Waltzing on the Danube Read online

  In the midst of a crisis, like when Eleanor was demanding the ticket upgrade on her behalf, she was the type of woman who exuded pure confidence. The type of woman Jeanie never quite managed to be, who could speak her mind and stand up for herself without resorting to playing the damsel in distress. And sure, she'd been a little bit bumbling, too, which Jeanie thought was kind of cute. But it had all been spoiled when Jeanie realized what Eleanor really thought of her. Then it became clear that she was just another rich, city-dwelling snob who had nothing but disdain for what she considered to be an unsophisticated, small-town girl. The disappointment had been palpable. She didn't even bother to remember my name!

  Loathe as she was to admit it, Jeanie had to consider the possibility that she’d let her expectations for this entire trip get out of hand. After years of subscribing to travel blogs and hoping in vain, the opportunity to book this cruise had come out of the blue. She’d jumped at the chance with hardly a thought, then watched in thrilled disbelief as every detail fell into place. She should have known her luck was too good to last, but her eternal optimism had blinded her as usual.

  Correcting a mistake on the previous year’s tax returns had yielded an unexpected refund that paid for her ticket. That's right, another number mistake—wouldn't Eleanor just cringe to learn that! And when the only cruise that fit into her schedule—the one that departed just after classes let out for the summer and allowed her to get home with time to prepare lessons before the new semester began—just happened to be a lesbian singles cruise? At that moment, Jeanie had suspected that she might be the luckiest woman alive. Little did I know!

  Jeanie launched herself into the sea of pedestrians heading in the direction of Chain Bridge. She cast a backward glance at the ship, catching sight of half a dozen couples toddling up the gangway arm in arm, looking adorably in love even after decades together. She sighed, heart heavy, at the thought that, despite her earlier expectations, this was destined to be a solo trip for her after all. Just when she’d thought it would never end, her winning streak had fizzled and died.

  There’d been a few warning signs that it was waning. Leaving that expensive tour book on the plane. Showing up at the wrong berth and the resulting mad dash to make it to the ship on time. The complications involving her miniature cabin and gargantuan luggage. But Jeanie had dismissed them all as nothing more than the usual travel hiccups, inconveniences that could happen to anyone, and had walked on to that deserted observation deck the previous afternoon still believing in her unstoppable good fortune. I couldn’t have been more wrong, Jeanie thought sourly.

  Jeanie reached the intersection and spotted a sign pointing out directions to the Hungarian Parliament. She hadn’t set an itinerary for the day, preferring to wander freely and keep herself open to whatever experiences came her way. The parliament building was as good a place as any to start her adventure. When the light changed she bounced giddily between the stripes of the crosswalk, following the arrow. As she walked, she struggled to convert the distance on the sign into miles, hoping she was correct in thinking it was just a few blocks away and not on the opposite end of town. No doubt Eleanor would consider this more proof that I’m just an ignorant country bumpkin who doesn’t know a kilometer from a tea kettle.

  Jeanie scowled, uncertain why she couldn’t shake that infuriating woman from her thoughts. The haughtiness Eleanor had displayed when they’d realized their mutual mistake over the cruise dates left Jeanie feeling about three inches tall. Or seven and a half centimeters—see, I’m smarter than you think! It was like college all over again, another sophisticated city dweller looking down her nose and wondering how some townie had slipped past the gates into their exclusive club. A surprisingly large number of them had been eager enough to take her to bed, but not to take her home to meet their families. Snobs!

  The road curved gently ahead of her as the majestic dome and spires of the parliament building came into view. Jeanie gasped at the site, all other thoughts pushed aside as she stared in admiration. She’d done an independent study on the Gothic revival movement in American architecture, but nothing she’d seen in the States compared to this. She felt a tingle in her spine as it struck her once more that all of this was real. She was finally living her dream!

