Love Overboard aka Ivan Takes a Wife

Chapter 5

Stephanie braced herself against the counter and took a firm hold on her bread dough. According to Lucy, Wednesday was turkey dinner with all the trimmings. But Lucy didn’t know about the storm that was off the coast of Atlantic City and moving north. Lucy didn’t know the stowaway, Melody, would refuse to set foot in the yawl and would insist on helping out in the galley. Lucy didn’t know any of those things because Lucy had run off to get married. Stephanie shoved her fist into the dough. This was going to cost Lucy. This was not just a toilet. This was a whole new kitchen.

“Jeez,” Melody said, “that’s a lot of dough. And you put your hands in it. Gnarly.”

“It’s for crescent rolls. All we have to do is follow Lucy’s recipe.”

Melody studied the directions. “Looks like origami.”

“You know how to do origami?”

“No.”

Stephanie blew a wisp of hair from her forehead and grabbed the rolling pin. “I’ll do the first batch, and then once we get it figured out, you can take over.”

“Cool.”

The ship plowed through heavy seas, and Stephanie took time to wedge the coffeepots behind an iron bar to keep them from jiggling across the stove.

Mrs. Pease looked up from her solitaire game. “What was that creaking? The boat isn’t falling apart, is it? Do you think we’re going too fast? Is there a speed limit out here?”

Mr. Pease sipped his coffee and grinned. “Now this is what I call sailing.”

“Okay,” Stephanie said, returning to the dough, “it looks like we roll a lump of this flat, and then cut it into strips, then triangles.” She took one of the freshly cut triangles and made an attempt at shaping it into a rolled crescent. She looked at Melody. “What do you think?”

“It doesn’t look like the picture.”

Stephanie stared at it. “It sort of does. You have to use your imagination.” She wiped her hands on her jeans. “It’s all yours.”

Ivan ambled down the stairs and took a clean mug from a hook on the ceiling. “What a terrific day,” he said. “Fantastic wind.”

Stephanie glared at him. Easy for him to say, she thought. He was up there with his nose in the salt spray pretending to be a Viking. She was down here getting seasick, trying to keep Melody from slipping banned substances into the turkey dressing.

Ivan poured himself a cup of coffee and looked over Stephanie’s shoulder. “Haven’t seen you all day. You’re not avoiding me, are you?”

“I’ve been cooking!” The ship lurched, lanterns swung on their hinges, and coffee splattered and hissed on the hot stove. “I don’t know how much you’re paying Lucy, but it’s not enough.” She bit her lip against the wave of nausea and decided she’d smelled enough brewing coffee to last a lifetime.

“You look a little pale,” Ivan said. “Maybe you should get some air.”

Mr. Pease smiled at them. “I think it’s real nice that you two are getting married. Love on the high seas. That’s romantic.”

Ivan’s left eyebrow cocked a fraction of an inch. “Getting married?”

Mr. Pease blinked. “Aren’t you getting married? I heard you were getting married.”

Mrs. Pease rolled her eyes at her husband. “You always jump to conclusions. You didn’t hear they were getting married. You heard they were-” She stopped and flushed. “You heard they were very close friends.”

Mr. Pease winked at Ivan. “Must be something to have pirate blood in you, huh?”

Ivan forced a tight grin. “Mmmm.”

Melody looked up from her rolls. “So are you two sleeping together, or what?”

“We’re just ‘or what,’ ” Stephanie told her. She took a deep breath. “I really do need air.”

Ivan followed her up and put a steadying arm around her while she hung on the ropes. When the color had returned to her face, and he could see she was taking some interest in the whitecaps skidding past them, he kissed the back of her neck.

“That’s how rumors are started,” Stephanie said.

“No one saw. I was very careful. And besides, rumors are started by Ace. I accidentally pulled your panties out of my pocket while I was giving him a lecture on morals last night.”

Her first reaction was surprise. She’d forgotten about the panties. And then her sense of the ridiculous took over. She tipped her head back and whooped with laughter.

Ivan pretended to look serious. “This is no laughing matter. My honor has been compromised.”

“Nonsense. Pirates are supposed to carry panties in their pockets.”

“How about your honor?”

