I smiled. “He’s my beau.”
“Wonderful,” he said with enthusiasm. “It’s going to be quite a get-together. Lots of movers and shakers, as they say.”
“It sounds like fun.”
He squeezed my arm in a friendly gesture. “It will be, as long as you’re here.”
Chapter Seventeen
Early Sunday evening, Derek stayed home with the kitten, the latest James Bond film, and a briefcase filled with work, while I walked across the hall to Vinnie and Suzie’s place for an impromptu ladies’ night. It was the three of us and our new neighbor, Alex.
In the good old days, Vinnie and Suzie used to go out for dinner every night of the week. I loved those old days because they usually brought me their leftovers.
Now that they had baby Lily, though, the two women had turned into homebodies. Vinnie had become addicted to the Food Channel and was always experimenting with new and strange meals, much like my own experimentation with food. The difference was, Vinnie had talent. Everything she tried turned out to taste really good.
The same couldn’t be said for me and my experiments. I couldn’t count the number of times I’d tossed a pot of mushy pasta into the trash or poured a watery pudding disaster down the drain. It was so unfair.
Vinnie opened the door seconds after I knocked. “Brooklyn is here,” she cried. “Come in.” She led the way into their two-story living room and I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of the most amazing wood sculpture I’d ever seen. And that was saying something, because Vinnie and Suzie were talented chainsaw artists whose unique works were on display all over the country.
The piece stood in the middle of their high-ceilinged living room and looked like it had been carved from a ten-foot-tall, two-foot-thick square slab of redwood. The top half of the thick wood piece had been sliced and split into hundreds of thinner pieces. These had been painstakingly bent and curved and extended out from the center. The thinner pieces were split even farther, and farther still, and so on, until the entire piece ultimately resembled a tree, with a thick tree trunk and branches spreading out in all sorts of wild directions. The branches sprouted smaller and thinner boughs and limbs that grew and spread out every which way. The ends of some of those limbs were as thin as a splinter.
“It’s fantastic,” I said. “So you started with a tree and you ended up with a tree.”
“Exactly so. We call it Endings and Beginnings.” Pleased, she took hold of my arm. “Come have a margarita.”
Alex was sitting at the bar, and the first thing I spotted was a tray of cupcakes on the counter. So this party was already a big success.
“Brooklyn!” Suzie cried. “The party is now official. I’m revving up the blender.”
“I wish you had let me bring something besides chips and salsa,” I said, setting my shopping bag on the kitchen bar.
“But that was the only thing we were missing,” Vinnie insisted.
“I brought homemade guacamole, too.” I pulled everything out of the bag and set it on the counter. I’d brought matching bowls from home so they wouldn’t have to clean more dishes than necessary.
“You made this?” Vinnie’s eyes were wide and I sensed a touch of fear in her voice.
“Yes. And it’s good,” I said defiantly.
She pursed her lips and stared at the green substance.
“My sister Savannah loves my guacamole,” I said, bringing all the umbrage I could muster to the statement. Savannah was a world-class chef, so, in theory, if she liked something, it had to be good.
“Hmm.” Vinnie exchanged a glance with Suzie.
“Sounds great,” Suzie said doubtfully.
“You’ll love it and you’ll be sorry you mocked me,” I promised.
Vinnie grabbed me from behind in a quick hug. “You know we love you, Brooklyn.”
“Yeah, yeah. Just taste the damn guacamole.” I went and sat down on one of the barstools. “I’ll be waiting over here for your apologies.”
Alex had been watching the scene with a hesitant look on her face.
“We kid,” I explained.
“Brooklyn is a lovely person,” Vinnie said, her lyrical Indian accent strong as she explained herself. “But she cannot cook, poor thing, though she does try.”
“I’m sitting right here,” I said, laughing. “I can hear you.”
“Here,” Suzie said, thrusting an icy margarita into my hand. “I think you deserve the first drink.”
“Thanks, Suz.”
She passed the glasses around and we all clinked, then sipped.
“Oh,” Alex moaned. “So good.”
“Delicious,” I agreed.
Suzie dunked a chip into the guacamole, took a bite, and her eyes widened. “Wow, Brooklyn. That really is delicious.”
“Really?” Vinnie bent over and stared into Suzie’s face so she could gauge her sincerity. “Are you serious? Tell me the truth.”