Текст книги "Family Secrets"
Автор книги: Kate Kane
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Текущая страница: 6 (всего у книги 13 страниц)
Chapter 8
Where did the day go?
It was almost four-thirty and the truth was she hadn’t meant to stay this long. But, Craig Turner had cancelled again and she had spent time trying to work with his admin to set up a meeting. Lane had just glanced at the clock on her office wall when Meg rushed in, closely followed by Kyle Paulson, the evening security guard for the executive building.
“Mrs. Parker, I’m afraid I have some bad news. Seems there’s been a fire in the parking garage.”
Lane looked from one to the other of them not understanding what a fire in the parking garage had to do with the Chief Privacy Officer.
“Is everyone all right?” Lane asked as she looked at each of their faces.
Meg nodded. Kyle stood there erect, hands behind his back in a stance that might pass for the military “at ease” stance.
“I see, and what does a fire have to do with privacy? Isn’t this a matter for property management?”
“The head of Property Management has been notified, Mrs. Parker. I thought you should be made aware too.”
Kyle paused and Meg continued.
“Lane, the only thing on fire was your car.”
It took a few seconds for this new information to sink in. “My car? On fire? In the parking garage? And, no one and nothing else was hurt or damaged? Is that right?”
“Yes Ma’am, that’s pretty much it. Property Management will no doubt notify the authorities,” Kyle said somberly.
Lane was a bit flabbergasted, but ever the executive, she thanked Kyle for his diligence and thoughtfulness in telling her of the discovery himself. She added that he should no doubt return to his post and await the authorities.
Kyle gave a slight nod and left the office.
Meg sat down across from Lane. “Well, if you want my opinion, I think this is a little too coincidental. I think someone should be on the phone to tall dark and handsome.”
God bless her, Lane thought as she smiled at Meg. “You’re right of course. I imagine Ben should be notified as well.”
Now Meg was smiling – or was it more of a grin? “Ben and Mick in the same place at the same time? I’ll make those phone calls for you,” Meg said as she walked out of Lane’s office.
It was only seconds later when Meg buzzed to say she had Detective McGuire on the line and he was insisting on talking to Lane. Lane told Meg she’d take the call. She had just picked up the receiver and pushed line one when Meg stuck her head through the doorway.
“Ben on line two.”
Lane covered the mouthpiece. “Ask if he wants to hold or if I should call him back.” She put the receiver to her ear to the sounds of Mick McGuire practically yelling.
“Lane, are you okay? Answer me. What’s going on over there?”
Lane took a calming breath. “Well, Mick I’m as well as you might expect having just learned there was a fire in the parking garage and that the only thing damaged was my car,” she said as she began massaging her right temple.
“I’m almost there. Just sit tight.”
Lane pushed the blinking light for line two and went through nearly the same conversation with Ben only without the yelling. Meg had caught Ben on his cell and he was on his way.
Lane got a Diet Dr. Pepper from the mini fridge and sat rolling it over her forehead. Stomp was back and warming up for the concert of a lifetime with the Blue Man Group doing back-up percussion. Meg appeared with a glass of ice and quietly placed it on Lane’s desk.
Lane opened one eye and smiled. “So, now you’ve got ESP?”
“Not really.” Meg took the soda can from Lane and opened it. “I just planned to force a Diet Dr. Pepper on you. I just got off the phone with Kyle, twice. He called first to ask if Mick could come up and five seconds later to ask about Ben. They’re both on their way up.”
Lane put her hands on her face and rubbed her forehead with her fingertips.
“You’d better take something for that,” Meg said as she walked out of the room and closed the door.
Lane reached in the top right drawer of her desk and pulled out a BC Powder. She poured the powder on her tongue and took a healthy drink of Diet Dr. Pepper. It was an all too familiar routine and she knew she’d repeat with Tylenol in a couple of hours.
The door opened and Meg showed Mick into the office. Lane motioned him toward a chair opposite her desk. As Mick opened his mouth, Lane held up her hand in the international halt sign.
“Ben’s about five seconds behind you. I’d like to tell the story only once.” As she continued saying “You don’t mind, do you?”
Ben entered the room. He went to Lane and embraced her. He looked past her to Mick. “She’s okay, isn’t she?”
She wanted to stay in his comforting embrace forever and she wanted to pick him up and slap him while saying “hello, I’m right here, I can talk you know.”
