James Rockton is ready to die. In fact, he plans on it. Having lost his life partner to AIDS, he books the South Pacific cruise Richard didn't live to share. James will spread Richard's ashes at sea, and then slip overboard to join him forever. He’s too old and too heartbroken to continue on alone.<br><br>But James doesn’t count on meeting a young man whose parents constantly put him down. Then there’s the obviously gay young art dealer who ogles a crazy young photographer traveling with an older gay man about James’s own age.<br><br>James and Herb begin spending time together, trying not to laugh too hard or get too involved with these young men, who circle each other in rapidly shrinking orbits. After all, James and Herb are old, with gray hair and less stamina. With time, talk, and martinis, will love manage to find them, too?

Fade to Gray

We had wine, lots of it. I think it was Merlot. I don’t know exactly what it was we ate. It was called, per the menu, “Frutti di Mare,” which I thought meant horsemeat, but was shrimp. Maybe. Something that crawled on the bottom of the sea and was an abomination to the Lord, at any rate. And, yes, Herb was rushing it, but I didn’t care as I felt the same way. We lingered over coffee in tiny cups. We were going to go back to my room. We were going to, ah…have dessert, that’s it. Well, never mind, though, because just as we locked eyes over our coffee cups, there came this announcement.


“This is your captain speaking. There is a boy missing. The cameras show he has not gone overboard, but his parents cannot find him. We are in the process of searching every cabin, every nook and cranny, on this ship. If you have seen someone who should not be where he is, let security know. The description is as follows…”


Chapter 24