Page 39 of Hearts Aweigh

A GIANT MASS OF brOWN foam logs sat on top of the green helipad. Light shone from the middle, highlighting the red and orange cellophane flames of the faux fire. Spencer shifted in his camp chair and tugged his jacket collar around his neck. “Why did you sign us up for this?”

He scowled at his nanny valet who stood with a pillow tucked under each arm. She wore jeans and a purple Monarch hoodie. Her vibrant red hair spilled around her shoulders.

Abby seemed unperturbed by his displeasure. “Bow-wow-wow-wow glamping is a Monarch specialty. No other cruise line offers this experience.”

“Well, whoever invented bow-wow-wow glamping—”

“It’s three wow s.” Abby shifted the pillows so she held them both under her left arm. “Bow-wow-wow- wow ! It’s a play on words because we pitch the tents on the bow of the ship, but it’s tailor-made for the pet owners, ergo the bow-wow-wow part. The last wow is for fun.”

She uttered the ridiculous nonsense without even a hint of self-consciousness.

Spencer wondered at her ability to embrace any activity, no matter how absurd.

He surveyed their at-sea glamour camping site.

Employees passed out premade s’mores to the humans and doggy treats to the four-legged passengers sniffing around the collapsible chairs.

A ring of tents surrounded them, the flaps folded back to reveal beanbag chairs and twinkle lights strung along the inside.

A brisk wind sliced through his hair, and Spencer pushed the mussed strands off his forehead. “Whoever invented Bow-wow-wow- wow glamping wasn’t taking into account the colder evening temperatures.”

“I admit it’s unseasonably chilly, but Maddie’s loving it.”

She pointed to his daughter, who sat cross-legged in a nearby tent beside the serial hugger from the day care center. The brown-haired girl still carried her rainbow purse, and her mouth was rimmed with a sticky ring of marshmallow remains. She threw an arm around Madeleine and squeezed tight.

“Then you two stay and enjoy.” Spencer stood. “I’ll go to my heated suite and get some work done.”

“No.” Abby shuffled in front of him, the pillows hugged in front of her. “It will be much more special if you’re here.”

He raised his eyebrows.

She blinked. “For Maddie, I mean.”

“We just finished a seven-day cruise, and this new one is nine days. Plenty of time to spend together.”

“But when will you ever get another opportunity to go camping with puppies on a cruise ship? If you absolutely have to work, you can do it once the event’s concluded and Maddie’s in bed.

Please, please, please.” Abby clasped her hands.

Her arms bunched the cushy pillows tight under her chin.

She resembled a little girl saying her bedtime prayers.

“Fine.” He crossed his arms and sat down. “Let’s catch pneumonia together.”

“Yay!” Abby bounded away and joined the girls in the tent.

She placed the pillows beneath them and made sure their jackets were buttoned tight.

Spencer had to admit, he’d never seen his daughter smile so big.

She laughed in glee as her new friend grabbed her for another hug.

Daisy wandered over and knelt beside them, a thick black scarf wrapped around her silver hair.

Spencer shook his head. His mother. Camping. Even if it was on a cruise ship, the sight was unbelievable.

The other three members of her matchmaking crew arrived in a talkative group.

Althea spotted him and bustled over. “Hey, baby.” She sat in the empty chair beside him, leaned over, and bussed him on the cheek.

He lifted his fingers to scrub at the spot but thought better of it. He didn’t want to offend the tenderhearted woman. “Good evening, Althea.”

“Call the papers. Daisy agreed to go camping.” Her laugh was deep and throaty. “Shows how much she loves her granddaughter.”

This night didn’t have to be a total waste. He’d ask this woman some questions that bothered him. Like how his mother ended up on a cruise ship in the first place.

“You’re from New Orleans, correct? Did you and Daisy meet there at a function?”

“A function?” She chortled. “I met your momma in a park.”

“In a what?”

“A park. Those big pieces of land with trees and picnic tables.”

“I’m well aware of what a park is. But it’s hard to envision Daisy Randolph Masterson in one.”

