Folk Around and Find Out (Good Folk: Modern Folktales #2)(125)

“He really loved that white suit,” Joshua said, his tone not quite managing to sound sympathetic.

Kimmy snorted inelegantly and marched toward the door. “I’ll go tell Nanna I found him and he’ll be ready in an hour.”

“What will you tell her about the suit?” Frankie asked, moseying over to the table and lifting the lid on one of the pizza boxes.

“I’m not telling her anything.” She opened the door, pausing and looking over her shoulder to add, “They’ll find out when he walks down the aisle with the rest of the groomsmen. It was a ridiculous idea, having him in all white as a junior groomsman. That boy is accident-prone.”

I took a step toward her. “Wait. Will you be back to share pizza?”

Kimmy’s gaze shifted to mine and seemed to soften. “Of course, Dad. I’ll be back when I have my dress on. I hope someone brought an apron for me.”

“’Course we brought you an apron. We wouldn’t want your yellow ball gown to get dirty.” Frankie winked at his sister, tugging at the cuff of his suit. Thank God it wasn’t Frankie’s suit that got damaged, we’d never find a replacement big enough.

“It’s flaxen lemon, and it’s not a ball gown,” Kimmy grumbled. “It’s a mantua.”

With that proclamation, she shut the door, leaving us.

“What’s a mantua?” Frankie picked up a whole pizza box and carried it to a clear spot. Placing it on the table in front of him, he sat, opened the lid, and dug in. This was not unusual. He’d stopped sharing pizzas and started eating his own extra-large years ago, as soon as he’d started playing ball in high school.

Joshua’s gaze turned introspective and he drifted closer to the table. “If memory serves, it’s a gown in the French style. You know Marie Antoinette?”

“Yeah,” Frankie answered around his bite of pizza, which was basically half of a whole slice.

“The dresses she wore—you know, with the draping of the skirt and such—that’s a mantua.”

“Oh. Like Belle in Beauty and the Beast,” Frankie said, finishing the first slice with his second bite.

“You two keep a low profile? Or did you see anyone downstairs?” I grabbed a plate and opened a random box, finding Kimmy’s favorite inside.

“We saw Uncle Beau and one of his brothers. Aunt Shelly wasn’t around, though.” Joshua waited until I’d finished serving myself before shuffling through the boxes to find his preferred toppings.

“That’s okay, they’re staying the week and going fishing with us tomorrow.” I claimed the seat across from Frankie. “Plenty of time to catch up.”

Beau and Shelly had been lifesavers for Charlotte and me. They’d basically been a second set of parents for our entire brood, frequently came along with us on vacations, and were Tommy’s godparents.

That’s right, Tommy—unlike his old man—had been baptized.

“Anyone else see you? I don’t want word getting back to your nanna about the suit.”

“Let’s see.” Joshua scratched his short, dark beard. He’d done a good job of trimming it, must’ve been using the clippers and straight razor I’d sent him for his birthday. “We saw Jackson and Rae, but only in passing. Ms. Melanie and her husband, cousin Heather and Brian, the Hills.”

“You saw Heather?” I asked, the slice of pizza halted halfway to my mouth. “I didn’t know she and Brian were coming.”

Charlotte’s cousin Heather, who I reckoned I should credit for bringing us together in a roundabout way, had served her two years in a Florida jail and then went on to graduate from college with a bachelor’s and master’s in psychology. Last I’d talked to her, she was working as a drug counselor at a facility in south Florida. Her husband seemed to be a nice enough guy but a bit too straight-laced for my taste. Some sort of accountant or actuary or something.

“They were in the gift shop buying shampoo. She said hers exploded on the plane.” Frankie made a face as he chewed. “Same thing happened to me last year when they flew us out for the Rose Bowl. I’ll never pack shampoo next to my underwear again.”

Joshua leaned an elbow on the table and turned to his brother. “All you gotta do is put the bottles in a plastic bag. It’s the pressure change that does it.”

Frankie opened his mouth, but whatever he was about to say was cut off by the suite door flying open. We all turned in unison and I stood on instinct.

Charlotte, looking like an absolute knockout in a bathrobe similar to Kimmy’s, dispatched a stormy look in our direction. “I passed Kimmy in the hall. She told me what happened with Tommy’s suit.” Walking further into the room, she crossed her arms. “Why didn’t y’all tell me?”

Kimmy! That’s the last time I tell her the truth.

Before I could answer, Joshua piped in, “Momma, I’m sorry, but you’re terrible at keeping secrets. If Nanna and Mrs. Calbrini found out before the ceremony, they’d run around here, acting like the sky was falling. Now they’ll find out at the ceremony when it’s too late to do anything about it. It’s a solid plan.”

The love of my life made a scoffing sound. “I keep secrets.”

Frankie and Joshua glanced at each other and then laughed.