Page 70 of Hearts Aweigh
The poor boy wouldn’t know what hit him.
CHAPTER 36
EMILY PULLED OUT THE BATTLE-PLANbinder. She settled in the desk chair of her small inner cabin and eyed her friends. “Let’s get to work, girls.”
Althea lowered herself to the bed with a moan. “Can’t we warm up first? That campsite was like an icebox.”
“And noisy,” Gerry grumbled.
“But worthwhile.” Emily thumbed through the binder’s pages. “We know for certain now that Spencer’s got it bad for Abby, and Daisy’s agreed to let us match them. It’s time to create a dossier on Spencer.”
“Why bother with the paperwork?” Althea asked. “His own mother is right here.”
Emily shook her head. “We have to follow procedure. Everyone we match gets a full workup.”
Gerry remained standing. “I need to stretch these long legs.” She set her computer on top of the dresser, powered it up, and clicked a few keys. “Full name of the client?”
“Spencer. Randolph. Masterson.” Daisy sounded it out like she was placing an order at a staticky drive-through speaker.
Althea leaned on the headboard and propped her feet on the mattress. “Why is his middle name the same as yours, baby?”
“Randolph was my maiden name. My husband liked the idea of reminding everyone our son came from two powerful families.”
Emily scrawled in the binder.Daisy’s husband was a jerk.
“Age?” Gerry shot another question.
“Thirty-two.”
“Profession?”
“Attorney.”
“Personality?”
“Difficult, to say the least.”
Althea tugged a corner of the comforter over her legs. “I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. That boy is aggravating as a rock.”
“You mustn’t blame him too much.” Daisy twisted the gold watch chain hanging from her neck. “His father’s influence made him that way. And I was too cowardly to step in.”
“Don’t be so hard on yourself, dear.” Emily reached to grab her friend’s hand.
“It’s the truth. I was very young when I married Julius and allowed him to take the lead in everything. As I grew older, I tried to assert myself more but soon found out how difficult life could be. He cut off my credit cards, canceled my appointments without telling me, refused invitations from all our friends, and spread rumors that I was suffering from depression. The termgaslightinghas become quite popular of late, but there really were instances in that period where I felt like I was losing my mind.”
A rumble of disgust issued from Gerry’s throat.
Althea thumped a fist on the bed. “I wish I knew you back then. I’d have helped you figure out how to get away from that monster.”
Daisy shrugged. “As long as I did things his way, he granted me a modicum of freedom. By the time I had Spencer at forty, I’d lost the will to fight my husband. My poor son was raised in a stifling atmosphere of education and expectations. When he was a child, his father wouldn’t allow me to baby him or show too much affection. Julius said he didn’t want his son growing up to be a sissy. He even sent Spencer away to boarding school at the age of twelve to teach him self-reliance.”
Althea shivered. “I don’t know how you lasted almost fifty years in that nightmare.”
“By God’s grace.” Daisy sighed.
Silence descended on the room. The burden of their friend’s painful past weighed on the other Shippers.
Gerry’s voice wobbled when she tried to speak. She cleared her throat and asked another question. “Spencer’s marital status?”
