Love Overboard

Chapter 36

LACEY STOOD ON THE CHAOTIC pier with her mother and father. People milled around them in a sea of stress and clamor. Passengers hauled their suitcases. Crew members rushed up a side gangplank—already in turnaround mode. A thousand things needed to happen in the few quick hours before the next wave of customers arrived—bedsheets washed, food delivered, pianos tuned. Lacey longed to be a part of the mind-numbing bustle, but she had something to tell her parents.

Her mother embraced her in a gentle hug. “When does your current contract end? Will you come home on your break this time?”

“We’ll see.” Lacey let go.

Her mom sniffled and wiped her nose. “It’s silly to get teary about a fully grown daughter, but I can’t help it.”

“Don’t cry.” Lacey rubbed her mother’s arm. “I’ll try to visit in a few months.”

“I’ll paint your old room for you.” Her dad stuck his fingers in his belt loops. “Pick a color.”

“You don’t have to do that, Dad.”

“Of course I don’t have to, but I want to pamper my little girl. Any color you desire.”

Lacey focused on the disembarking passengers. A woman with a huge sunflower decorating her hat wrestled with a rolling suitcase. “Yellow.”

“Yellow it is.” He grabbed her in a bear hug. “I promise you won’t recognize the place.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

She didn’t much care for yellow, but it hardly mattered. Her father would never follow through. Lacey stopped trusting his promises when she was eight years old.

“Lacey!”

She sagged with relief at the sound of Jon’s voice. Disentangling herself from her father’s arms, she waved Jon over.

“Dad. Mom. There’s a special person I want you to meet.”

Jon joined their group and stood beside her.

Her father stared at him. “The cruise director? We met already.”

“He’s not just the cruise director, Dad.” Lacey straightened her spine and looped her arm around Jon’s waist. “This is Jonathan King … my boyfriend.”

Jon stood taller at her words. His chest even puffed out a little. He looked adorably proud as he extended his hand to her father. “It’s nice to meet you, sir. I’m sorry we didn’t have enough time to get to know each other. I hope we can rectify that soon.”

Her mother’s smile stretched. She took in all six foot, two inches of attractive male and clasped her hands. “I’m so relieved you’ve found someone. I admit”—she leaned forward to whisper to Lacey—“I was starting to worry.”

Her father studied Jon without taking his hand. “Are you good enough for my daughter?”

“No, sir.” Jon kept his hand out. “I doubt anyone is. But I’ll try my best to be worthy of her.”

The sarcastic side of Lacey wanted to tease him for the old-fashioned speech, but the softer, more sensitive side she buried deep was tempted to swoon. “Dad, he’s the best, most honest, and kindest man I’ve ever met.”

Her father’s face tightened at the declaration. He shrugged and accepted the handshake. “Can’t argue with such a sterling recommendation. But I’ll be keeping an eye on you, young man. If you don’t treat my little girl right, you’ll regret it.”

“Rest assured, Mr. Anderson.” Jon let go of his hand. “I’ll take good care of her.”

“I can take care of myself,” Lacey said.

One more round of hugs, and her parents left to catch their flight. Lacey watched them walk away. Her mother lugged the suitcase with one hand and swung her purse in front of her with the other. She drew out a piece of candy and offered it to her husband. He took it and passed the empty wrapper back to her. They blended into the crowd of disembarking passengers disappearing inside the marina terminal.

“Whew.” Lacey collapsed against Jon’s side. “I’m glad that’s over.”

“Why?” He wrapped his arms around her. “Were you afraid I’d embarrass you?”

“No, it’s …” She made a split-second decision to chip away at her natural inclination to hide the ugly parts of her life. “It’s the other way around. I can’t predict what will come out of my dad’s mouth, and I spend the whole time holding my breath whenever we’re together.”

He urged her closer. “Sounds rough.”

“Sometimes.” She inhaled and exhaled in a melodramatic fashion. “But I’m breathing fine now.” She leaned into him. “I wish we could get away and have a real date. A place on dry land where the dinner plates don’t rock with the current.”

Jon pulled her near as a forklift whizzed by them, stacked high with boxes of toilet paper.

“On turnaround day?” He released Lacey, placed an index finger on her forehead, and pushed her away. “Keep dreaming.”

She whimpered.

