I clambered out and then took Dauphine’s hand and helped her out. She let go, pushed past me, and ran up the gangway.

“Attention, Dauphine!” Monsieur Pascale cautioned after her.

She leaped onto the boat and disappeared inside two dark gray glass doors.

I followed her route, my eyes glued to my running shoes, making sure I didn’t misstep and holding the warm metal railing. It swayed, and I almost lost my digested baguette. I wasn’t able to cross any expanse of water without holding on for dear life. God, why had I agreed to this again? What if I got seasick and vomited for six straight weeks? I didn’t think I got seasick, but I hadn’t had much experience to find out. This nausea, at least, was probably just nerves.

An attractive woman, also dressed in a white uniform, perhaps a bit older than me, with an athletic physique and blonde hair slicked back into a tight bun, had emerged from inside and now reached for my hand to help me.

Grabbing on to her gratefully, I stepped off the gangplank on to the spacious boat deck.

“I’m Andrea, the chief steward. You’re the new au pair, right?” Were all his employees British?

“I am.” I held out my hand. “Josephine Marin.”

“Miss Marin, lovely to meet you.”

“Actually, call me Josie, please. Long journey, my mouth isn’t connected to my brain right now. ”

“I’m sure.” Andrea looked past me with a smile. “Monsieur Pascale. Bienvenue. Welcome. Any problems?” Her eyes scanned out to the port where Paco and Evan took luggage out of the Mercedes.

I turned.

Xavier Pascale nodded to Andrea and to me. “No. It seems we avoided them,” he said in perfect accented English. “Please show Miss Marin to one of the staterooms on deck two.”

“Avoided who?” I began, but Andrea was responding to her boss.

“No problem, sir,” she said. “We have taken the liberty of moving you to the master stateroom now that the nanny is here.”

“No,” he said quickly. “I’ll stay on deck two as well. For now.” Wait, all three of us would be next door to each other? How many rooms were there? I hoped to goodness I had a window or I would have a massive panic attack.

Andrea bobbed her head. “As you wish. Apologies. I should have checked first.”

Monsieur Pascale immediately took a set of stairs up to another deck and disappeared.

“Come along,” Andrea said after she introduced me to Paco, the captain. “I’ll get you settled and then get you up to date on the care and feeding of Dauphine Pascale and what’s required of you.”

Chapter Eight