  I wonder if Eleanor’s back in her room reading a book right now, she thought scornfully, but with just a shade of sadness, too. For just a split second, before Eleanor’s true personality had been revealed, she’d daydreamed that the two of them might explore the wonders of Budapest arm-in-arm. No way was that going to happen! She shook off her disappointment. Even if she hadn’t turned out to be an all-around obnoxious person, Eleanor would’ve made a terrible touring companion simply on the basis of her blasé attitude about the whole thing. Skipping sightseeing to read a book? Maybe it was possible for a person to visit amazing places so often that it started to feel commonplace, but Jeanie couldn’t imagine ever becoming that way herself.

  There was a line at the entrance to the parliament building and Jeanie could just make out two security guards inspecting bags. She swung the backpack from her shoulder and slid the zipper open as she approached the table. One of the security guards said something to her in Hungarian, to which she responded with an uncomprehending stare.

  “Your bag, miss,” the guard spoke again in stilted English. “You need to check.”

  “Check?” Jeanie frowned. “You mean I can’t take it in?” She looked at her bag, perplexed. There was nothing about this on the signs, and she hated the idea of being parted with her things.

  “Today, no. Government meeting, extra security,” he tried his best to explain.

  “Oh, I see.” Reluctantly, Jeanie reached into her bag, pulling out her wallet by its wrist strap. “May I bring this, at least? It has my money and passport inside.” She prayed he wouldn't say no and force her to beg. Eleanor wouldn't ask permission. She would make demands! Jeanie felt a fleeting regret that her shipmate wasn't nearby.

  “Yes, little one is okay.” The guard took her backpack and handed her a claim ticket, which Jeanie slid into her wallet. “Enjoy!”

  Relieved, Jeanie took a wand for the audio tour from a nearby table and held it to her ear as she made her way slowly to the main hall. Her mouth dropped open at the sight of a gold staircase flanked on both sides with statues, and punctuated with exquisite stained glass windows every few steps. “Mercy!” she breathed, her go-to exclamation for when all other words escaped her.

  She climbed the stairs to the main level and spent the next hour admiring more statues and windows than she’d believed could possibly be housed in one place. Even the carpet was a work of art. When at last she reached the grand stairway at the end of the tour, with its imposing granite columns and large frescoes, Jeanie felt almost numb from the experience of so much grandeur in one place. She was going to need to pace herself if she planned to make it through the next few weeks.

  “You enjoy?” the security guard asked as Jeanie returned to the checkpoint.

  She nodded with enthusiasm, having long since forgiven the guard for holding her backpack hostage. “Very much!” She slipped the strap from her wrist and rummaged around for the claim ticket, finally producing it and handing it to the guard. “It was amazing, like nothing I’ve ever seen before! But now I think I need something less stimulating. I never thought I’d say it, but I’m overwhelmed by so much art!”

  “No more art?” The guard laughed, seeming to understand. “Maybe bath? Szechenyi, you know?”

  Jeanie thought for a moment. “Oh, the Szechenyi thermal baths? Yes, I was planning to go there at some point. That’s a wonderful idea! Are they close?”

  “Ehh.” The guard’s forehead wrinkled as he searched for the words. After a few seconds he shrugged in defeat. “Too difficult explaining. You go Nyugati station. Get city map there.”

  “They have maps at the train station? That’s probably a good idea. Is it very far?” The guard motioned like he was writing something o
n his palm, and Jeanie set down her backpack and wallet on the table and dug around until she found an old receipt and a pen. After a few moments of scribbling, the guard handed her a crude diagram of the path from the parliament building to the train station. Jeanie slung her backpack over her shoulder, thanked him, and headed out the exit toward the street marked on the map.

  The sky, which had been clear and blue at the start of the day, had turned cloudy during her time indoors. She wouldn’t be able to swim in the outdoor pools, but from what she knew about the Szechenyi baths, there were indoor options, too. After the solitude of her morning tour, Jeanie needed the energy of being around people. The fact that some of those people would be attractive women in swimsuits was a bonus. Although, you know who would look really hot in a bikini… Jeanie stopped herself mid-thought, chasing the image of Eleanor from her mind. Enough! You’d barely remember her name by now if she weren’t the only eligible woman on the ship! The fact that she never forgot anyone's name didn't mean that Eleanor couldn't have been the exception to the rule.

