Page 59 of A Hard Fit

“Well, Bill’s been having some trouble with a supplier out of Tulsa, so he got Patrick on the case, and he actually ended upgoingto Tulsa, if you can believe it! Was there for a damn week!”

Finn took another sip. He tried not to look bored while Jonathan went on about Bill and Patrick and other people Finn didn’t know. As his thoughts wandered, the giant Christmas tree in the main living room caught his attention—at least ten feet tall and wrapped with gold ribbon and white lights. To be honest, he expected matching designer ornaments, but it looked like many of them were handmade.

Rory nodded along politely to their dad’s story as the champagne dwindled, shooting Finn the occasional apologetic look.

Even Lainey got bored eventually, and she got up to refill her flute. “How is work going for you two?” she said as she sat again, taking advantage of Jonathan’s pause when he finally took a drink.

“Great,” Rory said. “Really busy, but some fun projects.”

“Rory has been helping me with the overhaul of a client’s brand—they designed a whole new website and app,” Finn said proudly.

“Wedesigned it,” Rory said, squeezing Finn’s hand.

Lainey smiled at Rory fondly, then jolted as she remembered something. “Oh! I’ve been dying to tell you, Stanley found the rubber duck!”

“He did?” Rory dissolved into laughter. “What did he say?”

“He was so confused!” Lainey was tittering too, and even Jonathan joined in. “You should have seen his face when he walked in. ‘Mrs. Barrett, I just found this rubber duck glued under my desk…’”

The three of them laughed, until Rory noticed Finn’s face. “Oh, Stanley took over my job at the plant. We do this thing with rubber ducks… I’ll explain later.”

“Can’t wait,” Finn said, trying not to sound sarcastic.

“I hope you two are hungry,” Lainey said, smoothing over the awkwardness. “Hadir has been cooking all day.”

“Yum, what did he make?” Rory asked.

“Who’s Hadir?” Finn blurted at the same time.

“Our chef,” Lainey said, as if Finn was slow. “He’s been around for years. He’s like family.”

“You have a chef?” Finn hadn’t meant to add a follow-up question.

The other three all stared at him.

Lainey recovered first. “Sometimes,” she breezed. “Mostly dinner, the odd lunch or special event.”

“Ah.” Finn took a sip only to discover his glass was empty. “How…nice.”

Lainey hopped up again. “Let me get you some more champagne.”

“Yes, please,” Finn said.Lots more.

* * * *

Lainey apologized about fifteen times on the way to the kitchen. “I just thought the dining room was too stuffy for the four of us. I hope you don’t mind eating at the kitchen table?”

“It’s fine, Mom,” Rory assured her.

The ‘kitchen table’ looked like a full-size dining room to Finn, also with windows facing the bay all across the back. A long rustic farmhouse table, no doubt painstakingly handmade, dominated the space. It belonged in a home-decor magazine, with layers and layers of linens, white ceramics everywhere, and pinecones, greenery and goddamn napkin swans.

“I see where you learned to fold napkins,” Finn whispered to Rory.

“Oh, yeah,” Rory said, sheepishly. “Lenora taught me.”

“Who’s Lenora?” Finn asked, then instantly wished he hadn’t.

“Um. The housekeeper,” Rory murmured.

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