Winter Solstice (Winter #4)(34)
“Cool,” Patrick said. “What time does it open?”
Jennifer swallowed. “Eight thirty. I should be back in an hour.”
“Great,” Patrick said. “That’ll give me time to visit with Dad before we leave.”
He’s not suspicious at all, Jennifer thinks. Somehow, the fact that he wholeheartedly believes her makes her feel worse. He thinks her addiction is a thing of the past. He believes she’s honest, forthcoming, transparent. His faith in her is almost more than Jennifer can bear.
Norah is at the Hub waiting for Jennifer, which is a relief, but what is not a relief is that Norah isn’t alone. There’s a man with her, a man about Jennifer’s age with tattoos on his neck and his forearms. He has jet-black hair, longish though not unkempt, and he’s wearing jeans, a gray cashmere sweater pushed up on his arms to display the aforementioned tattoos, and a pair of white Converse high-tops. Is he a hipster or a drug lord? Jennifer can’t tell.
Jennifer checks his wrist for a watch. He’s not wearing a watch, but he sports some fairly nice bracelets—John Hardy silver bangles, if Jennifer had to guess, and one black cord bracelet with a silver and rhinestone skull. He looks at Jennifer and smiles. His teeth are straight and white. He looks friendly. There’s something about his face that’s familiar. Does she know this guy?
“Jennifer, hey!” Norah says. Norah, too, looks hip and stylish. She’s in a black turtleneck, skinny jeans, and Black Watch plaid ballet flats, and she’s wearing a fabulous pair of shoulder dusters that are a cascade of intertwining gold circles. Norah’s hair is cut in an asymmetrical bob, and her makeup is subtle. Norah Vale has never looked so good.
“Norah, hi,” Jennifer says. She isn’t sure how to greet her former sister-in-law–slash–drug dealer. A handshake seems too formal, a hug too intimate. Jennifer settles on an air kiss.
“Can I get you a latte?” Norah asks.
“I’m drinking a matcha,” the man with the bracelets says.
Latte? Matcha? Jennifer gets the distinct feeling that this meeting is not what she expected, and she feels a piercing disappointment. Ativan, she needs Ativan!
“Uh… just coffee,” Jennifer says, feeling suddenly middle aged and fuddy-duddy. “Regular American coffee.”
Norah orders while Jennifer sneaks another look at the man who’s with Norah. Maybe this is Norah’s boyfriend?
The man catches Jennifer’s eye and offers his hand. “You might not remember me? I’m Danko Vale, Norah’s brother. We met… oh, I don’t know… at one of the Quinn family functions years ago.”
“Okay, wait,” Jennifer says, because now that she is looking at the guy full-on, she nearly has it, a memory with him attached. Norah’s brother Danko. Norah, Jennifer recalls, grew up in a bizarre family situation. Lots of brothers, only one of them her full biological brother, and not the one everyone expected. Jennifer tugs at the memory like it’s a stubborn knot. Danko Vale. He’s the tattoo artist, the one who talked Norah into the godforsaken python on her neck. Yes! And… he’s the oldest brother, Norah’s full brother, because the mother reunited with Danko’s father after having three boys by other men, and she got pregnant with Norah.
And… wait! Yes! Jennifer has met Danko before, but not at a Quinn family function. Jennifer and Patrick were up at Great Point in the Land Rover they owned before they bought the BMW, and Patrick got the Rover stuck in the sand. Danko Vale rolled up in a black Jeep. He was brown from the sun, wearing black swim trunks and a red bandana over his head, and with all the tattoos, he resembled nothing so much as a pirate. Patrick was wary at his approach, but then Danko introduced himself and there was an aha moment as Patrick realized he was Norah’s brother, the one who had given Norah away when Norah and Kevin got married. It was a tad awkward, since Norah and Kevin were at that point in a period of split-up-but-still-kind-of-together—however, Danko was a perfect gentleman, not to mention a lifesaver, as he produced a towrope and freed the Land Rover from the soft sand. Patrick, Jennifer remembers, offered Danko forty bucks, but Danko waved the money away, saying, “Nah, man, anything for family.”
“You pulled my husband and me out of the sand!” Jennifer says now. “In our Land Rover, I mean. Up at Great Point.”
Danko snaps his fingers. “That’s right! I told Norah I’d met you, but I thought it was only at the wedding.”
Norah turns around and hands Jennifer her coffee. “I’m glad you guys are hitting it off. Shall we go sit on the bench outside so we can talk?”
Bench outside? Jennifer thinks. So we can talk? The “bench outside” that Norah means is a bench that faces Main Street. It’s the most public place on the entire island. Jennifer does not want to sit on the bench with Norah and Danko, but what choice does she have?
It’s a beautiful morning on Main Street, however, unseasonably mild for the first of November, and so Jennifer takes a seat and raises her face to the sunshine. Just a few Ativan, she thinks. A few meaning twenty. Or thirty. Danko and Norah must be in business together, which is weird, and awful, but who is Jennifer to judge? They are both well dressed; they exude success. They are dealing pharmaceuticals to the top 1 percent; they have an image to uphold now, Jennifer supposes.
“So,” Norah says. “We have a proposition for you. An exciting proposition.”