Good question. She thought about it for a moment and decided her panties had a legitimate reason for being in his pocket, so her honor was untarnished. The only possible repercussion might be that her image was prematurely improved. And a new image was pretty much inevitable. She’d been contemplating a shift in outlook. Her attitudes about permissive sex hadn’t changed, but her qualifications for a partner had become more flexible. She had very special feelings for Ivan and wanted to explore those feelings further. She wasn’t ready to make a decision yet, but she felt certain she’d know when the time was right to sleep with a man, and it wouldn’t necessarily be the result of a marriage certificate.

She leaned back against the ropes and flashed him a brazen smile. “I’ll just look at this as a trial run to see if I like being a fallen woman.”

Ivan rested his head against hers and talked into her hair in the soft, rumbling voice that Stephanie had come to love. “Let me know what you decide.”

Stephanie felt her mind go slack for a moment, then pull back. He wasn’t just carelessly flirting anymore. He was making a serious overture at moving the boundaries of their relationship. And it was scary. She turned from him to give herself some space and studied the horizon.

Ivan pointed to a stretch of land dead ahead in the distance. “That’s Holbrook Island. Castine is almost due north on the mainland. I’m taking a more inland route for the rest of the trip so we can see the autumn foliage and have some protection from the storm.”

“Do you think the storm will be bad?”

“No. It’s veering out to sea, but it will make the water choppy for a few days.” He leaned back against the roof. “My great-great-grandfather sailed these waters in a schooner very much like the Savage. He transported lumber down the Penobscot River and throughout the bay. He’s one of my favorite ancestors. He was a little boring compared to some others, but I think he must have led a quality life. I know from his diary that he took the time to see the sun set, and he enjoyed his family, and he built Haben.”

Stephanie sat beside him, drawing her knees close to her chest, wrapping her arms around them. “Would you rather be hauling lumber than human cargo?”

He grinned. “Hauling lumber sounds like a job, and I’m a bum at heart. This is like being on a continuous vacation.”

“What do you do in the winter?”

“Make repairs and improvements. Last winter I built the yawl.” And last spring I worked twelve hours a day in a shoe factory, he thought. Not a memory he cherished. He wasn’t a man who felt comfortable in large brick buildings. He hated ties, shaving, telephones, and pretty secretaries who called him Mr. Rasmussen.

A loud crash came from the galley. Stephanie and Ivan exchanged grimaces. A headful of blue-and-green hair popped out of the galley hatch, and Melody waved at Stephanie. “Don’t worry. Everything’s fine,” Melody called. “I think we can still eat the turkey.”

Stephanie waved back. “Keep up the good work.”

Ivan smiled at Stephanie. “Melody makes you look like Betty Crocker.”

“I feel as if I’m back doing police work.”

“Does it bother you to have Melody on board? I can make more of an effort to get rid of her-”

“No. She really wants to finish the cruise. She lied to Ace about her age. She’s only eighteen. Graduated from high school in June. But she was telling the truth about the band. She’s from Scranton, and I don’t think she saw too many options open to her. Her dad works in the mines, and her mother works as a grocery clerk. Several conservatories offered her a partial scholarship, but being on the road with a rock band sounded a lot more glamorous. From the way she’s clinging to this ship, I’d guess she was relieved when the bus broke.”

“You mean under all that blue-and-green hair we’ve got Julie Andrews?”

“Not exactly. Maybe Cher with a touch of Bette Midler and Shirley Temple.”

“So you think we should keep her, huh?”

Stephanie sighed. “I’m a real sucker, I know. She’s driving me nuts in the kitchen, but there’s this little-kid vulnerability to her. I’ve seen so many teenagers just like her. They get hurt and feel helpless, and they rebel. They go out looking for easy answers to hard problems.”

Ivan watched her, hoping she’d go on. He knew she was thinking about herself and her life as a cop. As a kid she’d probably taken in stray cats and rescued baby birds that had fallen from their nests. She was one of those people who stopped to remove turtles from the middle of the road and gave money to street people. And now she had another foundling, and it had to remind her of the life she’d tried to escape. “You’re not thinking of adopting her, are you?”

Stephanie laughed. “She’s too old to adopt, but I think I could share my fresh air with her for a while. Three months ago I couldn’t have managed it. It’s a little like looking in the rearview mirror and seeing where I’ve been-and deciding it wasn’t such an awful place. Not necessarily a place I’d want to return to, but a place I’m glad to have seen. And I’m a little shocked at how remote that previous life has become. I still have some bad dreams, and I haven’t entirely lost the wary attitude I developed after years of undercover work, but I’ve discovered the top layer of disgust and burnout has all peeled away.”

