I started moving back and forth between my hands and forearms, grunting with effort before settling on my forearms for good. “It seems like he a lot more than remembers you. And he sure as shit seemed to remember you at Christmas.”
“You don’t want to know.”
I grimaced with effort. Two more minutes. “I thought you were going to have mercy on me with that.”
“I can’t go there again,” she continued. “It was bad enough back then. He was engaged, you know.”
“Mmph.” I really didn’t want to think about my sister getting involved with anyone, much less someone else’s fiancé. Even if it did make me a damn hypocrite. “What about now?”
“Well, in December, he said he was single.” Frankie lay back on the bed and sighed heavily at the ceiling. “I wanted to tell him. But I just kept thinking of…”
“Thinking of what?”
“Mom.”
I frowned, then pushed myself up to sit. “What about her?”
Frankie sat back up and pulled at a lock of hair hanging down from her ponytail. “The way she left after Dad died. I mean, it’s all right that Lea and them are making peace with her. But I remember too. I remember how it feels to have your own parent walk away from you. Like you’re nothing.” She looked up at me. “I think you were right, you know, staying away from her. It’s why I don’t let her near Sofia. I don’t want her to break her heart.”
“Yeah, but Sofia doesn’t know Xavier. You don’t really either.”
I got up from the ground and moved to sit next to Frankie. Nina’s face when she talked to Giuseppe Bianchi’s widow flashed through my mind. The humility in her when she introduced herself to his daughters.
“You know, I’m wondering if we shouldn’t at least try to say hi to Mom next time she calls,” I said.
Frankie’s mouth dropped. “You’re kidding. You want to talk to Mom?”
I massaged the back of my neck, feeling uncomfortable. “I don’t know if I want to, per se. But if there’s anything I’ve learned over the last year, it’s that people can change. And something she did ten, twenty years ago…well, it might not be the person she is now. I’m not saying we have to invite her in, or anyone else you don’t want for your own sake and Sofia’s. But, you know, when it comes to Sofia’s dad, maybe you can answer the door. Maybe you can talk on the porch. Have a conversation. You know what I’m saying?”
Frankie rubbed her lips together in thought for a bit, then nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I see. Something to think about anyway.”
“All right. I wish I had more brotherly advice for you. But I’m tapped out, and now I have to get ready.”
She hopped up from the bed. “Say no more. Hey, Mattie?”
“Yeah?”
“You know, I thought about it, and I think it’s a good thing, you and Nina, after all. She loves you. Anyone can see that.”
I turned. “You finally coming around, little sister?”
“I think it’s good for you, too,” she said as she walked toward the door. “I see how you love her. How you talk about her daughter. Soon you’ll have a real family to protect. Not just me and the others. We’re all grown. You need a family of your own. I’m glad you’re getting one.”
The idea of Nina and Olivia as my family made my chest warm. I smiled. “Thanks, Fran.”
“Have fun at the ball, Cinderella,” she teased as she left.
Ten minutes later, I was showered and in my room drying off when my phone buzzed on my bureau.
“Perfect timing,” I said. “I just got out of the shower.”
“And so you decided to tease me with that image?” Nina’s voice, slightly husky, purred through the speaker.
I turned, examining myself in the mirror with a towel wrapped around my waist. Not too bad for thirty-seven. I was fit. Could still make out the individual muscles of a solid six-pack. If anything, since meeting Nina, I had more of a reason to look good, just to hear her sound like that.
“Could be,” I said, turning away from my reflection. “Since you’re being stubborn and wouldn’t let me get ready with you uptown. Should I send you a picture? Let you know what you’re missing?”
“Matthew…”
“I’m just kidding. For now. Anyway, I’m getting dressed, so I won’t be late, if that’s what you’re worried about.”
“No, that’s not it. Actually, well, there’s someone at the door for you, and no one has answered the door, so she called me…”
“Matthew!” Frankie’s voice shouted before I could ask Nina what she meant. “Get down here!”
“Hold on, doll.”
Keeping Nina on the line, I jogged downstairs to find my sister signing for some kind of garment bag and a shoebox. A young woman who looked a little too buttoned up for the typical bike messenger bristled as she handed me the bag and shoes, but her gaze drew over me a little too slowly for formality.
“Oh, for crying out loud, Matthew,” Frankie said. “I didn’t mean come down in your towel.”
On the phone, Nina chuckled. “Perhaps I do want that picture after all.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” I told them all.
I glanced down at my naked torso, which the messenger seemed to be enjoying. Eat your heart out, lady. This ain’t for you.
“Thanks,” I told her, then fished a crumpled five-dollar bill from the key bowl, shoved it into her hand, and shut the door. I carried the packages upstairs, Nina still on the phone tucked under my ear.
“Did you just shut the door in that poor woman’s face?”
“I gave her a tip,” I said as I hooked the garment bag over my closet door. “What did you want me to do, chitchat with her in my towel? I have things to do. Anyway, what’s all this?” I asked as I hooked