“I just got here and she didn’t want to tell the story twice, so I don’t know any more than you do.” What Mick wanted to say was “If you’ll stop hovering over her, we can find out.”
Lane let go and gave Ben a gentle nudge toward the visitor’s chair next to Mick. “Okay,” she said, “How about if I tell you what I know and then you can ask questions?”
Both men nodded and Lane continued, “I got back from lunch around one o’clock, parked the car, and came into the office. At about four-thirty, Meg and Kyle Paulson, he’s the evening head security guard for this building, came into my office. Kyle told me there’d been a fire in the parking garage and the only thing damaged was my car. Kyle said he’d called property management and that they would call the authorities.” She paused and took a drink. “I haven’t gone to see the damage yet. Meg called the two of you and I’ve just been waiting.”
Mick and Ben exchanged a glance and she thought she saw Ben give a slight nod in Mick’s direction.
“Of course, you know Telco Unlimited’s offices are in Overland Park and not in my jurisdiction. However, in light of the murder investigation, you were right to call me. I’d like to talk to Paulson, see how he came upon the fire.” Mick tried to give Lane a reassuring smile. He had no doubt, based on her demeanor, that she had a throbbing headache. He also had no doubt that she was over medicating in an attempt to keep the pain at bay. Mick knew all about tension, and wasn’t sure that was really the cause of her headaches. He wished he could persuade her to see a doctor.
“I’ll have Meg call Kyle and the Property Management person in charge. You’ll probably want to talk to them too.” Lane buzzed Meg and asked her to make the calls and to let them know when everyone got there.
“Lane, was your car locked?” Ben was familiar with Lane’s theory that anyone who wants to get into a convertible will get in and her habit of leaving it unlocked.
“Yes, but, Ben, the top was down. It’s in a secured underground garage that is equipped with state of the art video surveillance. Besides, we don’t know what caused the fire or where in the car it occurred. It may have just been an electrical malfunction.”
Ben almost smirked. “Red, you’re a fanatic about that car. It’s never missed a scheduled maintenance visit not to mention that every couple of weeks you treat the mechanics and detailing crew to Krispy Kreme and they give it a good once over in exchange. There’s no way this just happened.”
Before Lane could respond, Meg opened the office door, came in with coffee, and iced tea. “I thought y’all might like something to drink. I’ll take suggestions for ordering take out if you’re going to be here late.” She walked through the office and placed the tray holding the carafe of coffee, pitcher of iced tea, bucket of ice, cups, and glasses on the credenza in Lane’s conference room.
“Kyle Paulson and Sam Holt from Property Management are on their way. Do you want to see them together or separately?” Meg had posed the question to Lane, but was not surprised when Detective McGuire responded.
“Separately. Sam Holt first. Paulson last. If you can keep them apart, that would be good too.”
Meg nodded and closed the office door.
Lane, Mick, and Ben went into the conference room. Lane was glad that she’d opted for a round conference table. In a situation like this one, she didn’t want either Sam or Kyle to feel like they were being ganged up on. She hoped that the seating arrangement at a round table wouldn’t make them feel surrounded.
“Before either of them arrive, I think we’d better discuss a strategy for interviewing them,” Lane said as she glanced from Ben to Mick. “My suggestion is that I introduce you both as friends. That should put the men at ease. I can ask the easy questions like what time the fire was discovered, what time Sam got the call, to whom he reported the incident. Then either one of you can jump in and expand if you’d like.”
Ben smiled. He’d told her more than once that she was as good a strategist and cross-examiner as he’d ever seen in or out of a courtroom. “Works for me, Red. Is this chair okay for me?”
Lane smiled. “You’re fine. I’ll take the seat closest to the door. Mick, that leaves you across from the interviewee. Okay?”
Mick nodded. Lane had set the room up just the way he would have. He wondered where Lane had gotten the ability to size up a room. He closed the window blinds and took the seat facing the window, thus making sure the interviewee was blocked in the room with no easy escape, just as Meg rapped on the door.
“This is Sam Holt. He’s a Senior Manager in Property Management.”
Lane stood and extended her hand. “Lane Parker,” she said as she shook his hand and motioned him to the empty seat. “Sam, these are my friends, Ben Bellini and Mick McGuire. We’d like to ask some questions about the fire.”