And a lot of it had happened since she came aboard the Savage, she thought. She was working hard, she was exhausted, and she was challenged. She liked the sea, the Savage, and everyone around her. She’d come to realize a lot about herself in the past two days. She wasn’t a loner type. She liked noise and people and hugs and kisses. She felt terrifically alive and self-indulgent.

There was another crash, and Stephanie winced. “I’d better get back to the galley.”

He held her wrist. “I’d like to continue our conversation later.”

Stephanie wondered which part of the conversation he wanted to continue and felt a twinge of panic.

“Uh-oh, you look like you need to be talked into this,” Ivan said, grinning. “Tell you what, if you come to my cabin at ten tonight, I’ll show you my gyroscope.”

“Gee, how could anyone refuse an offer like that?”

The sun was low, hidden behind a thick cloud cover when everyone sat down to the turkey dinner. The ship’s anchor had been dropped in a protected cove, and the Savage lay motionless as a fine rain pelted against the windows and roofs. The gray dreariness of the sea and sky made the interior of the ship seem rich with creature comforts and alive with the energy of its inhabitants. Every lantern had been lit in the forward cabin. The air was heavy with the smell of roast turkey and sage dressing, and conversation and laughter filled the room, rising and falling like the comforting slap of waves against the wooden hull. Stephanie took her place at the table and almost went faint at the sight of the feast she’d created. It was wonderful. All modesty aside, she didn’t think Lucy could have done a better job.

Mr. Pease helped himself to mashed potatoes and poured hot gravy over his turkey slices. “This is great. This is just like Thanksgiving.”

Mrs. Pease studied her roll. “These rolls are delicious, and they’re in so many different shapes. What a wonderful idea. This roll looks just like a…” Her face turned scarlet, and she dropped the roll onto her plate with a small gasp.

Mr. Pease looked at the roll. “It looks like a man’s parts!” His face creased into a broad grin. “Daggone if it doesn’t!”

Stephanie examined her own roll, then clapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing.

“I couldn’t make crescents,” Melody explained. “They kept falling apart.”

Ace had removed his dark glasses. He had two rolls on his plate, side by side. “My rolls are in love,” he said.

Melody glared at him with her raccoon eyes. “Your rolls aren’t in love. Your rolls are in heat!” She waved her butter knife at him. “Your rolls should be emasculated, you little runt.”

Ace put his glasses back on. “Hey, I don’t go around making dirty rolls, do I? Noooooo. Is this the pot calling the kettle black?”

“You told me you loved me and wanted to marry me.”

Ace sliced a piece of turkey. “Yes, but I didn’t say when.”

At ten o’clock Stephanie squared her shoulders and knocked at the door to Ivan’s cabin.

“Couldn’t resist getting a look at my gyroscope, huh?” he said, pulling her inside. His bed was perfectly made with a red plaid blanket and white sheets. The small electric cabin light was lit. He sat on the bed and patted the spot next to him.

Stephanie sat on the edge and folded her hands in her lap. “This isn’t going to work. I feel uncomfortable. Probably everyone’s standing outside your door listening.”

“Probably everyone’s sound asleep after that turkey dinner.”

She shifted on the bunk and cracked her knuckles. “So, what do you want to talk about? Sex?”

“Gonna jump right in, huh?”

“Yeah.” She took a shallow breath. “Let’s get it over with.”

“You sure you want to talk about sex?”

“Absolutely.” She sprang to her feet and paced in the narrow cabin. “Sex has been on my mind a lot lately. I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon. So I figure I should get it out in the open. You know, get it off my chest.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Actually, I was wondering if… if you wanted to go to bed with me.”

The subtle approach, Ivan thought, smiling. Was it any wonder he was crazy over her? “Is this a rhetorical question or a proposition?”

“I suppose it’s a rhetorical question. Does that make a difference in your answer?”

She was contemplating having a romance, and he happened to be convenient, Ivan thought. Still, Stephanie wasn’t the sort of woman to participate in indiscriminate sex. If she was considering a romance, that meant she’d decided she liked him. And that was good because he thought this relationship had real potential. Maybe it was the low-pressure weather that was affecting his mood. Or maybe it was the right time in his life. Or maybe Stephanie Lowe was simply the right woman. Whatever the reason, the bottom line was that he was a goner, Ivan admitted. He was in lust, but even worse, he suspected he loved Stephanie Lowe. Being in lust was the rush of passion that made your stomach flip and your gut knot up. It was novelty, excitement, a chase. Love was a more gentle emotion. And he was experiencing both.

