Blue Smoke (6 page)

She dashed off, got another setup. When she plopped down again, she scooped up half the spaghetti and put it on the second plate. “You're eating some of this. Dad thinks I starve myself at college.”

“What can I get you to drink, John?”

“Anything soft's good. Thanks.”

“I'll have it brought right out. Gotta get back to work.”

“Tell me everything,” Reena demanded. “How are you, your kids, the grandkids, life in general?”

“Doing good, keeping busy.”

He looked good, Reena thought. A little heavier under the eyes, and his hair was nearly stone gray now. But it suited him. The fire had made
him part of the family. No, more than the fire, she corrected. What he had done since. Pitching in to work, answering the endless questions she'd posed.

“Any interesting cases?”

“They're all interesting. You still up for ride-alongs?”

“You call, I'm there.”

His face softened with a smile. “Had one start in a kid's bedroom. Eight-year-old boy. Nobody home at the time it engaged. No accelerants, no matches, no lighter. No sign of forced entry or incendiary components.”

“Electrical?”

“Nope.”

She began to eat again as she considered. “Chemistry set? Kids that age often like playing with chemistry sets.”

“Not this one. Told me he's going to be a detective.”

“What time of day did it start?”

“Around two in the afternoon. Kid's in school, parents at work. No previous incidents.” He twirled spaghetti, closed his eyes in appreciation of the taste. “Not fair to quiz you when you can't see the site, or pictures.”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute, I'm not giving up yet.” Puzzles, she'd always thought, were made to be solved. “Point of origin?”

“Kid's desk. Plywood desk.”

“Bet he had a lot of fuel on it. Construction paper, glue, the desk itself, school papers and binders maybe, toys. Near the window?”

“Right under it.”

“So he's got curtains, probably, they catch, keep it going. Two in the afternoon.” Now she closed her eyes, tried to see it. She thought of Xander's desk when he'd been that age. The careless jumble of boy toys, comic books, school papers.

“What way did the window face?”

“You're a pistol, Reena. South.”

“Sun should be coming in strong that time of day, unless the curtains were closed. Kid isn't going to close his curtains. What was the weather that day?”

“Clear, sunny, warm.”

“Kid wants to be a detective, probably has a magnifying glass.”

“Bull's-eye. Yeah, you're a pistol. Glass is sitting right on the desk, canted up on a book, over a bunch of papers. Sun beats through, heats the glass, fires the papers. Wood desk, cloth curtains.”

“Poor kid.”

“Could've been worse. Delivery guy saw the smoke, called nine-one-one. They were able to contain it in the bedroom.”

“I've missed being able to talk shop. I know, I know, I'm just a student, and most of the courses I'm hungry for I can't take until my junior year when I transfer to the Shady Grove campus. But it feels like talking shop.”

“Something else I need to talk to you about.” He set down his fork, looked in her eyes. “Pastorelli's out.”

“He—” She drew herself in, glanced around to see if any of her family could overhear. “When?”

“Last week. I just got word.”

“It had to happen,” Reena said dully. “He'd have been out before this if he hadn't gotten extra time for punching a guard.”

“I don't think he's going to give you any trouble, or even come back around here. He's got no ties to the neighborhood anymore. His wife's in New York still, with her aunt. I checked. The kid's already done a stint up there for assault.”

“I remember when they took him away.” She looked out the window, across the street. There were pots of geraniums on the steps of what had been the Pastorelli house, and the curtains were open.

“Which?”

“Both. I remember how they brought Mr. Pastorelli out, in handcuffs, and how his wife buried her face in a yellow dish towel, and one of her shoes was untied. I remember Joey running after the car, screaming. I was standing with my father. I think watching that together strengthened something we already had between us. I think that's why he let me go with him when they took Joey. After he killed that poor dog.”

“He was closing a chapter for you, one that started when the little
bastard attacked you. No reason to think it's not still closed, but you and your family need to know he's out.”

“I'll tell them. Later, John, later, when we're all at home.”

“Good enough.”

She looked out the window again, and the frown vanished. “It's Xander. I'll be right back.” She scooted out of the booth, hurried to the door, then raced across the street and launched herself at her brother.

B
eing home was like being a child again in so many ways. The scents and sounds of the house were so much what they'd always been. The furniture polish her mother always used, the cooking smells that seemed as much a part of the kitchen as the old butcher-block table. The music that pumped out of Xander's room, whether he was in there or not. The watery tinkle from the toilet in the powder room that ran unless its handle was jiggled.

It was rare for an hour to go by without the phone ringing, and since the weather was fine, the windows were open to the shoosh of street traffic, and the voices of pedestrians who stopped to chat.

