The Throwbacks (17 page)

“Noodles?” Oscar said.

Mabel, phone in hand, shook her head sadly at Grace and gave a long sigh before punching the number in.

“Dear Grace, we’re calling David over to see you, not Oscar. In fact, even though it would amuse me greatly, I’m not at all sure he
should
see Oscar. Wouldn’t there be some ethical code that required him to turn you in for something or other? Aren’t you on the lamb for something? Or an escapee?” She put the phone to her ear. Oscar laughed and shook his head.

Grace was confused, but her heart was beating too fast at the prospect of confronting David again. She wasn’t sure she could take any more rejection from him. On the other hand, she had to see him to win him over, didn’t she? She started breathing fast.

“Sit back down and relax, sweetheart,” Oscar said. “You’re hyperventilating. You’re starting to scare me. It’ll be all we can do, as it is, to keep Batman from having a heart attack once he gets a load of me. I’ve never been much of a nurse.” He quirked a half smile.

She sat next to him and looked at his sad, tired eyes. They still sparkled in spite of everything he must have seen. What must he have been through in the intervening years? And here she was getting all wimpy about—well, losing the possible love of her life. Not so small a thing, after all. She felt a flutter in her gut at the thought of David walking through that door.

“Noodles is my dog,” she said. Oscar seemed to be studying her. She needed to keep breathing.

“Thanks for clearing up that mystery. Looks like Mabel is having quite the discussion with her nephew.” Oscar nodded in Mabel’s direction. Grace dared to glance over and saw the woman smile and then place the phone back in its cradle with a flourish before swinging around to face them.

“Mission accomplished! I do love a challenge. I’d forgotten what it’s like to have something really meaningful to do—an important goal.”

“What mission is that?” Grace squinted her eyes at the woman. Mabel laughed.

“You and David. You are my mission. I believe you belong together—and by whatever means possible. I’ve never played matchmaker, but it’s absolutely needed in this case. It would break my heart if you two didn’t get together.”

“Mine too,” Grace said. She wasn’t so sure David would like it, and from the look on Oscar’s face, he wasn’t enjoying the notion much either.

“I can’t claim I’d be heartbroken. I’m not convinced he deserves her,” Oscar said. He examined her eyes. “David may not be the one for you because he is old; but worse than that, he’s world weary. He’s not the least bit family oriented—his lifestyle is unsuitable for a family.

“And let’s face it, Grace, family is what you are all about. I don’t believe you can think of David as your family man Mr. Right.” Oscar stood and paced.

She tried not to dwell on the man’s point, but her stomach tightened. She felt as if she were wearing an iron corset. She wanted to join Oscar in his pacing, but there wasn’t enough room for both of them to pace around Mabel’s parlor. They’d have to go to her ballroom for that: the room where she met David only a few nights ago.

She turned to Mabel with a new thought. The woman looked too much like the cat that swallowed the canary for Grace’s comfort.

“How did you know I’d meet David at your party?”

The woman’s smile grew.

“I’d planned it carefully and hoped for the best, kiddo,” she said with her best Oscar impression. He grunted his recognition. “I’ve known this trio of lugs all their mischievous, wretched, celebrated lives—and loved every twist and turn of the adventure for all three of them. Although I’m glad I wasn’t in the shoes of their poor parents. The minute I met you I fell for you the same way I did for them. You were as fun as a box of toys, more refreshing in your innocence than a schoolyard of kids and more beautiful than any pageant queen I’d ever seen. But what impressed me most about you was that you were willing to hold out for the real thing. That takes guts—and it reminded me of myself. I promised myself I wouldn’t let you get as far as I had in life without finding Mr. Right. I wanted to make sure you got your family—your real family, with all the kids you want.

“I never had that particular dream the way you do. I’ve never seen anyone so dedicated to it and still not compromising to get it. You inspired me to be a closet matchmaker. Well, I’m out of the closet now, but I’m in your corner. And if it’s any consolation to you, I’d take odds that you’ll get what you want and what you deserve.” Mabel finished with a triumphant clap of her hands.

