Page 97 of Love Overboard
Emily massaged the bridge of her nose. “A man came aboard at the last port. Jon’s father sent him to fetch his son ahead of schedule. He was a verbal atomic bomb. Couldn’t have dropped more information if he was trying. Lacey walked up behind them while they were talking and heard everything.”
“How do you know this?” Gerry asked.
“I just happened to be standing nearby.”
“‘Just happened,’ huh?”
“You tried to tell him.” Althea’s head shook like an overloaded washing machine. “He should’ve come clean right away.”
Daisy folded her hands on the table. “I hope she’s not too crushed.”
“Do you think she got off the boat?” Althea asked.
“I seriously doubt it,” Gerry said. “We’re in the middle of the Caribbean Sea.”
“If she wants to be alone,” Daisy said, “we should respect her wishes. Lacey’s not the type to do something foolish. She’ll come out when she’s ready.”
“What about Jon?” Emily shoved her chair back and paced beside the table. “He’s leaving for Florida soon. They have to make up before he goes.”
“But Lacey’s heart must be shredded.” Gerry wrung her skirt with twitchy fingers. “How can they reconcile that fast? It took her years to let him in.”
Daisy hugged herself. “Poor thing.”
“I knew it was going too well.” Gerry’s melancholy side kicked in. “Things were bound to turn corybantic.”
“Cory who?” asked Althea.
“Corybantic.” The retired librarian explained. “Crazy, frantic, bonkers. Everything’s gone sideways.”
Althea grimaced. “Between you and Emily, I’m gonna need a dictionary for this conversation.”
“Oh, I could shake that boy.” Back and forth Emily marched. “If he’d listened to us, this wouldn’t have happened. But he had to make his fancy proposal. Now he’s got nothing.”
“What do we do?” asked Daisy.
Emily stopped pacing and rubbed her hand against her chest. “I … I don’t know.”
The other three stared.
Althea’s mouth sagged. “That’s the first time I ever heard you utter those words.”
Emily’s shoulders slumped. She looked at the ceiling. “Lord, what do we do?”
The Shippers waited for an answer, but quiet reigned in the small common area. Almost everyone was at the ball.
Gerry’s chair creaked as she leaned forward. “How about—”
A shrill laugh pierced the silence. Two women in spiky heels and matching fuchsia dresses tottered past. They giggled as they held a cell phone above them, filming a video as they walked.
“Wait.” Daisy pointed with a finger. “Over there.”
Beyond the videographers, Lacey appeared. Dirt smudges covered the skirt of her ball gown, and her hair was a stringy mess. With long, purposeful strides, she passed the matchy-matchy girls.
“Go,” Althea whispered to Emily.
The other Shippers stayed at the table as their leader approached the girl whose cheeks were flushed, eyes swollen and bloodshot.
“Lacey,” Emily called.
