Zoe had to cover her mouth to keep from spewing coffee all over. “Sexual interludes? No bloody wonder he’s such a frustrated man! Really Marnie, you should consider putting out a bit.”
Marnie laughed that off, standing and heading back to her desk. “Believe me, Jack Pulaski gets all he needs.” She put down her coffee cup and turned to Zoe. “Thanks for yakking with me, kiddo. You’re right, I sometimes forget to have fun.”
Zoe beamed her gratitude. “Not a problem. Let me get you a fresh cup.”
Checking her watch for the time, Marnie asked, “Would you please bring one for Tyler too? I have to go over Georgie’s schedule for the break. Speaking of which, do you two have everything under control for New Year’s Eve?”
“We do. Want me to sit in with Tyler?”
“No, you can take off and tell Susan and Anthony to get out of here too.”
Once Zoe delivered the fresh coffee, Marnie found herself staring at Tyler’s unclaimed mug. For a sliver of a moment, it was easy to sympathize with those women in historical novels who would resort to poisoning to get their way. Oh, for a little arsenic! She was still fantasizing about murdering one Tyler Marsh when the woman knocked at her door.
Staring at her, Marnie admitted grudgingly that she was a consummate professional. She wore conservative suits daily, showed up early, left late and always made sure Georgie was cared for, focused and capable of continuing safely without her company. She respected that. And the woman was working hard. Sifting through reams and reams of crap Georgie believed had some future application. She knew whatever they were working on wouldn’t see the light of day until the annual board meeting and she was fine with that, and glad the days of Georgie painstakingly trying to explain new ideas to her were over. So why was she so pissed? “Let’s sit on the couch. I hope you’re good for another coffee?” she asked, carrying both mugs to the sitting area.
She watched as Tyler took her seat. She was poised and polite, which Marnie appreciated. For a sister-in-law, she could do worse. “So Tyler, I wanted to catch up before you take off for Christmas. I’m interested to hear how things are shaping up.” Marnie watched as Tyler seemed to weigh her options.
“It’s very kind of you to take time out of your schedule for me. Let me cover my secondary duties first. I’m proceeding with two reports for the annual board meeting. One dovetails with a proposal Georgie will make. The other is a white paper on ethical issues facing the marine industry along with an accompanying report on any outlying areas of liability those issues may raise.”
Marnie nodded, sipping her coffee. “And your primary duties?”
“Georgie you mean.”
“Yes. How are things going with her?”
Tyler locked eyes with her. “Marnie, if there’s a problem, I would respectfully suggest you be direct.”
“I see.” She took more time to sip her coffee. Finally putting her cup down, Marnie blurted, “Christ, this was so much easier when I thought you and Zoe were dating!”
“Not you too?”
“I’ll admit my respect for you has grown dramatically since learning you’re not interested in my lovely little heart-breaking niece!” Missing her ballpoint pen, Marnie tapped her frustration on the arm of the couch. “Dr Marsh, you’re an educated woman and very observant, so I’m not going to waste time explaining why I’m not a touchy-feely person. Just suffice it to say I’m not. Another fact you don’t need reminding of is this is a family company. Even so, we have some rules about dating and relationships.”
“I’ve read the company policy manual.”
Marnie growled, “Let me finish.” It was not a suggestion. “Do you know why our policy requires the junior ranking employee to declare a relationship to HR, when the employees in question work in the same department?”
Tyler looked ready for a fight but clearly hadn’t expected that. “No actually.”
“Georgie! After her first deployment, she came back with concerns about a new issue they were having over there. The military calls it Command Rape.” At Tyler’s shocked look she explained, softening slightly, “They had all these young women coming home saying they had been forced into sexual relationships with their superiors, superiors who had filed the requisite paperwork declaring the relationship so they wouldn’t be violating their code of justice. Starting to see what her concern was?”
“Yes I do. Although from an ethical standpoint and liability, requiring disclosure from both employees and oversight would be a better policy.”
