“Same thing,” Nora said. “An eye for beauty.”
Conway said in a soft voice that she should be on her way to the florist, then slipped out of the room almost without disturbing the air currents. She was a master at disappearing from a situation.
Nora drummed her fingers on the island and scrutinized Carver. “Actually, you can do us a favor too,” she said. “I’m sending your dad to the wine store, but I’m worried he won’t come back with enough options. You know he doesn’t really drink. You’re quite good at buying wine, could you go with him?”
Carver exhaled. “Just the two of us?”
“Yes, I think two people should be enough to handle a trip to the wine store, honey.”
“Uhh… yeah. Okay. He hasn’t left yet?”
“No, he’s upstairs getting changed.”
Carver nodded and headed upstairs himself, traipsing to the end of the hall in sock feet until he reached the foreboding double doors that led to his parents’ cavernous master suite. He hesitated for a moment, then knocked and called, “Dad?”
“Yeah,” Doug grunted from somewhere inside.
“I’m gonna come with you to the wine store.”
After a beat of silence, Doug said, “Does your mother not think I can buy wine by myself?”
“I think she’s just trying to get me out from underfoot while they set things up here,” Carver said diplomatically.
“Okay, fine. Meet me downstairs in five.”
“Okay.”
Carver went back down the hall to his bedroom so he could make sure he didn’t look as disheveled and grimy as he felt. Inside, he found Lillian lounging on the bed, looking at her phone.
“Hey,” he said, shutting the door and leaning against it.
“Hey,” Lillian said, not looking up. “How was the workout?”
“Good, good. Uh, I’m gonna go to the wine store with my dad to pick stuff up for tonight.”
Lillian took a moment to respond. He could tell she was scrolling Twitter. “Tonight?” she finally said.
“Yeah, did you hear about the change in plans? Mill Tavern flooded, they’re gonna have to host the rehearsal dinner here instead.”
“Oh,” Lillian said, shrugging. “Okay.”
“I think this is a frustrating turn of events for those concerned,” Carver clarified.
“Right, right,” Lillian said. Sounding more sympathetic, she intoned: “Damn, that sucks.”
“There you go.”
Lillian gave him a thumbs up.
“How’s Anvira going?” Carver said. “Any news from Bernardo?”
“Lloyd is in negotiations,” Lillian said, still looking at her phone. “I think they’re close to a decision.”
“Good,” Carver said, bringing one hand to the other so he could fiddle with his wedding band, which had lately been a little loose.
Lillian glanced at him and said, “You look kind of weird, are you good?”
His heart pulsed. “Weird?”
