“Leave it alone, Vivian,” Alba advised. “Your sister got a letter, right?And you did what it said?” At Vivian’s nod, she smiled humorlessly. “So she’s okay, and so are you. Sometimes, that’s as good as it gets.”
“And what about the next person to get a letter?” Vivian asked softly.
“They’ll figure out how to survive, same as you did. Come on. Danny’s making eyes at us, and not the come-hither kind. Time to get back to work.”
Up on the bandstand, Bea was belting her heart out with manic energy, the band exchanging worried looks as they worked to keep up with her. The dancers loved it, though.
Slowly, Vivian followed Alba back to the bar, wondering if she was telling the whole truth.
When Abraham strolled in that night, Danny had already rung the bell for last call. Bea was up on the bandstand, beginning a plaintive version of “Sinful Blues” for her last song of the night. Whatever anger or pain or sorrow she was feeling, it all poured into the music. The dancers on the floor looked happy for the reprieve from the fast pace the band had set all night. But around the edges of the room, the crowd murmured in a different kind of appreciation, eyes locked on Bea. Vivian was watching her too, her attention only half on her work, so she noticed the instant Bea’s demeanor changed.
There was no change in her singing, but Vivian could see her tense as if an electric current had been run up her spine, and for a moment her gaze followed someone across the room before she remembered where she was.
Vivian turned to see where her friend had been staring and saw Abraham just taking a seat at the bar. He looked dapper as ever, his hat tucked under one arm as he ordered a drink, and he leaned backagainst the counter to smile appreciatively, his eyes half-closed behind his spectacles, as he watched Bea at the front of the room.
He was a man who didn’t know he had been found out.
Vivian was in the middle of clearing glasses from the tables; as soon as her tray was full, she left it at the bar and made her way through the thinning crowd to him.
“Dance with me,” Vivian said quietly. It was more of a request than an order, and he gave her a skeptical, almost suspicious look in response. They didn’t know each other well, and Vivian had always thought he didn’t really like or trust her. The feeling was mutual now.
He gave her a slow look up and down, his face impossible to read. Then he tossed his hat on the bar, unfolded his lanky body from the stool, and held out his hand.
Abraham wasn’t a great dancer. He spent his nights in a cab rather than on the dance floor. But he clearly enjoyed the music, and in other circumstances, that might have been enough for her to have fun on the floor with him. But not this time.
“She knows,” Vivian said quietly as soon as they were flowing through the line of the dance.
Abraham missed a step. “What, now?”
“Bea knows.” Her head was close enough to his that she could keep her voice to a murmur. She didn’t take her eyes off him as she spoke, wanting to see every flicker of his reaction. “She knows you lied to her about that necklace. She knows about the work you did with Pearlie.”
He had a lousy poker face. His eyes darted toward Bea, then back to Vivian, but he looked away again as he replied, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
How had Pearlie ever thought it was safe to get him involved in something illegal?
Vivian smiled sadly. “You’re a terrible liar, Abraham. I wouldn’t recommend trying that line with Bea. Not unless you want her to send you packing for good.”
He looked around nervously again before turning back to her, and he scowled. “Look, I don’t know what you’ve been telling her—”
“Alba told us.”
He stumbled again. “Alba?”
“Alba,” Vivian said relentlessly. He was sweating now, but she didn’t let him look away from her. “You might not have asked Pearlie for details, but you had some idea what he was up to, didn’t you?”
“Look—” As the music ended, he pulled her quickly off the dance floor. The dancers and drinkers were drifting out in ones and twos and threes, heading for cabs and home, ready to collapse into their beds. The band struck up one last song, a cheerful one for the end of the night, just instruments. For the moment, the corner that he pulled her toward was empty.
“I didn’t do anything,” he insisted. “Bea’s got nothing to hold against me.”
“You’re sweating hard enough that I don’t think you believe that yourself, Abraham. So why should I believe it?”
“Because I didn’t—” He broke off, rubbing at his face with both hands. “I drove for Pearlie, all right? When he needed a car waiting for him late at night. And sure, I didn’t ask what he was doing. I waited, and then as soon as he hopped in and said go, I went. But I was doing it for me and Bea, all right? Just a little extra dough here and there.”
“What for?” Vivian insisted.
He sighed. “Just a little nest egg, all right? Fella can’t ask a girl to marry him if he’s got no money.”
Vivian caught her breath, glancing over his shoulder for just a moment before her eyes fixed on him once more. “You’re planning on asking her to marry you?”
