Love a Sailor by Amanda Sandton Page B

tour with Clara.
I’ve always wanted to see the unfinished Sagrada Familia Cathedraland
Gaudi’s other quirky architectural masterpieces, but a day spent with Sukey
will be rewarding in its own way. Barcelona is only a two-hour flight away from
London and fares are cheap. I can visit any time. Barcelona isn’t going to
vanish. Kate is spending the day with the gang and so it will be just Sukey and
me
    I run down to the Hospitality Desk and
ask for advice about a good day’s outing for a toddler and am given a schedule
I think Sukey will enjoy: a visit to the aquarium which is a short walk from
our ship, lunch back on board and a siesta, and then a stroll through the
famous Las Ramblas.
    Sukey loves the aquarium, taking great
delight in viewing the fish swimming above and around us, and returns to the
ship a happy little girl. It’s warm enough for us to have lunch at the open air
restaurant on the fore-deck.
    At four o’clock, complete with baby
stroller, we board the shuttle bus en route to the foot of Las Ramblas. This street is much wider than the Calle Marqu é s de Larios in Malaga, but not as classy. Sukey
walks and rides by turns as we ascend the long slowly climbing hill. We find a
market on our left, the renowned La Boqueria , and spend a while browsing
through the stalls of colorful Mediterranean vegetables and what is left of the
strange sea creatures from the day’s catch.
    As we leave, we bump into Kate and the
gang who are on their way to a caf é to have hot chocolate and churros . Sukey likes the sound of that so we
join them. Sukey stuffs her little stomach with these Spanish donuts and falls
fast asleep in her stroller. The gang disappear to continue their shopping and
I saunter back down the hill to the ship, stopping at a bar for tapas and a cold beer while Sukey sleeps on in her stroller. I feel a little guilty
about letting her sleep so long, knowing that Clara will be babysitting tonight
and may have trouble getting the little one to settle down.
     
    *
     
    Clara’s late returning to the ship and I
worry I’m going to miss my dinner with the Captain. It falls to me to put Sukey
to bed, but I needn’t have been concerned as she falls fast asleep at once. I’m
sitting on the end of her bed reading my book when Clara eventually comes in.
Her eyes are glowing with excitement. She tells me she’s met a nice guy on the
tour bus. I’m glad for her, and for me, as I’ve been fearing that she was too
interested in my Captain.
    Dinner is half over by the time I reach
the Captain’s table. The unfriendly Mrs Scott is sitting on his other side. She
narrows her eyes when the Captain stands up to greet me. I’m not sure whether
she recognizes me as the interloper at the kennels, or whether she is always
this sour.
    She purses her lips when the Captain says
he has been worried that Sukey might be ill and was on the point of sending up
for news.
    “Sukey’s just a tired little girl. We had
a wonderful day, but my aunt was late getting back to the ship. And you?”
    “Standard old boring day as Master of the
largest old-style cruise liner in the business.” As Mrs Scott turns to help
herself from the waiter’s tray, he adds in a whisper, “And missing you like
hell. Coming to my cabin later?”
    I just have time to nod my agreement when
Mrs Scott turns her attention back to the Captain. It’s clear as the meal
progresses that she thinks he is her special property, and I am an extraneous
nuisance. She must wonder what on earth I’m doing sitting next to the Captain.
I marvel in silence at the Captain’s patience and good manners, as he fields
Mrs Scott’s probing questions and thinly disguised sexual innuendos.
    At last we are on the final flight of
stairs up to the Captain’s cabin, taking them two at a time in our hurry to be
alone. As soon as the door closes behind us, the Captain sweeps me up in his
arms and swings me in the air as if I were thistledown.
    “Merry, Merry, How I missed