She could've been ten again, sitting cross-legged on her sister's bed while Bella reigned at the little vanity, primping for an evening out.

“There's just so much to do.” Bella blended tones of eyeshadow with the skill of an artist. “I don't know how I'll get everything done before the wedding. Vince says I worry too much, but it has to be perfect.”

“It will be. Your dress is gorgeous.”

“I knew exactly what I wanted.” She shook back glamorous clouds of blond hair. “After all, I've been planning for this my whole life. Remember when we used to play bride, with those old lace curtains?”

“And you were always the bride.” But Reena smiled when she said it.

“Now, it's not make-believe anymore. I know Dad was freaked about how much the dress cost, but the bride's the showpiece on her wedding day, after all. And I can't be the showpiece in some knockoff. I want Vince dazzled when he sees me in it. Oh, wait until you see what he gave me for my something old.”

“I thought you were wearing Nuni's pearls.”

“No. They're sweet, but they're old-fashioned. Besides, they're not real pearls.” She opened the drawer of the vanity, took out a small box. She brought it over, sat on the side of the bed. “He bought them for me at an estate jeweler.”

Inside were earrings, sparkling drops of diamonds and filigree so delicate they might have been spun by magic spiders.

“God, Bella, are those real diamonds?”

“Of course.” The square-cut solitaire on her finger flashed as she gestured. “Vince wouldn't buy me paste. He's got class. His whole family has class.”

“And ours doesn't?”

“I didn't mean it that way.” But Bella spoke absently as she held up one of the earrings so it could catch the light. “Vince's mother flies to New York and Milan to shop. They have a household staff of
twelve.
You should see his parents' house, Reena. It's a mansion. They have full-time groundskeepers. His mother's so sweet to me—I'm calling her Joanne now. She's taking me to her salon on the morning of the wedding, for the works.”

“I thought we—you and Mama and Fran and I—were going to Maria's.”

“Catarina.” Bella smiled gently, patted Reena's hand before she rose to put the earrings back in the drawer. “Maria's doesn't make the cut for me now. I'm going to be the wife of an important man. I'm going to have a different lifestyle now, different obligations. To meet them I have to have the right haircut, the right wardrobe, the right everything.”

“Who says what's right?”

“You just
know.
” She fluffed at her hair. “Vince has a cousin, he's really cute. I thought you might like for him to be your escort at the reception. I think you'd hit it off. He's a junior at Princeton.”

“Thanks, but I have a boyfriend. He'll be coming to the wedding. I cleared it with Mama.”

“A boyfriend.” Forgetting her primping for the moment, Bella dropped
down on the bed. “When, where, how? What's his name? What does he look like? Tell me everything.”

The seeds of resentment blew away, and they were sisters again, huddling together over the serious priority of boys.

“His name's Josh. He's so sweet and he's a major hottie. He wants to be a writer, and I met him at college. We've been seeing each other a couple of months now.”

“Months? And you didn't tell me?”

“You've been a little preoccupied.”

“Still.” Bella pouted a moment. “Is he from around here?”

“No, he grew up in Ohio. But he's living here now. He's got a job in a bookstore for the summer. I really like him, Bella. I've slept with him. Five times.”

“Jesus!” Bella's eyes went saucer-wide as she bounced her butt on the bed. “Reena, this is
huge.
Is he good at it?” She popped up, closed the door. “Vince is amazing in bed. He can go for
hours.
”

“I think he's good at it.” Hours? Reena wondered. Was that really possible? “He's the only one I've ever been with.”

“Make sure you always use protection. I stopped.”

“Stopped what?”

“Birth control,” she whispered. “Vince said he wants to have a family right away, so we tossed away my pills. It's so close to the wedding, it won't matter if I get pregnant. We threw them away last weekend, so I might already be pregnant.”

“God, Bella.” It gave Reena a jolt, a hard one, to think of her sister going from bride to wife to mother in one big rush. “Don't you want some time to get used to being married first?”

“I don't need time.” When she smiled, everything about her went dreamy. Lips, eyes, voice. “I know just how it's all going to be. And it's going to be perfect. I have to finish getting ready. Vince will be here any minute, and he hates when I'm late.”

“Have a good time.”

“We always do.” Bella sat down at the vanity again when Reena went
to the door. “Vince is taking me to a fabulous restaurant tonight. He says I need to relax and take my mind off the details of the wedding.”

“I'm sure he's right.” She went out, closing the door just as her brother came up the stairs.

He glanced at the door, back at Reena and grinned. “So how many times did she say ‘Vince thinks'?”

“I lost count. He's pretty crazy about her.”