Lane gestured toward the tray on the credenza. “May I offer you something to drink? Coffee or iced tea?” Sam opted for the tea. Lane filled a glass with ice and poured the tea.
“I was just wondering what time it was when you were made aware of the fire,” she said with a smile as she placed the glass in front of Sam and took her seat. Corporate America is all about politics. She knew the senior manager was probably intimidated sitting with, and being questioned by, someone who reported only to the Chief Executive Officer. Basically, in corporate terms, that made her next to God. She sipped from her glass of Diet Dr. Pepper, and did her best to put the poor man at ease.
“I received the phone call from Paulson just after four o’clock this afternoon. He said he’d seen it just as he was making his first round in the parking garage. He also told me the fire was contained to just one vehicle. I understand it was your car, Mrs. Parker. I’m really sorry.”
Lane smiled. “It wasn’t your fault, Sam. Tell me, did you phone 9-1-1, or did you call the fire department directly?”
“Well, Paulson had already notified the fire department. I understand the fire was out when the fire truck arrived.
Hmm, that was odd; Kyle had specifically told Lane that Property Management had notified the authorities. Perhaps Kyle was just confused by the question, or maybe to Kyle the fire department wasn’t the authorities.
“Sam, did you examine the scene yourself?”
“Yes Ma’am. The damage was contained to a red BMW convertible. It appeared that the driver’s seat somehow caught fire. The interior was shot, but that’s the only damage I saw. I’m sure the fire inspector will have more information.”
Lane glanced toward Mick and Ben to see if they had questions for Sam. Both men made gestures telling her they didn’t. She thanked Sam for his time and his concern and then praised him for the good job he’d done before she dismissed him and walked him to the door. She told Paulson that she’d need just a minute as she closed the conference room door.
Mick was the first to speak. “Interesting, you told us that Paulson said Property Management called the authorities. Yet Holt said Paulson called. If the notification was made via 9-1-1, it will be easy enough to check the tapes.”
Ben added, “True enough, although I have to wonder why someone would lie about reporting a fire.”
Lane opened the door and invited Kyle Paulson into the room. Again, she introduced Mick and Ben as friends. She asked Kyle to sit, and offered him a drink. He asked for iced tea, which he accepted from her as he sat down.
“Kyle, first I want to thank you for your time. Tell me how did you come on the fire?”
Kyle removed a small note book from his pocket, opened it, and began reading. “At 4:00 p.m. I began my normal rounds of the parking garage. At 4:10 p.m. I noticed smoke coming from a red BMW convertible. I grabbed the fire extinguisher I keep in my truck and went to the car. There were flames shooting from under the driver’s seat and the seat itself appeared just to be smoldering. I dialed 9-1-1 and then doused the seat with the fire extinguisher.”
When he finished talking, Kyle took a lengthy swallow of iced tea.
Meg tapped on the door and opened it. “Captain Burke from the Overland Park Fire Department is here and would like a word with you.”
“Thanks, Meg. Well, Kyle I guess that’s all then. Thank-you so much for saving my car from further damage.” She stood and motioned Kyle toward the door. At the door, she shook his hand and thanked him again.
Seated in her waiting area she could see the fire captain. She smiled at him and asked him to give her just a minute. Once again, she closed the door and looked toward the table.
“There’s just something about that guy I don’t like,” Ben said as he looked at Mick.
Lane smiled. “Could it be his military hair cut or the fact that he acts like he thinks he’s a cop when he isn’t? Could it be the way he looks through you when he talks to you?”
“Well, I’d say it’s that and perhaps more. I, for one, am glad he left us a little sample of DNA and his fingerprints when he left,” Ben said carefully sliding the iced tea glass Paulson had left behind toward Mick.
Lane opened the door and invited the fire captain into the conference room. She extended her hand, and she and the fireman did introductions.
“Captain Burke, my friends Ben Bellini and Mick McGuire.”
Mick smiled as he extended his hand. “Colin, I wondered if we’d be seeing you.”
“Lane, meet another member of our basketball team,” Ben said as he shook hands with Colin.
Lane watched as Colin Burke took a seat. He was over six feet tall and had raven black hair. He looked vaguely familiar, but Lane couldn’t quite place him.
Either it really is a very small world or there’s some sort of basketball conspiracy afoot here. Lane thought. She’d known Ben had been playing basketball with the same group of guys for a long time and she’d known Ben for three years. In all the time she’d known Ben, she’d never met even one of the guys and suddenly it was raining tall handsome basketball players.