“Maybe that’s why she was there. Because she didn’t want to be Daisy Randolph Masterson . She wanted to be Daisy . Not much chance of her meeting any of her fancy friends on a park bench.”

“I suppose not.”

“Anyhoo”—Althea folded her hands over her stomach—“I was on a bench opposite her. My grandkids were running around the playground, having a big old time. When I spotted Daisy, she was the loneliest, most pitiful thing I’d ever seen.

I waltzed over, plopped down, and asked why she was dressed head to toe in black on a stuffy summer day. ”

“What did she say?”

“Not much. Said she’d just come from a funeral.”

“A funeral?” That was the last place he’d seen his mother until this recent trip.

He recalled her rigid posture as they stood at the family mausoleum.

The way she’d walked away without a word and showed up late for the reception, leaving him alone to fend off the well-bred attendees offering their eloquent, insincere words of condolence. Had she been sitting in a park?

A soft pat brought him back from his musings.

Althea withdrew her hand. “You probably already guessed. It was the day they buried your daddy.” She grinned.

“Daisy was pretty prickly at first—answered me with her pert nose in the air. But I could see it was a front. My philosophy is, if you want people to open up, you have to bare your heart first. So I told her about my grandkids—how Jayshawn was the mischievous one, and Bernadette was my little snuggle bear, always wanting hugs.”

Her rich voice rolled out like melted fudge on a marble slab. The sweet musical tone soothed the ache in his brain. Was this what his mother had experienced that day at the park?

Althea stretched her legs out and crossed them at the ankles. “By the time I got through all my kin, your momma started to unbend. I suggested she could tell me about her family, if she wanted. I wasn’t sure she’d take me up on my invite, but she did.”

Spencer picked at the ends of his fingertips. “How much did she tell you?”

“Enough for me to realize I lived a happier life in my one-bedroom apartment than poor Daisy did in her big mansion in the Garden District. It was like the Lawd whispered in my ear, ‘Take her on the cruise with you.’”

He squinted. “It’s hard to believe you’d make such an offer to a total stranger. And even harder to fathom my mother accepted.”

Althea shrugged. “It was a God thing. My oldest granddaughter bought me the cruise as a birthday present, but she had to back out because of work. I told Daisy the ticket was already paid for and it was a shame to waste it. I gave her my phone number and told her to think about it. She called me three days later.”

“Did she reimburse you?”

Althea’s eyes narrowed. “Baby, you got a knack for asking rude questions. I didn’t request a ‘reimbursement.’” She shook her head with the last word.

“Her ritzy threads told me she didn’t need a handout, but I wanted to offer her a gift with no strings attached.

I got the impression she hadn’t had many of those in her life. ”

Spencer squirmed in the lightweight camping chair.

He knew the feeling. His father had given him a tennis racket for his tenth birthday but then required he take private lessons and enter the country club tournament.

In high school, a fancy sports car arrived the day before his dad “suggested” he ask a business partner’s daughter—a spiteful girl the whole class avoided because of her mean temper—to the prom.

Every present he’d ever received from his father came with expectations.

His mother must have suffered the same experience.

Funny. He’d never bothered to view it from her perspective.

The metal legs of the chair squeaked underneath him. “But how did one trip turn into living on a cruise ship?”

Althea’s belly laugh matched her personality—large and full of life. “We met Gerry and Emily on that first cruise. They were already hard at work matching people, and we didn’t want to miss the fun.”

“But Daisy never uses her credit cards. How can she afford it?”

“Your momma’s clever. Far more than anybody recognizes. When your father’s fancy business partners gave her an expensive trinket or gifted her a designer handbag on her birthday, she saved it long enough for your daddy to forget about it, then hocked it.”

“ Hocked it?” Spencer drew back. “I can’t picture her in a pawnshop.”

Althea chuckled. “Imagine the small fortune she gathered over their forty-nine-year marriage.”

“But why?” He scratched the back of his head. “Dad gave her everything she needed.”

“Not the things she needed most. Love, understanding, acceptance.”

Spencer couldn’t argue. His father had never shown those qualities to anyone, including him. “Why stay, then? She could have divorced him.”

“And lose the one thing she really did need?” Althea shook her head.