Marnie wanted to gouge out Tyler’s eyes. Surely the woman knew she was talking about her and Georgie. “The point,” she explained, trying dearly to keep any contempt from her voice, “the point is…oh crap!” Marnie got to her feet, pacing. “Tyler, what the fuck? Last week I see you out with Zoe. I wouldn’t have believed it if I wasn’t there. Now Lori tells me you’re taking Georgie home for Christmas. You do know the effect you have on her. Don’t you?”
Tyler gaped at her. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Really?” she asked sarcastically. “So the fact that she saw you dancing with Zoe on Friday night, started a fistfight with Lori, and by Monday morning had finished her fifty-thousand word thesis on God knows what—think all of that was just a coincidence?”
Tyler was on her feet, but the panic in her eyes betrayed her blamelessness.
“You didn’t know?” demanded Marnie.
Collapsing back down, Tyler shook her head. “I’m sorry. I’ll resign immediately.”
“Oh no you don’t, young lady,” Marnie all but spat, she was so mad. Realizing this was not one of her children, she softened, sitting down beside her. “Tyler, you’re not in trouble. I had a feeling you didn’t know but I needed to be sure. Now before you panic about Georgie, I can assure you she will never make a pass at you. I know how that shake-and-bake brain of hers works. If you treat her professionally, she will do nothing but the same. Treat her as a friend and she will take only those liberties one would expect from a friend but if you’re interested in more, you’ll have to let her know and in no uncertain terms. I do mean that literally.”
“Okay Marnie, I’m a little behind the curve on this one. So let me see if I’ve got this right. You saw me dancing with Zoe, in a lesbian bar, on my personal time, and somehow you think that’s related to Georgie’s latest breakthrough? I’m sorry but the cause and effect are a bit too convenient for me.”
“Really?” Marnie’s voice was tinged in anger but she supposed Tyler deserved the whole story. “Lori and I have been taking Georgie out every other Friday night for months now. Most nights we end up going to that damn bar and yes, we were there last weekend and yes Georgie saw you with Zoe and took it badly. How do I know this? Here’s how the evening usually goes. We find a table and settle in while Lori goes to the bar for the first round. When she returns with our drinks, she always manages to bring a friend to introduce to Georgie. A friend she just happened to bump into while ordering drinks. Of course, she invites these women out long beforehand and coaches them on Georgie’s peculiarities.”
“A setup?”
“Yes it’s a setup goddammit! And it’s consistently failed to draw even the least bit of interest from Georgie. Until last week. And do you know what happened last week?”
“She met someone?” Tyler actually looked upset.
Marnie would have cheered if she wasn’t so fired up. “Really? No Tyler, she didn’t meet anyone! She watched you dancing with Zoe. Then Lori, not knowing who you were to Georgie, made an inappropriate crack about what she would do with and to you, given half the chance. Well Georgie did not like that. Not one bit. She went straight over the table after Lori. The bouncer and two very masculine women carried them bodily out the door! Now, can you see how I’ve connected cause and effect?”
Silent and embarrassed, Tyler finally admitted, “I don’t know what to say.”
Feeling as if she’d finally connected, she sighed, conceding, “You don’t hav
e to say anything. I just want you to know the rules or at least the way Georgie makes up rules in her head. Look, I don’t know if you’re interested in my sister and frankly I don’t want to know. My point in sharing all of this is to let you know you’re making headway with Georgie. It may not be in the direction you had planned but you are. I was dead serious when I said she would never cross a line with you. If the effort you’ve been making is about being a friend to her then don’t worry. She’ll never ask for more and I can’t thank you enough. Now, before you leave for the break, I think we need to talk about one more little concern.”
“Let me guess,” Tyler asked without humor, “Christmas?”
“Ah yes indeed. Christmas! The famous DiNamico black holiday.” Marnie picked up her cold coffee. “Some days it’s a wonder I don’t drink at work.”
Tyler held her mug up in salute. “I’m with you there sister!”
Marnie laughed so hard, she snorted. Using her coffee mug, she offered a toast. “God help fools, small children and Georgie DiNamico!”
“Hear, hear!”
Chapter Eight
“Is it okay? Maggie will not…offend anyone?”
“How could this sweet girl offend anyone?” Tyler asked, walking Georgie and the dog to the truck.