“I sure hadn’t expected to see the two of you here. Here’s the scoop; my preliminary assessment is arson. We’ll need to take the car in; to do some additional investigation and testing but it appears that someone purposely set the driver’s seat on fire. The interior has a lot of damage from the fire and the fire extinguisher. Whoever put it out wasn’t very careful.”
As Mick and Ben began explaining the events of the past several days to Colin, Lane excused herself and stepped into her office. She opened her desk and pulled out the box of BC powders, the green box, of arthritis strength powders with extra everything. She carefully opened the small envelope and poured the white powder onto her tongue chasing it with a healthy drink of her Diet Dr. Pepper. She knew it was really too soon, and she just didn’t care.
She smiled as she remembered Mick’s worry about her headaches. They were stress induced, nothing else. What she knew was that she had to get this whole mess resolved before Jake, Jess, and Jamie descended on her in another three days.
“So, what you’re telling me is that someone has it out for Mrs. Parker.” Colin grinned. He’d known both of these guys for years and clearly both of these guys had it bad for the red head. He was sure they were over reacting to the whole thing. He scanned the room and spotted the huge bouquet of roses; yep, at least one of these guys had fallen really hard.
“You guys going to make round ball tonight? Maybe you can lay things out for someone from Overland Park. In the meantime, I’ll have her car towed to the police lot.”
Lane turned back toward the conference room as Captain Burke stood. She really wished that she could figure out why he seemed so familiar. She placed him at early to mid-thirties. He was slightly shorter than Ben; she’d say six feet two inches tall. He had sleek black hair and blue eyes. She shook her head; figuring out this mystery was the least of her worries right now. She shook his hand, and thanked him for coming to investigate the fire.
Chapter 9
Stay with me
Meg escorted the Fire Captain to the elevators and returned to help Lane pack up her laptop. While she hated what was happening to Lane this week, it was certainly doing a lot to improve the scenery. Tall, dark, and handsome men were almost coming out of the woodwork.
Ben and Mick were still in Lane’s conference room talking in hushed tones. Meg leaned close to Lane and said, “All this time I’ve been calling Detective McGuire tall dark and handsome, and you didn’t bother to tell me that Ben was tall, dark, and oh my God so damn gorgeous.”
“He is, isn’t he?” Lane laughed which prompted the men to come into her office and ask what she could possibly find funny in all of this.
Lane smiled. “You two are such mother hens. Meg and I were just having a little girl talk.”
Mick watched as Lane reached up and touched Ben’s cheek. “Stop worrying. I’m okay. Really,” she told him.
Earlier in the day, Mick had thought he might sell his soul to have her smile when she said his name, but when he saw the glow on her face as she touched Ben, he knew he’d walk into hell itself to make the deal if she’d glow like that for him.
Ben took Lane’s hand and said, “Let’s get you home.”
Meg looked on as Ben picked up Lane’s rolling briefcase. Meg knew the thing usually weighed twenty pounds because Lane had a tendency to carry papers and books along with her laptop. Yet, Ben picked it up as if it was nothing. She saw the look on Detective McGuire’s face as he watched the interaction between Lane and Ben. She felt a pang of sadness for the detective who was clearly – at least it was clear to Meg – in love with Lane too. Meg felt a quick stab of envy. She didn’t have even one man in her life and Lane had two big strong gorgeous men in love with her. Sometimes life just wasn’t fair.
Although Meg and Mick were extraneous, the four of them walked to the elevators together. They rode to the ground floor in silence.
The elevator doors opened and Lane turned to Meg. “Where are you parked?”
It was common practice to have the guards escort female employees who had worked late to their cars after dark. While it was late July, and still broad daylight out, there was something very odd going on. It was after six o’clock and the parking lot would be empty at this time of day. Lane didn’t want Meg walking alone to her car. As they walked through the lobby, Lane was about to ask Kyle to escort Meg to her car when Mick suggested that he could walk with her. Meg thought it completely unnecessary, whatever was going on was about Lane, but she accepted the detective’s offer.
Ben’s Jag was parked in front of the building and Meg watched as Ben opened the passenger door and carefully helped Lane into the passenger’s seat. He then popped the trunk and placed Lane’s briefcase next to his before opening the driver’s door. Meg was sure the detective flinched as they watched Ben get in the car and reach to stroke Lane’s face.
