by Liz Mugavero
She started at the café, but Izzy wasn’t behind the counter. Jana said she wasn’t out back either.
“Haven’t seen her yet today,” she said. “Maybe upstairs?”
Stan hoped it was just nerves about the meeting today that was keeping her friend hiding in her apartment. What if she was sick or something and that was the reason she was acting so oddly? She and Scruffy went up to Izzy’s apartment and rang the bell. The dogs barked inside, but everything else was quiet. Just when she figured Izzy wasn’t home, her friend yanked the door open. She looked flustered.
“Hey. What’s up?” she asked, pulling the door a bit wider. The dogs clamored around Stan for kisses and probably treats. Even Junior, poor old guy. Scruffy jumped into the mix, excited to see her friends. Stan crouched down and gave them each something from the stash she kept in her purse, slipping Junior an extra. He wagged his tail appreciatively before lumbering back to his bed.
She stood up and faced her friend. “Can we talk? I just left my mother’s.”
“Sure.” Izzy glanced over her shoulder, then motioned Stan inside.
“What are you looking for?” Stan asked, following her in and closing the door behind her.
“What do you mean?” Izzy asked, sounding distracted.
“Is someone here?”
“No! Why?”
“Because you’re looking around like you expect to see someone walk in.” Stan glanced around. She hadn’t been up here in ages. Izzy was barely ever up here. They’d had more conversations sitting at a café table downstairs than Stan imagined she’d ever had up here in her actual apartment.
She’d painted, though. The walls in the kitchen were a light shade of yellow. It looked like a recent project too, as her pictures were still on the floor waiting to be re-hung. There were fresh flowers too, a bouquet of white roses and another vase full of brightly colored blooms. Stan could smell fresh coffee and her mouth watered for it.
Izzy recognized the look. Without asking, she reached into the cabinet for a mug and filled it. “Here.”
Stan accepted it and sat at the table without waiting for an invitation. Izzy hesitated a moment, then joined her.
“My mother has someone meeting you at the police barracks today,” Stan said. “An attorney. Apparently he’s a family friend.”
Izzy winced. “Which means I’ll need to re-mortgage one of the buildings, right? Don’t get me wrong,” she added hastily. “I’m grateful. I’m just … strapped at the moment. The bookstore is costing me more than I planned.”
“Don’t worry. My mother’s taking care of it,” Stan said.
Izzy frowned. “Why?”
Stan shrugged. “Because she knows the whole thing is bogus.”
“Glad someone does,” Izzy muttered.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the episode with Harold?” Stan asked. “Where he stole from you and then badmouthed you all over town?”
“Oh jeez. How did you—”
“Doesn’t matter. I wish you would’ve told me.”
“It was stupid. And it was a long time ago. If people think I killed the guy over that, then they have no idea of the crap I’ve put up with over the years.” Izzy barked out a laugh. “That was mild. It was a drunk guy having a temper tantrum.”
“I’m sure it seemed personal, though. It would’ve to me.”
Izzy shrugged. “Just because some people still, in this day and age, have a problem with other people’s skin color, it’s not my problem. I say they’re the ones who have to deal with the fallout of being bigots. Doesn’t affect me any.”
Stan was silent for a few minutes, sipping her coffee. “Izzy. What’s going on with you lately?” she finally asked. “And don’t give me some story about how busy you are. I get that. But it’s not like you to not be around the night of the tree lighting, especially when you had a part to play. And I know how much you love Christmas. That’s got people talking. Right or wrong, it’s all about perception. But you know that.” She leaned forward and grabbed Izzy’s hand. “You are one of my very best friends. Talk to me.”
Izzy didn’t speak for long enough that Stan feared she was angry. But then she sighed and stood up. Without a word, she walked down the little hall leading to her bedroom.
Well then. Not sure what her exit actually meant, Stan stayed where she was and finished her coffee. Had Izzy dismissed her? Should she go after her and try again? Or just leave and wait for her to calm down?
She was saved having to further analyze her friend’s odd behavior. Izzy reappeared a minute later, tugging someone down the hall behind her. Stan’s mouth dropped.
