SEALed With A Kiss(4)
They hadn’t moved beyond the foyer before the old staircase shuddered and Isabella DeInnocentis, as dark-haired and athletic as her brother, blew down from the upper level, colliding into Vinny at a full run. But he was ready for her, swinging her around to keep from staggering backwards. “Hey, sis! How’s it goin’?”
“Better now that you’re home,” she said breathlessly.
He frowned at her, then looked at his mother. “What do you mean? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” his sister said airily. “I’ve just missed you, that’s all.”
“Humph.” Their mother pursed her lips into a disapproving knot. “Your sister has a boyfriend,” she said on a note of disgust.
“Mama!” Isabella rounded on her. “I told you not to tell.”
“Boyfriend,” Vinny repeated, scowling harder. “What the hell do you need a boyfriend for? You’re a student. It’s your job to study, not waste your time on some schmuck.”
“Vinny!” Ophelia elbowed her way forward and threw an arm around her sister-in-law in a show of solidarity. “You can’t tell her when she can or cannot fall in love.” She turned her head to look at Isabella. “Who’s the lucky guy?”
“His name is Robert and he’s a philosophy major.”
“Philosophy, hah.” Vinny rolled his eyes. “What’s he gonna do with that degree?”
Bella arched her eyebrows at him. “Go to law school,” she said coolly.
“Oh.” And suddenly Vinny had no more to say on the subject.
“Enough talk,” Mama Rose declared. “Take your suitcase up and come to the kitchen for food.”
“We just had subs on the way up, Mama,” Vinny protested, hefting their shared suitcase and climbing the stairs to his old bedroom. Last Easter was the first time his mother had even let them share a bed. Considering they were finally married—even though she hadn’t been invited—she hadn’t had much choice.
Trailing Vinny into the tiny front room, Ophelia deposited her purse and cosmetics bag. She hadn’t dared to bring her laptop or Vinny would have guessed that she was working on a story. She didn’t need her laptop in any case. All the facts of the case were tucked away in her head. If Vinny had the slightest notion that she was on a deep-sea fishing expedition, angling for a really big prize, he’d have refused his mother’s invitation to Philly and swept her off to some remote island somewhere.
Two hours later, they sat in the narrow kitchen with the sky growing dark outside and Mama Rose stuffing an eight-pound turkey in preparation for tomorrow’s feast. Listening to Bella regale them with stories of campus life, Ophelia waited for the opportunity to finagle time away from Vinny the next morning. She estimated that she would need at least two hours to get downtown, conduct her interview with Lieutenant Governor Rawlings, and get back to the house.
“Let’s watch the Thanksgiving parade tomorrow,” she suggested when Bella’s stories came to an end. The parade was the only good excuse she could think of; unfortunately, it meant involving Bella in her plans. “You know it’s the oldest ongoing parade in the country, right? I’ve never seen it.”
Vinny shot her a considering look. “I’m gonna fix Mama’s washing machine,” he reminded her. They’d discussed it on the way up. He needed time alone with Mama to prod her about her health. She’d been complaining of fatigue and, having battled cancer a decade earlier, he wanted to find out what the doctors were saying.
“Bella and I can go by ourselves. No biggie,” she assured him.
“Yeah, but a parade,” he said reminding her that he deplored large gatherings for the fact that terrorists loved them. “Why don’t you just go to a movie or something?”
“On Thanksgiving morning? The theaters aren’t even open. Besides, a parade will get us in the holiday spirit with the floats, and the drums, and the bands. I can’t wait!”
“Fine,” Vinny conceded. “Just don’t stand by any trash cans or planters.”
Regretting the need to mislead him, she patted his hand consolingly. As much as she hated keeping secrets from her husband, what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. He was too protective, too prone to imagine bad things happening to her. This way, she’d conduct her interview and he’d never have to worry.
Later, when she managed to expose Jay Rawlings for the liar that he was, Vinny would realize what she’d done and when she’d done it, only by then it would be too late.
Better to ask forgiveness than permission. That’d been Ophelia’s motto all of her life, and she didn’t see any reason to change things up at this late date.