I glance down at his phone, protruding from his pocket. “Were you talking to the client?”
“Yes.” He hesitates. “Well, no. Not exactly. That was Suzette on the phone. The clients… they are friends of hers. She would like me to meet with them tomorrow.”
“Oh…” I had been hoping tomorrow could be a family day. “Where are you meeting them?”
He hesitates another beat. “It is informal meeting. At private beach.”
Alarm bells sound in the back of my head. “A meeting at the beach? Will Suzette be there?”
“Well… yes. They are her friends.”
I do not like any part of this. First, Enzo is ducking out on a family day. Second, a business meeting at the beach? Third, I don’t want him alone around Suzette in a bikini. Especially after that smile on his face when he was talking to her.
A fleeting thought drifts into my head. The other day, when the plumber showed up to demand his money, Suzette was wearing a new expensive-looking bracelet that she told me was a “gift.” And then at the same time, a thousand dollars were suddenly missing from our bank account. Is it possible that Enzo used that money to buy a gift for Suzette?
No, I don’t believe that. He wouldn’t.
And yet…
“If you’re going to the beach tomorrow,” I say, “you need to take the kids. The whole family.”
“What? No.”
“I’m not asking, Enzo.”
He shakes his head. “Millie, this is important business meeting.”
“Our family is important too,” I point out. “You’ve been working nonstop since we moved here—”
“For us.”
“And we hardly ever see you,” I continue. “You haven’t taken the kids to the beach yet since we moved here. They would love it. Nico especially could use a day at the beach—he’s been so down since getting kicked out of Little League. And I’ll keep an eye on them. I won’t disturb you until you’re done with your meeting.”
He’s quiet for a moment, thinking it over. “Okay, yes. I see what you say. I will speak with Suzette. But… she will not be happy.”
Yes, I’ll bet he’s right.
THIRTY-SIX
We are on our way to the beach.
Suzette reluctantly permitted the family to tag along on the beach trip. I didn’t hear the conversation, but I’d imagine she did everything in her power to keep us from going. But we’re still here.
I’m looking forward to it though. It’s a private beach on the coast that only Suzette and her elite group of friends have access to. The beach requires a special card to get in. I’ve been to a lot of beaches in my life, but this is most likely the snootiest beach I’ve ever been to. I bet it’s really nice.
Enzo is driving, and as usual, he’s driving way too fast. I thought he would stop doing that after we had kids, but he still does it. And it doesn’t help that the kids love it.
“Can you please slow down?” I murmur as we pass a sign on the expressway that says 55 mph. We are at least twenty miles above that.
“Millie,” he says. “Everyone is going this fast. We go slower, and they will all be going around us.”
“I don’t drive this fast,” I point out.
He winks at me. “Yes, but you drive like old lady.”
“No, I don’t.”
“My mistake. Old ladies drive faster than you.”
I roll my eyes. “Very funny.”
“It’s true, Mom,” Nico chimes in. “People are always honking at you to go faster.”
Apparently in (on?) Long Island, you’re not allowed to go less than twenty miles above the speed limit.
Except as we’re taking the off-ramp from the expressway, the sound of a police siren comes from behind us. Enzo looks in the rearview mirror and swears in Italian under his breath. “You got to be kidding me,” he mutters.
He pulls over to the side of the road while I resist the urge to say I told him so. The police officer takes his sweet time getting out of the car while Enzo fumbles around, looking for his license.
“Is Dad going to be arrested?” Ada asks in a worried voice.
“No,” I say.
“That would be cool,” Nico says.
“Still no,” I say.
The cop is a guy in his thirties, who seems like he’s not too excited to be doing this in the ninety-degree heat. Enzo rolls down the window and smiles charmingly at him.