“Liam?”
If he’d worn a hat, Stan felt certain he would’ve tipped it at her. Jake’s cousin smiled, a bit sheepishly. “Mornin’, Stan.”
Stan looked from him to Izzy and back again. “Are you guys …”
“Seeing each other?” Izzy nodded. “Yeah. There you go. Secret revealed.”
“But why is it a secret?” Stan asked. “I mean, wow, I’m totally surprised, but I think it’s great.”
They looked at each other. “You do?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Stan asked. “Would you two sit down and explain? I feel like I’m missing something here.”
Liam pulled out a chair and sat. Izzy poured another round of coffee for all of them. “Should I make more?” she asked, waving the empty pot.
“Depends on how long this story is,” Stan muttered.
Izzy grinned, the first real smile Stan had seen on her friend in at least two weeks, and got another pot ready to go. When the beans were grinding, she joined them at the table. “We’ve kinda been seeing each other on and off the last year.”
“The last year? Wow, I can be obtuse sometimes.” In the year and a half Stan had known Izzy, she hadn’t had any idea her friend was dating someone. The closest Izzy came was insisting that she’d snag Johnny Depp someday. True, Stan had never asked, but she didn’t think it was any of her business. If and when Izzy wanted to tell her anything, she would. But right now she reminded Stan of a lovesick teenager, the way she was smiling and blushing, stealing looks at Liam.
“I guess we were good at hiding it, right, babe?” Izzy winked at him. “You should tell her how it started.”
Liam actually looked embarrassed. “Really?”
“Come on. I love a good romance,” Stan said.
Liam drank some coffee. Stalling.
“He’s shy,” Stan said to Izzy. “That’s adorable.”
Liam shot her a look, but he was grinning. “When I came to town for our Christmas gathering last year, I knew I had to get up the nerve to talk to her. I mean really talk to her. I’d seen her the other times I’d been here and thought she was amazing, but last year I got up enough courage to start hanging around her café.” He glanced at Izzy, adoration written all over his face.
Izzy reached over and linked fingers with him on the table. “He was still kind of seeing someone in New York,” she explained to Stan. “So it already had its complications. But we totally hit it off. I mean, neither of us had ever felt so connected to another person.” She looked to him as if for validation. He was already nodding in agreement. “We spent a lot of time together while he was in town, and it just made us realize—this was it. For both of us.”
“But my dad caught on,” Liam said, his eyes darkening. “He had a few choice things to say about it.”
“Seamus?” This surprised Stan. Even though she didn’t know him well, she had him pegged as someone easygoing and nonjudgmental. “Why would he care?”
“Because he’s a racist too,” Izzy said. This time, she didn’t sound bitter. She sounded sad. “He and Harold actually had a lot in common. He didn’t think his Irish son should be dating a girl with my kind of genes. Or my color skin.”
“You’re kidding.”
Liam shook his head slowly. “I wish I was. Far be it from me to care what my dad says—I think you’ve gathered that, Stan—but I didn’t w
ant trouble for Izzy. Especially in town here. So of course we kept seeing each other, but we kept it on the down-low. My dad …” He shook his head. “He can be nasty. That’s what Jake doesn’t see. He only sees the fun Seamus. The aww, shucks guy who screws up constantly but is always so sorry about it that everyone forgives him, just like that.” He snapped his fingers. “But there’s another side to him.”
“I have to say, you two hid this well,” Stan said.
“We had to. We were still trying to figure everything out,” Izzy said. “But we love each other.” She said it so matter-of-factly that Stan felt her throat choke up with tears. Partly because it was lovely to hear her friend happy, and partly because she was sad about Jake right now.
“As soon as he came back to town, we decided we were going to be together. No matter what. We’re just trying to figure out what that means. And I didn’t want it all over town while we did.”
“And then all this nonsense with my father occurred,” Liam said. “And we just thought it best to see how things played out. Although it’s been getting harder to sneak around out here. I even ran into you a few times when I was trying to be stealthy. People are really interested in what everyone else is doing in this place, yeah?”
