Page 29 of Fire and Ice Cruise

“You don’t have a bathtub.” Bess points out. “You have a shower.”

“Then he’ll learn to love showers. Horses are adaptable.”

Ransom leans in close. “It will not shock me to learn that someone has snuck a horse past security when we get back to the ship.”

“Especially if that someone is Nettie.” I wince a little. “Or me.”

Elodie injects her head between us from behind. “Why are you friends with them?” She grunts in Bess and Nettie’s direction, but mostly in Nettie’s.

“Because life would be boring without them,” I shoot back.

“You have a point,” Ransom says.

Elodie clucks her tongue. “It would also be safer without them. And I fully expect this day to end in a pile of horse manure.”

“It might,” I say, glancing out the window. “But it will have very little to do with Nettie and everything to do with a killer.”

The bus pulls into the parking area at Goðafoss, and the moment we step off, the sound hits me—a roar so deep and constant it vibrates in my chest. To our right, the waterfall stretches wide across black basalt rock with pale blue water plunging thirty feet down in a cascade of white foam and mist. Rainbows shimmer in the spray where sunlight breaks through the gray clouds, and the whole scene is so breathtakingly gorgeous it almost hurts to look at.

“It’s like we stepped into a fairytale,” I say as we collectively make our way in that direction. The air is icy, and there’s a sweet, earthy tang to it.

“The name means Waterfall of the Gods,” Bess says. “And standing here, I understand why. It feels ancient and powerful and like something that should be worshipped.”

Nettie nods. “I’ve worshipped at lesser altars.”

Throngs of tourists crowd the viewing areas—tour groups with matching umbrellas, European backpackers with serious cameras, families with small children pointing and shouting over the roar of water. We’re all here for the same thing: to witness something so beautiful it makes you remember how small you are.

Ransom wraps an arm around my waist. “So what do you think? Was it worth the trip?”

“Absolutely.”

Bess is already consulting her guidebook, reading facts about the waterfall’s history and geological significance, while Nettie has wandered dangerously close to the edge despite the safety barriers and is posing for a selfie that’s definitely going to look like she’s about to plunge to her death.

Let’s hope she’s not.

Ransom’s phone pings and he frowns down at his screen. “It’s Quinn. She has a few procedural questions she wants to ask. I’d better give her a quick call.”

He steps away and I spot the exact redhead I was hoping to speak with this afternoon standing apart from the crowd as she looks on at the natural wonder, staring at the falls with an expression I can’t quite read.

I quickly make my way over, and I’ll admit, it’s hard to tear my gaze away from the giant blue basin. It’s as if the entire world opens up in some magical portal here. I’ve never seen a waterfall so beautiful, especially from this vantage point that places us nearly above it.

“Hey.” I approach carefully, trying not to pant from the trek over. “Mind if I join you?”

Marina does a double-take my way and offers a small smile. “Not at all.”

I sidle up next to her and wince a little. “About what you saw on the bridge⁠—”

“Trixie, you don’t have to explain.” She looks as if she means it, but there’s a layer of sadness in her eyes and I don’t know where it’s coming from.

“Yes, I do. Because there is absolutely nothing going on between Wes and me. What you walked in on was a misunderstanding involving a ghost, a hug, and the world’s worst timing.”

Marina inches back. “Did you say ghost?”

“It’s a long story.” I wrinkle my nose at the thought that I let that slip. “But I promise you, Wes and I are just friends. He used to have feelings for me, but that was before I married Ransom, and now he’s moved on. He offered you a private bridge tour, Marina. Trust me, Wes doesn’t do that for just anyone.”

She laughs softly. “It was just a nice gesture on his part, I’m sure.”

We stand in comfortable silence for a moment as the waterfall roars beside us, the chill in the air making us tighten our arms around ourselves.