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“I’ll give you the rest of the collection in exchange for Grandma’s pear ring.”
Aunt Gia’s tea cup clatters onto the saucer. “That’s an engagement ring.”
“It is.” I take another bite of the rib. It’s really fucking good. Harlow should try this. I’ll ask Chef to make it for dinner tomorrow night when I bring her over to meet Aunt Gia.
“Are you going to sell it?”
I send her an exasperated look. “Aunt Gia, are you serious?”
“I can’t think of any other reason you’d want it. You’ve rejected all of my spectacular choices.”
“The key word here is that the choices were yours and not mine. I’ve found a girl I want to marry, and because of that, I am in need of the family engagement ring.” I finish the beef and push the plate to the side. Nelson appears out of nowhere and whisks it away. He doesn’t leave the room, though, that nosy bastard.
“I need to meet her. What’s her name?” She mimes writing something in the air and Nelson provides her a pen and paper.
“No background checks, Aunt Gia.”
“Absolutely we are doing background checks and preparing a prenuptial and all of that. It’s for your protection, darling. Your parents should do this, but since they’re not here and I am the de facto head of our family, I will take care of it.”
“No. I’ll bring Harlow over to meet you tomorrow night. Don’t scare her off as I’m very attached to her. I’m going to see any attack against her as an attack against me, so pass that along to any family members you plan to have at this dinner.” Knowing Gia, she’d bring in a half dozen of the elderly Line set to grill Harlow. They want me to marry, but they want it to be someone of their choice. Harlow would not even make an understudy list.
“This is not acceptable, Cal. You’re the heir to the Line empire. You can’t run off and marry just anyone.”
“I can and will. Aunt Gia, you have been after me to get married and have kids and settle down. I’m doing exactly that. I don’t care where Harlow came from or who she’s connected to. It’s not like our family tree is full of saints. We’ve had plenty of bad branches, and some of our roots we pretend don’t exist. Her background doesn’t matter. Only she matters.” I get to my feet. Talking about Harlow makes me miss her. We’ve been apart long enough. “Nelson, prepare the prime rib for tomorrow night along with something lemony for dessert. She likes that. Aunt Gia, you’re going to like her. I promise.”
At the door, I turn back. “Do you know anyone who lives at The Grand?”
“The Grand? That pre-war Candela building on Park and 77th?”
“That’s the one.”
“I know Gertie and her partner, Sharon, live there. Why?”
“Harlow inherited an apartment from her grandmother, and she’s trying to get approval from the board to keep it. Any good word you can put in for her would be much appreciated.”
Aunt Gia perks up. “Her grandmother lived at The Grand?” Translation: Harlow’s family can’t be all bad. “Why didn’t you say so in the first place? Of course, I’ll put in a good word for your fiancée.”
“Thanks, you’re a peach. Enjoy the Fabergé toy. I’ll bring the rest tomorrow.”
Chapter Thirteen
HARLOW
“Tomorrow night? For dinner?” I gape at Cal. He showed up at my door, my literal door because Bob let him in. The entire building is conspiring against me and unnecessarily so because without my job I won’t be able to pay the monthly HOA fees. This is why Gertie was blocking me in the first place. Cal, blissfully unaware, has his shoes off and his stocking feet up on Grams’ walnut coffee table.
“It’s the price of the engagement ring.” He flips through one of Grams’ pattern books. “This shit looks complicated as hell. What does all this gibberish mean?” He holds up a page showing a table full of lines and circles.
“Those are different stitches, and she was talented.” I lift one of the plastic grocery sacks he placed on the table when he pushed his way past me at the front door. “This smells good, what is it?” The appetite I thought my phone call with Mavis had killed comes roaring back. I guess that’s a good sign.
“Sesame chicken, sweet ‘n sour pork, pork eggrolls, and Chinese donuts with three dipping sauces for dessert.”
“There’s enough food here to feed an army.”
“You have to have leftovers when you order Chinese food. It’s an unwritten law. I wonder if Aunt Gia would be interested in crocheting. She needs a hobby now that I’m getting married.”
I drop one of the boxes with a thud. “Married?” Is he talking about us or does he have a girlfriend on the side? I really am going to have to give up the dream of owning this apartment.
“Yes, I think we should tie the knot sooner rather than later. I looked it up, and there’s a three-day waiting period here. No blood tests, though. I guess that was abolished several years ago, which is a good thing because why does the state need our blood test results?” He reaches inside and pulls out a folded document. “I filled out what I could. You just need to add your details. Tomorrow we can run over to my office and Trident—he’s my chief of staff—can notarize our signatures.”
