Page 32 of Be Courageous

“Well, that’s why I hit Opal’s mailbox.” She nodded like she’d done it intentionally. “Now the dent in the rear fender makes it look like all the other cars.”

Another laugh burst out of him. “Oh, that’s why you hit the mailbox.”

“Yep.” Truth was, she’d persuaded Tony to drive her car up because she thought she might need wheels to keep her appointment with the lieutenant governor, and she had yet to learn to drive Tony’s stick shift.

He cut her a look as he went to push his door open. “I know why you wanted to bring your Range Rover.”

She hid a gasp of dismay. Tony was the most observant person she knew. It surprised her he hadn’t asked about her two missed periods yet, but how could he have found out about Katz? “Oh?”

“So you could leave if Mama hurt your feelings.”

Phew!“You know me too well.”

Tony put reassuring a hand on Ruby’s knee and gave it a squeeze. “She’ll behave herself; I promise. Besides, Corinna’s here to distract her.” Nodding at his little sister’s lime-green Escort, he pushed out of the driver’s seat.

Corinna, now a theater major at Drexel University, was home for the holiday. Looking forward to seeing her, Ruby got out and went to the back to help Tony with the luggage.

A chilly breeze and the ubiquitous smell of sautéed onions filled the air. Tony gave her the smallest bag to carry, then shut the rear of the SUV and toted their two suitcases toward his old home’s front stoop. The door popped open, and Mama Anna, with her cloud of graying curls and ample figure, emerged with her arms outstretched.

“Antoniomio!” She ignored Ruby to embrace her son, pulling him against her apron-clad bosom and pinning him there. If his shoulders weren’t as wide as they were, Anna’s embrace might have swallowed him whole. “Welcome, welcome,” she crooned, kissing him on both cheeks.

At last, she set him away from her and met Ruby’s gaze. The thread of tension between them snapped as she threw her arms wide and embraced her daughter-in-law with equal zeal. “Thank you for coming. I have cooked all day!” Her English was perfect, though faintly accented, having immigrated from Puglia with her parents in the 1970s. “Come in, come in! It’s so cold outside.”

She ushered them into the house ahead of her. She hadn’t even closed the door behind them before the old staircase shuddered and Corinna Caruso, with her dark ringlets streaming behind her, blew down from the upper level and collided into Tony at a full run. But he was ready for her, swinging her around to keep from staggering backwards. “Hey, Sis! How’s it goin’?”

“Couldn’t be better.” She beamed at them. “Hey, Ruby.”

Ruby smiled back. “Hey.”

Tony studied his sister. “Why are you glowin’? What’s goin’ on with you?”

“What, I’m not allowed to glow? Maybe I’m happy to see you.”

“Humph.” Mama Anna pursed her lips with disapproval. “Corinna has a boyfriend.”

“Mama!” The eighteen-year-old’s cherry-brown eyes flashed. “I told you not to tell.”

“Boyfriend,”Tony spat out the word like it was something filthy. “What do you need a boyfriend for? You’re a student. It’s your job to study, not waste your time on some schmuck.”

“Tony!” Ruby elbowed him aside to throw an arm of solidarity around her sister-in-law. “You can’t tell Corinna what to do with her heart. So, who’s the lucky guy?”

Corinna shot her a grateful smile. “His name is Robert and he’s a philosophy major.”

“Philosophy, hah.” Tony scowled. “What’s he gonna do with that degree?”

“Go to law school.” Corinna arched a dark eyebrow at him.

“Oh.” And suddenly Tony had no more to say on the subject.

“Enough talk.” Mama Anna gestured grandly. “Take your stuff upstairs and come to the kitchen for food.”

“We just had subs on the way up, Mama.” Tony hefted a suitcase in each hand and started up the stairs to his old bedroom.

Ruby followed close behind him. This would be the first time his mother let them share a bed. Considering they werefinallymarried—even though Anna hadn’t been invited—she didn’t have much choice.

Trailing Tony into the tiny front room, Ruby deposited her purse and cosmetics bag. She hadn’t dared to bring her laptop or Tony would have guessed she was working on a story. Luckily, she didn’t need her laptop. The facts pertaining to her investigation were filed away in her head.

If Tony had the slightest notion that she was on a deep-sea fishing expedition, angling for a really big tuna, he’d have refused his mother’s invitation to Philly and swept her off to some remote island somewhere.

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