Under the Boardwalk

toward the plans, Aunt Dee asked, “So, what do you think?”

Ariana thought she was in another dimension. “What do you all know about running a spa?”

“Nothing we can’t figure out from some good old-fashioned research. See?” Uncle John pulled a book from beneath Aunt Dee’s hands.

“The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Self-Healing with Spas and Retreats,” Ariana read aloud. “Oh Lord.”

Quinn’s chuckle reverberated around the room but no one seemed to notice. They were too preoccupied to care about his reaction.

“What we don’t know, we’ll learn,” Elena said, joining in. “We’ll join the Day Spa Association. Did you know it’s located in Union City, New Jersey?”

Ariana assumed that was a rhetorical question, and said nothing.

Aunt Dee picked up where Elena left off. “We’ll research and decorate. Oh, and we’ll hire only appropriately credentialed employees, of course.”

“Like Spank here?” Ariana pointed to the monkey, who today wore a sundress.

Ariana hadn’t realized he was a she. And she reached for and kissed Ariana’s hand. Ariana tried to pull her fingers free, but the monkey held on tight.

Elena shook her head. “Be serious, Ari, will you?”

Ariana blinked at the absurdity and looked to Quinn for backup. Surely any sane man would be looking for an escape, and she’d be happy to give it to him.

But he was studying the plans with concerted interest. “This looks like a workable option,” he said, glancing up from the table.

A closer look told Ariana the plans were of this house, which sat on over two acres of unused property. Both the land and the building had been in the family for generations, though nobody knew how Ariana’s great-great- grandfather had acquired enough money to purchase it and Aunt Dee’s lot across the street.

Ariana suspected he’d won the land gambling, and nobody had ever disagreed with her notion. “You’re expanding?”

“Yes. We need to make sure we have enough room for clients,” her father said. “You really think it’ll work, Quinn?”

Hands in his back jeans pocket, Quinn squinted as he studied the papers. The most adorable creases formed at the corners of his eyes as he nodded slowly. “Assuming you get the appropriate paperwork and town approval, the addition will fit in nicely with the rest of the house. I think it’s a great idea.”

Nicholas nodded. His smile told Ariana in no uncertain terms that he was happy with Quinn. “The architect we hired already filed for permits.”

“Are you going legit?” Ariana asked and immediately winced.

“Way to impress your date, Ari,” Aunt Dee said under her breath.

“He’s not my date,” she hissed. Yet she wanted him to like her family as much as she expected him to leave screaming. She didn’t understand why she cared either way.

“Tell it to someone who believes you,” her aunt said in a voice filled with glee.

But Ariana was still thinking about and regretting her comment. After all, not everything the Costas family did was a con. The Addams Family show, for example. Now that was real. It was just the other 99 percent of their activities that Ariana worried over.

Quinn’s expression revealed nothing about his feelings. He probably thought Ariana had been kidding, since what people in their right minds operated a scam a day?

She glanced at her father, who also seemed unfazed by her comment. He was used to her expressing her emotions. It was the Greek in her, he always said.

And he continued after Aunt Dee hushed up. “Well, I’m certainly not going to spend our hard-earned money on something the cops can come in and close down. I want you and Zoe to have something meaningful from your parents. And I know Zoe will approve when she comes home.” He paused, emotion clogging his words. He glanced up at the ceiling and everyone grew silent.

Ariana knew they were thinking of Zoe. She was too. And more than ever, she prayed Quinn was an honorable man.

Nicholas cleared his throat. “This spa will give us a feeling of security-we won’t have to rely only on the show from year to year,” he said as he ran a hand over his bald head.

Ariana looked at him, surprised. She’d thought the show was doing well, but then, she didn’t live at home nor did she visit. How would she really know what was going on? she thought with a twist of guilt in her heart.

“With this layout, we can keep our family’s privacy. We wouldn’t want our personal moments exposed for public view, now would we?” Elena asked.

They had before, Ariana thought, immediately recalling the National Enquirer article from years past, but she decided not to mention that embarrassing time.

“Quinn, would you like a drink?” Elena switched from giving her opinion to playing hostess. “I mixed up a mango-and-papaya-smoothie. Of course, I added my Yiayia’s secret ingredient.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow, obviously unsure whether or not to accept. Ariana helped him out with a subtle shake no of her head. Though Yiayia still lived in Greece, like Elena, she didn’t cook.

“There’s no more,” Nicholas said, sparing Quinn from having to answer.

“That’s impossible.” Elena started for the refrigerator. “Just this morning there was an entire pitcherful.”

Nicholas sighed, then placed a hand on Quinn’s shoulder. “Never anger your woman, Quinn. That’s what my father told me, God rest his soul. But sometimes they just put you in a place where it can’t be helped. The drink tasted like crap, Elena. It wasn’t fit for a guest.”

She narrowed her gaze and started muttering in Greek.

Ariana knew the signs of a storm brewing, as did Aunt Dee, who buried her nose in the Idiot book while Uncle John began whistling quietly and gathered together the floor plans for the house.

Ariana had watched this scene play out many times since she was a child. “I can sleep on the couch if you need my bed, Dad.”

Quinn chuckled.

“Laugh now, but a Greek woman’s anger knows no bounds.” Nicholas imparted those words of wisdom, patted Quinn on the back, and then turned his attention to his wife, who’d folded her arms across her chest. “Aah, agape mou.”

He murmured the term of endearment but Elena wasn’t buying it and she slapped his hand. “Don’t try to sweet-talk me. What did you do with my drink? You didn’t pour it down the sink, did you?” She shook her head. “No, because that would be a waste when there are starving people in the world.” She pulled open the refrigerator door.

“It’s going to get worse before it gets better,” Nicholas said, warning Quinn.

“There’s none here,” Elena said.

Nicholas sighed. “I gave it to Spank,” he admitted.

“Oh, for the love of…” Elena trailed off. All traces of elegance gone in the face of her anger, she slammed the appliance door closed and stomped over to the monkey. “So tell me, did you like my drink? The secret ingredient is one my ancestors swore would restore youth and vitality. I plan to use it in some version at the spa.”

Spank bared her teeth in an ugly smile, then smacked her lips together and blew Elena a raspberry.

“She liked it,” Elena said, obviously feeling validated.

“Actually she felt much better after I gave her some Pepto,” Aunt Dee said.

“Traitor,” Elena muttered.

Aunt Dee waved away her sister’s words. “Kiss and make up,” she ordered, pushing Nicholas and Elena together.

From past experience, Ariana knew things could go one of two ways. Her mother would either turn and walk out, leaving her father on the couch for the night, or they’d retreat to the bedroom, everyone and everything else forgotten, and stay there for hours.

Personally, Ariana had never met a man whose company she wanted in her bed for all that long. In hindsight not even she and Jeffrey had shared the passion her parents still did, leaving her to wonder if she’d find it with any