by Ashlyn Chase
“What about you? Butts was your sergeant, and from what I know of him, he must have been brutal to have as a boss and a police sergeant.”
“Yeah, it was no picnic.” Luca told him about quitting the force. “It feels good. Now I have to get my own PI business up and running.”
“I think you guys are gonna be great,” Jack replied. “If you ever need a reference, you know how to reach me.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it.”
Chapter 18
“Family meeting at the Fierros’ can mean anything,” Luca said. “But the one thing you can count on is Ma’s great cooking and a dining room table groaning under the weight of it all.”
Dawn smiled. “Are you sure we should be there? I mean, they’ve been wonderful to Gran and me, but we’re not really part of your family.”
“My dad told me what the meeting was about, in case I wanted to have you attend, and I do.”
“Okay. Can you tell me what it’s about too?”
The front door opened, and his brothers began filing in with their respective wives.
“Sorry. Not anymore I can’t.”
He greeted each couple and made sure Dawn was reintroduced, in case she had forgotten their names. Her grandmother was already sitting at the dining room table folding napkins, and Antonio was introducing her to each of his sons and daughters-in-law.
“What can I do to help with dinner?” one of the women called out.
“Damn. I should have offered to help your mother too,” Dawn said to Luca.
“Don’t worry about it. She’s not shy about asking for help if she needs it. I think Misty’s in there with her. She’s been taking cooking lessons from Mom.”
Dawn groaned. “I should probably do that at some point. I can toast a mean bagel, but that’s about it. Gran has always done the cooking.”
“I can cook. Ma made sure I learned how as soon as she realized I wasn’t going to be a firefighter. All firefighters learn to cook, since they’re stuck at their firehouses for days sometimes.”
“Yeah. I guess they’d starve if they didn’t.”
“Right. So no need to start your lessons yet. We can do that any time.”
“Sandra?” Gabriella called out. “Can you set the table, please?”
“See? I told you she’s not shy about asking for help.”
“Okay. Well, I’ll see if I can help Sandra then.”
Luca nodded and went to take a seat at the table with most of the others. When Dawn asked Sandra if she could help, she glanced up from the silverware drawer and said, “Sure. You can place those glasses in front of everyone. Antonio will probably pass a bottle of red wine around. If someone asks for something different, maybe you can get that too.”
“Great!” Dawn liked feeling useful, and she was happy not to be treated as a guest. Of course, she and her grandmother were practically living there now, so maybe they’d been absorbed into the family at some point without realizing it.
When everyone was seated, Gabriella brought out a large spiral-cut ham, surrounded by baked sweet potatoes. Misty came along behind her with a basket of rolls and a large salad. Sandra set another side dish on the table. It looked like broiled vegetables.
The wine was passed, and the only two who had juice were Misty, who was pregnant, and little Tony. Gabe had a sippy cup for him at the ready.
Antonio said grace, and everyone dove in. A general happy chatter sprang up amid the family-style dining.
It was as if Antonio was waiting for everyone to finish the meal before any kind of subject was addressed. When everyone but Tony had cleaned their plates, he said, “The boys and I will clear the table, but don’t anybody go anywhere. Gabriella made a wonderful dessert, and then we have an announcement.”
Miguel, Jayce, and Gabe joined Luca in gathering the plates. Dante and Noah were already filling the sink and speculating over what the meeting might be about.
“Maybe it’s someone’s birthday,” Noah said.
“Dude, it’s always someone’s birthday.”
“Yeah, they wouldn’t call a family meeting for that,” Gabe said.
“Where are Ryan and Chloe?” Jayce asked.
“We’re right here,” Chloe said as they entered through the back door.
Dawn hadn’t met Ryan yet. Luca had explained that because his eldest brother had “died” in a back draft and a very public funeral had been held for him, he and Chloe had moved to her home in Ireland soon after he had reincarnated. Now they had to wait until everyone in Boston who might recognize him passed away before they could be seen in public here.
It caused her to raise an eyebrow but only one. She had thought she was shock-proof before, but now that she’d been let in on the paranormal population, nothing much surprised her anymore. Apparently, other brothers had met with different types of disasters and found their way back to life without the whole city noticing.
Eventually, they were all sitting down again, and a scoop of gelato plus a piece of cake with whipped cream sat in front of everyone.
“Eat up,” Gabriella said. “Before it melts.”
She didn’t have to ask twice. Everyone gobbled up dessert with enthusiasm, as if they hadn’t just filled their stomachs with a big dinner.
When everyone was full and groaning, Antonio said, “Everyone satisfied?”
“And then some,” Dante said, followed by a burp.
When the laughter died down, Antonio rose. “Good. Because your mother and I have an announcement. We’re moving.”
A beat of silence was followed by numerous voices all asking questions at once. Antonio held up his hands. “Quiet down. I’ll explain.” He took a deep breath. “Most of you know I’ve been trying to get your mother to move to the Caribbean with me after I retired from the fire department. Well, she didn’t want to go until she knew all her sons were going to be all right. And by all right, she meant happily married or in a committed relationship.”
