CHAPTER NINETEEN
RACHEL WENT IN to Whiskey Sharp three days later. She got caught up in a hug from her sister before she’d even gotten five steps.
“Hi there,” Maybe told her before she left a big red lipstick kiss on Rachel’s cheek.
“I’m leaving it because it makes my life look very exciting to strangers,” Rachel told her of the kiss print.
“Come sit and have a drink. Vic ran out with Gregori to get food about twenty minutes ago. I like Wren a lot. And she’s clearly got very excellent taste in new artists. You’re smiling like you have a really good thing to tell me so tell me.”
“I don’t think you even took a breath during that whole thing,” Rachel told her. “I just got a call from the attorney.”
Maybe’s eyes widened like she was about to open a present. “So? What did she say?”
“The judge dismissed the conservatorship after she looked over the response with all the medical and mental health stuff. I’m free. We’re done with them.”
Rachel hugged her sister, willing herself not to cry though she was so relieved it made her weak in the knees.
They both sat, holding hands. “Finally.” Maybe locked her gaze with Rachel’s. “Will this make him go away?”
“There’s a chance he will. That they’ll go back to California or Arizona and leave us alone for good.”
Maybe arched a brow. “What about that other chance?”
“I spent a lot of time studying all manner of nature’s freaky assholes. Dad’s flavor is all bound up in me and my choices. What I do. How I do it. There’s a chance, a good one, he won’t walk away. He might limp off to lick his wounds awhile. Either way I think that’ll happen. But he’ll be back eventually.”
She hated that part. But life sometimes meant you had to deal with people you didn’t like. And when he did come back Rachel would defend herself and her sister. Would protect her life in Seattle and not let Richie Dolan ruin what they’d created.
“What’s going on?” Alexsei asked as he approached.
Maybe told him before she launched herself into his arms. He buried his face in her sister’s hair, eyes closed, a smile on his face and she wanted that from Vic so badly she headed up the block to the entrance to the residential part of the building. Gregori and Wren lived on the second floor in a newly renovated loft that had consolidated the unit across the hall.
They were all set to eat pizza and tacos while watching a hockey game. The cousins were bananas for hockey and it was sort of cute to watch them together. The others often stopped in. Cristian and his fiancé Seth. Nicklaus, who worked at the bakery with Vic. Evie came over from time to time as well, which Rachel liked. Even if it meant Rada came along.
Vic was waiting at the door when the elevator let her out on Wren and Gregori’s floor. “You look like you have something good to share,” he said.
Unable not to grin, she hurried along to him, meeting him halfway and climbing up his body and into his arms.
“Tigryonak, you’re the best thing I’ve had in my arms since the last time I held you.”
“Our lawyer called,” she said in his ear before she nibbled on it a moment. “The conservatorship was dismissed.”
He squeezed her as he put her down. People got off the elevator at her back so she unfortunately had to stop rubbing on him.
“We have a lot to celebrate then, don’t we?”
“Yeah. Hell yeah.”
Alexsei came in with Maybe at his side and inside the loft a crowd of their friends already waited.
“What’s the good news?” Cora said as she bounced in, her arms full of grocery bags she set on a nearby table.
They sat at the long farmhouse table in the main room, passing food, cracking open sodas and beers and the bottles of champagne always present whenever Gregori was.
Rachel’s face hurt from smiling so hard. Something that hadn’t happened nearly as much before she’d started dating Vic.
Dating. Ha. A pretty pale word for what they had.
She hadn’t grown up around a lot of extended family other than her parents. Her aunt Robbie hadn’t been much more than cards at their birthdays and the occasional visit when she’d been in Southern California.
But somehow she had ended up with a full room of intentional family. Friends who’d pulled her and Maybe into their lives and had been loyal and supportive and had filled her life with so much goodness.
She leaned her head on Vic’s shoulder.
Satisfied.
* * *
SEVERAL HOURS LATER they were alone at Vic’s place. She’d retreated a little, settling in a deep club chair with her sketchpad. But she was in his house. Spending time with him and he didn’t need her focused on him every moment.
That she was comfortable enough to hang out, not dependent on him to entertain or keep her busy meant a lot.
“Vic? Someone’s at the door,” Rachel told him with a smirk that said she’d known he was watching her so intently he hadn’t heard the knocking.
When he opened up, his sister stood there. “Hi. Feed me,” she said as she breezed inside, pulling up short when she caught sight of Rachel. She lifted a hand. “Hey, Rachel. Sorry, I interrupted something. I’ll come back later.”
“Hey, Evie. No need to leave. You said you were hungry? There’s leftover pizza in the fridge,” Rachel told her before going back to her sketchbook.
Vic grinned at his sister, who visibly relaxed. “Get me a beer while you’re up too.”
