"Do you think they'd go for it?" Briar Rose asked Erin softly as they sat in the kitchen of the house on 85th street, sharing the last of the smoothies. Nicky had agreed to take George for a walk so it was just the two of them, a little dusty and tired but feeling good about the finished packing.
Erin looked around thoughtfully. "They'd be crazy not to," she admitted. "Good neighborhood, spacious, especially for a first one, and I'm sure you guys can come to some decent financial arrangement. Hell, I'd jump on it if I wasn't already locked in at my place."
"I just . . . I don't want it to come off as charity, or some sort of controlling maneuver though," Briar Rose sighed. "Your brother has that Reagan sense of pride and I can tell he's the type who wants to make it on his own so I need to do this carefully, you know?"
Erin nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, that's a pretty good read on him. Maybe setting it up as being more helpful to you than to him would make it easier. Play on that sense of gallantry he's got. And of course there's Eddie to consider as well. This would be a nice step up from where they are now."
It was a generous offer, and Erin was touched that the other woman would even make it, given how long she'd lived here. It was definitely a well-loved house from what she could see.
Briar Rose smirked. "Agreed, but you didn't hear me say it. I'm still trying to figure out how best to make the offer and whether I should try it over Sunday dinner."
"Whoa now, that's liable to blow up in your face," Erin warned. "It's one thing to talk to Jamie and Eddie, and another to throw it out to the whole family, B-Rose. Dad and Grandpa will have things to say and Danny would start applying pressure . . . and yeah, no. In the face of that sort of full-court press, Jamie's more likely reject it. Better to discuss it privately."
Briar Rose nodded. "I knew you were the right Reagan to bring into my confidence on this."
Erin laughed. "Let's just say those dinners have been the best cross-examination training ground ever. Doesn't hurt I know nearly everyone's hot buttons too. So . . ." she moved to change the subject, "Nervous about Thursday?"
It was amusing to see Briar Rose blush. "A little," she admitted. "You know the saying 'always a bridesmaid, never a bride,' and I have a closetful of dresses to prove it."
"All those ones in the upstairs hall closet? What are there, about six?" Erin chuckled.
"About," Briar Rose agreed. "I should give them away, honestly. All but the one with the glitter and bloodstains I guess."
Erin blinked and set her cup down. "Ah . . . glitter and bloodstains?"
Briar Rose rolled her eyes. "Peaches St. Glory's Commitment ceremony back in the early eighties. Apparently there was a mix-up about the required permit to hold it at Christopher Park and her six foot three girlfriend got into it with one of the authorities. We all got hauled in but because I, uh, rendered first aid on the scene I was let off the hook."
"Peaches St. Glory?" Erin echoed, spluttering giggles.
Briar Rose looked towards the kitchen ceiling. "A lesbian stripper and good friend. She had ovarian cancer that we caught early on, thank goodness. Peaches and Moira still send me Christmas and birthday cards every year."
"Sounds wild."
"You should have been at their bachelorette party," Briar Rose told her with a smirk. "Strippers stripping for other strippers without a man in sight and me thinking it all looked too much like a day at the office."
Erin lost it, laughing out-loud, nearly dropping her smoothie cup. Fortunately Nicky returned with George, looking suspiciously from one women to the other. "What? What did I miss?"
"Oh we were just talking about strippers," Briar Rose told her with a straight face.
"Oh cool! So you're going to have a bachelorette party before Thursday?" Nicky brightened. "I've always wanted to go to one!"
"What? No, I don't think-" Briar Rose began, but Erin waggled her eyebrows.
"Oh hold on, you should. WE should," she interjected. "Not a REAL one," she shot a chiding look at her daughter before turning back to Briar Rose. "Honestly, we can actually make it just a girl's night over at my place if you like, but please, please let me suggest it at dinner! I am DYING to see Dad's reaction to that!"
"Your father-" Briar Rose began, and Erin watched her expression shift into something mischievous after a few seconds of consideration.
"Oooh, Grampa do that quiet freak-out thing," Nicky predicted, grinning. "You know he would."
"Frank doesn't freak out," Briar Rose objected, but both Erin and Nicky rolled their eyes, nearly synchronously.
"Yes he does," Erin countered. "Anything out of his league and Dad starts looking distressed, big-time. You can actually see his mustache twitch. We won't tease him for long, because that's mean, but honestly? Just a little bit would be fun."
"You have an evil sense of humor, Erin," Briar Rose accused.
"Of course," Erin admitted freely, grinning. "Part of being a Reagan. So, we're doing this?"
She watched as Briar Rose sighed and threw her hands in the air. "Fine," the woman gave in with a chuckle. "Should make tomorrow's dinner . . . interesting."