“And I’m not ashamed of that,” Gabriella said. “I’d have been miserable if I had to worry about any one of you.”
“And apparently, we need a good woman looking after us in order for her not to worry,” Jayce said, smirking.
Dawn wondered at that. Did Gabriella assume she and Luca were committed enough for her worries to be over? He was the youngest and the only son still unmarried.
As if reading her mind, Gabe said, “What about Luca? I thought you and Mom were twice as worried about him, because he decided to become a cop instead of a firefighter—and Dawn’s great, but they aren’t married yet.”
“Well,” Luca said, smiling at Dawn, “I know it’s too soon in our relationship to ask her to marry me, but things are going well. I would like to ask her to come with us to Puerto Rico. I could live with Mom and Dad, but I’d rather get a place nearby—with Dawn.”
Dawn’s jaw dropped. He was asking her to live with him? In Puerto Rico?
Her grandmother clapped her hands over her heart. “Oh, that’s wonderful! I always hoped she’d find a special young man like your Luca.”
Luca gazed at Dawn expectantly. “She hasn’t said yes yet…but I’ll bet I know why.” He rubbed her back. “Of course we want your grandma to come too.”
Dawn laughed. “Oh yeah. The answer is yes. I’d love to go with all of you—as long as my grandmother comes too.”
“Of course,” Luca said.
“We expected nothing less,” Gabriella added.
Annette’s brows shot up in surprise. “Really? You talked about it?”
Please don’t be stubborn, Gran. Please, please, please…
“I—I’d love to go. No more snowy winters!”
“Amen to that!” Antonio said.
“Um, can anyone else come?” Dante asked. He exchanged a quick smile with Mallory.
“Well, we wo
n’t have room in our place, because we want to downsize,” Antonio said, “but I’m sure you and Mallory would want your own place anyway.”
“If they haven’t all been destroyed by Hurricane Maria,” Jayce interjected.
“That’s just it. Mallory’s dad is a builder, and he was talking about possibly going down there and helping to rebuild the island. I was telling them I kind of wished I could go too. I enjoyed my shop classes and don’t get much chance to build anything since we live in a brand-new condo.”
“And I can work from anywhere,” Mallory said. “All my design work is done online. Maybe I can get inspiration for some tropical prints and donate part of the profits for building materials.”
Noah and Kizzy exchanged some kind of silent communication with their eyes. “If you go, maybe we can too,” Kizzy said. She reached for Mallory’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “We’d miss our best friends if we stayed here. I’m sure the island can use doctors and firefighters down there.”
“And nurses,” Sandra added. She looked hopeful as she gazed at Miguel.
“We should discuss it in private, but I’m not opposed to it.”
She grinned and kissed his cheek. “In Miguel-speak, that means yes.”
Everyone laughed, knowing the cautious nature of the third eldest brother.
“Oh my goodness!” Gabriella squealed. “If I could bring all my kids with me, the Caribbean would be my heaven on earth.” Then her face fell, and she said in a somber voice, “Oh, but my grandchildren will grow up so fast, and I’ll miss so many milestones.”
Gabe shook his head, looking at Misty.
“I guess that headshake means you’re not coming,” Gabriella said with a tear in her eye.
Misty chuckled. “That’s not Gabe’s ‘no way’ headshake. That’s his ‘I know when I’m beat’ resignation headshake.”
“Gabe?” Gabriella waited, seemingly holding her breath.
“Misty’s right. If the whole family is heading to the Caribbean, we may as well go too. I’ll bet there’s a job for a marine firefighter with experience working in Boston Harbor. If not, I have a strong builder’s back. Besides, Tony would miss his Gammy and Gampy too much.”
As if on cue, Tony wriggled off Gabe’s lap and ran over to Gabriella. “Gammy!”
Gabriella swept him up into a hug. “Oh, my darling. You’ve just made me so happy.”
“Oh, but…” Annette looked over at Dawn. “But my daughter…”
“Is in prison,” Dawn said. “She can come down later and get a fresh start.”
Annette smiled. “Yes. I guess she can.”
“It might be the best thing for her too,” Luca said. “New place and new people, with a whole new attitude.”
“At this point, is anyone not coming with us?” Antonio asked.
Everyone laughed, but then Jayce, who’d been uncharacteristically quiet, looked at Kristine and put an arm around her. “We’re both captains here, and it’s what we love. If we move down there, we’d have to literally start over. Go through training all over again, then probation for however long, then work our way back up the ladder.”
“You two could live here, Jayce,” Antonio said. “I wanted to keep the brownstone in the family, and your little one-bedroom condo in Charlestown must be feeling pretty small with two of you in it now.”
“I was supposed to take over as head of the family when you left. If there’s no one in Boston but us…”
“I can do that now,” Ryan said. “If I don’t have to show my face in Boston, and with a wife who can transport me anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice…”
Antonio leaned back in his chair and folded his hands over his expanding middle. “That’s what I had intended long ago. That Ryan—our firstborn—would take over for me whenever I’m gone.”
“If you’re ever gone,” Jayce said, and everyone laughed. “You’re the only one who hasn’t used up one of your many lives.”