Evie brought him a beer and a glass of water for Rachel.
“We missed you tonight at Gregori’s,” he told her.
“I drove Mom and all the rest of the ladies to the casino and hung out with them so I could drive them all back when they were done. And by the way, have you seen how much they can drink? I honestly had to roll more than one of them into the car at the end and threaten to kick anyone out if they barfed. Mom won a few hundred bucks at the slot machines. Tipped me fifty for being their driver she said.”
Vic snorted. “Look at it this way, the next few times they go, someone else will play chaperone.”
Evie snickered. “To be totally honest with you? They’re all a hoot. They’ve set sail to I-Don’t-Give-A-Fuck Island and it’s fun to hang out with them.”
Rachel laughed. “Your mother and her friends are definitely a hoot. They all know so much and it’s spooky and awesome at the same time.”
Vic warmed at the words. He loved that Rachel understood how magic his mother was.
“Tonight they were telling me stories about all the men who’d done them wrong and how they’d gotten even. I learned some stuff, let me tell you. If Vic messes up, let me know,” Evie told Rachel.
The two had warily been making attempts at getting to know one another not just as neighbors, but much more like family. Now that Rachel was doing Evie’s ink, they’d been around one another a lot without Vic around.
It pleased him to see.
Rachel winked at Vic before she thanked Evie for the offer.
Evie looked to Rachel and then back to Vic. There was something she wanted to tell him but didn’t know if she could say it in front of Rachel.
Vic tipped his chin to indicate it was okay with him so it was up to Evie.
“Tonight when I stopped by to pick Mom up, I overheard one of them tell her the girl’s parents are talking about Danil again. Trying to stir up trouble for Mom and Dad at church,” Evie said at last.
Rachel was paying attention, but remained silent.
Danil’s old girlfriend had been with him when he’d died. Her family had blamed—rightfully in part—Danil for their daughter’s descent into opiate addiction.
“Did you talk to Mom about it?” he asked his sister.
“No. She avoided being alone with me all night long so I figure she doesn’t want to talk about it. I thought you’d want to know.”
“Did Aunt Klara say anything?” Gregori’s mother was Irena’s sister and they were very close.
“When I dropped Mom off, Aunt Klara stayed there so I think they were going to talk about it.” Evie looked into Vic’s eyes. “This is going to open up all those wounds again.”
Vic went to her, taking her hands. “I’ve told you before, this is something they’re always going to be hurt by. Something you and I will always be hurt by too. He was our brother and their son. And that girl is someone’s daughter and sister.” He smiled at her softly. “Thank you for telling me. I promise to keep an eye on her. They surface once a year or so. I guess it’s time. They’ll go away if we don’t engage.”
His little sister looked sad a moment. She’d been barely eighteen back when Danil had died. Barely more than a kid and for most of her life their brother had been a fuckup of one type or another.
She’d grown up with an addict in the house and it had left a mark. On him too.
“How’s the tattoo healing up?” Rachel asked her, artfully changing the subject so Evie would feel better.
“Itchy. But it’s all good. I take it we’ll have you and Maybe with us this weekend?”
The bakery had a table at a food fair that weekend at Seattle Center and the Dolan sisters would naturally be there to help. His mother hadn’t even asked, which Rachel and Maybe seemed charmed by.
His mother had strange and wondrous powers of persuasion.
“Yes you do. I’ll see you bright and early Saturday morning,” Rachel said.
“Cool. Mom can’t stop talking about you. So keep on being good to Vic so she can keep being happy. She’s a bear when she’s not happy.”
That made Rachel chortle a little. “I’ll try to keep it up. It’s not that hard, your brother is pretty cute and your mother brings me food.”
“She bakes for you when she loves you,” Evie told her. “Kidding aside, you’re good to her. You let her teach you stuff and that makes her so happy.”
Rachel shook her head. “It’s the other way around. It’s your mom who lets me learn from her. She’s ridiculously patient with me, though she did crack my knuckles with that flat wooden spoon of hers once.”
The three of them shuddered a moment. His mom was small but unexpectedly quick with that spoon if you got out of line.
“It’s always wise to stay out of reach when she’s got that spoon,” Vic advised. “Think of her like a crocodile. She can leap.”
The three of them dissolved into laughter.
“Anyway, she’s opened her kitchen to me and I know that’s the heart of your family. So I’m honored she’d think I was worthy. And she’s got great stories.”
Before Vic could stop it, his sister piped up immediately demanding to know what stories.
Rachel’s glance in his direction told him the story was going to be about him in some way and he braced himself.
“She told me about the time there was a kitten in the big evergreen in your backyard and how you climbed up to get it and then once you handed the kitten off you puked all over her because you’d been terrified the whole time but didn’t realize it until you’d handed your cargo off.”