After hauling the rear gate wide open, Georgie unclipped the dog’s lead and carefully stored it in the door pocket. Once she was in the Land Rover, she immediately double-checked that Maggie was in the rear of the truck. Tyler watched her do it every time they loaded up. She wanted to assure Georgie that she wouldn’t leave the dog behind but knew instinctively that Georgie needed to check.
“Tell me about…them?” Georgie asked.
“Did you get the list I sent?” Knowing how important it was for her to feel prepared when meeting with people, Tyler had created the same style cheat sheet Georgie used before visiting the boatyard and the VA Clinic.
“Father: Carl Marsh, ex-professional football player, co-owner Carl’s Autobody. Mother: Debbie Marsh, nee Becker, CPA designate, co-owner Carl’s Autobody. Twin sister: Kira Marsh, Attorney, am I allowed…her pregnancy? I mean, some families are…old wives’ tale?”
“Superstitious?”
“Yes. Sup-er-sti-tious,” she said, as if tasting the word for the first time.
Tyler had come to understand that this process was a lifesaver for Georgie. Without feedback she would often stall, stuck trying to sort her way through her own linguistic nightmare. “Are you…are they superstitious about…”
“About the pregnancy? I would say yes and no. For the average family the yes comes at the beginning, when you don’t know what to expect. As the mother and baby progress normally, the old superstitions fade away, replaced with insight, education and experience.”
“How pregnant is your…Kira?”
Tyler smiled to hear Georgie describe her twin as her Kira. “Eight months, and before you ask, she hasn’t experienced any complications to date.”
“Are there…I should not ask?”
“I can’t imagine but there’s always a first. Why don’t you try your questions out on me?” She knew Georgie had made a list ahead of time, going as far as to memorize the questions so she could deliver them in normal sentences without having to stop and think her way around the words.
“Kira, I’m curious, who knew you were pregnant first, you or your mother?”
Taking a quick glance at her boss in the seat next to her, Tyler had to smile. One thing she knew after a month at DME, Georgie could always be counted on to ask the least expected questions. “You know, most people would want to know who the father is or the sex of the baby.”
“Too personal. Besides, they will volunteer…when comfortable. Better to wait…listen.”
“And asking who clued in first. What’s that about?”
Georgie angled herself in her seat to better converse with Tyler. “I find the…connection…empathy between familial women…fascinating. When Cory got pregnant…”
“Sorry, who’s Cory?”
“Oh, ah Lou’s wife…first wife. Zoe and Skippy’s mom.”
“Okay, ‘when Cory got pregnant,’” she coaxed.
“When Cory got pregnant,” Georgie continued, “they tried to hide it. Cory’s grandmother knew…called Henry.”
“To congratulate them?”
Georgie laughed. “Uh no. Seventeen-year-old Mister…Uptight…got his girlfriend in …family way.”
“Busted!” Tyler chortled, pleased by the revelation. “Oh I shouldn’t be enjoying this so much, but it’s a blast to learn Mr. Perfect isn’t so perfect after all. So, what happened? Did they have the baby?”
“Two babies.” Georgie corrected. “Zoe Angelica…Henry Junior!”
“Another Henry?”
“When baby Lou…born, Henry did not want…name little Henry. Lou is named after…grandad…Luigi Henry. In time…just called him Lou. When Cory had twins…they named Zoe and Henry but…we call him Skip…skip-a-generation.”
Tyler smiled. She loved this most about working with Georgie. The woman could tell a story, even when she lost complete track of what she was talking about. And she enjoyed sharing. She was enjoying how casual Georgie could be with her. She would sit turned in the passenger seat, sharing fact, information and funny stories. She especially loved the radiance she projected whenever she became animated. While she spoke with her hands and her words, her green eyes were as telling as anything she shared.
“How did we get…this subject?” Georgie asked.
“Pregnancy.”
“She eat weird things?”
“Weird, like what?”
“Like…pickled sweet and sour turkey balls?”
Laughing so hard, Tyler had to force herself to drive the truck. “Really? Is that even a thing?”
“I do not know…Never pregnant.”
