I WAS awakened the next morning by the sound of a strange ringtone. Couldn’t be mine, therefore by process of elimination, either it was Ethan’s or there was a stranger in our room who was receiving telephone calls.
Even half-asleep, I considered that last possibility unlikely.
“Your phone’s ringing,” I mumbled, rolling over toward Ethan’s side of the bed. When he didn’t respond, I popped open an eye. He wasn’t there. Come to think of it, Benny wasn’t barking either. Damn.
I almost fell out of bed, tangled in the sheets as I was, racing to catch the call before it ended. If I’d been thinking more clearly, I would have realized that’s why they make voice mail, but I was still waking up. I snatched the phone up at the last possible moment and said, “Hello,” before it dawned on me maybe I shouldn’t answer Ethan’s phone at all. In my defense, this was an issue that had never arisen before.
A moment of silence, then, “Is this Vinnie?” I searched my brain trying to place the feminine voice. What woman would be calling Ethan at all, much less this early? The only one I could think of was Laverne, our liaison back in Roanoke, but I knew her voice and this wasn’t her.
Then my brain kicked in somewhat. Duh. Sister. Mother. Had to be one of them.
I tried to keep my voice from sounding too masculine, as I ventured a guess. “Mrs. Thorne?” Damn, I botched that, try again. “I mean, Maureen?”
I heard a chuckle. “Yes, dear, it’s me. I’m sorry to bother you….”
“No bother,” I hastened to assure her, instinctively clutching the sheet about me, which was just silly, since this wasn’t a video phone or anything. At that moment the door to our room opened and Benny bounded in, yipping, followed by Ethan.
“Shh, Benny, I’m on the phone,” I tried to quiet him. He must have thought we were playing a game. He caught the sheet in his teeth and tugged at it. Oh hell no.
Ethan was laughing, even as he gave me an inquisitive look. He must have assumed I was on my phone, since they were identical.
“Hold on, he’s right here,” I said and held the phone out toward Ethan. “It’s your mom,” I mouthed. He hurried toward me and took the phone immediately.
“Mom? Is everything all right?”
I scooped Benny up, after prying the sheet out of his mouth, and he quieted immediately, content to be snuggled in my arms. I hadn’t thought Ethan’s mother sounded upset, but what did I know? I listened anxiously to Ethan’s end of the conversation.
“Oh he is? That’s good, then. I’m glad to hear it.” Ethan visibly relaxed. I surmised nothing bad was going on, so I returned the sheet and Benny to the bed, and pulled on a pair of shorts to counter the coolness of the room.
“Is that really a good idea? I mean, are you sure you’re up to that?”
I flopped onto my stomach, facing backward so my head was at the foot of the bed as I monitored the conversation. Ethan’s brows were drawn slightly together, but I could tell he wasn’t upset, just concerned, so I surmised that whatever was going on couldn’t be too bad.
“Oh, that was nice of them,” Ethan commented. “Of course we’ll come. I’m just worried about you, Mom, that’s all. We’ll see you later, then. Just remember to take it easy. I love you.” He hung up, shoved the phone into his pocket, and sighed.
“Something wrong?” I asked.
“Mom’s going home today. She called to let us know that Dad’s on his way to pick her up at the hospital, so she doesn’t need us to give her a ride after all.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Ethan had seemed skeptical that his father would come through, and here the reverend was, stepping right up to the plate. So what was the catch?
“Yeah, I guess so.”
I had a feeling Ethan was wondering the same thing.
“She wants everyone to come over about lunchtime for a family get-together.”
“Today? When she’s just getting out of the hospital?” That seemed like a lot to ask of someone who just had a stroke. Who wanted to put the poor woman through such an ordeal? And why?
“Mom said not to worry, she feels just fine, and she’s not lifting a finger to do a thing. Some of the ladies from the church are bringing all the food.” Ethan dropped down onto the bed beside me, and I rolled over, into his waiting arms. “To be honest I think it’s because she knows we’ll have to go back, and she wants to spend some time with us before we go,” he said softly. “I think she really likes you, Vinnie, and wants to get to know you better.”
