Page 28 of Dark Voyage Matters of the Heart

"Yes, of course." She fumbled in her purse until she found it. "Mia told me I would need one since we are going to Mexico." She handed him the document.

He flipped through it before handing it back to her. "Hold on to it. You will need it to go on shore excursions."

"Yes. I know." She looked at the darkened entrance. "Can I go in now?"

"Ms. Mia is on her way. She wants to welcome you on board and take you to your suite."

Her eyes widened. "A suite? Why am I getting a suite? Am I sharing it with someone?"

"I don't know." The guard said. "You will have to ask Mia."

"Sure." She put a hand on her hip and struck a pose. "Do you guys work for Perfect Match?"

The one on the left frowned. "No. Do you?"

"Frankie!" Mia drove her wheelchair at breakneck speed. "I told you to call me when you got here. I would have waited for you."

"I forgot." Frankie embraced her friend. "I guess I was too excited." She looked up. "Where is Tom?"

Usually he didn't leave Mia's side, which was sweet but, in Frankie's opinion, a little stifling. She didn't like her boyfriends to be so clingy.

"On his way." Mia turned her wheelchair around. "Come on, he'll meet us upstairs."

Frankie trotted behind her friend while pulling the suitcase behind her and wondering why Mia was in such a rush. She was also wondering why there was no one else around. "Where are all the guests?"

Mia turned to look at her over her shoulder. "The cruise organizers didn't want the usual mess of everyone boarding at once, so people were given different windows of arrival time. They are slowly trickling in and getting settled in their suites."

"About that." Frankie followed Mia into the elevator. "Who am I rooming with?"

"You have a suite of your own until Margo gets on board, and then you will share it with her."

"That's so fancy. I've never even been in a hotel suite or on a cruise. Now I'm getting both at the same time. I feel like a princess."

When the elevator door opened, Mia drove the wheelchair out into the wide corridor and kept going. "You are in suite number 217." She stopped before the double door, leaned over, and typed on the glass keyboard. "The code is your suite number, but you can change it if you want." She turned to look at Frankie. "Open the door."

"I'm almost afraid to." Frankie pushed the door open. "Wow, Mia. I even have a balcony."

Mia laughed. "What did you think, that we would put you below decks with the sheep and goats?"

Frankie frowned. "Are there animals on board?"

Mia waved a dismissive hand. "It was just an expression."

It wasn't one that Frankie had heard before.

"It's just that I'm not anyone important in the company." She walked in and parked the suitcase by the door. "I didn't expect to be treated like royalty. There is a kitchenette and a bar and everything." She turned around to look at Mia. "Can I live here? Because it's much nicer than any apartment I've ever rented."

"The village homes are just as nice if not nicer. I mean the compound. Some call it the village."

"It sounds better." Frankie sat on the super-comfy couch and didn't even try to stifle her delighted moan. "When you said compound, I imagined a dreary place with a big wall around it. Village makes it sound like a place full of greenery."

"It is." Mia smiled.

As a knock sounded on the door, Mia beat Frankie to it and opened up for Tom.

"Hi, sweetheart." He leaned down and kissed her on the lips.

Frankie rose to her feet and looked the other way, admiring the view from her balcony.