Sweet Promise by Ginna Gray Read Free Book Online

slid into the chair next to Joanna, looking the worse for wear. Behind his fashionable glasses his eyes were bleary and bloodshot, and there was a decidedly sickly cast to his skin. Even his carefully styled hair was mussed at the sides, as though he'd been massaging his temples.
    "Sorry I'm late," he murmured, reaching eagerly for the cup of coffee the instant the waiter had filled it. "Gloria and I stayed at the Zodiac until almost two this morning and it was a bit difficult to get the old bod in motion."
    A curious feeling of relief flickered through Joanna. She had halfway suspected that after they had parted the night before Sean might have sought out Gloria. The chance that the woman might still be with him had been the only thing that prevented Joanna from knocking on his cabin door that morning.
    When Tony had drained his cup of coffee he noted the vacant chairs at their table and glanced around the elegant empty dining room. "It looks like I'm not the only one who slept late. Either that, or everyone else chose the breakfast buffet on deck."
    Joanna immediately gave herself a swift mental kick. She had forgotten all about the buffet.
    As quickly as good manners would allow, she finished her coffee, excused herself and headed outside.
    Stepping out into a brilliant world of blinding sunshine and vivid colors, Joanna squinted and shaded her eyes with her hand. The sky was a canopy of blue: perfect, flawless, so bright you could barely stand to look at it. The undulating ocean was several shades darker, touched here and there with frothy whitecaps. At the horizon, sea and sky blended together in a softly smudged line that made it difficult to tell where one ended and the other began. The white ship plowed sedately through the blue waters, creating more foaming waves at its bow and a wake that trailed behind like the lacy train on a bridal gown. Only the polished brass and wooden deck and the gay garb of the passengers added a dash of contrast to the great expanse of blue and white.
    Smiling, Joanna breathed deeply of sun and salt air and fished in the deep pocket on her wraparound skirt for her sunglasses. There was still a line of people at the buffet table, but Sean wasn't among them. Most of the tables scattered along the deck were filled with people enjoying their alfresco breakfast, and as she strolled toward the stern of the ship Joanna discreetly glanced at each of them.
    About halfway down the deck she spotted Susan and Bill Adamson, and to Joanna's surprise, Susan was holding in her lap a baby who looked to be about six months old.
    "Well, good morning, you two," Joanna greeted, stopping beside their table. "When you didn't show up in the dining room I thought maybe you had made the rounds with Tony and Gloria last night."
    At the sound of Joanna's voice the baby looked up and stared at her, her big blue eyes wide and unblinking. Her intent gaze did not waver even when Susan stuffed another spoonful of what looked like mashed banana into her mouth. Smiling, Joanna reached out and touched the wispy blond curl above the baby's ear. "And who is this little charmer?"
    "This is our daughter, Lori," Susan said distractedly, using the side of the spoon to rake the globs of food from around the rosebud mouth and stuff it back in. "Bill's mother was going to keep her while we took this cruise, but just a few hours before we were supposed to leave, she slipped on the stairs and broke her leg, so we had to bring Lori along."
    "It was either that, or miss it. It was too late to get a refund on our tickets," Bill added dejectedly.
    Susan looked up at Joanna with a wan smile. "Don't misunderstand. We love Lori dearly. It's just that this was supposed to be sort of a second honeymoon. Now we'll have to take turns sitting with her in the evening while the other one eats and sees the shows. We're going to try to take her with us when we go on the island tours, but if she gets too fussy one of us will have to stay on board and