He hadn’t always been so discriminating in the past, but Stephanie had something special to offer him, and he wanted to make sure her first time was perfect. He didn’t want her having any reservations or regrets. “Steph, any man would be a fool not to want to go to bed with you, but-”

“Here comes the but. That’s what Steve said… but. You’re not going to dump on me, are you?”

“No!”

“But you don’t want to go to bed with me. I can tell you don’t want to go to bed with me.”

“Of course I want to go to bed with you, it’s just that-”

“Yes?”

This was something that needed to be handled delicately. He searched for the right words and drew a blank.

“You aren’t going to give me a lecture on loose morals, are you? Listen, Buster, I deserve to have a romance. I’ve hung on to my virginity for twenty-nine long years.”

This wasn’t going well. He sat up straighter and dragged a hand through his hair. “Stephanie, you don’t want to rush into something like a romance just because you think your bedpost needs some notches.” Way to go, Rasmussen, really delicate. He grimaced. He couldn’t believe he’d said that.

“Good grief.”

“Sorry, but I’m new at this. I’ve never tried to talk a woman out of going to bed with me before.”

“Lucky me. What an honor. In case you haven’t noticed, I haven’t completely decided to go to bed with you. Maybe I’ll decide against it. Maybe I’ll decide Ace is a better prospect. Maybe I’ll decide to run an ad in the paper. Lord, I never thought it would be so hard to get rid of my virginity. Maybe I should rent a pervert.”

“That isn’t funny.”

Stephanie plopped back onto the bed. “I might cry.”

Ivan stuffed a pillow behind his back and pulled Stephanie against him, wrapping her in his arms. “Steph, do you trust me?”

She thought about it for a moment. “Yes.”

“Don’t worry about the sex.”

“Easy for you to say.” Stephanie sighed. “I’ve been afraid for so long, you know? I wanted to be brave about this. I wanted to… go for the gusto.”

“What were you afraid of?”

“Everything. Just call me No Guts Stephanie. I lost my courage as a cop, then I realized that I didn’t have any courage as a person. All those chicken dinners and meaningless evenings with Steve. I was like a little kid carrying around a security blanket. I was afraid to go off on my own, afraid to break away from my parents, afraid to take risks in a more demanding male-female relationship.”

“Sometimes when you’re very close to things, it’s hard to see them. They get out of perspective. You were doing something that obviously was important to you, and you had to delay other parts of your life for a while. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

Stephanie allowed herself the luxury of leaning on him. “Thanks. I know it was a trade-off, but I think toward the end I was using my job as an excuse to avoid developing other areas of my life. I’d forgotten how to make friends. I’d made my life very narrow. I’d lost the courage to be accessible… to be vulnerable.”

“And now?”

“There are so many things I want to do. I feel as though I’ve been standing with my nose pressed against the bakery window, and now I’m finally allowed inside, and I don’t know what to buy first.”

“What goodies are at the top of your list?”

Stephanie hesitated. She shifted around in his arms and looked him straight in the eye. “I guess your goodies would be number one.”

“Oh.”

“Oh? That’s all you can say? Oh? I’ve just told you for the second time in ten minutes that I’m hot for your goodies, and all you can say is oh. I’ve just spilled my guts about being vulnerable, and all you can say is oh. What kind of a pirate are you anyway? Why aren’t you ravishing me? Why doesn’t anyone ever want to ravish me?” She was shouting, and her cheeks were bright red. “Look at me! I’m hysterical! You’ve made me hysterical. I’ve never been hysterical before.”

She took a deep, calming breath and pressed her lips together. “I’m going to leave now. Tomorrow I’m going to be mortally embarrassed about this, so I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t talk to me. In a year or so my embarrassment will probably fade, and maybe we can be friends. In the meantime, stay far away from me.”

Stephanie sat Indian style on the forward cabin roof. She huddled inside her hooded sweatshirt and squinted into the drizzle. Everything around her was black. There were no stars, no moon, no light from belowdecks. Everyone was asleep, exhausted from an old-fashioned Maine clambake. Tomorrow they’d sail into Camden Harbor and go about their business. Tomorrow she’d hunt up Stanley Shelton and get her toilet fixed. And Sunday she’d sleep until noon. She saw a shadow move at the other end of the ship and realized Ivan was also on deck and watching her. She had mixed feelings about that. He hadn’t done anything but watch her for three days. It wasn’t any secret he was lying low. Of course, that was exactly what she’d ordered him to do, but it didn’t sit well all the same.

