The Holiday Cruise: The feel-good heart-warming romance you need to read this year. Victoria Cooke

I came in the pecking order couldn’t be worse than the status I’d earned back home – worst wife, worst business owner, object of pity for the whole village. Before she got a chance to answer, a guy strode towards our table. He was striking.

      ‘Hey, Kristy, how’s it going?’ he said in an American accent before turning to look at me. ‘And who’s this?’

      ‘Hi, Pete, this is Hannah. She’s just joined us in the spa.’

      ‘Oh hey, Hannah, welcome aboard!’ He flashed me a wide, bright grin and held a hand out for me to shake. It was a split second before my brain could register it. ‘I work in the gym next door, so you’ll see a lot more of me.’ Pete was toned and muscular in a lean, I-work-out way, and his naturally highlighted blond hair was shaggy and unruly. He had a friendly, attractive face, and the way he leant over the table to talk to us suggested an easy confidence. I estimated him to be in his late twenties.

      ‘It’s very nice to meet you,’ I said, coolly taking his hand whilst trying to act as if my being introduced to gorgeous American gym instructors happened all the time.

      He turned to the bar and shouted over to the barman, ‘Hey, my man George, could I get a water please?’

      ‘Of course, Pete. Coming up,’ George said in his easy Caribbean accent. He smiled at Pete with friendly affection, revealing two rows of perfectly white teeth. I sat back in my seat as Pete and Kristy chatted about some beach they’d visited last week. I smiled as I realized I hadn’t thought about Daniel all evening.

      ***

      I awoke in the pitch black as the ship groaned, slowly swaying to and fro. Disorientated and unsure of the time, I fumbled around for my phone. It was five a.m. I felt drunk, but we’d only had two drinks the night before. I rested my head back down and felt the sway, glad I had an extra hour. By the time six a.m. arrived, I wasn’t feeling very good. The relentless toing and froing had started to make me feel queasy, a sensation that intensified on sitting up. The light came on, causing the dizziness behind my eyes to sting.

      ‘Well you look crap,’ was the cheerful greeting I received from Kristy.

      ‘I don’t feel great. I’m hoping norovirus isn’t doing the rounds. In training they said it can spread quite quickly around the ship.’ My eyebrows knitted together as the dizziness made my head feel numb.

      She laughed. ‘You’ve not got norovirus, you daft cow; you’re seasick!’

      ‘Seasick? I’ve never been seasick before.’

      ‘You just haven’t been out on the open sea for any length of time before. It’s the Atlantic; it gets choppy. Here, take a couple of these.’ She threw a foil packet of travel sickness pills onto the bed in front of me. ‘No time to be sick. I’m afraid we’ve a busy day ahead.’

      On our way up to the spa I noticed piles of sick bags attached to the handrails around the ship, which made me feel even more uneasy.

      ‘Are we expecting things to get worse?’ I asked nervously. Kristy just shrugged.

      When we walked in Marion was already on reception, checking through the booking forms for the day.

      ‘Oh good, you’re here. We’ve a busy day today as expected,’ she said without making eye contact.

      ‘Where do you want us first?’ Kristy asked, but I couldn’t stand it any more. I ran outside onto the deck. The wind was against me and took my breath away as I went towards the rail. It was early enough to be completely empty so I stood, looking out to sea. The horizon moved up and down slowly in the distance and the strip of grey sea grew narrow and wide with the movement.

      I inhaled deeply, hoping the fresh air would help, but the sickness tingled around my numb head before plummeting to the depths of my stomach, churning up whatever lurked in there – I grabbed the paper bag from my pocket and retched into it, feeling better as soon as I had.

      ‘Oh dear,’ Kristy said, coming up behind me. She chuckled. ‘It gets us all on the second day,’ she added. ‘Take another couple of pills and sip some cold water.’

      The nausea subsided over the course of the day as Kristy’s pills kicked in, and besides, I was far too busy massaging and exfoliating to even notice the motion of the ship. Before I knew it, it was seven o’clock. I told Kristy I’d meet her in the bar and went up to the private crew deck for some fresh air. The warm, salty wind whipped about my hair and tunic as I walked to the rail. The orange sun had already sunk below the horizon, leaving just its glow across the dark ocean and inky sky. The waters had calmed, presumably because we were getting closer to the Caribbean islands.

      I dragged out a sun lounger and sat down. The warm evening air had lost its humidity and, for some reason, left goose bumps on my arm even though it was far from cold. I closed my eyes and imagined Daniel was with me. We were sat in silence, basking in tranquillity, sipping tropical cocktails.

      ‘Hey, Hannah?’ A deep American voice startled me, and I scolded myself for going back on my vow not to think of him.

      ‘Oh, Pete, hi,’ I said, before yawning and rubbing my eyes. ‘Sorry, I think I nodded off. I’ve had a long day.’

      He gave me an understanding smile. ‘Me too. The problem with being a personal trainer on a cruise ship is that clients are always new to training. Like, we never get past the basics. It can be tiresome.’ He laughed easily and sat on the edge of the lounger beside me. ‘I’ve spent a lot of time up here since I’ve been on board. Most of the team head to the bar but I just need a bit of downtime alone, you know? Here is always quiet.’

      ‘Yes, it’s really nice,’ I agreed. ‘So how long have you been on the ship?’

      ‘Two weeks, but I’ve worked on ships for over three years. Moved around some, but mostly been based here in the Caribbean and around North America. This contract will be the first time I’ll have made it to Europe though.’ The ship was heading over at Easter.

      Pete and I chatted for a while, and I felt that we’d instantly clicked. He was friendly and easy to talk to. I found myself telling him about Daniel and Kelly and how I couldn’t bear to stay in the village when he asked me why I’d chosen to work on a ship. I managed to conceal the sporadic twinges of pain in my chest as he listened attentively.