“No use aiming those big eyes at me.” He spun her around, settled his hands on her shoulders, and eased her toward the gangplank. “We have a ship to get ready. The new batch of cruisers will be here in eight hours. If the galley crew can load sixteen thousand pounds of potatoes and ten thousand soda cans in that short amount of time, the least we can do is play our part.”

“Since when do you memorize the cold-storage numbers?” Lacey attempted to stop.

He kept pushing. “You know I’ve worked from stem to stern on cruise ships.”

The reminder of his job-hopping dug up old insecurities. A weed of doubt threatened to sprout inside of her, but she stomped it flat. Jon wasn’t her father. In fact, Jon was the one prodding them back to work at this very moment. He’d been a little flighty in the past, but he’d matured.

I can trust him now, Lacey argued against the negative voice in her head.

Bodies scurried. Cruise workers carried bottles and bedsheets, towels and toilet brushes. Jon steered Lacey through the ship entrance and into the lobby. A crowd of men in coveralls huddled in front of a giant TV. They groaned as a player on the screen fumbled the ball.

“I didn’t realize this game was today.” Jon let go of her and joined the group.

Lacey followed. “What happened to ‘playing our part’?” She lightly punched his back.

Emily Windsor popped up beside them. “Don’t you like football, dear?”

Lacey jerked to the side. The woman walked as soft as a cat. “I used to go to games in college, but it’s been a while.”

“I was a huge football fan back then.” Jon dragged his gaze away from the screen. “My friends and I drove to all the away games. I can just imagine you as a cute coed. I guarantee I’d have asked for your number.”

She raised her nose. “If you were wearing the wrong school colors, I would’ve ignored you.”

He shoved a fist in the air. “Go Crimson.”

Her mouth twitched, and she tried to keep a straight face. She elbowed him in the gut, and he moaned. “Isn’t he—” Lacey turned to Emily, but her spot was empty. “She’s gone.”

“What?”

“Emily left, and we didn’t even notice. She’s must think we’re so rude.”

Jon laughed. “Do you remember who you’re talking about? She’s probably crossing another satisfied couple off her list.”

“You should have seen them.” Emily filled in the other Shippers as she took the strategy plans off the wall and folded them neatly. “They flirted like a pair of teenagers at a drive-in. It was too cute.”

Gerry relaxed on the couch cushions. “I love a happy ending.”

Daisy sat on the desk chair with her hands resting on her lap. “This case kept us on our toes. The drama felt as if it would never end.”

Althea yawned and stretched her arms above her head. “I vote we take a short break before we choose a new target. This match took it out of me.”

“We’re not done yet.” Emily paused from her cleanup. “There are still two holes to be plugged.”

“Why?” Althea moaned. “Lacey and Jon are together. They’re in love. Close the curtains and turn the houselights up. The end.”

Emily shook her head. “Hole number one, we couldn’t find any background on Jonathan King since we didn’t have much to go on. But I gleaned a helpful tidbit today. He said, ‘Go Crimson,’ when he mentioned his college team. We know he was raised in Florida. I’m assuming he meant the Crimson Tide at the University of Alabama.”

“Makes sense he’d go to a neighboring state for college,” Althea said. “But what does it matter? Don’t you trust him?”

“Jon is wonderful.” Emily sat on the edge of the bed and adjusted the crooked afghan. “But we follow protocol. Every couple we’ve matched received a thorough background check.” She stood again. “Gerry, tell your detective cousin to look into a Jonathan King who attended the University of Alabama.”

“On it.” Gerry retrieved her laptop from a side table. “I’ll email him the new information. He’s good at getting back quickly.”

Daisy raised a finger. “Alabama’s not the only school with a football team named Crimson. Harvard claims that too. Now I reflect on it, Jon acts like a Harvard man.”

“Fine.” Emily picked up her pile of battle plans and placed them in a bottom drawer, where a discarded stack filled half the space. “Gerry can have her cousin investigate both schools. Once we get a few more blanks filled in, we can mark this case closed.”

“You said ‘two holes.’” Gerry stopped typing. “What do we lack besides the background check?”

“Glad you reminded me.” Emily’s tone hardened. “Our next match will have to wait awhile. Hole number two, we find the heathens using our ship to smuggle their filthy drugs.”