He walked toward her, looking like an apparition gliding through the mist, very mysterious and a little spooky. He stood in front of her with his thumbs stuck in his jeans pockets. “Can’t sleep?”

“Didn’t want to.”

“Making the most of your last night on board?”

“Something like that.” The truth was, she was restless. She’d wanted to have a shipboard romance and had only succeeded in making a spectacle of herself. So she’d come topside to sit in the rain and lick her wounds and feel sorry for herself. In the process she was thinking a few nasty thoughts about Ivan Rasmussen.

“I had a call from Lucy this evening. She said she’ll be sailing with me on Monday.”

Stephanie looked at him. There was laughter behind his gray eyes-and something else. He was holding something back. “And?”

“And she didn’t get married.”

“What?” Stephanie jumped to her feet. “What do you mean, she didn’t get married? She’s still engaged? What happened?”

“I guess they had a big fight, and Lucy told him what he could do with his plumbing.”

“Oh, man. How could she do this to me? Is he going to fix my toilet?”

Ivan’s mouth curved. “I don’t know. Didn’t sound to me as though they parted friends.”

“I did this for nothing! I suffered through this whole dumb week for nothing!”

The smile faded from Ivan’s lips, he grabbed her by the arms, and he pulled her to him. “I wouldn’t say you did it for nothing.”

Oh, great. Now he was going to deliver some little speech about ships passing in the night, she thought bitterly. He was going to give her one of those kisses that left her babbling nonsense, then he was going to say it was swell. Maybe she should introduce him to Steve. “Hmmm,” she said. It was all she could manage, and even to her ears it sounded grim.

“Are you mad about something?” Of course she’s mad, he thought. In her eyes, he’d rejected her, insulted her, and embarrassed her. And for the past three days he’d kept his distance, waiting for her to calm down, but it seemed as if she’d grown more furious with each passing day.

“No. Jeez, what would I be mad about? I propositioned you and was immediately rejected. But, hey, who’s holding a grudge? All that talk about pirates ravishing pretty girls, then nothing. Nothing!” She spun away from him and stomped over to the rail. “I can’t imagine why you think I’m mad.”

“Maybe it’s the way you’re shouting and waving your arms.”

“I’m not shouting.”

Stephanie felt the shove of hands at her back and then she was flying through space and plunging feetfirst into the ocean. She bobbed to the surface sputtering expletives.

Ivan dropped a life preserver beside her. “Are you okay?”

“Do I look okay? I’m in the water. I’m drowning.”

He dropped a rope ladder over the side and plunged into the water beside her. “Grab hold of the ladder and pull yourself up before you get dragged under by the weight of your clothes.”

“Get away from me, you maniac. You tried to kill me.”

“Listen, lady, I’m in freezing cold water, fully clothed, and I’m trying to rescue you. Now get up the stupid ladder.”

Stephanie labored up the ladder and staggered onto the deck. “You pushed me! I should have you arrested for attempted manslaughter.”

“I didn’t push you. What’s this thing you have about being pushed anyway? Someone pushed you down the hill and someone pushed you into the water. You know what I think? I think you’re a fruitcake.”

“You take one step closer, and I’m going to scream,” she said to Ivan.

Ivan kicked off his shoes and wrung out his woolen shirt. “Now you’re resorting to screaming? Don’t you want to kick me in the groin? Maybe break a few bones?”

“Now that you mention it, maybe I do.”

“Okay, come on.”

Stephanie rolled her eyes.

Ivan grinned at her. “I’m waiting.”

“This is ridiculous.”

He stalked her around the forward deck-house. He curled his finger at her. “Come here, Stephanie.”

“Forget it. I’m not going to wrestle with you.” More games, she thought. They’d roll around together until she was all bothered, then he’d probably pitch her back into the ocean to cool off. No thanks.

She turned on her heel and squished down the ladder to the galley. A single lantern cast a soft circle of light over the cabin. The fire in the stove was almost out. Stephanie stoked it to life and added several logs.

Ivan followed her down the stairs, looking over at Ace’s bunk. “Doesn’t he ever sleep in his own bed?”

“I think he’s made up with Melody.”

“They deserve each other.”