“You mean lay odds,” Oscar said. “Nice touching speech, Mabel. But I’m not so sure I’d lay odds on the house full of kids. And I differ about the wretched lives part for all of us. No one has had a less wretched and more wonderful storybook life than Dick Tracy.”

Grace’s tension coiled ever tighter at the discussion about her dream for children, but she couldn’t think about that any more right now or she’d explode. Or at least cry.

“You know Dick Tracy as Dan O’Keefe, the chief of police and Batman’s sidekick,” Oscar said as he looked out the window. “He’s the third mischief-maker in our North End trio of Musketeers.” He folded his arms and watched her. Then he turned to Mabel, “When will he be getting here, dear aunt?”

“A few minutes. It’ll be a shock for him to see you.” She turned to Grace. “It’s a sensitive topic for Dan and David to have associated with Oscar, so we don’t talk much about it and they certainly don’t talk to others about it, I imagine.”

The doorbell rang. “We’ll see now. He’s here,” Oscar said.

Mabel rubbed her hands together and nodded to Marsha, who appeared in the hall to answer the door. Grace jumped up from her seat on the couch and held her breath.

“Yap, yap, yap, that’s all this dog does. I got a good headache on the way over here, so there better be a good reason for this.” Sophia-the-Pixie carried Noodles into the entryway, stroking the tiny dog’s head. She saw Grace and walked toward her into the middle of the parlor.

“Well, if it isn’t Tinkerbell.” Oscar threw his arms open for a hug. Grace watched her friend spin around and moved in to rescue Noodles. Sophia’s hands flew to her face, Grace caught the dog and the Pixie shrieked. Mabel cackled and had to sit down on the nearest surface, which was an end table—almost knocking over a priceless ivory Erte-inspired lamp.

Oscar caught Pixie, who immediately squirmed out of the man’s arms while he laughed more genuinely than Grace had seen yet. Maybe he was okay, she thought and realized she was worried about him—the same way he was worried about her. That warmed her insides better than a hot cup of tea. But even so, it was nothing like the heart-melting feeling that David gave her.

“What the heck is going on here? Oscar? Oscar!” Pixie shouted and backed up a step as if he were a ghoul instead of a long-lost friend.

“Don’t worry, he’s here for a friendly visit. He’s not here to shoot us.” Grace patted her diminutive friend on the shoulder and winked at Oscar.

“You here to help with the murder investigation? Are you somehow involved?” Pixie looked from Oscar to Grace, still not convinced of the man’s ability to pay an innocent visit. His eyebrows shot up to where his hairline used to be at that question.

“Murder investigation? Why, and more importantly,
who
would I be helping with a murder investigation?” He looked from Pixie to Grace. Then his eyes stayed on Grace, expecting an answer and figuring she was the one to give it to him somehow.

Geesh. How would she explain this
?

“Didn’t Grace tell you she’s practically a junior detective? A regular Watson,” Pixie said. “If you’re not here about the murder, then, I repeat, what the heck are you doing here?” Pixie looked up at him and Grace thought her neck must be strong from looking up at people all the time—it looked darned uncomfortable. She couldn’t wait to hear Oscar’s answer to her friend’s question.

“Putting aside the murder investigation for just a moment, I came here to rescue Grace from the clutches of David “Batman” Young. Wouldn’t happen to know him, would you?”

“Oh, Batman—hey, wait a minute—how do you even know about him? Have you been spying?”

“I prefer to call it watching out for my love’s interests. And believe me, I know all about him. I’m here to make sure she doesn’t make any tragic mistakes with her life.”

“Oscar! How could you? If David is your childhood friend, and he’s
Batman
—a genuine hero, and I didn’t hear you arguing that point—then how could it be so tragic? And you better not be referring to the thing about his late wife—”

Mabel cut her off. “I agree with Grace. The tragedy would be if he and Grace never got together. It’s my mission to see that they do—and as quickly as possible, I might add.”

