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Chapter Twenty-Three

Liam

“ A nother slice of lamb?” I offered. “There’s more potatoes, too.”

Nell and Vivi, Nancy’s two sisters, shot each other a discreetly delighted glance and held out their plates without hesitation.

“Don’t mind if I do,” Nell said. “Yum.”

“Oh, hell yeah,” Vivi said. “You’re a great cook, Liam.” She shot Nancy a teasing glance. “Lucky girl.”

Nancy held out her plate, too, for another serving of the meltingly tender leg of lamb I’d roasted according to Mom’s recipe, which called for a ton of sweet roasted red onions.

That recipe was a sure thing, and the baby potatoes had turned out well, too—sauteed in olive oil, garlic, and a mix of fresh herbs from my garden.

I’d done a big platter of roasted asparagus, lightly golden and crispy on the outside, meltingly tender inside.

A big frilly salad and some freshly baked bread rounded it all out.

The meal had earned me points, particularly since I’d gotten it all onto the table in record time, after that long, hard day dealing with the mess of Lucia’s house.

Nancy and I had gotten the word that the crime scene investigators were done, and the crime tape had been taken down.

It was time to go and face it head-on, but I’d insisted that Nancy call her sisters to share in the physical and emotional burden of dealing with Lucia’s trashed house.

Nancy was too quick to shield her sisters and take it all on herself, but that just wasn’t fair. Or efficient, for that matter.

I’d invited them to dinner, just to make sure they came up to keep Nancy company. It was time to meet them and pass whatever mysterious sisterly tests needed to be passed to gain their blessing and approval.

So far, it seemed to be working. I refilled everyone’s glasses with red wine.

Nell took a sip. “It’s wonderful, to have a fabulous meal after a day like today,” she commented. “I can’t believe how relaxed and mellow I feel.”

“Amen. I’m all topped up. We’ll be full until next week.

” Vivi smeared butter on a piece of bread to accompany her final scraps of lamb.

“How on earth did you pull this dinner off? You were working at the house with us all day long. Then we come back here, and hey presto—you pull a meal like this right out of thin air?”

I shrugged. “I just prepped it. It was all ready to go. The meat was marinating, the potatoes were already parboiled, the salad was ready. It was just a matter of putting the roast in the oven.”

The sisters exchanged looks. “Mmm,” Nell said archly, eyeing me. “All that and mental organization, too.”

Now I was just being fucked with, but with good humor, so whatever. I smiled and lifted my glass to the D’Onofio girls,, resting squarely on my laurels.

Nell and Vivi D’Onofrio had exceeded my expectations.

They hadn’t skived off from the work. They’d shown up bright and early at Lucia’s house for the painful walk-through to assess damage.

They worked as hard as he or Nancy had, cleaning, sorting, sweeping, and assessing what was irreparably damaged and what was worth salvaging.

These two women didn’t shirk hard work. They were both fiercely pursuing their passions and ambitions in unconventional ways, like Nancy did.

They were bright, tough, engaged, interesting.

I saw Lucia’s influence in them, the way I’d seen it in Nancy.

They were a cut above the average. Several cuts, actually.

“I called Giselle, my art restoration friend, before dinner,” Vivi said. “She’s already getting her A team organized to restore the slashed canvases.”

“Good,” Liam said. “I don’t know much about art, but even I could tell that the stuff on Lucia’s walls was next-level. I hope your friend can restore them.”

“If anyone can, Giselle and her crew can,” Vivi said.

I glanced at Nancy. “Maybe Giselle knows someone who should look at the carved table. Someone other than me. Like I told you, I don’t have art restoration experience. Certainly not with an antique that valuable.”

“No. I want you to do it. You promised, and I’m holding you to it.” Nancy’s voice was forceful. She looked at her sisters. “I want him to do it. He has a feel for that table. He vibes with it. And he’s incredible at joining work.”

“Is he, now.” Vivi tried not to smile.

“Yeah,” Nancy went on. “You should see the table he’s been working on in his workshop. It’s a work of art.” But as she mentioned the table, her face flushed a rosy pink. Both of her sisters giggled helplessly under their breath.

“Fine,” Nell said, eyes sparkling. “I trust your judgment completely when it comes to your good friend’s expertise in, er…joining.”

Damn. That was my cue to get the hell out of the room for a while, to let them get their ya-yas out with no witnesses. I stood up. “You all ready for some dessert? I got lemon profiteroles from Fanelli’s Italian Bakery. They’re the real deal.”

Nell moaned with delight under her breath. “Omigod, I’m stuffed. But I can’t say no to lemon profiteroles.”

“Same,” Vivi said promptly. “Lay it on me. I’ll suffer if I must.”

Nancy was grinning. “Of course. Bring it on. Want help bringing it out?”

“Nah.” I backed away swiftly, toward the kitchen. “You stay here. I got it.”

I tried not to listen from the kitchen, but couldn’t help hearing the smothered giggles, bursts of whispered talk, more giggles. Then Nancy’s sharper protests, met with still more laughter from her sisters.

I was glad to hear them laugh, even if it was at my expense.

Their day had been a long, exhausting series of unpleasant shocks and painful losses.

They had been forced to throw away treasured furniture, sweep up the shards of Lucia’s fine china and shattered crystal.

They’d salvaged what they could, and we’d all been on the alert for another letter. So far, no such luck.

I scooped the goopy profiterole onto one of Mom’s cut crystal serving dishes.

It occurred to me that none of Mom’s nice china or crystal had been used since she died.

My own stuff was very plain. Mom’s stuff hadn’t even made it out of the box in storage until today.

It didn’t fit with my austere, monastic bachelor life.