“Good thing, otherwise by now he'd have been driven crazy by her. I know one thing, I'll be glad when it's over.”

She walked to him. He'd edged over her in height, so she bounced up on her toes to kiss his cheek. “You'll miss her when she isn't in the next room.”

“I guess I will.”

“You got plans tonight?”

“On your first night home? What kind of brother am I?”

“My favorite kind.”

S
he waited until Bella was out to her fancy dinner and the rest of the family was around the dining room table sharing steak Florentine in honor of Reena's return from college.

“I have some news,” she began. “John told me today, and I asked him to let me tell everyone else. Pastorelli's out. He was released a week ago.”

“Son of a bitch.”

“Not at the table, Xander,” Bianca said automatically. “Do they know where he is, where he went?”

“He served his time, Mama.” She'd had time to reconcile to that, and to sound calm about it. “John doesn't think we need to worry, and I agree. He doesn't have any ties to the neighborhood, no reason to come back here. What happened was long ago.”

“And yesterday,” Gib said. “Seems like yesterday. But I think we have to accept this. What else can we do? He was punished for what he did. It's done, and he's out of our lives.”

“Yes, but it wouldn't hurt to be a little watchful, at least for a while.”
Bianca drew a long breath. “And it's probably best not to say anything to Bella until after the wedding. She'll just have hysterics.”

“She can have hysterics over a chipped nail,” Xander put in.

“My point exactly. So we know, and we'll be a little more careful. But we'll believe as John does that there's nothing to worry about. So . . .” Bianca lifted her hands. “Eat, before the food gets cold.”

Bo wasn't a hundred percent regarding the plans for the day, but he was usually willing to go along. His pal Brad was now officially one half of the Brad and Cammie show. And since that show was in its first act, everybody was happy. To spread the joy, the new couple arranged for a double date, and that was fine. The all-day and into the evening term of the date was a little worrying.

A big commitment, to Bo's way of thinking.

What if he and this friend of Cammie's took an instant dislike to each other? It happened. She was supposed to be pretty, but that was Cammie's opinion. And you just couldn't trust the opinion of a girlfriend.

Even if she looked like Claudia Schiffer, she might talk all the time, or giggle. He really hated gigglers. Or she might be one of those humorless types. He'd rather take the giggling over the super-serious, I've-got-to-save-the-world-from-itself-and-so-do-you sort.

On top of that he was still hung up on a girl whose face he'd seen for about ten seconds, and whose name he didn't know.

Stupid, but what could you do?

This was, he knew, one of Brad's methods of getting him back to the real world. A pretty girl—at least that was the billing—a day out with a convivial group at Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Do the aquarium, hang
out, catch some music, eat some seafood. Have a few laughs. He ordered himself to get into the spirit of it as he followed Cammie's directions.

She and Brad took the backseat of his car, mostly, in his opinion, so they could make out.

He pulled into the lot, waited while his passengers completed their latest lip-lock.

“We'll all go in.” Cammie unwrapped herself from Brad, grabbed her purse. “This is going to be fun! It's a totally awesome day.”

She had him there, Bo thought. Blue sky, puffy clouds, steaming sunshine. Better to be out and about than sitting home brooding about some fantasy girl or even fooling around in his foreman's workshop.

What he was aiming for was a workshop of his own. Once he had enough money to rent a house—or, more fantasy, actually buy one—he was going to have a shop of his own. A nice little shed he'd outfit with worktables and power tools. Maybe get his own side business going.

He walked into the apartment building, which looked exactly like every other off-campus apartment building to him. And was just the sort of place he wanted to say good-bye to. What he needed to do was talk Brad into parting with some of his money, going in with him to buy a place for rehab.

“She's right here on the first floor.” Cammie walked to a door, knocked. “You're really going to like Mandy, Bo. She's a lot of fun.”

Cammie's big smile reminded Bo why he hated being fixed up. Now if he didn't like her friend, he'd have to pretend he did. Otherwise, Cammie would poke at Brad until Brad poked at him.

But some of his worry lifted when the little redhead with the big blue eyes and curves nicely packed into jeans and a snug gray T-shirt opened the door.

Packed nicely enough he was going to reserve judgment on the eyebrow ring. Maybe it was sexy.

“Hey, Mandy. You know Brad.”

“Sure. Hi, Brad.”

There was just the slightest hint of a lisp—a sexy one.

“And this is Bo. Bowen Goodnight.”

“Hi, Bo. Just gotta get my bag, and I'm ready to roll. Place is wrecked. Don't come in.” She laughed as she said it, and shooed them back. “My roommate left yesterday for a wild weekend in OC, and tore the place up looking for a pair of sandals. Which I found after she'd gone. I'm not cleaning it up. That's her deal.”

