Mandy chatted with her roommates on a group call, excited to tell them about Derek. No one was on the top deck, and she ordered a sundae and ate it in a small alcove. They all listened to her recap the details about Derek.

“You like this one,” Coco said. “Sounds like you’re much more into him than you were with those double dates in the spring.”

“Of course she is,” Jenny said, her no nonsense attitude coming forward. “Did you hear the way she gushed about him? She’s over the moon.”

“Finally a guy I can talk about without it ending badly,” Mandy said. “And he knows my commitment to my travel up front, so that’s good.” Sure, they hadn’t really been on actual dates, but they’d spent so much time together, she felt like she really knew him.

“That’s exciting,” Liz said. “You’ll definitely need to come out and stay with me when you come and visit him. We have a spare bedroom.”

“Thanks, Liz,” Mandy said. “What about Coco and Jenny? What’s new?”

Jenny spoke first. “Coco and Peter are still a hot item.”

Coco laughed. “I love spending time with him.”

“That’s an understatement. They spend every day working together or dating,” Jenny said.

“What about you, Jenny?” Liz asked. “Anything new?”

“I love my job too much to have a life outside of it right now,” Jenny said, but Mandy had a feeling that she wanted to talk about her good news in person.

After finishing her ice cream and her phone call she assumed her position at mid-ship and waited for Jean to show up. Mandy pulled out her sketchpad and flipped through her work over the past two weeks.

Derek may not have confidence in her ability to impress an interior designer, but she was sure there was a place for her. Would New York be the right move? She flipped through the mockups, noting how plain they looked. She pulled out her colors and began adding just enough for the designs and pictures to pop. She could so do this.

She checked her phone about a dozen times, wondering if Derek would e-mail her or text. Nothing so far, but he was on his way home and probably didn’t use his phone on the plane.

She turned another page, and landed on a picture of a stormy sea with the cruise ship, and her venting about Derek. She sighed, remembering the struggles she’d had with him her first few days on their cruise. He really had been a pain to deal with.

Thank goodness that had changed. She was relieved that she hadn’t blown up too badly at him. Liz had been right—sometimes the only way to express yourself was through writing. A picture hadn’t worked this time. But now all that negativity was gone. And the two-week cruise with Alice and Derek hadn’t lasted long enough. She tore out the page and crumpled it up into a tiny ball.

She didn’t want the reminder of their bumpy start. Things were so much better. This morning things felt a little off—Derek had seemed preoccupied and a little broodier, but she supposed it was bound to happen once he took on the weight of his job again and all of his responsibilities. She didn’t blame him for leaving breakfast early and needing to get back to real life.

Alice was going to invite her to Martha’s Vineyard. And Derek would be there too. She’d make sure to keep a couple of weeks cleared this summer so she could visit them. Things were turning out perfectly.

* * *

Mandy said goodbye to Jean at the airport after they’d spent two weeks in Hawaii. It was a nice cruise, but Jean hadn’t wanted to explore the islands much. It was fine, Mandy had been there before, but try as she might her mind kept wandering to Alice and how much Alice would have seen if she’d been on this cruise. And then her mind naturally went to Derek.

She hadn’t heard from him yet. He knew that she was working on another cruise, but he also knew she had two hours a day that she checked her e-mail. He was probably busy with work. That must be it. She couldn’t expect him to stay out of that routine. He was probably extra busy for taking time off on such short notice.

She headed back to the dock and boarded the cruise again. This time she’d go with Rose on a Mexican Riviera cruise for a week. Then she would be home for two weeks. Maybe that’d be a good time to go to New York.

Mandy sent a quick note to Liz about her summer schedule and sent a follow-up e-mail to Alice, making sure she’d been able to download all of the pictures, and seeing if Mandy could come for a visit.

Her heart thrummed loudly in her chest, and she wondered if Alice would mention it to Derek.

* * *

Derek didn’t see disappointment on Adam’s face when Derek handed Adam the envelope with a card congratulating him and Kira, and a sizable amount for Caden’s college tuition. But Derek didn’t need to see it, he felt it. It wasn’t personal, even though it was generous. He couldn’t take it back now.

He had to figure out a way to change the mood. He thought of Mandy’s idea for Caden’s present and wished he’d done that instead. If there was a chance to still have Mandy make them a gift, he’d bring it up if the right opportunity presented itself.

When Adam came into his office the next morning, Adam praised Derek for the gift. “Kira wants to thank you in person for the gift. How about dinner this weekend?”

“Are you up for entertaining with Caden?” Derek had seen the baby twice, but only briefly. What was he supposed to do with a baby? And, what was he supposed to wear? Baby spit-up on his $5,000 suit didn’t seem to be the thing.

“Sure. We’ll keep in casual. Besides he goes to bed early.”

Maybe Adam could read the panic on Derek’s face, but Derek recovered quickly. “You know my schedule. I think I’m available.”

* * *

Derek knocked on the door, hoping he wasn’t too late. He’d never thought of his lateness as a problem. Schedules revolved around him. His work running late wouldn’t have bothered him before the cruise, but he was thinking of Mandy again. She’d gotten to him with all the thoughtful ways she’d helped Grams. Mandy had pushed both him and Grams out of their comfort zones and had shown them both how to enjoy new things. Mandy had gotten him to focus on something other than work and he missed that ability to let go and live in the moment.