I was flattered to hear that. “I like her too. We can always come back to visit, can’t we?” He sighed, and I looked up at him in surprise. “What?”
“This isn’t fair to you,” Ethan replied. “I hate doing this. I want to show you off, not hide you in plain sight. I’m proud of you, Vinnie. Proud of us. It’s not right to ask you to put on a dress just to deal with my family.”
“But you like me in a dress,” I pointed out.
“You know I do. Very much. But not like this. That’s different. That’s you and me having sexy times, and playing around. This… this is just ridiculous. And it’s demeaning to you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I didn’t like the situation either. “Maybe with time?” I said hopefully.
“He’s been this way all my life. I don’t see that changing anytime soon,” Ethan said.
Ethan called his sister to confirm that she was coming and to ask if she wanted us to pick up her and Alexander. She thanked him but declined his offer. I noticed Ethan never mentioned their brother, and he also made no attempt to call him. I couldn’t imagine Joe Junior and his wife wouldn’t be there. It was his mother too, after all. And of course, there was Reverend Thorne. I wasn’t sure how I felt about him, to be honest. I was conflicted. Sometimes he seemed very charming, and at other times, he was a regular iceberg. I’d yet to hear any of his homophobic opinions. But then again the subject had never arisen, and it wasn’t something we were likely to bring up ourselves.
The fact that he made Ethan feel he had to hide who he was—the wonderful, wonderful man that he was—only served to damn his father in my eyes. At least Ethan’s brother was openly obnoxious, and he had nothing to say to me anyway, so he was easy to ignore.
Looking through my somewhat limited wardrobe, I briefly considered wearing a pair of jeans, just so I could be comfortable. After all, women wear them too, right? This wasn’t the fifties, and I wasn’t June Cleaver with her heels and her pearl necklace. But, after some consideration, I regretfully decided not to. I was supposed to be passing as a woman, and I needed all the help I could get to maintain the illusion of my femininity. Generally speaking, if you see someone wearing a dress—outside of a gay nightclub, that is—you can safely assume the dress is being worn by a woman. Oh well, it wouldn’t kill me. At least, that’s what I kept telling myself.
I chose a print maxi dress decorated with flowers in various shades of blue. It came down to my feet and tied around my neck, so I didn’t have to worry about my nonexistent cleavage, or exposing too much leg. I added a blue scarf, which coordinated rather nicely. I had a pair of sandals that went with the dress, and to pretty up my feet, I allowed Ethan to paint my toenails. At first he chose a hot pink shade, which I immediately nixed—I wasn’t even sure why I owned it, but I suspected Ethan was responsible for that—and we compromised finally on a more sedate coral.
I applied a modest amount of makeup—making up for real life was a lot different from making up for the stage. When I was done, I examined myself critically in the bathroom mirror and decided I’d do. Ethan was dressed well before me, naturally. He had it easy. Shirt, pants, shoes, and done. As I stepped out of the bathroom, I spotted him sitting on the bed, having some sort of discussion with Benny. I just rolled my eyes.
He turned his head and gave a sharp wolf whistle. “Look at Mommy, Benny,” he said. “Doesn’t she look beautiful?”
“I’m sure you think you’re funny, Detective Thorne, but I’m here to tell you you’re not,” I growled. “How bad does my leg look in these?” I’d taken off the bandage he’d applied yesterday. After my shower, it wasn’t really sticking anyway.
“Looks fine,” he assured me. “Can’t see a thing through the stockings. Or the dress. You about ready to go? I have Benny’s leash and some treats.” We’d promised to bring Benny with us. He’d probably be glad to go somewhere other than our room and the motel parking lot.
“Yeah, let me grab my purse.” I picked up my soft paisley bag from the dresser, where it was beyond Benny’s reach. I had my gun and cuffs and badge inside, but I’d wrapped them so they wouldn’t clang. I wasn’t about to leave them unprotected in the motel room, even though it would be locked. I’d heard too many horror stories about people having personal items stolen to risk losing those. Besides, you never know when I might need them.
