But, being Lucas, of course he found a last-minute cancellation at a highly rated local B&B, and reserved two nights. “Just in case,” he said cheerfully. “If nothing else, I’ll hit a couple of the wine-tasting rooms down on Main Street before I head back to Flagstaff.”
I had no doubt he would. If this meeting went anything like I feared it might, I’d ask him to have a couple of pours in my name as well, since I wouldn’t be drinking any wine for a long time. If ever.
Those thoughts kept skittering through my mind, refusing to be still. Yes, I could tell myself that I wasn’t due until December, and that gave us plenty of time to work on the curse, even with Marie taking a powder…but I was still worried, and scared…and trying desperately to conceal those emotions from Connor. It wasn’t good for him, me, or the babies for me to be in a state of perpetual anxiety. I knew that intellectually, but my emotions weren’t being good biddable things, unfortunately.
At least the wreckage in the kitchen wasn’t visible from the dining room. I whispered a thank-you under my breath to the formal Victorian architecture, so unlike houses being built now, with their “great room” concepts and everything open to everything else. To be fair, the contractors were very good about cleaning up after themselves, and they’d made great progress over the past few days — the extension of the one side of the kitchen was already framed and wired, and they’d also extended the roofline and laid down tar paper in preparation for installing composite shingles. It could have been a lot worse.
We did have Lucas come up early, though, and took him out to lunch at Grapes, where he charmed Tina, our server, so much that she was blushing like a schoolgirl and giggling at almost everything he said.
“You really ought to behave yourself,” Connor said, trying to sound stern, but I could tell he was more amused by Lucas’ antics than anything else.
“I thought I was,” Lucas replied.
Even I laughed at that remark, although I sobered up pretty quickly as we climbed the hill back to the house. Although I’d called this meeting, now I was sort of regretting setting it up in the first place. Well, there wasn’t much I could about it at this point, although I couldn’t help wishing that I’d inherited some of my Great-Aunt Ruby’s commanding air along with her prima powers. It would’ve really helped to keep the clan elders in line.
Since the kitchen was so torn up, I couldn’t offer much in the way of refreshments, although that was partly why I decided to have the meeting at one-thirty. If the elders hadn’t eaten lunch by then, it really wasn’t my problem. In the garage there was a Frigidaire even more ancient than the one I was replacing in the kitchen, and I sent Connor to fetch some bottled water I’d been storing out there, since the other refrigerator had already been hauled away — to the junkyard, or possibly a museum for antique appliances. Lucas helped me pull some glasses out of boxes, and I hurriedly cut some roses from the bushes in the backyard to set in a low vase in the center of the dining room table. By the time we were all done, the room looked downright respectable. You’d never know what chaos lurked on the other side of the door that led to the kitchen.
Not a moment too soon, though, since a knock came from the entryway just as I was shifting the vase of roses a fraction of an inch to the right. I straightened, as Connor and Lucas looked at me quizzically.
“I’ll get it,” I said. “It’s probably better that way.” I didn’t add that I thought this meeting was going to be tense enough without my answering the door flanked by a couple of Wilcoxes.
Leaving the two of them behind, I went to the entry and opened the door. As expected, there stood Allegra and Bryce and Margot, none of them looking all that happy to be here.
“Come on in,” I said, stepping aside so they could enter.
Bryce came in first, walking warily, as if he expected Connor and Lucas to be lurking somewhere in the foyer, ready to pounce, and he would be forced to protect the two women who accompanied him from bodily harm. I didn’t quite heave a sigh, but there might have been some eye-rolling involved.
Margot and Allegra followed, Margot looking cool and summery in a pale coral dress, dark hair as always pulled back in a low ponytail on her neck. Allegra tended to subscribe to my Aunt Rachel’s school of boho fashion, and wore a long embroidered black skirt and black T-shirt, her mousy graying hair piled haphazardly on her head in a bun.
Of all of them, she was the only one to smile at me, and even murmured, “How are you feeling?” as she entered the house. I nodded and sent her an answering smile, but didn’t want to go into any detail then. They’d all find out soon enough.