“I haven’t,” Luca said.
“Yeah, and you were the one Mom worried about. Go figure.”
“Hey, you could start over, Dad,” Gabe said. “Just let us have a barbeque on your head and come back as a young man.”
Most of the room was laughing, but Gabriella gasped. “That’s not funny, Gabe.”
Antonio chuckled. “I won’t waste a life just to come back looking like another one of Gabriella’s sons. As it is, I have to fly around from time to time to speed up the aging process.
“No, I’m going to play the part of retired firefighter. I was thinking of starting a little wine-making business. I’m not the type to just sit around and do nothing.”
“That’s a great idea,” Jayce said. “You’ll need it to put up with a big family you can’t seem to get rid of.”
Kristine held up one finger. “I just thought of something. Puerto Rico has the largest tropical rain forest in the United States. You guys wouldn’t even have to disguise your tail feathers down there. You’d just look like another tropical bird.”
Antonio winked. “That’s exactly what I was thinking and why I picked the Caribbean for retirement.”
“So it looks like every one of your sons except Jayce and I are going to Puerto Rico,” Ryan said. “And both of us can visit any time.”
“You should still call first,” Gabriella said. “We might be in the middle of…um…”
“Smashing grapes?” Luca asked.
Everyone burst out laughing, including Antonio.
If this was what Fierro family meetings were always like, Dawn figured she just might enjoy them.
* * *
“Hello there, gorgeous.”
“Hi, LC.”
Dawn arrived at Karma Cleaners for her usual appointment. But as soon as she walked in, it looked like a party was underway. People were milling about chatting and talking. Some were still wearing their work clothes, while others were all dolled up in fancy party clothes.
“What’s going on?” Dawn glanced around the main reception area. Tables had been set up and pastries from the bakery downstairs were laid out around a big punch bowl filled with a yummy-looking pink punch.
“Oh, we’re just having a little celebration,” Lynda said. She was wearing a gold-sequined minidress and sparkly gold heels. Her hair was down, looking straight and sleek and parted in the middle. “I’m glad you’re here. C’mon. Let’s grab a cupcake and go into my office to chat.”
They strolled over to the refreshment table and perused the goodies. Dawn chose a double chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache on top, and Lynda chose a white cupcake with buttercream icing and gold sprinkles.
“Matches my outfit.” She smiled. “Okay, let’s go somewhere quiet where we can chat.”
They walked back to Lynda’s office and sat across from each other in the overstuffed comfy chairs.
Dawn bit into her cupcake and closed her eyes in delight. “Oh. That is good.”
“This one’s heaven,” Lynda said as she licked her finger.
“Can I take a few home with me for Luca and his family?”
“Of course, sweetie. We’ll pack up a box for you.”
“Thanks, LC.”
Lynda nodded and placed the rest of her cupcake back on her plate. Wiping her fingers on a napkin, she took a deep breath. “I have something to tell you.”
“Uh-oh. What’s wrong?”
“Well, you see, it’s about your karma.”
“Shit.”
Lynda stood up, walked over to her desk, and lifted a file folder, then returned to her chair. She flipped open the folder, sorted through some papers, and cleared her throat. “I’m afraid we won’t be needing you to come in anymore.”
“What? What does that mean? Did I do something wrong? Rescuing Mandy was the right thing, wasn’t it? Should I have waited for the police?”
/>
“No. You saved her. That was the most important thing and what needed to happen.”
“So having sex with Luca ruined my karma? You said sex was okay.”
“I said it was your decision to make.”
“So having sex with Luca ruined my karma?”
Lynda blew out a breath. “No, silly.”
“No?” Dawn groaned in frustration. “But I can’t think of anything else… What does that mean?”
“That means that you can have as much sex with Luca as you want. It makes no difference to your karma.”
“So I’m okay?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“So I’m not okay?” Dawn was so agitated, she stood up and started pacing. “You know, I’ve been working really hard these past few weeks. Like, really hard. And yet here you are, telling me that my karma is still fucked.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“Then what are you trying to tell me?”
“If you would just stop pacing and sit down, I will tell you everything.”
Dawn flung up her hands. “Okay, okay.” She plopped back down on her chair and slouched with her arms crossed over her chest. “What do you want to tell me?”
Lynda laced her fingers together, placed them on her knees, and cleared her throat. “Dawn Forest, I hereby declare that your karma is officially clean!”
Dawn’s jaw dropped. She didn’t know what to say. She couldn’t believe it. “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
“I am indeed.”
“You’re serious.”
“Yes.”
Dawn stood and jumped up and down, whooping. “I can’t believe it.”
“Believe it, girl. You did it.” Lynda stood up and danced along with her.
“My karma is clean. My karma is clean.” Dawn sang and danced. Then she suddenly stopped. “Why did you lead me to think you had bad news?” She frowned, her hands going to her hips.
“I didn’t. You just assumed it. I said we wouldn’t be needing you to come here anymore. Maybe I should have said you won’t be needing us anymore—as long as you stay on the right path.”