Imperial, where the Thorne family lived, was only about a half-hour drive from Jasper. We stopped at a florist on our way out of town and bought a beautiful bouquet of wildflowers for Ethan’s mother. I thought they were lovelier than the roses we saw, and they didn’t have the cloying scent that I hated about roses.
I don’t know why I was nervous. I tried not to think about where we were going, or what we were doing, busying my fingers in Benny’s fur as he sat on my lap. He didn’t seem to mind and spent most of his time with his face pressed against the window, watching the world go by.
I should have been relieved. Everything was going well. Ethan’s mom was on the road to recovery, and soon we’d be headed back to our little house in Roanoke, back to work, whatever that might be. Who knew where we’d end up next, or what we’d be doing? I didn’t even mind the uncertainty. It beat being stuck in a boring nine-to-five job any day.
But instead of looking forward to going home, I was uneasy, for no reason I could pinpoint. I tried to think over all the possible causes of my anxiety, but that didn’t really help to relieve it. I guess something in my manner betrayed me. Ethan reached for my hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
“What’s wrong, babe? You’re acting all antsy, like something’s bothering you. I can tell when you’re not comfortable about something, and you’re definitely not comfortable.”
“I wish I knew,” I confessed. “Maybe because this is all new to me. You know, like I’m having first-time jitters or something.”
“What do you mean, new to you?”
“You know, the whole family reunion thing.”
“It’s not exactly a family reunion,” Ethan said. “I have other family who live out of state. This is just the immediate family, and you’ve met everyone. No need to be nervous. I’ll be right by your side, don’t worry.”
“I know, but for me, this is the only family reunion I’ve ever been to. I mean, Mom and I… we were just two of us.”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Ethan apologized. “Everything will be fine. Just hang on to me and remember I love you, okay?”
I took a deep breath and stiffened my spine, chasing my misgivings away. “Okay,” I said. “I’ll definitely keep that in mind.”
Ethan laughed, but he never released my hand, for which I was grateful.
Ethan hadn’t been kidding when he said his hometown was small. We reached Imperial late morning, to allow his mother time to get home and get settled before we arrived. I still wondered if this was such a good idea, but I trusted the woman to know how she felt. According to Doctor Nielsen, she hadn’t had a full-blown stroke but a transient ischemic attack, or TIA, and since she’d suffered no ill effects, there was no reason to keep her at the hospital. I had the distinct impression he would have liked to, though.
As we drove through town, the only business I saw was a small mom-and-pop grocery store that sat on the main road and doubled as the local filling station, with a single antiquated gas pump sitting out in front. Ethan said most people did their major shopping in Jasper and the surrounding area, as well as attending school, working, and most everything else.
It was a picturesque little bedroom community, with well-tended homes in a variety of styles, ranging from ranch houses to colonials, some modern tract houses, and one old home that might have been part of a plantation at one time, before the land was broken up and subdivided into smaller parcels. I think the total population was somewhere well under two hundred.
The focus of the community, without a doubt, was Reverend Thorne’s church, which sat on a high rise overlooking the rest of the town, and dominated the landscape. I thought the very placement of the church seemed very much in keeping with the superior attitude of its minister, with the way he held himself above other people. As if he were a law unto himself. And located right next to the church was the home where Ethan and his siblings had grown up.
The house was a two-story brick colonial surrounded by a whole lot of open yard, but few trees. A tire swing hung from the limb of a large oak that stood on one side of the house. In the backyard, I could see a clothesline, bare of laundry. This was rural Americana at its finest, and I envied Ethan growing up in a place such as this, with so much space to run around in. And siblings to run around with.
Suddenly, I felt very out of place.
Ethan pulled the car off the driveway and parked beside some other vehicles. Obviously we were not the first to arrive. Ethan turned to me, and something in my expression must have given me away.
“What’s wrong, babe?” he asked, his handsome face marred by his frown.
“Nothing,” I maintained stoically, but I quickly amended that to, “Just a little overwhelmed is all. It’ll pass.”