  It grew darker as she walked, and when she paused, squinting to make out the unfamiliar street names on the scrap of paper in her hand, a droplet of rain fell and the ink began to run. “Shit!” Jeanie looked up and spotted a sign with a train-shaped symbol in the distance. Stuffing the ruined paper into her pocket, she raced toward the sign in relief, managing to duck into the shelter of an underpass just as the clouds burst open and rain poured from the sky.

  Jeanie stared at the solid sheet of rain and marveled at her good luck in reaching shelter in time. It wasn’t until she turned her attention more closely to the underground walkway where she stood that a sense of trepidation overshadowed her. Despite the sudden bad weather, the pedestrian underpass was mostly deserted, and Jeanie could see graffiti covering the walls in the dim light. She swallowed uneasily, pulling out the now smeared map. She was certain she’d seen a sign for the station pointing this way, but it appeared that the security guard’s map showed a different way. She’d taken a wrong turn.

  She looked out into the still-pouring rain, then deeper into the dark passage. Squaring her shoulders, she turned toward the blackness and took a tentative step as her stomach clenched. As her eyes adjusted to the lack of light, the foreboding atmosphere of the underground space began to subside and it became just an ordinary, if somewhat grimy, corridor. Relaxing, Jeanie laughed to herself that she’d actually considered going back out into the rain. In the distance she could make out the brighter light of the outdoors. It appeared that the worst of the downpour was subsiding, which lifted her spirits even more.

  But as she got closer to the light, shadowy figures filled the space one by one. Menacing. Her heart slammed against her ribcage as fear needled her insides. Her gaze darted in search of an escape, but the options were few, and the figures were approaching far too rapidly to outrun. Jeanie’s mind raced, wondering what she should do, since sweet talking her attackers wasn't likely to work. She needed to be stronger than that. What would Eleanor do?

  Chapter 5

  Earlier that same morning...

  Eleanor set her book on the bistro table and closed her eyes. Her plan to read in seclusion on the terrace all day had seemed so enticing when she woke up, but now she found herself unable to focus on the page. Her eyes kept being drawn away by the bustling city that lay just beyond the balcony railing, and every time she looked down, all she saw was the shocked expression of Jeanie Brooks, judging her for how she was wasting the day away. Jeanie Brooks. She swore the name would haunt her until she died.

  “If I don’t want to go sightseeing, that’s my own business, Ms. Brooks,” she informed her book with a scowl. “It’s my vacation, damn it!”

  Except, thanks to the aforementioned Ms. Brooks, her stubborn determination to stay on board the ship suddenly felt childish. Budapest was one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Skipping a day of sightseeing in it was just her way of sulking for being coerced into this trip, some vain attempt to punish her sister by depriving her of photos to share on social media. She stood with a sigh and grabbed her book, then wrenched the door open and stormed inside to prepare herself for a day of touring the town.

  While Eleanor had been to Budapest before, as well as several other cities along the cruise route, it had always been for work. Sylvia had mostly dragged her to tropical places for vacation, from Tahiti to Saint Kitts. Most of Eleanor's time in Europe had consisted of long days meeting with clients, and returning alone in the evening for dinner in the restaurant of an unmemorable chain hotel. Beyond that, she’d never stepped foot in the cities at all except to get in and out of a cab at the airport. She might not have signed up for this trip voluntarily, but she was here now and there were a few things she’d like to see. Might as well make the best of it.

  “But I’ll be damned if I’m going to any of those dance classes,” she muttered, shoving first her right foot, then her left, into her shoes. She froze, staring at her feet. She’d gotten the order wrong. Rationally, Eleanor knew there wasn’t a particular order in which to put on a pair of shoes, but being rational had little to do with her dilemma. Failure to do so could lead to a panic attack. She'd been doing better in recent years and hadn't had a full-blown attack in quite some time, but it wasn't something she wanted to mess around with. Not when fixing it could be a matter of just changing her shoes.

