Bess and George shrugged.
“I don’t know, but she really believes it,” Bess said. “She was really angry, too, and I think she has plans to do something about it.”
“Oh, great,” Nancy said.
“I kind of hope we don’t see her at dinner tonight,” George said. “It would be pretty sad if she made a scene.”
Nancy took out her cell phone. “I’d better warn Craig,” she said as she dialed his number. After several rings and no answer, Nancy hung up. “It may be too late,” she said.
“Maybe we should go on deck and watch the fireworks!” Bess said.
“No thanks,” George said. She wasn’t a big fireworks fan.
“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Nancy said. “We’re going to dinner tonight, and we’re going to sit at Amber’s table as if nothing has happened—and it hasn’t, as far as Amber is concerned.”
“Okay,” Bess said. “I think I’ll wear something old, in case Amber starts throwing things.”
George laughed, but Nancy forced a half smile. She thought that something like that might be a definite possibility.
They needn’t have worried, though. Later that night when they arrived at the restaurant, Craig met them outside the entrance and told them that Amber wasn’t feeling well and wouldn’t be at dinner.
“You know, she thinks you and I are seeing each other behind her back—romantically,” Nancy said. “I have no idea where she got that idea.”
Craig looked concerned. “I thought this instant sickness was a little weird,” he said.
“You mean she didn’t throw anything at you?” Bess asked.
“No, she just acted really tired,” Craig said. “Now that I think of it, though, she wasn’t too happy to see me. I thought it was just because she didn’t feel well.…”
Just then Craig was paged over the intercom and asked to go to the reception desk. He told Nancy he’d talk to her later about what they would do when the ship docked at Sturgeon Bay the next morning.
The dinner turned out to be even better than the previous night’s. A couple from Amarillo, Texas—the Lowes—was seated with the girls. Mrs. Lowe told them that they had asked to be moved from their other table to get away from what seemed like the most conceited couple in the world.
“I don’t mind listening to other people talk about themselves,” Mrs. Lowe said, “but when I talk about myself, I expect them to listen to me, too!”
“Makes sense to me,” Bess agreed.
Over dinner Mr. Lowe told the girls all about life on their ranch in the Texas Panhandle. Several times he invited the girls to come out to see them. “We’ve got an airport in Amarillo that even has jets,” he said. “You’d think you were in New York!” He gave them a big wink to show them that he was kidding.
When Nancy finally looked at her watch, she was shocked to see how late it was. “Well, I hate to break up this party, but I’d better call it a night,” she said. “We reach our first port of call in the morning, and I want to be rested so I can enjoy it.”
Everyone else agreed that it was time to turn in, so they all made their way out of the restaurant together. The Lowes had a cabin on deck 3—the same deck as the restaurant—so they said their good-byes to Nancy and her friends at the elevator.
“If you like to shop, you’ll see me tomorrow, because that’s what I’ll be doing,” Mrs. Lowe said. “Shopping until I drop!” She gave them a hearty laugh.
“I’m sure I’ll see you, then, Mrs. Lowe,” Bess said, smirking at George.
On the way up to their deck Nancy said, “I don’t mind telling you I almost had an upset stomach thinking about what might have happened at dinner if Amber had showed up. But this turned out to be one of the best times I’ve had in weeks!”
“I agree,” George said. “Maybe we should take Mr. Lowe up on his invitation to spend a couple of weeks on their ranch.”
“Let’s keep that in mind—maybe for next summer,” Nancy said. “Right now I think we need to look over the Sturgeon Bay and Door County brochures to map out tomorrow.”
Nancy woke up a couple of hours before her friends the next morning because she wanted to see Door County, Wisconsin, as the ship made its way into the harbor.
Door County, Nancy had read, had the look and feel of New England—one of Nancy’s favorite parts of the country. The area was full of rocky coves, small fishing villages, and colorful cherry, apple, plum, and pear orchards. She was really looking forward to exploring the terrain.
Their ship had just started inching around the tip of the peninsula when her cell phone rang. It was Ned.
Nancy thanked him for the bottle of Torino, told him that he shouldn’t have spent that much money, and then asked him how things were going in Oklahoma City.
“I’ve signed up the two clients I came to see, and I’m talking to two more this afternoon,” Ned said. “They’re going to love me back in New York!”
“Great, Ned!” Nancy said. “I am so proud of you.”
They talked for several more minutes. Just before Nancy hung up, she told Ned that she was helping to investigate a mystery but that the girlfriend of the detective thought that Nancy was interested in the detective romantically.
“Well, I’ll be glad to set her straight on that, if you want,” Ned offered.
Nancy laughed. “No thanks. We can handle it! You just take care of your clients in Oklahoma City.”
Just as Nancy ended her conversation with Ned, her cell phone rang again. This time it was Craig.
“We’ll be docking in thirty minutes. Everyone on the crew has something he or she has to do,” he said. He sounded like he was out of breath. “There’s a place called the Sturgeon Bay Restaurant on the first street after you leave the dock area. I’ll meet you there an hour after the ship has docked. We need to talk about the investigation.”
“Okay, but what about Amber?” Nancy asked.
“She’s still not feeling well this morning,” Craig said. “She doesn’t plan to get off the ship. She told me she was going to stay in bed all day.”