“God you make me laugh sometimes. ‘Pickled turkey balls!’ Dad will love that one, but we better not tell Kira. I wouldn’t want to give her ideas.”
Now it was Georgie’s turn to laugh. “I like this…Dr Marsh! What is next?”
“Well we haven’t discussed my own family’s version of Satan’s spawn.”
Georgie looked at her, wide-eyed. “Megan?”
Tyler nodded, still grinning from ear to ear.
“Little sister…bad as Marnie’s twins?”
“Oh brother, if you think little Danny and Luc are a handful, you haven’t seen anything. And I’ll warn you now, if she gets rude with you, you’re more than welcome to take her down a notch.”
“Tyler…Parents are protective…of their children, even…completely out of line. Want to see protective instincts…mother bear? Insult Marnie’s kids. You see…fast!”
“Oh no. Not going there. I wouldn’t take on your sister, not for all the tea in China!”
“Still make tea in China?”
“I think they make tea in China every day. Do they still grow tea might be a better question.”
“Very well…Doctor smarty-pants! Still grow tea in China?”
Tyler laughed. “As Zoe would say, ‘I have no bloody idea now, do I’?”
Georgie chuckled too. “You pegged her. You could pick us up…same time. Do not need…special trip for me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Driving me…and Zoe to your house for…”
“Christmas,” Tyler finished for her, suddenly irritated. “Who told you Zoe was coming?”
“I, uh…guessed. No worry, not…her idea to invite me. I know. Zoe would never…include me, in personal life.”
Gripping the wheel tightly, Tyler fought to control her temper. It wasn’t Georgie’s fault that everyone had assumed a few social outings with the office gossip had escalated into a relationship. Surely even Georgie, as isolated as she was, would know Zoe was a player and not the girlfriend type. “Okay Georgie. Riddle me this. Do you really think I would get involved with someone like Zoe Phipps?” She knew it was a provocat
ive question. With the ‘someone like’ description open to all sorts of discriminatory allegations. She could feel Georgie’s eyes on her and knew by experience the woman was taking her time to consider the question in all its connotations.
“I hit Lori,” she admitted quietly, as if that fact explained her own disbelief.
“She had it coming Georgie. Please don’t be upset with yourself.” Reaching across the console, Tyler took her hand. “Lori jumps to conclusions. God love her. Her heart’s in the right place, but she’s spent so much time trying to protect you, I’m not sure she sees who you really are anymore.”
She nodded. “Broken.”
“Not broken,” Tyler urged, squeezing her hand. “Look at me. You are not broken, just reorganized!”
That made Georgie smile as they pulled into the driveway next to Carl’s Autobody and followed the laneway marked private. Behind the shop and on a well treed lot sat the Marsh residence. Georgie took in the building, seeing immediately, as Tyler had known she would, that it had begun life as a war-time bungalow, but had been expanded into an impressively sized home. “Wow, your parents…do this?”
“Pretty much. They’ve expanded the shop and the house over the years. I can’t remember a time in my childhood when we weren’t renovating or building some addition. Which for a kid is always interesting and a hell of a lot easier than moving to a different school every time you grow out of your house.”
Georgie agreed. “Why old Luigi bought…at Eighteenmile Creek and built…big house.”
“He wanted to provide a safe haven. It makes sense, after losing his family back in Italy.”
At Georgie’s astonished look, Tyler added, “I read the book!”
* * *
Hours later Georgie stood in the foyer of her penthouse apartment, rubbing her hands vigorously together while she waited for her eyes to adjust to the dark. It was well after midnight when Tyler finally had driven her home. She’d enjoyed the visit immensely but both she and Maggie were due for a good long walk, so she’d asked that they be dropped at the waterfront. Tyler had been skeptical, even worried, preferring to take them straight home. Instead she gave in to the request, dropping them where asked. Fifteen minutes later as Maggie and Georgie made their way back to the main entrance of the DiNamico building, she spotted what looked like her own Land Rover parked a few blocks down Fleet Street and suspected Tyler had lingered to make sure they made it home in one piece. Not wanting to embarrass her, she ducked into the building and headed upstairs. Georgie’s hands were so cold she had difficulty getting the security sensor to read her embedded chip.
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