After waking up the next morning, she berated herself for acting like a lovesick schoolgirl. She felt herself blush whenever she thought about the way she tried to steal glances at Brock’s handsome and rugged face or tried to look into his dark blue eyes. She’d been successful in not running into him around the hotel and island, but she knew it wouldn’t last very long. And it didn’t.

She had dinner with her friends Marique, Lana and Maureen, all of whom she met on her cruise adventure. As the night began to wind down, Rosie and the other ladies started to break for the night. Their laughter was heard throughout dinner, bringing smiles to some of the guests and scowls from others. For one gentleman in particular, he turned towards the group of young ladies and smiled as he watched them getting ready to leave.

As Rosie walked out of the dining room with her friends, she noticed movement from the bar area. She turned her head and found Brock watching them. Her heart raced slightly upon seeing him once again. She smiled and nodded her head and was ready to walk away when he got up from his seat at the bar and headed towards her.

“G’d ev’nin’ ladies. It sounds as if you all had a wonderful ev’nin,” commented Brock as he reached the group.

“Captain, how good to see you again,” said Lana, as the rest of the ladies stopped their trek to the lobby and faced the captain.

“Oh, believe me, the pleasure is all mine. I was just having a drink at the bar and wondered if you ladies would like to join me?” He looked at every one of them but his eyes stayed longer with Rosie before flashing a smile at the group.

“Oh, well…” began Rosie.

“Well, we were just about tired ourselves, however Rosie was a little reluctant to leave just now,” Maureen added quickly.

“What?” Asked Rosie surprised.

Marique added. “Oh yes, thank you for the offer, Captain, but with helping with the wedding plans and all, we are just so tired that we can’t keep our eyes open any longer.” She turned to Rosie. “There, now you can stay up a little longer and not have to just sit in your room wide awake and by yourself.” She winked at Rosie, a special glint in her eye.

Brock turned to Rosie. “I really do hate to drink alone, will you join me?”

Rosie stood flabbergasted by what her friends were doing. Behind Brock’s back, they silently signaled for her to take the offer. She wanted nothing more than to kick them all in the shins and strangle them for embarrassing her like this. Instead, she played it calm and looked back at Brock.

“I would love to. It’s hard to be the youngest one in this group and always have to end my nights early cause they can’t keep up with me.” She gave them all a wicked smile and mentally stuck her tongue out at all of them.

The girls started to giggle and said their goodnights, looking back once in a while as they watched Brock and Rosie make their way to the bar.

“I’m really sorry about all of that,” Rosie began to explain. “I don’t know what’s gotten into them lately. I really don’t want to impose if you’d rather be alone.”

“Now, you could never impose, Rosie. How has your stay been so far?” He signaled to the bartender. “Yes, I’ll have another mint julep and this lovely woman will have…?”

“I’ll have an amaretto sour, please.” When the bartender left, Rosie answered, “My stay has been very good. A little busy, but I like to be busy. And yourself?” The bartender returned with their drinks. Brock raised his glass, as did Rosie and they toasted silently.

“It’s been very good. I haven’t had this much fun in along time. In fact…” At that moment a woman’s voice calls out to Brock from the entrance of the dining room.

“Brock?!?”

Brock looked up with surprise. A smile broke out over his face.

“Brock, yoo-hoo! Son, there you are!” Called the voice again.

Rosie turned around and saw Mrs. Rockford coming towards them. She giggled slightly at the woman calling out to her son. Brock looked down at Rosie with an embarrassed grin. “My mother, not one for subtlety. Would you excuse me for one moment?” Before she could answer, Brock quickly walked towards his mother.

Rosie watched the interaction between mother and son. She grew wistful thinking about the family she never knew. A mother and father dead and a twin sister, out there, somewhere, living another life but not knowing whether she even knew the existence of Rosie. Seeing that Brock and his mother had a lot to talk about, Rosie got up from her seat and made her way to where they stood.

“Excuse me, I don't mean to interrupt, but I just wanted to say goodnight.”

Mrs. Rockford’s last sentence trailed off when she saw Rosie approach. Rosie smiled at her. “Hello again, Mrs. Rockford.”

“Good evening, dear,” said Mrs. Rockford.

Brock turned to Rosie. “Oh, please, you don’t have to leave. Join us.”

Rosie smiled at the offer but shook her head. “Thank you but I think I will retire for the night. You two seem to have a lot to catch up.”

“Rosie, I’m so sorry, I promise to make it up to you. It really isn’t right of me to leave you just as I asked you to join me.”

Rosie held her hand up as she shook her head. “Really, it is fine. Family should come first and I have the utmost respect for that.” She turned to Mrs. Rockford. “It was nice seeing you again. Have a good night.”

“You too, dear,” said Mrs. Rockford. Unbeknownst to Rosie, she watched with interest at the exchange between her son and the young woman. A small smile played around her lips.

“Brock, again, thank you for the drink.” She held out her hand for him to shake.

He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “No, thank you for keeping me company, as short as that company was. G’d night, Rosie.”

“Good night, Captain.” Rosie turned around and was just about to walk away when a thought suddenly struck her.

Can I do it? Would it seem desperate? What if I make a fool of myself about it? It’s now or never. She took a deep breath and turned around to face Brock again.

She cleared her throat before speaking. “Brock, would you like to have dinner with me sometime?” She can feel her face slightly redden and hoped that the lighting was bad enough that he wouldn’t notice.

Brock looked at Rosie with surprise. She winced slightly. That’s it! He thinks I’m a fool.

"Rosie, did I hear you correctly?" He smiled. "I'd be honored to. Just leave me a note, and tell me what time."

She smiled. Her stomach started doing flip-flops but she kept her composure. “Very well. Goodnight.” She turned and walked away graciously.

Brock watched Rosie’s retreating figure, still astonished by her pleasant offer. He grinned. A woman with gumption! A definite change indeed. He turned back to his mother as she continued with her story and escorted her to an empty table.

Back in her room, she walked out onto the balcony and stared out at the ocean. Her pulse was still racing by her bold move just a few moments before. She paced back and forth on the balcony, wringing her hands. It’s done. It’s over. No turning back now, girl.

She finally readied herself for bed, once again, a southern gentleman filled her dreams.