He arrived twenty minutes late, thanks to a long line at the deli, and rang the bell.
The large black door swung open and Lexie stood on the other side. She had on white walking shorts and a ruffled tank top. Her hair had been pulled into a short ponytail and cute wisps of hair framed her face. As expected, desire kicked him in the gut.
Also as expected, she didn’t look pleased to see him. “You’re late” were the first words out of her mouth.
The same mouth he wanted to greet with a kiss, but he refrained. “But I come bearing gifts.” He held out the flowers in one hand and the bag of food in the other.
“Thank you.” A flash of appreciation lit up her face, but when loud cackles sounded from inside, the joy faded.
“I hope they’re not too drunk to enjoy the food,” Lexie muttered and stepped aside to let him pass through.
“Did you say drunk?” Coop asked.
Lexie sighed. “See for yourself.” She waved a hand and he headed into the violet-scented apartment. She took the flowers and the food and said, “I’ll put these in water and get lunch on the table. The sooner they eat, the sooner they’ll sober up. You can go deal with them in the meantime.”
Coop found Charlotte and another woman in the den with an odd-shaped bottle set on the table in front of them. “Oh, there he is! Isn’t he even more handsome in person?” Charlotte said, more than asked.
“You flatter me.” He stepped forward and leaned over to kiss Lexie’s grandmother on the cheek. A streak of dark coloring ran from her temple toward her ear. Her hair appeared a darker eggplant color, instead of the bright red he’d seen the other day. “You look lovely. And who is your friend?” Coop asked.
“Sam Cooper, this is my best friend Sylvia Krinsky. Sylvia, this is the Bachelor.”
“So nice to meet you!” Sylvia, whose hair was the same color as Charlotte’s, rose to shake his hand.
“Same here.”
“Sit.” Charlotte patted the seat beside her. She hiccupped. “Excuse me,” she said on a giggle.
“I see you started the party without me,” he said, eyeing the bottle of Manischewitz, a brand of traditional Jewish wine.
“Yes, well what’s deli food without a nice glass of vino to go with it?” Sylvia asked. “And Manischewitz is the wine of champions!”
“I don’t think that’s their slogan,” Charlotte said, her words ending on another hiccup. “Excuse me.”
“Well, it should be.”
“Lunch is ready!” Lexie called from the kitchen.
“Did you hear that? Food is served.”
And from the ladies’ giggles between sentences, Lexie was right. It was none to soon.
Coop settled into the seat at the head of the table, as Charlotte insisted. He decided to take his cues from Lexie about how much to reveal to the women and when. Apparently, Lexie wanted to eat first and talk later, hoping to sober them up, no doubt. But Charlotte and Sylvia continued to pass the bottle of wine back and forth between them. Coop figured the wine might loosen their lips about whatever they knew of the jewels.
Lexie didn’t seem as certain. She eyed the women with concern and ate in silence. Not that either he or Lexie could get a word in anyway. Charlotte and Sylvia chattered nonstop.
“So, Grandma, I need to talk to you about your necklace,” Lexie finally said, interrupting them when she saw an opportunity.
Charlotte’s hand went to her empty neck. “Oops, not wearing it today. Today was hair day,” she explained to Coop. “Sylvia and I do each other’s dye jobs in order to save money on those expensive salons.” She patted her hair with one hand.
“I completely understand,” he said to the older woman before turning to Lexie. “Where do you want to start?” he asked.
“At the beginning. Grandma, remember how you were watching on TV when Coop received the ring?” Lexie clenched her hands together, her knuckles turning white under the strain.
“Oh, yes! I knew right then and there you’d be the perfect man for my granddaughter. I’m not getting any younger, you know, and it would be nice to have her settled before I pass on.” Charlotte drew her hands to her heart in true dramatic fashion.
“Gran! Cut that out,” Lexie said, appalled.
Coop wasn’t sure what bothered her more, the fact that Charlotte was still pairing them up as a long-term couple or her talk of dying one day soon.
Lexie exhaled hard. “Let’s try to focus, okay?”
Charlotte’s head bobbed up and down.
Sylvia’s did as well.
“Good. Coop, why don’t you explain what you found out about the ring,” Lexie suggested.
Charlotte and Sylvia closed their mouths and leaned forward in their seats, clearly interested in his story.
Just as he was interested in Charlotte’s reaction. “After I chose the ring, I returned to my office and showed it to my style editor. She immediately recognized it as a valuable piece of a collection. Trifari, she said it was called.” Coop never took his gaze off Lexie’s grandmother.
Wide-eyed, Charlotte listened without comment.
“Go on,” Lexie urged.
“Yes, do,” Charlotte said.
“A little research turned up something very interesting.”
“It was part of a set and my necklace is the match?” Charlotte asked, sounding proud of herself for making the connection.
“I wish it was that simple, Grandma. I need you to listen to what Coop says and please don’t get upset. We need to watch out for your blood pressure.” Lexie’s warm eyes filled with concern.
“My blood pressure’s fine. Medication’s controlling it and you worry too much. Go on, Coop,” Charlotte demanded.
A quick glance at Lexie confirmed that that’s exactly what she wanted him to do.
“The ring appears to be part of a collection of jewelry that does include your necklace.”
“Aha!” Charlotte pumped her frail arm in victory. “I was right.”
Lexie groaned and rolled her eyes.
“But the entire set was stolen during a brazen house robbery in the 1950s. The set disappeared and the thieves were never caught,” Coop explained.
Charlotte fingered the paper napkin on the table, crumpling it into a ball. “Then whoever stole it probably turned it over to a fence and I bet that’s how my Henry got the necklace.”
Lexie frowned and adjusted her glasses, something he noticed she did when deep in thought. “I thought you said Grandpa was given the necklace as payment for chauffeuring services.”