No more why. No more Marcus. Seven days of just being Eleanor again, whoever that was.
I didn’t know then that the answer I’d stopped chasing was already on board, waiting for me.
***
By the fourth day at sea, I’d finally stopped flinching every time my phone buzzed and had started sleeping through the night. The ocean had a way of quieting the questions I’d carried aboard.
I’d finally stopped flinching every time my phone buzzed.
***
I even caught myself humming in the shower that morning, and the sound startled me more than any grief had.
Hal and Marjorie claimed me the first night. They were an older couple from Oregon, married for 41 years, and refused to let me eat dinner alone.
“You’re joining us,” Marjorie had said in a tone that offered no debate.
“Every evening. Non-negotiable.”
So I’d stopped arguing. Their easy affection at that window table felt like a warm lamp I could sit near without touching.