Lane looked at her watch. Both she and Ben had commitments at seven o’clock, so there was no time for dinner out tonight. “How do you feel about meeting for dinner after basketball and book club? If you’re hungry now, we could grab a quick bite at home.”
Ben, who since Memorial Day weekend made it a habit to hold her hand as he drove, gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ve been trying to take you out for dinner all week, and we don’t seem to make it. So yes, let’s have dinner. Meet me at Papa’s after book club.”
Captain Burke had retrieved Lane’s garage door opener and Ben used it to open the garage. He opened her door, went to the trunk to grab her briefcase, and then followed her into the house. Ben asked Lane to get him a Diet Coke for the road. Lane had gone into the kitchen, completely oblivious to the carefully choreographed search Ben made of the rest of the house. With the murder weapon being found in her bedroom, and her car being set on fire, there was no way he was leaving her alone without securing the house. She might be the most intelligent woman he’d ever known, but she was also the most trusting and naïve. How he was going to convince her to spend the night at his house was another problem completely.
He came back to the kitchen to find she’d made a couple of ham and cheese sandwiches.
“Here, take these with you. Ronda will have snacks, so I’ll be fine, but you might need a bite to tide you over.”
He laughed and took her in his arms and held her tight against his chest. The need he felt to keep her safe was as primal to him as his need for air. He kissed her and as their tongues mingled, she moaned. It nearly brought him to his knees every time she made that throaty little moan, and she made that sound every time his tongue met hers.
Lane walked him to the garage and gave him another serious kiss. “I’ll see you at Papa’s.”
Lane quickly changed from her suit and heels into jeans and sandals. She tossed the suit in the dry cleaning bag. She paused at the nightstand, grabbed her e-reader, and put it into her purse. They’d be discussing the latest Janet Evanovich during book club. She’d met these women at the bookstore in the mystery section and over the course of six months; they had formed the book club that they called Murder Mayhem and Merlot. There were 12 members now and each month, they took turns hosting the book club. The member who was hosting the following month made the book selection that would be discussed at her house. So while the rule was that the books all had to be mysteries, there was a wide variety of genres from the light comedic style of Janet Evanovich to the darker style of Carol O’Connell as well as classics by Agatha Christie and Arthur Conan Doyle. Ronda had chosen Evanovich, and Lane knew the main topic of discussion wouldn’t be writing styles as much as which man Stephanie Plum was ultimately going to choose.
She grabbed the keys to her Cadillac Escalade from the hook by the garage door and pushed the button to open the door. Ronda lived near the stadiums and she had less than half an hour to get across town. Despite her good intentions, it seemed being late was quickly becoming a way of life. She hated being late.
As was always the case with the MMM club, Lane was relaxed and entertained for a couple of hours. She had a glass of white zinfandel, some hors d'oeuvres and laughed about Stephanie Plums latest antics. Lane was the host for book club next month, and since she read between three and five books a week, it was sometimes difficult to choose a book. She’d done a quick search in her e-reader and selected an old Kate Bacus book about a twenty something year old woman in Iowa stumbling on dead bodies. Something Lane could relate to just now.
Ben and Mick had arrived at the Y within minutes of each other. They quickly got Colin Burke and the three approached Adam Hunter who was a detective with the Overland Park Police Department. That was one of the problems with the Kansas City metropolitan area; there were so many different jurisdictions within a small area. Lane had discovered the body in Leawood, but she worked in Overland Park, which is where the fire had occurred. Mick was investigating the murder, but he had no jurisdiction concerning the car fire and neither he nor Ben had any doubt that finding the murder weapon in her house closely followed by her car being set on fire were more than a mere coincidence.
After Mick laid out the facts around the murder, he explained that he’d found the murder weapon at Lane’s house and that while on the surface she would seem to be the prime suspect, that he was sure she hadn’t done it, and that they were pursuing other leads. Colin Burke explained the unusual circumstances of the car fire and Adam Hunter agreed to investigate. They arranged to meet at the Overland Park Police station the following day.
It was a good thing that they talked before the game. Ben, Colin, and Mick were on the same team, and they’d trounced Adam’s team. He might not have been so agreeable afterward.
The guys often went out for drinks after the game, but since Ben had plans with Lane, he had showered, dressed and was on his way out the door when Mick caught up with him.
