Duh.Of course.
With Spencer, Tabitha realized she harbored no doubts. He would handle this just fine, and probably make a friend—or at the very least a computer pen-pal—out of Sheila, for life.
This was better than good.
“Okay.” Tabitha smiled broadly while shaking her head, cautioning him. “Remember, when she talks your ear off, this was your call.”
He simply grinned, and made a “go-ahead” rolling motion with his hand.
Tabitha hit Sheila’s number, ignoring Spencer’s still raised digits for the moment.
Her sister picked up on the first ring, as always.
“Tabbi. Hi, Tabbi. Two calls in one day. Just today, though. Just today. Did you eat yet? You were hungry.”
Leave it to Sheila to remember that detail.
“Yes, I ate.” Tabitha glanced over at her companion who was still poised to take the phone. “With Spencer.”
“Spencer Sothard. Merchant Mariner. Thirty-five years old. Cute.”
“Uh, huh. So we’ve already established,” Tabitha agreed, biting her lip to try and mask her delight.
Spencer beamed, obviously having heard Sheila, who’s voice modulation was often…unconstrained.
Tabitha went for broke. “He says he’d like to talk to you.”
“Good. Good,” Sheila answered without hesitation. “I know a lot. Merchant Marine. Mariners.”
“I’m sure you do, Sheels.” Tabitha rolled her eyes at Spencer in a semi-warning.
He wasn’t having any of it as he wiggled his fingers again.
“Here he is.” She proffered her phone, swallowing the nervous lump in her throat that had just arisen.
“Hi Sheila,” Spencer began. “My name’s Spencer. I’m very happy to meet you.”
Tabitha leaned way back in her chair, wanting—but not wanting—to eavesdrop. How would this?—?
The first thing Spencer did, before Tabitha could even finish that thought, was laugh.
“Oh. You like acronyms, do you? Then you’ve got the right organization. The Merchant Marinelovesits acronyms. I’m game. Shoot.”
There were a few seconds of silence.
“That’s an easy one. It stands for International Maritime Organization. Give me something harder.”
Tabitha pictured her sister, face full of serious concentration as she attempted to stump Spencer.
“RFPNW,” Spencer clearly repeated with a grin. “Rating Forming Part of a Navigational Watch, or in layman’s terms, a practical assessment of the rules of the road at sea. Ask me another.”
Spencer was quite obviously enjoying himself as he listened to Sheila.
“That’s easy, too,” he chuckled. “SOLAS means Safety of Life at Sea. It’s an industry standard for safety operations on merchant ships. As an AB, I’m fully qualified in that regard.”
God, he wasn’t talking down to Sheila. Tabitha almost teared up.
There was another pause, but this time it was accompanied by a puzzled look from Spencer. He raised his brows at Tabitha, who could only shrug.Shedidn’t know what was going on with Sheila at the moment, as often was the case with her sister.
