‘Nope. But it’s worth it, Ruby. Much to my amazement, for the first time in a long time, I’m looking forward to Christmas. Because look what Santa gave me for a present,’ he said, laying me back on the bed and kissing his way down my body. ‘I love the salty taste of your beautiful quim,’ he said.

Finally, a doctor who didn’t believe in giving up salt! This was my kind of medic. Once more, the sounds I was capable of making seemed insufficient to express what I was feeling. I wished I were a rooster so I could crow. No one had invented the noun (or is it a verb?) that I needed right now. All I could do was beam, ecstatically, and perhaps execute a handstand on the end of the bed.

The truth is, Brody and I just couldn’t resist each other. We had about as much control as a white-water raft in a category five hurricane.

Brody lifted my calves onto his bare back, his mouth never leaving my body. And then later we nodded off, my heartbeat chiming in time with his breathing. Deeper and deeper we both sank, together.

22

‘A toast!’ Emerald declared, raising her champagne glass. ‘Let’s drink to our livers!’

‘And the transplants!’ I added.

We were lounging in the jacuzzi on the top deck, marvelling at the southern sky in all its glittering glory, as the warm, tropical night purred around us.

‘And thank you, Ruby, for making us come along.’ Amber tapped her plastic glass against mine. ‘I can’t begin to tell you how much this trip has meant to me. Put it this way: I’ve had so much fun laughing, teasing and chatting with my beloved sisters that I’ve gone from Skyping home every five minutes to thinking, “Do I even have children?”’

‘Me too!’ Emerald said. ‘My kids insist on having their “safe spaces”, but then I get yelled at if I get their non-binary pals mixed up with the sexually fluid flexitarians.’

‘Where is our safe space? That’s what I want to know.’ I laughed along with them.

‘On this bloody boat, actually,’ Emerald said. ‘Oh, I just don’t ever want to get off.’

‘Me either,’ Amber added. ‘We’ve both paid you back, by the way. The money’s transferred into your account. I would have paid double for this time together.’

‘Triple,’ Emerald agreed.

My eyes widened. My sisters agreeing, again! Would miracles never cease? ‘Thank you, girls, but there was no need. It’s been worth every penny. I too am now a cruise addict. I will need to go to meetings.’

‘It’s changed me, this trip. I’m not taking that crap from the kids when I get home,’ Amber vowed. ‘Not from Scott either, the lazy, hypocritical dipshit.’