“I’ve just gotten confirmation that the blood on the screwdriver was Paul Gardener’s. I’ll probably have to bring Lane back in for questioning. I can wait until after we meet with Hunter tomorrow. Maybe we can dig something else up that would point the finger someplace else.”
Ben thanked him, and as he went to his car, he called Roy Tanner. Tanner was a retired Kansas City Missouri homicide detective who now worked for Ben’s law firm. Ben had known Mick for years, and knew him to be a thorough investigator, but this was about Lane, and he wanted Tanner on the case. He ended the call with Tanner and started his car.
Ben walked into Bellini’s and found Lane at the bar enjoying a Bellini cocktail. The Bellini cocktail had nothing to do with either the restaurant or his family. It had been invented between 1934 and 1948 in Venice, Italy. The original was made with white peach puree and sparkling Italian wine. The restaurant’s version was made with Italian sparkling wine and peach Schnapps. Enzo was working on something he called the Bellini-tini. Peaches marinated in vodka, the vodka extracted and shaken with ice then served in a martini glass.
Ben kissed Lane’s cheek and took her hand as she stood. Ben cocked his head and raised an eyebrow at the bartender.
“She insisted on waiting for you here,” Enzo replied.
In Bellini’s, the family ate in a private room called the Board Room. And, they never, never waited in the bar.
“It’s fine Enzo, I understand,” Ben said as he placed his hand in the small of Lane’s back and guided her toward the Board Room.
There was no need to order. The bartender had sent word to the kitchen the minute Ben arrived. When Ben opened the door to the Board Room, a table for two was already set. The waiter was already at the table and had opened a bottle of wine to let it breathe. He brought fresh bread, poured olive oil onto a plate, and added herbs. They were the only people in the room. Ben held Lane’s chair as she sat. The waiter held Ben’s chair and then showed him the bottle of wine, and poured a bit into his glass to taste.
As always, the wine was from Ben’s private reserve. There was no question that the wine would be excellent. Ben tasted it and nodded. The waiter picked up Lane’s glass and poured, then poured for Ben. He put the bottle on the table and left.
Frank Sinatra was softly crooning You’d Be So Easy to Love in the background. Ben reached across the table and took her hand. “Dance with me.” He led her to the small dance floor. The main restaurant didn’t have a dance floor, but there was one in the private dining room.
She’d never seen Ben dance and had no idea what to expect. She was pleasantly surprised. He held her closely in a classic waltz pose and expertly moved her around the dance floor. It was as though someone had put on a CD of Frank Sinatra’s greatest love songs as one faded into another. Lane nestled her head into his shoulder and he folded their entwined hands into his chest, his right arm firmly around her waist, she had moved her right hand up to twirl her fingers around the hair at the base of his neck.
He heard more than saw the waiter deliver their food. He gently kissed her temple and led her back to the table. She was beautiful and oh, so very naïve and vulnerable.
They had eaten in silence, touching each other’s hands, offering one another bites of food. The waiter moved quietly in and out of the room and Frank Sinatra continued singing love songs. When they had finished eating Ben smiled at the waiter. “My compliments to the Chef.”
Moments later, the Chef entered the room. Lane took one look at him and knew instantly he was a Bellini. The Bellini men she’d met all had the same tall dark and handsome thing going on, from Papa Bellini, whose hair was salt and pepper now, to Ben’s youngest brother Paolo, absolutely it was in the genes.
“Lane Parker, may I present my brother Antonio Gianni Bellini. Tony, this is Lane Parker.”
“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” Lane said as she shook Tony’s hand.
Tony smiled the million watt Bellini smile. “The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Parker. I’m so happy you finally came in on a night when I could step away from the kitchen.”
Although Lane and Ben had eaten at the family restaurant many times over the years, this was the first time since they’d been dating that they’d been in the restaurant on a weekday when Tony had time enough to step away from the kitchen.
Tony spoke to Ben in Italian. It was a familiar scene, Lane mused. Instead of stepping away, if there was something they didn’t want anyone else to know, they slipped into Italian. Most families had things they spoke to one another about in hushed tones. The Bellinis said it aloud. Lane was a woman who insisted her children didn’t talk or text in the car because it was rude. Sometimes she felt like she was intruding during the Italian conversations.
Lane smiled. “Guys, I need to use the ladies room, so let me give you some privacy.”