She talked nonstop, but in a funny, bouncy way, while she grabbed a shoulder bag and a black O's fielder's cap.

Ah, baseball, Bo thought. There was hope.

She scooted out, shut the door behind her, then offered Bo a quick, easy smile. “Got a camera in here.” She patted the bulging shoulder bag. “I'm a pain in the ass with it. Fair warning.”

“Mandy's an awesome photographer,” Cammie put in. “She's interning at the
Baltimore Sun.
”

“Horrible hours, no pay. I love it. Hey, look at you.”

Before Bo could comment, she'd turned completely around to study a guy coming down the stairs. He was wearing a suit and tie, and looked a little flustered.

“Dude,” she said with a chuckle. “Looking hot.”

“Going to a wedding.” He lifted a hand to the knot of his striped tie, tugged. “Is this thing on right?”

“Cammie, Brad, Bo, this is Josh. Upstairs neighbor, fellow student and amateur tie knotter. Let me fix it. Who's getting married?”

“Girlfriend's sister. I'll be meeting her whole family. I feel a little sick.”

“Oooh, the gauntlet.” She straightened his tie, gave his lapel a little pat. “There, you're perfect. And don't worry, hon, people are either crying or getting drunk at weddings.”

“They're mostly Italian.”

“Then they'll be doing both. Italian weddings are big buckets of fun. Just lift your glass and say—what is it?—
salute
!”

“
Salute.
Got it. Nice to meet you guys. See you later.”

“He's a sweetie,” Mandy said when he went out. “Been hung up on this girl in his lit class most of the term. Looks like it's finally working out. So.” She adjusted her cap. “Let's go see some big-ass fish.”

B
ella had ordered perfect, and in Reena's opinion, she'd gotten her wish. The weather was spectacular, the balmy blue and gold of early summer, with the flowers both bright and delicate, and the humidity mercifully low.

She looked like a princess, everyone said so, in her frothy white gown, her hair gleaming gold under her sparkling veil. She carried a spectacular creation of pink roses accented with miniature white lilies.

The church was bedecked with her choice of flowers in white baskets. She'd rejected the more traditional organ in favor of a harp, flutes, cello and violin. Reena had to admit the sound was lovely.

And classy.

No more lace curtains and Kleenex bouquets, Reena thought as her eyes stung and her throat went hot. Isabella Hale swept down the aisle of St. Leo's on their father's arm looking like royalty. Her train a sparkling white river behind her, her face glowing, diamonds firing at her ears.

She'd gotten her wish all around, Reena thought, as Vince—elegant and handsome in his formal morning coat—looked dazzled by her.

His eyes, deep and dark, lit on her face and never moved from it. Her father's were damp as he carefully lifted Bella's veil, gently kissed her cheek and answered the priest's question about who gives this woman to this man with a tenderly spoken, “Her mother and I do.”

For once Bella didn't weep, but stayed dry-eyed and luminous through the Mass and ceremony. Her eyes like stars and her voice clear as a bell.

Because she knows this is exactly what she wants, Reena thought. What she's always wanted. Just as she knows this is her spotlight, and all eyes are on her.

It no longer mattered that the bridesmaid dress was a little less than flattering. Here was another kind of fire, she realized. It was strong and bright and hot. It was her sister's joy flaming through the air.

So Reena wept when the vows were exchanged, and the rings given, knowing that this was the end of a part of their lives. And the beginning of the next part of Bella's.

T
he reception was held at Vince's parents' country club where his father was some sort of officer or board member. Here, too, there were flowers in abundance, and food and wine and music.

Each table was draped with the same shade of pink as Bella's signature roses, sprinkled with white rose petals and centered with yet more flowers and glossy pillars of pure white candles.

Reena was required to sit at the long head table along with the bridal party. She was grateful her mother had the foresight to seat Josh at the same table as Gina, who could be counted on to keep him entertained. She was nearly as grateful that Fran—as maid of honor—and Vince's brother, who served as best man, were the ones who would make the traditional toasts.

She ate rare prime rib, talked and laughed with the other members of the wedding party, worried about Josh. And when she took time to gaze around the big ballroom, wondered what kind of world her sister was now a part of.

The two families were mingling, as people do at such events. But even if she didn't know them, she'd have been able to separate them into groups. The working class, the upper class. City neighborhood, suburban wealth.

The bride wasn't the only one wearing diamonds, or draped in a dress that cost more than a week's take at Sirico's. But she was the only one of her blood who'd managed it.

Probably, Reena admitted, the only one of her blood who could pull it off as if she'd been born wearing Prada.

