* * *
Finola arrived a few minutes early for her dinner with Zennie. As she walked into the café-style restaurant, she tried to remember the last time the two of them had gotten together without Ali and honestly didn’t think it had ever happened. Usually it was the three of them or just her and Ali.
She spotted her sister already at a table and made her way across the restaurant.
“Thanks for suggesting this,” she said as she sat down. “I appreciate the support. Everything has been so awful lately. I keep waiting for word to get out.”
She didn’t get more specific—who knew who might be sitting nearby. She picked up her menu. “What’s good here? I am so having a cocktail. What about you?”
“I’m going to pass on the alcohol, but you go ahead. As for the food, it’s all good.”
There was something in Zennie’s tone. Finola studied her short hair and unlined face. Zennie had never been one for makeup or high style. She dressed for comfort, and her idea of a good time was a five-mile run or a 6:00 a.m. surf session. Finola didn’t have the athletic gene but she worked out plenty—mostly to stay camera thin.
When their server arrived, she ordered vodka and soda, to stay on her low-carb program, then scanned the various entries. There was a nice grilled ahi she would get with a salad and a side of broccoli. She’d already calculated a second drink into her daily calorie plan and should be fine. She’d lost a bunch of water weight and had upped her strength training. In a week her clothes would be loose and in two, the weight loss would be noticeable. She couldn’t wait for the compliments.
Zennie asked for herbal iced tea with extra lemon. When their server had left, Finola leaned toward her. “You doing all right? You seem...different.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure. You tell me. Everything okay at work?”
“It is.”
“Good.” Finola sighed. “I’m exhausted all the time. I know it’s the stress, but still. I keep waiting to hear from, ah, you know who.” She glanced around again, but none of the other diners seemed to be interested in them. “So far the shows have gone well. We’ve had good guests and no surprises.” She wanted to say the house felt empty, but once again was aware of who might be listening. Damn. She should have suggested they get takeout at her place or something.
Zennie looked at her. “Finola, I didn’t ask you here to talk about you. I wanted to tell you what’s going on with Ali. I’ve been waiting for her to say something, but it’s obvious she’s not going to. I guess she thinks what you’re going through is more important than what she is, but she’s wrong. It’s a big deal.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yes, I know. Glen dumped Ali. The wedding is off.”
Finola stared at her. The server returned with their drinks. Finola took a long swallow, then tried to understand what she’d been told.
“It’s over? No, it can’t be. She never said anything.” Not a word. When she’d last seen Ali, her sister had been just like she always was. There had to be a mistake. “When did this happen?”
“The same day Nigel—”
Finola stopped her with a glare. “Not here!”
“Whatever. That same Friday. She called me because she thought you were going to Hawaii and she didn’t want to ruin your vacation. When you showed up at Mom’s, she made us promise not to say anything so we could just deal with you.” Zennie’s tone made it clear she thought Ali was an idiot.
“Like I said, I’ve been waiting for her to say something but when I realized she wasn’t going to, I figured you’d want to know. Or not.”
“What does that mean?”
“You seem a lot more concerned about someone overhearing your news than worrying about your sister getting dumped a few weeks before her wedding.”
“That’s not fair. I’m in shock. You just told me all this and I’m taking it in. You’ve had a couple of weeks to process. Get off me.” She took another drink. “Did he say why? Are we sure it’s over?”
“It seems that way. Ali’s canceled the wedding.”
The wedding. “She has to be heartbroken. Have you talked to her? Of course you have. How is she doing?”
“She’s coping. It would be nice if you talked to her. You two have always been so close. It’s just wrong she’s going through this by herself to save your feelings.”
“That’s Ali for you.”
“Yeah, and that’s you.”
Finola glared at her. “What does that mean?”
Zennie shrugged. “You live a very Finola-centric life. I know you just found out what happened, which is on her, but no matter what, life seems to revolve around you. It should be Ali’s turn to get a little care and comfort right now. She’s lost Glen, she’s got the wedding to cancel and she gave up her apartment to move in with him, which means right now she has nowhere to live. Maybe she could move in with you for a few weeks.”
Finola still couldn’t get her mind around all that was happening. First Nigel, then Glen. Ali canceling the wedding and needing somewhere to live.
“I should go see her.”
“You should.”
There was something in Zennie’s tone. “You mean right now?”
Her sister smiled. “You can finish your drink first.”
Chapter Eleven
Thirty minutes later, Finola stood at Ali’s door. She’d brought seafood dinner for two from the restaurant and desperately hoped her sister had vodka, soda and ice. She was still trying to shake off Zennie’s judgy attitude at their nondinner. It wasn’t her fault she didn’t know about the breakup. If no one said anything, how was she supposed to figure it out on her own? She wasn’t psychic and there hadn’t been the slightest hint. She and Ali were texting nearly every day and her sister had never said a word.
She knocked loudly, then realized she’d never bothered to find out if Ali was home. Before she could figure out what to do if she were gone, the door opened. Ali stood there, a chocolate batter-covered wooden spoon in hand.
“Finola! Did I know you were stopping by?” Ali stepped back to let her in. “I was making brownies and then I was going to get some takeout for dinner.”
Finola held up the bags she held. “I’ve brought dinner. Ahi. I hear it’s delicious.”
Ali looked confused but happy. “Okay, that’s really nice. Thank you.” She glanced back at the kitchen. “We’ll, ah, have to eat at the coffee table. I’m kind of short a table and chairs right now.”
“What?”
“Long story. Let me get the brownies in the oven, then we can eat dinner and catch up.”
Finola followed her sister into her small kitchen and saw that there was indeed an empty space by the window in the corner. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d eaten her dinner while seated on the floor, but as long as there was vodka and later Uber...
“Do you have anything to drink?” she asked as Ali poured thick batter into an eight-by-eight pan.
“Like water or soda or something else?”
“Something else?”
Ali grinned. “There’s vodka in the freezer and a choice of mixers in the refrigerator. Limes are in that bowl on the counter.”
Five minutes later, the brownies were in the oven and the dirty dishes soaking. Finola had made them each a drink. As she handed Ali hers, she said, “Sweetie, why didn’t you tell me?”
For a second her sister looked genuinely confused, then her expression cleared and she wrinkled her nose. “Mom or Zennie?”
“Zennie. You should have said something. I want to know when things happen, especially when your fiancé turns out to be a complete asshole. You’ve been going through so much. Why didn’t you want me to be a part of that?”
“It wasn’t that. Finn, your thing is bigger. I mean, come on, you and Nigel? That was magical. You’ve been together for so long and I knew you wanted to get pregnant. I couldn’t mess up that, so that’s why I didn’t call you right away. Plus, I thought you were on vacation. Then when I found out what had happened, my news just seemed unimportant.”
Finola put her drink down and hugged her sister. “It’s not unimportant. It matters and I want to be here for you.”
Ali hugged her back. “Thanks. It was a shock, although based on what a few people have said, only a shock for me.”
“What do you mean?”
Ali leaned back against the counter. “A couple of people at work mentioned they weren’t really surprised. I’ve heard from some of our friends and they weren’t shocked, either. I guess everyone knew Glen didn’t love me except for me.”
Tears filled her eyes. Finola knew that feeling of hopelessness and knew it didn’t help make things better.
“I didn’t know,” she said quickly. “Zennie didn’t know. We love you and think you’re perfect. If Glen’s too stupid to see that, then good riddance. How are you coming on canceling the wedding?”
“It’s going pretty well. Daniel’s been helping and that’s made a difference.”