"I need you two to do a little detectivework for me," Tony said in the kitchen over breakfast, after Jonathan left for school.
"Oh, goody!" Mother exclaimed. She was not being sarcastic. Not only is she a snoop, but she loves mysteries. She once came up with a theory about Tony's "kept woman" in Brooklyn, when all he was keeping was his late father's apartment. And she's done a couple dinner mysteries and she loves detective novels as much as bodice-rippers.
"What's this about, Tony?" I asked, hoping he wasn't going to send us off on a wild goose chase and make us late for the train.
"Well, Sam has a new boyfriend."
Mother and I looked at each other and tried not to laugh.
"No, hear me out. She's being very secretive about him."
"Then how do you know he exists?" Mother asked.
Tony reached into his jeans pocket and took out a paper towel. He read aloud, using a falsetto, " 'Oh, hi. Please don't call me here. Yeah, me, too. OK, I will.' "
"You eavesdropped?" I said, a moment before Mother said, "What does that prove?"
"Yesterday afternoon, I was cleaning in the hallway near Angela's office when the phone rang. I was about to get it when Sam answered in the living room. She was over here to do her laundry."
Mother made an impatient gesture, I think more for Tony to get to the good stuff than because she was worried about our train.
"You not only eavesdropped but you started writing down what she said?" I asked in disbelief. Even for an overprotective Italian father, this was crossing a line.
"I couldn't help overhearing. And I wrote it down later because I was suspicious."
"Hm, he might have a point about it being suspicious, especially the 'please don't call me here' part," Mother admitted. "But there might be lots of people Sam doesn't want callng her here. What makes you think it's a boyfriend?"
"The 'Yeah, me, too' part. Like he said, 'I love you,' and she said 'Yeah, me, too.' "
"Look, Tone, I'm always happy to find signs of romance, but there are lots of things this could be," Mother said.
"You didn't hear how she said it."
"Read it again, in your falsetto."
He cleared his throat.
I said, "Tony, getting past the fact that you eavesdropped, deliberately or not, Sam probably, for whatever reason, does not want you to know about this person she spoke to."
"I know, and it's driving me crazy!"
I thought of how he had become obsessed with solving the Christopher mystery over a year ago, and I wasn't even hiding Christopher. It was that Tony kept just missing seeing my new boyfriend, whom everyone else in the family was charmed by.
"What do you want us to do about it?" Mother asked.
"Snoop around. Trick her into talking about him."
"Oh, goody!"
"We'll invite her to lunch," I said, trying to compromise between my fiancé's obsessiveness and my step-daughter-to-be's privacy. "If she feels comfortable talking about this person and their situation, then I'll find out what I can, as long as she doesn't swear us to secrecy."
"Angela, where is your loyalty?" Tony looked shocked.
"I'm loyal to Sam, too. And she's not going to confide in me if I betray her trust."
"What if she or this guy is involved in something illegal?" Tony asked.
"Then I'll contact the police immediately," I said sarcastically. But it did make me wonder what I would do. Well, I'd have to see what Sam admitted and whether it was an ongoing thing.
"Don't worry, Tone," Mother stage-whispered. "I'll trick Sam into spilling her guts."
I rolled my eyes. "Come on, Mother, we've got a train to catch."
I did kiss Tony goodbye and wish him luck on his History test but I didn't make any more promises.
Mother and I discussed it more on the way to the station and then on the train. We agreed that this might be nothing but we were curious. She said she would call Sam from the office and see if she could meet us in the city for lunch today or tomorrow.
Sam was free so Mother made a reservation for three at noon at Un Repas Léger, where I take my favorite clients. It's light French cuisine, with booths that are far enough apart that conversations are relatively private, which is good for some of the financial discussions I have there. I doubt we'll be talking about money with Sam, but I will admit that anything is possible. What if the mystery person on the other end of the line was a loan shark? No, I'm being as ridiculous as Tony.
Sam gets there shortly after we do, apologizing for her lateness. I haven't seen her for a few days, but she looks fine. Happy, not tortured by a secret love life, but not giddy either. Normal I guess.
We order and she thanks me for treating her. We small talk and when the food comes she asks how things are going at the agency. I am going through a bit of a slump, partly due to the recession, but I'm trying to stay positive.
"Is that what you wanted to talk to me about?" she asks. "Maybe I could help out at the agency."
She did work for me a couple times, but that was before she was in college and had jobs in Fairfield.
"Thank you, Sweetie, I appreciate that, but it's not necessary."
"We want to hear all about your mystery man!" Mother blurts out.
"Mother," I sigh.
"What do you know?" Sam asks. So there is something going on.
Mother takes out her steno pad from her purse and reads aloud, " 'Oh, hi. Please don't call me here. Yeah, me, too. OK, I will.' "
I look at her in surprise. "You took notes at breakfast?"
"I wrote it down later, from memory."
"What happened at breakfast?" Sam asks. "Oh, never mind. Dad must've eavesdropped and told you two."
"He did, Sweetie, but if you tell us anything, we won't tell Tony if you don't want us to. It's just he worries about you."
"And he hates being left out of things," Mother adds.
Sam sighs. "Well, I guess I couldn't keep this a secret forever. Do you really want to know what's going on?"
"Dish, Girl!" Mother says eagerly.
I'm trying to be more mature about it, but I'm of course curious. "Go ahead, Sam."
"Well, we met in New York..."