“You don’t know the half. And that story about the newspapers was a little weak,” Stan said. “Especially since there were two of them on my porch.”
Liam grinned. “I’m sorry, Stan. I didn’t want to lie to you. But we were just … being careful.”
“You don’t have to apologize to me,” Stan said. “I’m glad there’s a good reason you two were acting so strangely.” She hesitated. “Is that why you were at the museum the other night, Liam?”
He nodded. “Izzy and I got our wires crossed. I thought I was meeting her there, but she’d sent Jana to take care of the delivery.” He cocked his head at her. “You were thinking I’d tried to off my own dad, then?”
Stan felt her face heat up. “I didn’t know what to think. Someone saw you there and said … it didn’t look like you wanted to be seen.”
“Well, I didn’t,” he said with a laugh. “But not for that reason.”
“You do know you have to tell Jessie, right?” Stan said. “This will eliminate a lot of suspicion. And maybe get her moving in the right direction faster.”
Izzy looked horrified. “We’re not ready for that.”
“Izzy, she’s dragging you down to the police station, for God’s sakes. I would think that’s reason enough to go public, no?” She looked at Liam, hoping for an advocate. “Liam. Tell her.”
“I agree with you, Stan,” he said. “But I have to respect what Izzy wants.” He squeezed her hand. “Even though I want, more than anything, to tell everyone. And especially to tell my cousin to stop with the nonsense. Anyone who thinks Izzy would hurt anyone or anything doesn’t know her at all.”
At least they were all in complete agreement about that.
Chapter Thirty-nine
Liam left a few minutes later, promising to be back when Izzy got back from her meeting with Jessie. Stan and Izzy sat in silence for a few minutes.
“Why did you think you couldn’t tell me?” Stan finally asked.
Izzy dropped her face into her hands. “I’m sorry, Stan. A lot of reasons, like Liam said. But I think—I didn’t want to jinx it.”
“Jinx it?” Stan repeated.
Izzy nodded. “I’ve had crap luck with men for so long, I’d given up on ever finding anyone. And then I do, and it’s unexpected and crazy and wild and totally right, but it’s a McGee, for God’s sakes. How do I reconcile that?”
Stan smiled despite herself. Izzy and Jake had gotten off on the wrong foot a long time ago, and there were days when they still fought like cats and dogs. “What’s so bad about the McGees, again?” Other than Jake freezing her out for the past two days.
Izzy snorted out a laugh. “You tell me. You’ve been involved with one, after all. Living with one, even.”
“Yeah.” Stan sighed. “Two days ago I would’ve said it’s pretty great.”
“Uh-oh. I don’t like the sounds of that.” Izzy propped her elbows on the table and put her chin in her palms. “What’s up?”
“This whole thing with Seamus.” Stan waved her hand dismissively. “Jake doesn’t want to hear a negative thing about his uncle.”
“Ah. Well, this story’ll go over well then, won’t it?”
“You’re not kidding. But in fairness, I stuck my nose in probably where it didn’t belong. I told him I thought everyone had their heads in the sand about Seamus. I think he may have been the reason Harold died. We had a huge fight about it and we’re really not talking much.”
“You said something about that on the phone. About Seamus being the target, not Harold. Why do you think that?”
“A few reasons.” She gave Izzy the same replay she’d given her mother earlier. “And what Liam said a few minutes ago makes me even more sure of it. Then again, I found out Lester lied about not knowing Harold was playing Santa. His son told me. So I don’t know. The whole thing is just so convoluted. Every time I think something makes sense, something else happens to send me down another crazy path.”
Izzy got up and paced the room. “Even if she focuses on Seamus, she’ll still have a reason to look at me. Given all this.”
Stan shook her head. “I don’t understand. Is there more to the story? Because I didn’t get that from what you just told me.”
Izzy went to her kitchen window and looked outside. Without turning around, she said, “He was really nasty, Stan. He came into the café one day last year and said some terrible things to one of his friends about me, making sure I could hear. I cried for days. I think Liam did want to kill him.” She turned. “It was way worse than anything Harold Dewey said about me, for sure. And I know people think he’s this lovable goofball, but he’s got a dark side for sure.”