Adam ushered Derek in, and he could hear Kira and Caden in the background. They chatted for a few minutes. Derek tried to keep the mood light. He wasn’t at work, he didn’t have to see Adam as just his employee.

“While we have a few minutes,” Derek said, “I thought I’d run an idea past you. I didn’t want to give it to you until I knew it was something your wife would like.”

He’d printed the pictures of the mockups that Mandy had had him take with his phone. “I know your wife is an interior designer, so I didn’t want to assume that this would work for her, but Mandy, Alice’s companion on the cruise, is a very talented artist.” He handed over the designs, and Adam whistled.

“I can’t speak for Kira, of course, but these are definitely the type of look I think she’d love.” He called his wife over and showed her the designs.

Kira squealed in delight as she fingered each print. “I love these. Caden’s room needs these. I’ve been so busy with a new baby I haven’t found exactly what I wanted to hang in his room yet. The walls are too bare in the nursery.”

“These are original designs from Alice’s cruise companion. It was Derek’s idea to commission her for the job, assuming we approve,” Adam said, putting his arm around his wife’s waist. “We approve, don’t we?”

“We definitely approve. Thank you, Derek.” Kira rattled off several questions to Derek about Mandy’s background, and then asked about the price.

“It’s my gift to you,” Derek said. “I’ll take care of the cost. You can pick these designs or she made several others you can choose from, too. They’re really your style?” He lifted his eyebrows.

“I’m an interior designer and I own my company. I know what I like,” Kira said matter-of-factly. “And I love this.”

Derek gave her a half smile. “I have her card. You can coordinate directly with her.”

Adam gave him a funny look, and Derek said, “You’ll get your paintings much faster if I step out of the middleman role.”

With that Adam laughed and took the card, kissing his wife on the cheek. “Let me take care of this, sweetheart. That way you can focus on Caden.”

Kira rubbed her hands together. “I’m going to measure everything and see where I want them.”

Adam nodded. “You’re the expert.”

* * *

Mandy pulled her suitcase through the door in Colorado and breathed a sigh of relief. Traveling for five weeks straight had been exhausting. “Anyone home?” she called into the empty house, not expecting an answer from either Jenny or Coco in the middle of the day.

She put her purse down, lugged her suitcase upstairs, and forced herself to unpack before checking her e-mail again. It’d been three weeks since she’d seen Alice and Derek. She and Alice had exchanged a few e-mails back and forth, but not a single line from Derek.

And then it happened. A ringtone from downstairs. Her heart raced as she skipped every other step to get to her phone. She pulled out the phone and an unknown number appeared on the screen with the location of New York.

She answered, but the masculine voice greeting her back wasn’t Derek’s.

“Is this Miss Jones?”

She gripped the phone, her heart sped up. Was it The Edge? “Yes.”

“Miss Jones, my name is Adam. I’m Mr. Thompson’s assistant.”

Adam was calling her to connect into Derek’s office. Derek had warned her that multiple people screened his calls and dialed for him. She didn’t quite understand that, but it didn’t matter, here was the moment. “Adam, hi. Congratulations on the birth of your baby. I saw some pictures on Derek’s phone.” Her heart fluttered. She’d be talking to Derek soon.

“He is a cute one, Miss Jones.”

The pause felt long but she wasn’t sent to Derek’s phone. Finally she said, “How can I help you, Adam?”

“This is kind of awkward to bring up, but Mr. Thompson said he’d arranged for you to create custom art for our nursery.”

Derek had taken her up on her offer to help. He hadn’t forgotten about her. “Yes. That’s right. He wasn’t sure if the mockups would work. I have others you can look at if you want.”

“My wife loves them. Don’t change a thing.”

Mandy put a hand to her heart. An interior designer didn’t want to change anything about her quick designs. “Thank you, Adam. I just need the size of the walls, and I can get started.”

“I’ll e-mail them over to you. The address on the card is the right one?”

“Yes. I’ll have it finished in two weeks.” That was when her next companion cruise was.

“Mr. Thompson informed us of how busy you are traveling, so please don’t rush if it doesn’t fit into your schedule.”

Derek knew she’d been traveling and hadn’t wanted to add extra pressure. But he could have sent her an e-mail or a text if he was too busy to call. She liked Adam and wondered how he was able to be so laid back with Derek for a boss. Adam would be easy to work with. “It’s no trouble.”

“Is there anything else you need besides the room measurements?” he asked her.

“An address for delivery.” Would it go to Derek’s house first so he could present it in person? It wasn’t a surprise since the person who’d receive the gift was making the arrangements. She imagined Derek was busy on a call or in a long work meeting. Did he ever think about her the way she did about him?

“I’ll add that in. Also you can respond to the e-mail and send an invoice, and Mr. Thompson will take care of it.”

When she’d come up with the idea to help Derek, she hadn’t thought about payment. It hadn’t even crossed her mind. She’d thought about the person she was trying to help. Bringing money into her gift to help him stung just a little. She wouldn’t send the invoice, but Adam didn’t need to know that right now.

“Perhaps I should talk about the payment with Mr. Thompson personally.” She held her breath, wanting to hear Derek’s voice.

“No need, Miss Jones. Besides he is in a meeting and asked me to handle this. Even if you sent it directly to him, I’d still see the dollar amount of the bill. Just send it directly to me.”

It was worth a shot. “Thank you, Adam. I look forward to working with you.”