  Her brain had always been highly attuned to searching out patterns and organizing data. It was a skill that made her very good at her job, but sometimes very bad at getting through the day like a normal person. Eleanor had a natural aversion to anything unpredictable or out of control. The more chaotic the world felt to her, the more her anxiety increased. The more anxious she became, the more her brain tried to create order, even when there wasn’t any. Like putting her shoes on the same way every time. It helped her to tame the uncontrollable.

  There was no particular cause, and no easy cure. She’d worked with a therapist for years, achieving enough success that most of the time her anxiety and its accompanying compulsions were little more than a minor annoyance. Most people chalked her behavior up to a few funny habits and didn’t guess the truth. Her family understood all too well since it was a trait many of them shared. Her lovers eventually became overwhelmed and left for greener pastures.

  Some days she had more resolve to push back against these compulsive quirks, but today wasn’t one of them. Sighing at her inability to let it go, she slipped the shoes off and put them on again, starting with the left this time, then the right, before grabbing her bag and stepping into the corridor. She kept her chin up and back straight, projecting confidence even as she berated herself the whole way, because that's just how she rolled.

  At the top of the gangway, Eleanor pulled a tour book from her bag and studied the walking tours it offered. Several of the options covered interesting routes, but they started on the other side of the river. That made for too long of a trek. She knew most people would’ve just started the tour partway through at a more convenient location, but Eleanor wasn’t most people. She needed to go in order. Another of my weird obsessions.

  There was a garden tour that began at Chain Bridge. Eleanor didn’t have a particular interest in gardening, but it was close and covered most of the major sites nearby, so she figured it would do. She walked the few blocks to that spot, oriented herself in the correct direction using the map, then traced her path according to the book’s instructions.

  She dutifully stopped to read about each shrub and flowering vine along the way, even though she didn’t really care. It was the type of behavior that most of her previous traveling companions had found immensely annoying. Unless she'd paid for their ticket and they felt obligated to pretend it was fun. Jeanie would be out of her mind with boredom. Eleanor frowned. The woman hardly needed any other reasons not to like her after Eleanor had given her so many to choose from already. Still, she wondered why thoughts of Jeanie kept popping into her head at the strangest times.<
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  The first major stop on the tour was Saint Stephen’s Basilica, one of the grandest churches in Hungary. She liked churches. Though not a member of the faith, Eleanor could still appreciate the buildings for their beauty and historical significance. For some reason, there were a lot fewer synagogues to choose from on tour maps, though Eleanor didn't mind. At churches, she never felt the need to explain her spotty attendance record at weekly services to anyone. Catholic friends who swore they had a corner on the guilt market had never met Eleanor's mother or sister, both of whom had elevated it to an art form.

  She arrived just as the doors were opening for the first tour, purchased a ticket, and went in. The crowd was sparse, Eleanor being one of the few tourists up and moving at this early hour of morning. I wonder if Jeanie’s even out of bed yet. An image of tousled blond locks on a crisp white pillowcase popped into her brain. One bare leg peeking out from beneath the covers and stretching for miles. She shook her head to clear it, knowing that this particular fantasy was heading somewhere not at all suitable for anyone's house of worship, no matter which religion you belonged to. What has gotten into me?

  The familiar humming was already starting up inside her, as it seemed to do at the mere thought of that odd woman from the cruise. She wondered if anything could be done to stop it. While her brain was a model of disciplined logic, her body was not. Most of the time Eleanor’s brain remained firmly in control, but she wasn’t immune to momentary lapses of judgment, not when her body was especially motivated. It had been over a year since she'd been with anyone in that way, so her defenses were already low, and unfortunately for her, Jeanie Brooks seemed to be a powerful motivator indeed.

  Why couldn’t her body understand that, fantasies to the contrary, she couldn’t have dreamed up a person less compatible with her if she’d tried? Aside from an instant physical attraction when they met on the deck—an attraction which Eleanor thought might be mutual but wasn’t completely sure—they had nothing in common. Which I shouldn’t have to remind myself is not the best basis for a relationship. She was also positive that Jeanie had been offended the day before by her complete lack of social grace, so even a casual friendship was probably out of the question. That was somewhat unfortunate.