-oo00oo—
There was no fish, but Briar Rose didn't hold it against Frank; instead she and Henry had picked out a good sized pot roast and spent the better part of the time after church cooking it with new potatoes, steamed vegetables and a rich pepper gravy. The last was Henry's specialty and he bragged a little as he stirred the saucepan.
"Secret's all in grinding the pepper fresh. Gives it the right bite."
"Pepper's good," Briar Rose agreed as she put the last of the biscuit topping on the huge blackberry cobbler and set it in the oven. "Okay, this should bake for fifty minutes so I predict we can pull it out just was we clear the table."
"Perfect," Henry agreed. "Timing is everything."
"In a kitchen, yes," Briar Rose peeked out to the dining room where Nicky was setting the table. "Got it?"
"Got it," the girl agreed. "Smells great."
Within twenty minutes the meal was ready and Sean recited the Grace, his voice a mumble. At the 'Amen' everyone reached for their napkins. Briar Rose passed plates down to Frank's end of the table as people settled in.
"So," Danny began. "Thursday's the day, huh?"
"Yes," Briar Rose replied, curious as to his tone which wasn't particularly warm. She watched Frank shoot his son a look that Danny ignored.
"You and Dad, married by the laws of New York," Danny went on. "Legally bound as it were."
"That's generally the way it works," Frank murmured and Briar Rose heard something in his tone that set her defenses up.
The rest of the Reagans were glancing at each other curiously, but nobody interjected although Henry shot a sharp stare up the table towards his grandson.
"Anything you want to share with us before then, B-Rose?" Danny continued.
The silence at the table instantly took on a strain, and Briar Rose saw Frank ready to speak up, but a worried Jamie beat him to the punch. "All right Danny, what's this all about?"
"Honesty," his brother snapped back. "You know, one of those important virtues we're supposed to uphold in a family. Being open and truthful about certain matters—"
"Danny, stop," Frank rumbled. "Not the time or place."
"Oh I think it is," Danny snapped back defiantly. "Family's all here, we can get this out in the open-"
"Get what out in the open?" Henry's hard question cut across the table as he stared at his grandson.
In it now, Danny set his fork down and looked instead to Briar Rose. "Are you gonna tell them, or will I?"
"Daniel—" This time the menace in Frank's voice was unmistakable.
Briar Rose understood. She took a deep breath and spoke up, locking eyes with Danny. "By all means then. He's hinting about my prescription for medical marijuana."
The shocked looks around the table nearly made her laugh, but she didn't dare give in to her nervousness, particularly since Frank's sudden sorrow was evident. She pushed on, working at keeping her voice level. "Yes. I use cannabis. I was in a car accident in nineteen eighty-six where a crumpled car door sliced into my abdomen, gashing part of my large intestine, severing my right Fallopian tube and gouging through half my uterus."
"Aw geez," Henry yelped, but she continued.
"I went through surgery and I bless the doctors at Presbyterian but one thing they couldn't predict was how the nerves would heal. Most of them did, but not all. At random and unpredictable times I suffer pain. Debilitating pain. For a while I nearly became addicted to morphine, and my tolerance for alcohol is far too high for that to be helpful. Finally my friend Lucas suggested cannabis as a possible alternative and it works. Any questions?"
George's worried whine from under the table cut through the embarrassed silence. Briar Rose narrowed her eyes at Danny, who was flushed, shifting uneasily in his seat. "Is that what you wanted? Or is there more I need to confess to?"
"Look, I'm sorry," Danny blurted, "I am. I knew you'd been in a car accident—"
"I think maybe this family takes being detectives a little too seriously for my personal comfort," Briar Rose murmured cuttingly. She set her napkin on the table. "And quite honestly, I'm sure most of you have personal histories and habits of your own that you wouldn't want shared across the dinner table."
"Very. True," Frank replied, shifting his gaze from her to Danny, who took another deep breath.
"You're right," he admitted running a hand through his short hair. "I . . . messed up here. I went overboard this time and I shouldn't have done it. I'm sorry, B-Rose I truly am."
His painful sincerity made her eyes tear up. Briar Rose got up, walking over to him and giving Danny a hug as he rose to return it. "All right then," she murmured quietly to him. "Next time, just . . . talk to me."
"Yeah, Danny agreed, his voice uneven. "I will. Promise."
Instantly the tension drained; she felt the entire dining room decompress. Over Danny's shoulder she saw Frank's big shoulders shift out of high tension mode and Eddie was sharing a soft look with Jamie.
"Okay then," Henry commented. "So B-Rose's meds are not our business, we all got that?"
A murmur of agreement went around the table, and Briar Rose gave a crooked grin. "Thank you."
After a moment of the table settling back into normality as they started to pass plates again, Nicky grinned. "Hey, would this be a good time to talk about your bachelorette party and the oiled up hunky male strippers, B-Rose?"
At the head of the table, Frank suddenly looked as if he'd bitten a particularly potent Key Lime.