“Do you want to sit here for a minute? Till you get your bearings?”
Didn’t that sound like the perfect plan? But I knew it was only postponing the inevitable. I shook my head. “Let’s go see your mother,” I said. “Introduce her to Benny.”
He kissed me softly. “Okay,” he agreed, then came around the car and opened my door. Benny and I got out, and I grappled with the flowers, while Ethan grabbed the leash and the treats from where he’d tossed them in the backseat. The leash was just in case. I hoped we wouldn’t have to use it.
The house had a generous front porch, with a swing even bigger than ours. I hoped we’d find some quiet time to enjoy it while we were here. Just as we reached the first step, the door opened, and a figure stepped out, closing it behind her. Joe Junior’s wife, Heather. She was wearing a bright yellow sundress and expensive-looking sandals. I smirked when I noticed the garish purple color that decorated her toes. I had infinitely better taste.
She seemed flustered and was breathing heavily. But when she saw us, she tossed her head in a gesture of some disdain and thrust her hand behind her back. I wondered what she had that she didn’t want us to see.
“Everybody’s inside,” she said, although no one had asked her anything. Her gaze fell on Benny. “That your baby? I guess those who can’t have the real thing have pets,” and she swept down the steps and pushed past us without a backward glance.
Those who can’t… say what? I spun toward her and started to sputter in indignation, but Ethan got a word in even faster than I did.
“And you have neither, Heather, so what does that mean?” He never raised his voice above dead calm. I had to admit that was more effective than screaming at her.
Now I saw what she’d been hiding from us. She held a single cigarette guiltily between her fingers. Was that all? I would have thought it was something much worse. Maybe the Reverend didn’t allow her to smoke, at least in his house, so she had to sneak off to feed her addiction? How pathetic was that?
Her eyes narrowed at us, and her lips pursed in disapproval, as if she’d just sucked on a lemon. “You don’t know anything, Ethan Thorne!” she hissed at him. “Not a damn thing.” Then she flounced off before he had a chance to respond.
Well, wasn’t that interesting? And to think the fun had just begun.
“Ignore her,” Ethan said. “I don’t know what her problem is, and I really don’t care.” He pushed open the front door and nodded me in, following closely behind. I held Benny tightly. I wasn’t about to let him down on the floor until I knew it was permitted. No one was going to yell at our dog for being where he shouldn’t be.
The entryway was narrow, with a closed door that I presumed to be a closet. A flight of steps hugged the left side, obviously going to the second floor. A hall ran toward the back of the house, with at least one room leading off it, maybe more. I looked toward Ethan, trying to get a clue as to which direction to go in.
“Everyone’s probably in the living room,” he said, taking the lead. As I followed him down the hall, the soft sounds of conversation floated to us. We must have been going the right way. We walked through the first doorway on our right and found ourselves in the living room. And we were not alone.
Ethan’s mother was sitting in a blue flower-print armchair, a patchwork quilt tucked around her. She looked a little better than when we’d seen her yesterday, and had a little more color in her cheeks. I guess getting out of the hospital wasn’t a bad thing, then.
Ethan’s sister sat on a nearby couch, Alexander on her lap. She was reading a book to him, and he was touching it, repeating what she said. There was no sign of Ethan’s father or brother, and of course we’d just run into his sister-in-law.
“Mom, how do you feel?” Ethan crossed the room to her side, leaned down, and kissed her forehead. I trailed him like a lost puppy. She smiled up at him and then at me.
“I feel much better,” she assured him. “Hello, Vinnie. Is this Benny?”
I nodded, and Ethan confirmed, “That’s him.”
“Will he let me pet him?” she asked me.
“Absolutely.” I stepped closer to her chair, so she could reach him. But Benny had other ideas. He leapt out of my relaxed grasp, almost taking the flowers with him, and straight onto Maureen’s lap.
“Benny!” I scolded him. “You weren’t invited. Come back here.”
Maureen laughed. “He’s fine, Vinnie, don’t worry. You’re fine, aren’t you, Benny? Such a cute boy,” she cooed at him. She offered him her hand, and he sniffed at it before she began to pet him. He gave a yip of approbation, before he gave us a “what did I tell you” look and settled onto her lap.