As if reading her thoughts, Xander leaned close to her ear. “We're now the poor relations.”

She snickered, then picked up her champagne. “Screw it.
Salute.
”

It was easier when she could escape the formal duties and find Josh. “You doing okay? I should be clear now, at least for a while.”

“Fine. It was some wedding.”

“Some wedding,” she agreed. “I didn't know the pictures would take so long. I feel like I deserted you. And I wanted to warn you that—”

“Catarina!” Her aunt Carmela swept up to envelop her in clouds of White Shoulders. “How beautiful you look! Like a bride yourself. But so thin! We'll fatten you up now you're home. And who is this handsome young man?”

“Aunt Carmela, this is Josh Bolton. Josh, my aunt, Carmela Sirico.”

“It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Sirico.”

“Polite, too. It's a wedding, today I'm Carmela. My niece.” Carmela wrapped a strong arm around Reena's shoulders. “She looks so pretty, doesn't she?”

“Yes, ma'am, she—”

“Francesca's the beauty, and Isabella, she has the style, the passion. Our Catarina, she's the smart one. Aren't you,
cara
?”

“That's right. I got the brains.”

“But today, you look beautiful! Maybe your young man will get ideas when you catch the bouquet.” She winked broadly. “Do I know your family?” she asked Josh.

“You don't,” Reena said quickly. “I know Josh from school. I need to introduce him around.”

“Yes, yes. You save a dance for me,” she told Josh as Reena dragged him away.

“That's what I was going to warn you about,” Reena began. “You're going to get a lot of that
and
some third degree. Who are your family, what do they do, what are you doing, where do you go to church. Everyone in my family thinks it's their business to know. Don't take it personally.”

“It's okay. Gina gave me the heads-up. It's a little scary, but okay. And you do look beautiful. I've never been to a big Catholic wedding. It was something.”

“And really long,” she said with a laugh. “Okay, I'm going to have to show you off to the uncles, and the rest of the aunts. Stay strong.”

And it was okay, she saw as the party went on. Josh might have been peppered with questions, but there was so much talking going on he only had to answer about half of them.

The music kept things lively with something for everyone, from Dean Martin to Madonna. She'd relaxed into the moment when she took her dance with the groom.

“I've never seen my sister look happier. The ceremony was beautiful, Vince. Everything's beautiful.”

“She worried every day. But that's our Bella.”

He moved so smoothly over the floor, stayed so focused on her face as he did that Reena was sure there'd been lessons along the way. Dance and charm.

“Now we can start our lives, make our home, have our family. We'll have you over for dinner once we're back from our honeymoon and settled.”

“I'm there.”

“I'm a lucky man to have such a beautiful wife, such an enchanting woman. And she cooks.” He laughed and kissed Reena's cheek. “And now I have another sister.”

“I have another brother.
Una famiglia.
”

“Una famiglia.”
He grinned and swept her around the dance floor.

L
ater, snuggled in bed with Josh, Reena thought of her sister's long-awaited day. The grandeur of the ceremony, all the solemn words, the elegant flowers. The initial formality of the reception that had, thankfully, broken down into a boisterous party.

“Tell me, did my aunt Rosa actually do the Electric Slide?”

“I can't remember which one was Rosa, exactly, but yeah, I think. Or maybe it was the Hokey Pokey.”

“No, it was my second cousins Lena and Maria-Theresa who got that one going. Jeez.”

“I liked the dancing, especially the tarenbella.”

“Tarantella,” she corrected, giggling. “You held up, Josh, and it's not easy. Big points for you.”

“I had fun, serious fun. Your family's really cool.”

“Also big and loud. I think Vince's family was a little wigged, maybe especially when my uncle Larry grabbed the mike and started belting out ‘That's Amore.' ”

“Sounded good. I like your family better. His are kind of snobby. He's okay,” Josh said quickly. “And he's over the moon about your sister. They looked like a movie couple.”

“Yeah, they did.”

“And your mom. Is it okay to say your mom's really beautiful? She just doesn't look like a mom. My family never did stuff like this, you know, the big events. I liked it.”

She rolled over, smiled down at him. “Then you'll come to dinner tomorrow? Mom told me to ask you. You can see what we're like when we're not all dressed up.”

“Sure. Maybe you can stay tonight? My roommate's not getting back until tomorrow night. We can go out if you want, or just stay here.”

“I wish I could.” She bent her head to kiss his chest. It was so smooth and warm. “I really do. But I think an overnight's a little more than my dad could take tonight. He's going to be feeling blue. On top of it, people were giving him the business about how soon he'd be doing this again for Fran.”