Butterface

Gina started sanding again. “Why can’t you go?”

“I’m not leaving you here alone.” Yeah, or is it that you know your time pretending to be Mr. Fix It with Gina is almost over?

“Then I’ll come with you.”

As if it was that easy. Bringing the uninitiated to a Hartigan family event was not something to be undertaken lightly. “Trust me, that’s the last thing either of us want to do.”

She stopped sanding and looked up at him, her smile too cheerful to be real. “Don’t worry, it’s not like you have to pretend I’m your girlfriend with your family.”

And there it was, the famous Ford Hartigan charm thrilling women everywhere. Fucking A, Hartigan. Get your shit together.

“It’s not that.”

“What is it, then?” she asked.

“My family can be a lot to handle—especially all at once.” How in the hell did he explain it to her?

First, there was the sheer number of them. Then there was the whole volume aspect, because they were not a quiet family. Finally, there was the fact that his mom wouldn’t stop pestering Gina with questions about every aspect of her life from the moment she walked in the door.

The Hartigans were not for everyone.

As the family saying went, there was the red Irish, the black Irish, and the so-much-trouble-they-got-kicked-off-the-island Irish—the Hartigans were all three. Yeah, there was no way he could subject Gina to all of that.

“You really think they’re crazier than mine?” she asked, her tone so full of disbelief he would have thought he’d just told her that coffee wasn’t the best thing ever invented.

He nodded. “Yes.”

“Well, the only way to settle this is to compare.” She tapped her finger against the tip of her nose and made a series of little harrumph sounds that reminded him of being at the doctor’s office. “You’re already locked in for my grandma’s party tomorrow. I’ll meet your people today, and then we can compare tomorrow night.”

“What about your brothers, will they be there?” he asked, keeping his tone neutral.

“They’ll be there. I keep trying to schedule a bowling night with them, but they’re being cagy on dates.”

“Are they busy next Friday?” he asked, part of him hoping they weren’t, not because he particularly wanted to hang out with them but because that was the night the Espositos’ big deal was going down, according to Kapowski’s informant—and with each day he was hoping more and more that his time with Gina would be a bust for the investigation.

“No clue, but I’ll ask,” she said. “Don’t think you’re getting out of this bet, though. The one with the more normal family buys the cannoli.”

“I don’t like cannoli.” Because that was the most important thing to note about what she’d just said. Is it a wonder the woman hasn’t fallen at your feet in worship?

Gina gasped and slapped her hand over her mouth. “What a horrible thing to say. You obviously have never had Vacilli’s cannoli. Don’t worry, you’ll understand the error of your ways after you buy the cannoli tomorrow night.”

“That’s not gonna happen.” It couldn’t. There had to be an SOP about it.

“We’ll see,” she said with a grin that lit up her whole face, giving her a kind of gleeful radiance. “Now get a move on, we don’t want to keep your mom waiting.”

She dropped her sandpaper onto the table where all their supplies were laid out and bounded up the stairs, while Ford stood there watching with his mouth hanging open. Had he agreed to take her to the Hartigan family lunch? He didn’t think so, but there she went to change.

Maybe she’d do just fine dropped into the pushy, loud-mouthed, crazy mix that was his family.

Or not.

Chapter Nine

Ford hadn’t been lying about his family. They were even more of a cliché than hers. Huge Irish family, far too loud and friendly, and firefighters. Well, except Ford. He was the odd man out in this craziness. More quiet but no less affectionate. And a cop. Which his brothers teased him about incessantly.

His family was totally overwhelming, but in a good way. It reminded Gina of the last Luca family christening—loud voices, lots of food, and too many people crushed into a space that would always seem too small no matter how big because the personalities of those inside were just that large.