“Spoiled brat,” I muttered, suddenly aware of the flowers I still held. “These are for you,” I said, apropos of nothing, and was rewarded with a warm smile.
“Those are lovely, Vinnie. Thank you.”
“You sure he’s not too much?” a concerned Ethan asked.
“I’ve had far bigger dogs in my lap, trust me. It’s what I do, remember?” I’d forgotten for a moment that Maureen was a vet. She seemed completely at home with Benny, and he seemed entirely at ease with her.
“That’s true, doesn’t mean I don’t still worry.” Ethan glanced over at his sister and nephew. “Hey, sis. Everything going okay?”
“Peachy keen,” she glibly replied. Alexander’s attention wandered from the book to us. New people to pay attention to him.
He raised his arms and said something I assumed was “Pick me up.” I wasn’t exactly fluent in child-speak.
“I think someone wants his Uncle Ethan,” I joked. Ethan reached down and swung the little boy up in the air. He laughed.
“Vinnie,” Maureen said. “You look lovely today. That’s a very pretty dress. And welcome to our home. I’m so glad Ethan brought you.”
“Thank you.” I tried not to blush too much. “I’m very happy to be here. Just for the record, Ethan picked this out. He’s the one with taste, not me.”
“I knew he had taste the moment I saw you,” Ethan’s mother said. “I’m just glad I got this chance to meet you, after hearing about you for so long.”
That produced a moment of silence. I didn’t dare glance at Ethan, afraid of opening that can of worms again. Not exactly something we could get into here, since the reason for my lack of an introduction was still something of a sore point better not raised. At least we were working on it.
“Mom, I’m going to get something to drink and put the flowers in some water. Can I bring you anything?” Ethan broke the silence.
“I’m good,” she assured him. I noticed she had a glass on a small table beside her. “I’m not sure what we have, Ethan. I haven’t had a chance to go to the store—”
“And you’re not going to, like I told you before,” Sarah interrupted. “You can make a list and I’ll go for you later. I’ll come with you and see what there is, bro.” As she rose from the sofa, she tugged down the edge of her T-shirt, which had ridden up a little when she moved.
“Shirt shrink a little?” Ethan teased as we followed her out of the room and down the hall in the opposite direction from where we’d come in. She didn’t reply, at least not verbally, but she did flip him the bird over her shoulder.
The kitchen was warm and cozy. I got the feeling this was the heart of the house, the place where people gathered at all times of the day, for laughter and stories or whatever people did when they got together. Light wood cabinets dominated the decor, and the walls were a cheery but not obnoxious yellow. An island sat in the middle of the room, with wooden stools on one side. Ethan waved me to sit while he balanced Alexander on one hip, opened the fridge, and poked his head inside.
“Hey, who brought the six-pack?”
“I did, who else? I figured the three of us might want a little something to fortify us,” Sarah said.
Ethan emerged from the refrigerator with three cans. He gave his sister a quizzical look. She seemed to understand his unspoken question.
“He’s on his best behavior today. Go figure.”
Ethan tossed one of the cans to Sarah, and she handily caught it. He handed me one and kept one for himself. “I would hope so. Where is he?”
“Where else? In his study.”
“Where’s Joey?”
“He dropped Heather off and split, said he’d be back. I think they’re fighting or something.”
“That might explain her bitchiness,” Ethan commented.
“Naw, she’s just a bitch,” Sarah retorted, and they both laughed.
“What’s so funny?” came an unexpected voice from the doorway. We all turned somewhat guiltily toward the source. Reverend Thorne stood there. He was smiling, that was something. I was glad I hadn’t laughed at the joke. I was pretty sure any chuckling on my part would be altogether too masculine to pass off as a woman’s.
“Can I get you something, Father?” Sarah asked, ignoring the question. I could understand her reasoning. I didn’t think the comment would go over well with the minister, considering it was about his protégé. Or whatever she was. No sense in stirring the hornet’s nest.
