teak, six guest cabins, a glass-walled lounge and enough crew to make privacy difficult.
Except Adrian had somehow created plenty.
On the first day, he suggested we dismiss half the crew for “a more intimate honeymoon.”
I refused.
He laughed.
“Worth trying.”
By day three, though, most of the crew seemed unusually distant.
The steward who normally brought breakfast stopped coming.
Adrian carried the trays instead.
The chief engineer avoided looking at me.
Our onboard nurse had supposedly developed a fever and moved to a cabin near the bow.
And Thomas and Margaret Cole—my brand-new in-laws—were still aboard.
That had