I’d hung onto the stuff, though, figuring it might come in handy when I got married. I’d thought, vaguely, that my future wife might appreciate things like that.

But I didn’t even want to meet that future wife. There was no place for her in my head. All the space, all the air, was taken up by Nancy.

I came out carrying the serving dish piled with goopy pale yellow pastries swimming in lemon cream in one hand and a handful of small crystal bowls from the same dessert set in the other. I dished up the sweet using Mom’s nice silver dessert serving spoon, laying on heavy lashings of the cream.

All the while, Vivi and Nell shot each other speaking glances and kicked each other under the table. Those two were having the time of their lives.

“Nancy looks great, since she’s been hanging out with you, Liam,” Vivi said. “So relaxed. Great color. Lips as red as cherries.”

“Oh, stop. I think I’ve gained about eight pounds,” Nancy grumbled.

“I think she looks perfect.” I passed Nancy a dish of pastry.

Nell accepted her bowl. “Liam,” she said. “Thanks for helping us with Lucia’s house. But we have to pay you for your time and energy. Really.”

I shook my head. “Lucia was my friend. It’s my privilege to help.”

“Well,” Nell said. “Isn’t that refreshing to hear. What a change of pace.”

“Nell.” Nancy’s voice had a warning tone. “Don’t start.”

“I’m not,” Nell said, rolling her eyes. “Just let me be pleased and happy for you, okay? Is that allowed?”

Nancy sniffed. “Far be it from me to impede anyone’s pleasure or happiness.”

Tension in the air made me search for a change of subject.

I scooped up a bite of profiterole. “So. Since you three have cleared away all of Lucia’s household stuff, me and my crew can start salvaging the building supplies,” I said.

“Maybe two-thirds of it is still usable, if we can find some matching tiles.”

“Good,” Vivi said. “I can’t stay to help right now, though. I need to head out to Ohio in the next couple days for another couple of back-to-back craft fairs.”

I gave her a narrow look. “Isn’t that dangerous? Traveling alone?”

Vivi lifted her hands. “I can’t afford to stop working. And I doubt this guy is going to track me along the forgotten highways and byways of America.”

I turned to Nell. “Doesn’t that leave you all alone in Williamsburg?”

Nell shook a finger in negation while she savored a mouthful of her dessert.

“Not at all. I’m being good, I promise. While Vivi’s gone, I’ll stay at my thesis advisor’s apartment.

She knows what’s happening, and she has a doorman building on the Upper West Side with good security. I’ll be safe there.”

I nodded. “Okay, good. Even so, I get the sense that you two aren’t taking the danger seriously. I think you should both disappear for a while. Lay low.”

Vivi and Nell exchanged somber glances. “We can’t afford to stop our lives like that,” Nell said. “Nor can either of us afford to hide out anywhere.”

“You could come here,” I offered rashly. “I have two spare bedrooms. I’d be happy to have you. Until this thing is definitively handled, anyhow.”

All three women stared at me, openmouthed.

Vivi recovered first. “Uh…wow, Liam. That is incredibly nice of you.”

“But you can’t take me up on it, right?” I glanced at Nancy. “Gee. Where have I heard this song before?”

Nell made an airy gesture with her hand. “We’re just like that. Those D’Onofrio girls. Stubborn as goats. But really, thank you so much. It’s good to know that we have a place to run to if things get weird.”

“You do,” I reiterated. “Anytime. It would be fine.”

“Thank you, Liam.” Nancy’s voice caught. Her eyes were shining. It made my heart thud heavily with some emotion I did not dare examine.

Vivi dabbed her napkin to her nose. “Well,” she said soggily. “I see why Lucia hand-picked him for you.”

“Yeah,” Nell said. “She always did have perfect taste.”

My face had gone beet read. “Uh. Yeah. Whatever. You ladies want coffee?”

“Not for me,” Nell said. “Vivi should have a cup, I think, since she’s the driver. We should be on our way.”

We walked them out. Nell and Vivi hugged their sister, whispering into her ear until she snorted. Then they took turns giving me tight hugs with a hard thump on the back for good measure. They got into Vivi’s Volkswagen van and took off.

When the lights of the vehicle had disappeared, Nancy looked up at me. “Damn, Liam,” she said. “You really pulled out all the stops. That meal? My God.”

I shrugged, sliding an arm around her waist. “It was a pleasure. I liked them.”

“I think they could tell.” She turned to face me, pressing her face to my chest. “Thanks for being so sweet. But inviting them to live with you here? Wow. A heads-up would have been nice.”

“Sorry.” I nuzzled her hair. “It just came to me. There’s room. And I want them to be safe. I want you all to be safe. I want to fix this goddamn thing for you.”

“Thank you for wanting that,” she said. “But if they had said yes, it would have seriously cramped our sexual style. You know that, right?”

I snorted with laughter. “Ah. Guess so. Just as well they blew me off, then.”

Nancy’s smile faded. “Lucia should have been at this dinner tonight,” she said. “Telling us her stories. Holding forth. Ordering us around.”

“That would have been great,” I said. “I can see her, looking proudly around the table at her crowning jewels. Three beautiful daughters that she hand-picked herself.”

Nancy’s laugh was soggy. “Right. From the thrift stores and pawn shops.”

“It doesn’t matter where she found you. Like Nell said. She had perfect taste. She knew a treasure when she saw it. Never forget that.”

“I miss her so much,” she whispered.

I held her close, and we swayed on the porch to the song of the crickets and the wind. Painfully aware of how dangerous it was to care this much about precious, delicate, breakable human beings. So easily hurt, so easily destroyed.

It was terrifying, but together, we were strong enough to let ourselves feel it.