Later that evening Tru still hadn't managed to locate Meredith. She had searched the ship for almost an hour and figured that she must be just missing her as she moved from one area to another. She even wondered briefly if she might have fallen overboard before reprimanding herself for being even more paranoid than normal. Harrison was right, she did need to relax.
With that in mind she headed back to her cabin to change for dinner. She was just finishing applying her makeup when she heard a tentative tap on the door.
"Come in," she called without turning away from the mirror. She was just finishing putting on her lipstick as Harrison came into the room shutting the door behind him.
He stood across the room with an expression that told her he was sorry but he couldn't quite manage to say the words.
"Since when do you knock?" Tru asked with a grin and was relieved to see a matching response on her brother's face.
He walked across the room and took a seat on the couch next to Tru. She scowled at him as he swung his feet up onto the nearby table but he didn't take the hint. Oh well, its not like it was her furniture she thought.
"You wearing that to dinner?" asked Harrison as he looked Tru over.
"Sure," Tru replied.
"Dad 'll love that," Harrison said sarcastically.
"I don't care what he thinks," Tru said, quickly running a brush through her hair. "If I want to wear this I will. It's a little late for him to start acting like a concerned parent, and I'm well past the age where he can tell me what I can and can't wear."
"Okaaay," Harrison drawled raising his hands in mock surrender.
Tru opened her mouth to ask Harrison what he had done with his day but closed it again immediately; the last thing she wanted was to start another argument. It seemed though that Harrison knew what she had been about to say. He shifted slightly so that she could sit down on the couch beside him. "I didn't spend all that time at the poker table," he said quietly. "At least not quite."
Tru breathed a sigh of relief.
"How much did you lose?" Tru asked since the subject had now been brought up anyway.
"Actually I won," Harrison said with a grin. "Here", he said reaching into his pocket.
Tru looked down at the small flat package he passed to her. "What's this?" she asked in surprise as she reached for it. Her brother was famous for forgetting presents on birthdays and anniversaries and Lindsay had despaired of ever getting a decent gift out of him on days when Tru had not rewound. Thankfully Harrison had managed to make up for his mistakes, with Tru's help, on the second attempt at the day, at least up until Jack had interfered.
"Just a sorry," Harrison said with a grin. "Go on open it."
Tru tore open the package and looked at the novelty item inside. It was a "Do not Disturb" sign to place on the door, but unlike the plain conventional ones, this one had the amusing picture of two rabbits and a lot of baby bunnies on it.
"Just in case you get lucky tomorrow night," Harrison said with another grin. "And partly for my own benefit since you know I don't usually bother to knock."
Tru laughed as she swiped him with the sign. "I think Meredith might have something to say about me bringing a guy back here."
"So we're good?" Harrison asked.
"Sure," Tru replied. "Dad said he was just trying to help."
"Yeah, well…" Harrison hesitated a moment. "I'm not sure how much help it was to start playing again. I'd almost forgotten what a buzz it was to get a winning hand, to be anticipating the other players, reading their expressions, noticing their signs that give away when they're bluffing. Now I remember again. Damn."
"Oh Harry," Tru said, her worst fears confirmed. "Don't worry. We'll get you through this. It's not the end of the world. It was just a game."
"That lasted most of the afternoon," Harrison said with a groan. "I didn't even know how long it had been 'til it started to get dark. It was just like old times."
"Don't worry," Tru repeated. "I'll find a way to keep you occupied away from the poker table."
"Thanks Tru," Harrison said.
"Yeah, well, we've got to stick together," Tru said, giving him a quick hug of reassurance.
"That's what I like to see," Richard said from the doorway. "Everyone getting along again. Are we all ready for dinner?"
Tru shrugged with a glance across the room where it was clear that Meredith still hadn't returned.
"No Meredith?" Richard asked as he followed Tru's gaze.
"I've not seen her all day," Tru answered with a frown. "Have you?"
Both Richard and Harrison shook their heads.
"Shall we wait for her?" Harrison asked.
"No," Richard shook his head. "She knows where we are having dinner, she's probably there already, waiting for us."
Tru frowned. She didn't think that she would see Meredith there already. She had been back at their cabin for some time and Meredith hadn't appeared to get changed for dinner. She knew that she usually would and doubted she would be making an exception this time. Still, there was no telling when she would reappear again so it was a little pointless to wait around for her to show up.
Shutting the door behind them Tru followed after her father and Harrison as they headed to dinner.
"I should be getting back to the family," Meredith said with a small sigh as she and Jack walked along the deck.
