Page 82 of Love Overboard
“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?”
