QUINN
No one made risotto like her sister-in-law, and Quinn helped herself to more of the delicious, gooey rice dish generously filled with prawns and mussels. It was always fun to come here on the weekend, when the kids were home from school and the kitchen was noisy and chaotic.
“This is so good, Mary. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. At least someone’s grateful,” Mary said, shooting her kids a warning look.
Quinn’s six-year-old niece, Lila, and seven-year-old nephew, Tommy, were less enthusiastic about the food and were complaining they’d been promised pizza.
“I never promised you pizza,” Mary said. “At no point have I said we were having pizza tonight. You’re making it up.”
Lila jutted out her bottom lip. “But we always have pizza on Saturday. It’s a tradition.”
Quinn, Mary, and Quinn’s brother, Rob, couldn’t help but laugh.
“A tradition, huh?” Quinn arched a brow at her niece. “Do you even know what that means?”
“It’s when you have to eat pizza on the weekend,” Lila said in all seriousness. She picked a mussel from her risotto and hid it in her napkin.
Quinn laughed. “How about I take you guys out for pizza tomorrow? We’ll go to the harbor, just the three of us, and you can have any pizza you want.” She looked up at Mary and Rob, whose eyes widened with excitement as they nodded.
“Yes!” Tommy was grinning from ear to ear. “Can we go see the boats first?”
“We certainly can.”
“And can we go to the toy store?” Lila asked.
“Hey, don’t push it now.” Quinn ruffled a hand through her niece’s hair. “Besides, it’s Sunday tomorrow. The toy store will be closed.” That was a little white lie, but it was the only excuse Lila would accept. “Now finish your food, otherwise we won’t go for pizza. You have two minutes. Go.”
That was enough for Lila and Tommy to start scooping big spoonfuls of risotto into their mouths, with Lila wincing after she swallowed a mussel by accident.
“Can you come for dinner more often?” Rob joked. “You really have a way with them.”
“It’s called bribery.” Quinn winked. “It works every time.”
“Bribery,” Lila repeated.
“There you go. Another fancy word.” Mary smiled when they showed off their empty bowls. “Well done. You can go and play now.”
Quinn watched them in amusement as they sprinted out of the kitchen, racing each other for the TV remote, then turned back to her food. “You really need to teach me how to make this,” she said, pointing to her bowl. “Or is it a secret Italian family recipe?”
“No secrets here. Come a bit earlier next time and we’ll make it together.” Mary poured them more wine and sat back, twirling the Malbec in her glass. “How was your day?”
“I worked this morning,” Quinn said. “And I saw Lindsey by the drawbridge. She said she’s sold Aster House.”
“Oh? That’s been on sale for a while, right?”
“Yeah. I was hoping it would stay like that.” Quinn shrugged. “But it is what it is.”
Rob stared at her. “Will you stop obsessing over that house? It’s not in our family anymore and you haven’t lived there for twenty-eight years. Most importantly, you’ll never be able to buy it, so don’t act like you have claim over it.”
“You don’t understand. You were too young to remember.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s in the past. Leave it be.” Rob let out a sigh of frustration. “You need to move out of that tiny narrowboat and find yourself a decent place to live. There’s no point waiting around until you’ll finally be able to buy Aster House. You’re thirty-eight. Don’t you want a place of your own? You can’t possibly bring women back where you’re living now.”
“Sure I can.” Quinn smiled mischievously. “And I do. In fact, women find it charming.”
“I can see that.” Mary got up, took their bowls, and put them into the dishwasher. “I think there’s something very cool about living on a boat. It’s bohemian.”