Stephanie stepped out of her shoes and pulled the wet sweatshirt over her head, leaving her in a soaked T-shirt. And what about me? she wondered. Did she deserve Ivan Rasmussen? Wasn’t Steve enough? She twisted the bottom of her T-shirt and squeezed out the water. Two ringers in a row. How could she be so lucky?

Ivan had stripped to the waist and had his hands on the snap to his jeans.

Stephanie looked over and felt a rush of panic. Lord, he was getting undressed! Ivan Rasmussen naked. The answer to every woman’s dream. This was what she’d wanted, wasn’t it? Well, wasn’t it?

She swallowed hard and admitted that romance was one thing-naked was another. She might not be ready for naked. Especially since Ivan wasn’t inclined to follow through on sexual overtures. What if she got carried away and attacked him, and he rejected her? Good grief, Stephanie, she thought, that’s insane. She wasn’t going to attack him. The most likely scenario was that she’d start stammering and sweating and probably hyperventilating.

She put her hands on her hips and squinted through the drops of water trickling into her eyes from her soaked bangs. “What are you doing?”

“I’m getting out of my clothes. In case you haven’t noticed, they’re wet. They’re wet because, demented fool that I am, I jumped into the ocean to save you. I don’t know why I felt compelled to do that. Lord knows you’re perfectly capable of saving yourself. You’ve been thrown into the Hudson River, probably pushed out of third-story windows, and dragged through rat-infested alleys.” He raked his hand through his wet hair. “You know, it’s damn hard to be a hero for you.”

Stephanie scowled at him. “I don’t need a hero.”

“What do you need?”

She didn’t exactly know what she needed. Actually, a hero wouldn’t be a bad place to start. A small hero. Nothing on the scale of Superman or Batman. She looked at Ivan. He was heroic enough. Especially now that he was standing in front of her in a pair of tight, soaked-to-the-skin navy blue briefs. He might even be more heroic than she needed, she thought, chewing on her lower lip. “You’re going to leave those on, aren’t you?” she asked hopefully.

She was nervous. Not much experience with naked men, he thought. He liked that. He didn’t want to share Stephanie with anyone- from her past or present or future. “What happened to being brave?”

Her body responded with a ripple of desire, and her temper flared equally as strongly. “Is this why you dunked me in the water? So you could come in here and flaunt your naked body at me?”

He crossed the room and took a pair of sweats from Ace’s bunk. “Just for the record, one more time, I didn’t dunk you in the water. You dunked yourself in the water.” He knew he was asking for trouble, but he couldn’t resist teasing. She was terrific when she was indignant.

“And now that I think about it, I suppose I could make the same accusation. I know you’re hot for my body, but this is going to an unnecessary extreme. If you wanted to get me naked-” He turned around just in time to dodge a frying pan.

“Out!” Stephanie shouted, pointing to the hatch. “Out! Out! Out! Before I start throwing knives!”

Ivan stood at midship and watched his passengers depart. He was waiting for Stephanie, wondering if she would warm up when she said good-bye. The atmosphere between them at breakfast had been very frosty, and lunch hadn’t been much better. He straightened when he saw Stephanie emerge from the hatch with her backpack slung over one shoulder. She briskly walked past him with her nose tipped up ever so slightly. “ ’Bye,” Ivan said.

Stephanie narrowed her eyes and threw him a brief sideways glance without breaking stride.

A small smile lit his face. Maybe he’d underestimated the way she felt about him. She had to have some serious emotions to be so mad. She stormed up the hill without a second glance, and Ivan felt elated at her fury. This is just the beginning, he thought. Winters were long in Maine. It would be nice to have such a challenging project. Stephanie Lowe was doomed.

Mr. and Mrs. Pease approached him. “It was great,” Mr. Pease said. “We’ll be back next year.”

Mrs. Pease looked less enthusiastic. “Next time I’m bringing my heart medicine. That girl with the blue hair and butcher knife sure had me going for a while. And the sea captain’s wife just about took my breath away. I don’t know how you did it, but darned if it didn’t look like a real ghost. I have to tell you, I was pretty startled the first time I saw her standing there on the prow of the ship. But then I knew it was a trick. I figured you did it with movie cameras or something.”

Ivan nodded. “Yup. That’s exactly how we do it. Movie cameras.” He helped Mrs. Pease down the short gangplank and wondered who had put her up to the prank. There were several repeat customers on the voyage, not to mention Ace and Stephanie, all of whom knew about Aunt Tess. Then, of course, there was the other possibility…