Here Come the Boys by Milly Johnson Read Free Book Online Page A

worried sick…’
    ‘Don’t be,’ she fought to keep the shake out of her words. ‘The Figurehead port rep has fixed up a hotel for us to stay in and I’m going to pick up an emergency passport in the morning and then fly to Dubrovnik to catch up with the ship when it lands in Korčula.’
    ‘How will you get from Dubrovnik to Korčula?’
    Angie hadn’t a clue. ‘Well, they’ll tell us, I’m sure. It’ll be okay.’
    ‘Did your watch stop? Didn’t you realise that you had to be back on board for one thirty? Did you forget to turn it an hour forward? What happened?’ Gil sounded as tearful as she felt.
    ‘It wasn’t my watch that was the problem,’ said Angie. It would have been the perfect excuse, but she wasn’t very good at lying. ‘I misunderstood. I thought we were here for the full day.’
    ‘Oh heck.’ He sounded really weak. Angie felt bad for making him worry about her in his far from perfect present state of health.
    ‘I’m sorry, Gil. I promise I will see you in a couple of days and then we can put all this behind us.’
    ‘Just tell me what you need,’ said Gil. ‘I’ll book your flights…’ beep beep beep
    ‘Gil? Hello…’
    The reception had failed.
    ‘No signal at sea,’ said Selina, accepting the phone back. ‘Bloody ships.’
    ‘How come you missed getting back on then?’ asked Angie.
    ‘Sheer stupidity on my part. I’ve been here so many times that I automatically walked back to the other part of the harbour where the ship usually docks. Realised my mistake too late. I overheard why you didn’t make it back. That really surprised me. I always remember you as being Miss Super-organised.’
    ‘I still am,’ replied Angie, not happy that she was being dragged into a conversation with this woman. Of all the people in the world to be stuck with, why did it have to be her ? She couldn’t have made it up.
    ‘Yeah. That’s how you’re here on this bench with me. So why are you by yourself?’ asked Selina.
    ‘My husband’s had bad seasickness for a couple of days and didn’t feel fit enough to walk around,’ Angie explained, then added quickly, ‘I only intended to get off for a couple of hours to buy his birthday present,’ just in case Selina thought she was a rotten wife who would abandon an ailing husband.
    So why was Selina here alone then? Angie was about to ask when a taxi approached.
    ‘I think this is for us,’ said Selina. She looped her small bag over her shoulder, as the taxi drew up in front of them and they got in.
    ‘I take you to Hotel Bella,’ said the driver. ‘It is not far.’
    The hotel was a ten-euro trip away. Selina paid, but Angie insisted on giving her half. She didn’t want any charity from Selina Molloy. From the outside, the hotel looked small and tidy and functional. The air-conditioning hit them like an angel’s breath when they opened the door to the reception area.
    The man behind the desk didn’t speak much English but he did manage to communicate that he needed to swipe their credit cards. Selina scrabbled around in her purse but couldn’t find hers. She clapped her hand to her head remembering why.
    ‘I left it in the room safe with my passport so I wouldn’t be tempted to spend any more than I had in my purse,’ she replied.
    Well, you’re stuffed then, aren’t you ? Angie wanted to say. But she couldn’t.
    ‘I’ll pay you back,’ said Selina gratefully as Angie produced her card. ‘At least you know I’m good for the money.’ Her phone beeped in her bag warning her that it was low on battery. ‘Don’t suppose you have a phone charger?’ she asked the receptionist. He tilted his head at her. Selina pulled the phone out of her bag and pointed to the charge socket. Then she did a very good mime of a long wire and slotting a plug into a wall.
    ‘Ah, si .’ The receptionist bent down and pulled out a box from underneath his counter full to the brim with chargers, left by guests, Angie presumed. As luck would