“Did you meet Ashes or just hear the story?” Vic asked of their fat, persnickety old family cat.
“He came out to hang with me and your dad while we had our tea. Your mother sneaked little bits of meat to him when she thought no one was looking.”
“She acted like she was going to make us find a home for him at first. But she’s the one who started calling him Ashes. My dad shook his head at her and said, ‘Now you’ve done it’ and went on with his life.”
“Your mom has a crunchy exterior but on the inside she’s all goo. Not that she won’t cut a bitch who messes with her or her family, but you know what I mean,” Rachel said.
“What’s your mom like?” Evie asked. “I mean, if you want to talk about it and you probably don’t. So no big deal, let’s pretend I never asked.”
“The conservatorship was tossed out today. So I’m feeling free tonight. I can tell you what she was like for me. But I will also tell you that’s not who mothered Maybe. She was different for both of us in some ways. Anyway. Compared to your mom, mine is a lot smaller. She takes up less space. She doesn’t have opinions in the same way. I mean, she’s got opinions on everything, but unless it’s about clothes or hair, my dad told her what to think and that’s how she believes.”
“Clearly that didn’t rub off on you or Maybe,” he muttered, startling Rachel into a laugh.
“She tucked me in every night of my childhood. Put bandages on my scrapes, attended my school stuff like softball games and spelling bees. Took pictures of my dresses on formal dance nights. But her kitchen was perfect when she wasn’t cooking. So there was no hanging out and drinking tea in there. There was no rummaging through the fridge for snacks. No thrown-together popcorn-for-dinner night with string cheese and an orange because you were tired or hadn’t gone to the grocery store.”
“She’s like the anti-Irena,” Evie said.
Vic exclaimed, intending to rein his sister in. But Rachel said, “Ha! Yes, pretty much. Like for real I get that your mother is ride-or-die for your dad. You can see it in how they are with one another. But she’s not his messenger. Not unless she wanted to be. She’s got her own opinions. Her own mind. And she might whack you with that spoon but she accepts her kids for who they are and she’d never allow anyone to harm them.”
Which was totally true. And why they’d been so utterly devastated when Danil had died. They’d failed to protect their child. It didn’t matter that he’d been an adult. It didn’t matter that they’d tried time and again to get him help and he’d relapsed every time.
* * *
“SHE’LL NEVER GET over the failure she feels about Danil,” Vic told Rachel later, after Evie had dashed off home.
“Your mom or Evie?”
“Both probably. God knows we all have guilt about it.”
“So his girlfriend’s parents go to the same church as your parents?” Rachel asked.
“We all used to go to the same church. They weren’t close family friends, but of course we knew them. And when she ended up with Danil they became enmeshed with us. The arrests. Danil stole from them, she stole from my parents. They blamed him and I can’t fault that. He assaulted their child. It doesn’t matter that she was an addict too. He did what he did. My parents blamed her and I suppose that’s true as well.
“When he died, her parents were absolutely vicious. They started rumors, caused more than one person to disconnect from my parents because they were just trying to get away from the drama.”
Vic snuggled into the chair with her and she perched in his lap, pulling the blanket over them both.
“My family had lost Danil forever, but their kid was alive. But not returned to them. She’s still an addict. Still on the streets. It was impossible for my parents to grieve much less heal when the place they should have been able to receive solace from had become yet another situation they had to navigate. So they left that church and started attending the other in town. It turns out it was a good move. My mom has a home there. Friends. She’s active and connected and it’s best for everyone that they made the change.”
“But they’re back? They can’t just be satisfied with what they’ve got given the comparison with what your parents have?”
Rachel was indignant on their behalf and he hugged her before continuing. “It has always felt to me like if they truly let it go they’ll have to admit they might never save their daughter before she too ends up dead like Danil. What parent wants to admit that? So they pop up once a year or so and attempt to make trouble.”
“What can I do?” Rachel asked.
What had he done in his life to deserve her?
“She might need a little extra attention over the next week or so. Her friends will circle around her to protect her the best they can. She needs to stay busy,” Vic said as he kissed the top of her head.
“What about your dad? I know he likes to make her life easier. It’s got to be hard on him. Harder because this must gut your mom and he can’t make it better.”
Vic was beginning to understand that very thing. He wanted to protect Rachel and her artist’s heart and soul and he couldn’t. Not from everything.
“He’ll want to run interference. Try to be the wall between her and whatever is happening.”
His father had been down the darkest hole after Danil’s death. Had felt the sting of failure like his mother had. But he felt he’d failed Irena too. Not just Danil, but his wife, the mother of his children.
“And you?” She traced the line of his cheek. “What do you need? You’re the big brother. The oldest son who wants to protect his mom and dad from hurt. How can I make it better for you?”
“You do. Every day.” He hugged her and they stayed that way for a long while afterward.