"Do you have to?" Jack asked, as he led her to the place he had first introduced himself to her that morning. He hoped that the subtle reminder of being in the place where they had watched Tru and Harrison laughing together without her was enough to alter her decision to join them.
"I guess they wouldn't miss me," Meredith said and Jack silently congratulated himself on the ease with which he had managed to manipulate her into staying with him.
"That's settled then," Jack said as they continued their walk.
"So we've talked about me all afternoon," Meredith asked. "What about you? Do you work in New York?"
"For the moment," Jack replied. "I have a particularly difficult job on at the moment but once it's sorted I'm hoping to transfer out of the city."
"Where do you have in mind?"
"I don't know," Jack said thoughtfully. "Vegas might be good for someone with my skills."
"And what skills would those be?" Meredith asked with a grin.
Jack smiled back and turned his charm up another notch. Let Richard work on manipulating Harrison. He still didn't think Richard's plan would work and he was getting a much better idea.
"A toast," Richard said as he raised his glass. Tru and Harrison followed his example. "To family."
"To a new start," Harrison added. Tru nodded in agreement and they all took a drink.
She glanced towards the entrance one last time but there was still no sign of Meredith. She felt a small stab of guilt at drinking a toast to family when Meredith wasn't with them.
"I'm sure she'll appear soon enough Tru," Richard said as he replaced his glass. "She's probably just found some new friends and lost track of time."
"Yeah, probably," Tru agreed as she turned her concentration to the menu.
The evening passed on pleasantly enough and Tru felt herself relax as Richard and Harrison caught up with each other's news. She didn't say much herself but enjoyed watching the two men in her family laughing and joking together. She tried to recall the last time that she had heard her father laugh the way he was doing now and couldn't remember a single occasion. She laughed along with them as Harrison relayed to their father a particularly amusing story about one of his usual mishaps. She remembered the occasion well although it was a couple of years ago and she realised again just how much time had slipped past over the years. Maybe Harrison was right and she should just give their father a chance to make things up to them.
The restaurant was nearly empty by the time they left.
Meredith had never shown up at all.
Tru and Harrison headed back to Tru's cabin to check on whether Meredith had returned. Richard excused himself with a comment about leaving the young people to party. Tru watched him disappear around a corner before turning back to Harrison.
"See, isn't this great?" he asked as he swung an arm around her shoulder. "Even you've got to admit he's making a real effort."
"Yeah," Tru agreed. "I'll give him a chance."
"Great," Harrison replied with a grin. "Now let's go find Meredith and we can all go party."
Tru opened the door to the cabin and saw instantly that Meredith was not inside.
"I hope she's okay," Tru said with a worried frown. She looked about the room and although she couldn't tell for sure, she didn't think that anything had been moved since they had left to go to dinner.
"I'm sure she's fine," Harrison said with a shrug. "Come on Tru, let's go see what the nightlife on this boat is like. She's probably already partying like always."
"That's what worries me," Tru said.
"I thought we'd agreed that you'd stop worrying and start relaxing," Harrison reprimanded.
"Stop worrying?" Tru asked. "You might as well ask me to stop breathing."
Harrison laughed as they left the cabin. "You know that if any of us is going to stop breathing it has to be me. That way you get to rewind and save me."
"If you were a little more responsible I wouldn't have to," Tru joked.
"You think I'm irresponsible?" Harrison asked in mock surprise.
Tru laughed aloud, her mood much lighter.
They arrived at a bar with a crowded dance floor and she scanned the room for Meredith but there was no sign of her. She looked again as Harrison ordered drinks to try to cover her surprise that he was paying for them too. "I told you I won today," he pointed out with a grin.
Tru shook her head and looked again for Meredith only to see across the room a familiar countenance. She felt her blood start to rush to her head and shook it to clear her vision. She had to be imagining things, there was no way Jack could be on board the ship.
"What's wrong?" Harrison asked as he passed her her drink and took a gulp of his own.
"I thought I saw…"
"Saw what?"
"Jack."
"You're getting paranoid again," Harrison cautioned her. "Take a drink and soon you'll have forgotten all about him."
Tru took a drink and looked across the room again. No it wasn't her imagination, sitting across the room, calmly watching the dancers on the floor, was Death himself.
A/N: I hope you are enjoying the story. Be sure to leave me a review if you are (or even if you are not - let me know why). I have lots more stories planned for Tru Calling and have now added a section to my user profile showing what is going to be coming up soon. Just a taster of what I am planning. Check it out.
