Page 47 of The Endowment Effect

8

Birdie stepped inside Lucas’s front door with an equal measure of curiosity and trepidation.

She used to dream of living in such an idyllic home with her lifelong crush. And then spent the same amount of time chastising herself for such ludicrous wishful thinking.

“So, this is home sweet home?” she asked, taking in the eclectic pieces of furniture and decor.

“In theory,” he said, hanging his suit coat on a hook and rolling up his shirtsleeves. “I spend most of my evenings attending community events.”

“Of course you do,” she murmured.

To be honest, it wasn’t just the dream of living with him. The boy who had spent as much time ignoring her as he did breathing. It was also having, what was in her mind, a real home.

To Birdie, home was more than a building with a roof and structural elements constructed to protect you. It was about the people inside, who knew you better than yourself, and loved you anyway. Bolstering you and lifting you up, making you feel safe in a way that brick and mortar alone fell short.

For the first time in her life, she’d had that with Marshall. True, it was a home filled with an odd mix of individuals and relationships, but she wouldn’t have traded it for the world.

They made her feel safe.

Her chest felt tight, missing Marshall and his big warm arms hugging her, shooing away her demons as if bothersome gnats.

Who would have thought a customer at the local salon where she worked would become her saving grace?

Marshall had been a regular at the Shear Delight Salon, where she had worked for years as a receptionist and all-around gofer.

On Saturday mornings, like clockwork, he would walk through the front door with Pearl, his longtime, silver-haired girlfriend, also a regular customer of the salon. Pearl was a resident of Duxbury. Marshall spent his weekends with her and escorted her to her weekly blowout appointments.

They were a sweet couple, holding hands and leaning into one another as if they shared a magnetic pull.

For years, Birdie greeted them once a week, giving them updates on how Mia was doing. She would apprise them of Mia’s first steps, her first bites of solid food—a mashed avocado disaster of epic proportions—and every single illness she had picked up at daycare.

The couple would always leave her exorbitant tips during the holidays, even though she was only a receptionist. When times were hard, it was those tips that kept her and Mia from getting evicted.

Then, one weekday, Marshall walked through the doors alone. He had appeared shaken with bags under his eyes, asking if Birdie would mind having lunch with him as he needed to ask her a favor.

It would have been a flat-out lie if she didn’t admit to having been a little excited. She’d expected a request to house-sit or to water the plants while he and Pearl took a well-deserved vacation.

At the time, she had been flat broke, her car payment coming due. And Mr. Shepherd looked as if he needed some rest. A win-win!

Never would she have expected the man to ask her to join him in matrimonial bliss. Even stranger, he had assured her Pearl was aware of his proposal.

When she looked at him with intense skepticism, her head all but exploded when he made a call, handing his phone to her with Pearl on the line. Pearl informed Birdie she was the one who came up with the idea, and to please accept their offer.

Their generous proposal included Birdie and Mia moving into his home—having no idea of his astronomical wealth—and putting her and Mia through college.

The promise of a college education alone was tempting enough as she was slowly going deeper into credit card debt, paying for daycare, housing and food, while barely making over minimum wage.

The real kicker, what pretty much sealed the deal, was when he promised to adopt Mia. Just one little “I do” to ensure her daughter’s future as a Shepherd.

All she had to do was marry him, legally. All in an effort to distract Marshall’s ex-wife and her two feral offspring from his one true love.

Pearl.

Sitting in a diner with an open mouth, Birdie learned more about the couple’s history. Marshall and Pearl had begun spending more time together after his divorcing Ariana.

Learning of this, Ariana had become incensed and began a long spiteful effort to discredit and destroy Pearl at every turn. For decades, Marshall and Pearl were indestructible, but then, complications arose. Pearl became forgetful. Taking midnight walks in the streets outside their home and then forgetting where she was and how to find her way back.

One particular night, Errol had coaxed Pearl into his car. Thankfully, Marshall found her just as she was sliding into the back seat of his luxury sedan. He learned later, the twins had hired a private eye to keep track of their comings and goings.

---