“Thank you, no. I thought I heard Ethan’s voice, just wanted to see if I was right.”
I watched Ethan and his sister to see if they were going to hide the fact that they were each holding a beer, but neither made a move in that direction, so neither did I. Maybe he wasn’t temperance after all.
“It’s good to see you, son,” he said, and he sounded sincere, which just confused me even more. It was hard to reconcile all these facets of his personality into a coherent whole. It just went to show that people are complicated, and you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Like Detective Muldoon, who presented the face of a homophobe to the outside world, but was also loving and considerate of his gay brother. Go figure.
“And you, Miss Vinnie”—Ethan’s father turned to me then, with an equally welcoming smile—“are looking particularly lovely. My son has very good taste, I must say. I hope you are doing well today?”
“Yes, thank you, Reverend Thorne,” I said softly, “very well. And yourself?” I hesitated to use his given name, although he’d said I could. I half expected him to tell me to call him Joseph or Joe or something, as he had before, but that offer wasn’t forthcoming.
“How could I not be doing well in the bosom of my family?” he countered. As he spoke, he reached for his grandson, who was still in Ethan’s arms. “Mind if I take Alexander?” he asked, but he already had the child in his arms before Ethan could get out a word. The little boy seemed happy enough to go with his grandfather. He was a real people person, like his uncle. “I thought you might like to take those outside, since it’s such a nice day.”
So he had noticed and obviously disapproved. But I guess he was within his rights, here in his own home. Even though we were all adults, well above the legal drinking age. But he hadn’t yelled at us either.
The three of us stood there in a sort of stunned silence as the minister headed out of the room, talking baby talk to his grandson.
He paused in the doorway and turned back to us. “Ethan, there’s something important I’d like to talk to you and Vinnie about,” he said. “Please come to my study when you’re done outside.” Not waiting for an answer, he left the room and disappeared from view.
Now I could add apprehension to my list of other reactions to the man, my stomach beginning to knot. What could he possibly want with us? If I’d been outed, surely he would have denounced me right then and there before tossing me unceremoniously out of his home. Since that hadn’t happened, I had to think there was some other matter requiring our attention.
“So are we going to do what he said, or are we going to make a stand?” Sarah tossed back her blonde hair almost defiantly. She was quicker to anger than Ethan, I noticed. More volatile. Ethan was more laid-back and mellow.
“I don’t see any point in stirring him up,” Ethan said. “Besides, I’m sure Benny needs to go out. We can let him run around a little, then I guess we’ll find out what Dad wants with us.” His last words were directed at me, naturally.
“Makes sense. Besides, you don’t want to upset your mother by fighting with him, do you?” I said.
“Why not? Isn’t that what—” Sarah responded sharply. But whatever she intended to say went unsaid. “I’ll meet you outside,” she said and exited through a back door I hadn’t noticed before.
Ethan and I looked at each other. “Did I say something wrong?” I fretted. “I didn’t mean to.”
“No, babe.” Ethan sighed. “I think she’s riled up about something else. She didn’t mean anything.” He reached for me, and I went willingly into his arms. “Don’t worry about Dad. I’m sure it’s not what you think. Maybe he just wants us to promise to visit more often, now that he’s met you? Can’t blame him for that. You’re something special.”
“Flatterer!” I rolled my eyes, but I made no move to escape the arms that encircled me. “I thought we were taking Benny out?”
“We are. Can’t I just hold you for a minute?”
“Of course.” I took advantage of our proximity to loop one of my legs around his, drawing us even closer together. I heard his breath hitch.
“Damn, Vinnie,” he fairly moaned. Belatedly I realized what I was risking by doing this. Good thing we were going outside. It would be easier to hide an excited state away from everyone.
“You wait here, I’ll go get Benny,” Ethan volunteered. That sounded like a plan. He kissed me softly. “But do hold that thought.” He winked before he headed out of the kitchen. Damn, I hadn’t been thinking. I turned my back away from the doorway and did a quick adjustment. Nothing says hello like being sprung, does it?