“Does anyone else know about that?” Stan asked.
“I’m sure everyone in the café that day heard him,” Izzy said. “He wasn’t being shy about it.”
The more Stan heard, the worse she felt. For all of them. Jake, because his beloved uncle didn’t deserve his unwavering dedication. For Izzy, for being the target of bigotry in this day and age. And for Liam and the difficult position he was in. “So what were you and Liam going to do? If this whole disaster hadn’t happened?”
Izzy shrugged. “Liam was going to confront him. Tell him once and for all that we were together and if he continued to disrespect me, he’d see to it Seamus never came back here.”
“Whoa. How was he going to manage that?” Stan asked carefully.
“I don’t know,” Izzy admitted. “He told me to let him handle it. I suspect he was going to tell Jake’s dad. Paul’s a good guy, right? He wouldn’t allow his brother to be doing that kind of thing if he knew about it.”
“Absolutely not. I think he’d be mortified. Wow, Izzy. I’m sorry you had to go through all this.”
“Hey. You know what? He’s worth it.” That goofy grin reappeared on her face as she toyed with her braids. She poured more coffee and came back to sit down. “But now I’m worried. I mean, you and Jake seem disgustingly happy most of the time. But there’s gotta be something that’s bad. Is there something? Come on, girl.” She leaned forward, encouraging. “He leaves the toilet seat up? Plays bad music too loud? Scrapes the bottom of the soup bowl with his spoon for so long that you want to beat him senseless with it?”
Stan stared at her, then burst out laughing. “Now I need to know who made you so angry about a soup spoon. No, Jake doesn’t do anything like that. I know this is going to sound stupid and totally honeymoon stage, but he’s really perfect. For me, anyway. Which is why stupid arguments are so hard. I don’t want anything to ruin it. And I know it’s silly. I mean, we live together now. We’re bound to argue at some point, right?”
Izzy squeezed her hand. “Listen. I know any argument stinks. He’ll come to his senses. And I bet he
’ll be really sorry when he finds out some of this stuff about his uncle. Now. If Jake’s that perfect, his cousin must’ve gotten the crap genes. I’m sure there’s tons of things wrong with him. Dammit, I knew it!” She threw her hands up. “I finally find someone I can stand to be around for more than an hour, and he’s got everything stacked against him. Maybe he’s a closet drunk. Or a really bad singer. Do you know?”
“Izzy. Stop freaking out. Why are you trying to talk yourself out of this?” She paused. “You must really love him.”
“God, I do,” Izzy admitted. “I can’t think of anything else but him—when I go to bed, when I wake up, while I’m making lattes. It’s been like this since that day we really started talking. I have no idea why, except that he’s perfect and dreamy and likes everything I like—even old Howard Jones songs—and we can finish each other’s sentences. But … the other problem is, he doesn’t live here. And I don’t think he’d want to. And I own two businesses here! Why do these things always happen?”
“Have you talked about this?” Stan asked.
Izzy shrugged. “We’ve kind of had other things to worry about. But a little bit, yeah. He always talks about how much he loves New York.”
“But from the sounds of it, he loves you more,” Stan said. “Listen. Don’t worry so much about the outcome. If you guys are a good match, why not see where it goes? Stranger things than relocation have happened to two people in love.”
“He thinks the town’s too small and that nothing happens here.”
“Jeez. Even after all this?” Stan shook her head. “He must not have been reading the papers for the past year and a half. Listen, my sister thought the same thing. Then she spent some time here, and look what happened.” Stan rolled her eyes. “Now she’s got more friends than I do. And a husband-to-be who said he’d never leave Florida.” She spread her hands wide. “Love does strange things to people. Now”—she pointed to the clock on the microwave—“you better get ready to go. I’m standing by my recommendation that you tell Jessie about Liam, that you guys were together the night of the tree lighting and that’s why you were MIA.”