“Status?”

She smacked his arm hard. “You deserve a whippin’ for that.

The one thing Daisy couldn’t live without was you , Spencer.

You might not have had a close, affectionate relationship, but at least she got to see you.

Your daddy ruled like a dictator. If she divorced him, he would’ve kept you away forever. ”

Spencer’s brain filled with white noise.

This new revelation floored him. It was true.

Julius Masterson had valued control above all else.

He’d chosen everything from his son’s college major to the woman he married.

In all things, Spencer had bowed to his father’s wishes.

How could he blame his mother for doing the same?

Althea stood and rubbed the small of her back. “My old carcass can’t handle too much sitting. I’m gonna make a lap around the deck.” She walked away with a song on her lips. “ Gonna lay down my burrrrr-dens. ”

Spencer propped his elbow on the armrest. Daisy’s roommate was a shade too affectionate, but he understood why his mother chose to spend time with the agreeable woman. Perhaps he’d enlist Althea’s help to convince Daisy to come home.

His mother’s cultured voice spoke from his right. “Good evening, Spencer. May I join you?”

He rose and held the empty chair for her as she sat, then returned to his seat. They stayed quiet for several moments. Squeals sounded when Abby started a pillow fight with the two little girls.

“She’s good with Madeleine,” Daisy murmured.

“Yes.”

“Were you perhaps considering—” She adjusted her scarf. “Have you determined what to do about Madeleine when you return to New Orleans?”

“If you were there, you could help me.” He pulled at the cuffs of his jacket. “I mean, if you’d like to spend more time with her, I don’t mind.”

“Thank you.” Daisy rested her hands on her lap. “I would love to be a part of her life.”

Finally. Progress. Spencer forced himself not to barrel ahead. “That’s hard to do when you’re sailing around the ocean.”

“True.” She smiled. “But I’m not ready to leave just yet. God provided this refuge for me at a difficult time.”

“Althea told me how she met you on the day of Father’s funeral. After a lifetime of bowing to his wishes, you must have felt liberated.”

Spencer paused. Did his words sound sarcastic? He hadn’t meant them that way.

Daisy answered with a sad twist of her lips.

“On the contrary, I felt lost. Like one of those animals that’s been born in captivity and doesn’t know how to survive in their natural habitat.

The rest of my life stretched ahead of me, free from your father’s influence, yet I hadn’t a clue where to go or what to do. ”

“How did you wind up in a public park?”

She raised her face to the starry expanse overhead. “Someone was directing my steps. When I settled on that bench, I had no idea God was about to send me an angel. Especially such a garrulous one.” Two ladylike puffs of laughter issued from her nose.

He smiled in response. “God has a way of doing that—sending the perfect person when we need them.” His gaze wandered back to Abby.

“Thanks to my friend Althea, I’ve been happier in the past year and a half than my entire life put together.”

“Couldn’t you at least bring your cell phone?”

“That’s one of the reasons I was happy. For the first time, I was out of touch.

Answerable to no one but heaven and myself.

” She reached over and settled her trembling hand on top of his shoulder.

“You were born in the same type of cage, Spencer. As your mother, I should’ve made more effort to free you.

In order to buy my own peace, I sacrificed yours.

It’s the greatest regret of my life.” Her voice grew thick.

She drew a wavery breath. “Please forgive me. I know I don’t deserve it. But I hope you will anyway.”

Spencer stared. He knew what the obvious reply was. The Christian reply.

“Of course.” Though his mouth formed the words, they felt perfunctory.

“Thank you.” Her response contained the same polite, stilted quality.

Why was it so difficult for them to tear down the walls?

Daisy released him, stood, and glided off in her usual graceful manner.

Spencer’s heart sat like a rock in his chest. He focused on the faraway stars.

When he’d drawn closer to God, forgiveness was part of the deal, and not only for himself.

His new faith urged him to let go of the years of anger and hurt he’d harbored against Daisy.

And to some extent, he had. But it didn’t make the bad memories disappear.

“God, forgiving is hard.” He lowered his gaze to the tent where his daughter sat laughing. “But I want to try. For all our sakes.”