“A democratic romance. Everyone has an opinion on it. How about you, Pixie? You may as well cast a vote too.” Grace folded her arms. She stopped herself from tapping her foot, aware that she’d turned herself into a live cliché, but she did narrow her eyes at Oscar.

“I think…” Sophia began, but paused and looked around.

“Come on, Pixie,” Oscar said. “You know Grace better than anyone. You couldn’t possibly think it would be a good idea for her to marry an old man and expect to have the family of her dreams with the picket fence in the country?” Oscar started pacing around again and looked at his watch.

“Sure, it sounds like an unlikely match. But the thing is, I’ve seen them together. I’ve seen the chemistry and I like David,” Pixie said. She turned to Grace and scratched Noodles behind the ears. Pixie never could talk sentimentally very easily, so Grace knew her friend had something mushy to say. Grace felt a lump in her throat coming on. She braced herself for her friend’s rare words.

“And strangely enough, I trust Grace’s judgment on this. She’s let a lot of Mr. Wrongs go in the past—including you—while she’s been holding out for Mr. Right. So if she says David Young is Mr. Right, then he’s the man.” Pixie fluttered a quick look into Grace’s face before turning away. There it was, the most beautiful thing her friend ever said. Grace took Noodles from Pixie, then pushed her puppy into Oscar’s arms. He frowned and held the dog away from him. Then she took her little Pixie into a massive hug and gestured Mabel to join in. The older woman didn’t bother holding back the sentimental tears.

“Hey, okay, okay. You guys!” Sophia-the-Pixie said in mock protest as she held onto Grace with a surprising grip of her own.

“I agree. This is all ridiculous,” Oscar said. He put Noodles on the floor, and the little pooch marched back to her mommy with a whimper and a wag of her tail.

Grace picked her up and swiped at a tear. No matter what else happened, she was lucky to have these wonderful friends all looking out for her. A warm flush of connection spread through her. She knew she would need those friendship bonds more than ever.

“You could be right, Oscar baby.” She used their old endearment. “Because as of this moment, David wants nothing to do with me. Not even as a decorator,” she admitted. She turned to Sophia, whose mouth opened and eyebrows flared. “Not even to decorate his townhouse. He fired me. That’s why I called you and came here,” she finished. Her friend flew back to her and hugged her again.

“I’m so sorry. You poor thing. Why didn’t you say something while we were all plotting your wedding?”

“Because we’re not letting David off the hook so easily yet,” said Mabel. “Which is why I called him to come over. He should be here any minute.”

“You’re shitting me.” Pixie sat on the nearest settee.

“While we’re waiting, tell me about the murder. And why would you think I have anything to do with it?” Oscar continued to pace. Grace could tell he was growing bored and possibly anxious about David’s impending arrival, in spite of his pretense at cool.

“You’re a natural, Oscar. You’re on the other end of the same business as David, aren’t you?” Pixie didn’t give him an inch.

“Yes, you’re almost like David’s alter ego. Do you feel that way?” Grace looked at him and wondered.

“Enough about that,” Mabel said, coming to Oscar’s rescue. Grace thought he looked distinctly uncomfortable and decidedly uncool.

“Isn’t anyone going to tell me about the murder?”

Sophia pointed her thumb at Grace. “Ask her. She’s the one playing Robin with your pal Batman.”

Grace smiled in spite of herself. She’d been having a ball uncovering clues with Batman until…

“That’s all over with now. Besides, we’ve been sworn to secrecy.”

They all looked at her. It was true. And it was one more thing she would miss if she couldn’t win David back. Well, not exactly “back,” since technically she never had him, but back in contention at least.

The doorbell rang. They all looked toward the entry hall beyond the parlor door. Mabel went to answer the bell. Grace’s gut fluttered and tumbled like a bingo wheel at a Catholic church on Wednesday night. She sat in silence. They all remained silent. Oscar and Sophia stood still.

“…lucky that I got here tonight at all,” David said as he walked with Mabel through the door to her parlor where they all waited for him.