All It Takes (Romancing Manhattan 2)

“I’m going to go in and get started on cleaning up,” Dad says. Uncle Patrick immediately stands as well.

“I’ll help,” he says.

“I can help too,” Quinn offers, but Dad shoos him back into his seat.

“No need, Quinn. This time you’re a guest, but next time you can help clean up.” He winks and disappears into the house with Uncle Patrick. Louise fills our glasses with another round of wine.

“This is always how it goes,” I offer in explanation. “The girls cook and the guys clean.”

“Well, I’m perfectly fine with helping clean,” Quinn says, but Mom waves him off.

“Not this time. Like Louis said, you can help next time.”

“Tell us about some of the fun things you’ve found in those boxes,” my sister requests. “There must be some interesting things in there.”

“There have been,” I agree. “In fact, I found a love letter from Great-Grandpa Lawrence to his first wife, Muriel, today. Actually, Quinn found it. It’s really beautiful. I brought it for you all to read.”

“That was such a sad story,” Mom says with a sigh.

“I don’t remember the whole story,” I admit.

“Muriel died in childbirth about five or six years after they married.”

“I knew that part. Is there more to the story?”

“From what we were told, she was a sweet woman. Quiet, but confident, and she didn’t take any shit from anyone. In fact, I’ve seen photos of her, and you look a lot like her, Sienna.”

“So she was a stunning woman,” Quinn says with a wink.

“She was quite pretty. And I just realized, you’re wearing your hair down today. That’s unusual.”

“I recently started something new.” I link my fingers through Quinn’s, and Mom keeps telling the story.

“Well, I love it. Anyway, poor Muriel had her second baby breech and ended up bleeding to death. Of course, medical advances are such now that she would have lived.”

“That is sad.”

“The story goes that Lawrence was quite distraught and didn’t know quite what to do. Muriel took care of the family, and he worked, as it was with most families at that time. So he hired Muriel’s sister, Rose, to come live with him and the children, to be a nanny of sorts to help him.”

“Oh, my,” I whisper, already knowing where this is going.

“Well, he ended up marrying Rose,” Mom says.

“Nanny affairs even back then,” Lou says, shaking her head.

“I found their marriage certificate. Did they have more kids?”

“No, she was never able to get pregnant. She committed suicide ten years after they married.”

“Good God, this is horrible.” I stare at Mom in horror. “What happened to Lawrence?”

“I actually met him,” she replies. “When your father and I were dating, he was still alive. He passed just before we married.”

“Did he ever get married again?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Well, that’s depressing,” Lou says, emptying the last of the wine in her glass. “We need more alcohol and happy stories.”

“There’s more wine inside,” Mom says, but before she can stand, Quinn does.

“I’ll go get it.”

“Thank you, dear.”

The door closes behind him and Mom smiles at me. “He’s wonderful, Sienna.”

“I think so.”

“If you get married, I want to help plan it,” Lou says. “I won’t even charge you.”

“You’re too kind.” My voice is as dry as the desert, but I can’t help but laugh at her. “And you’d be hired, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves. He hasn’t asked. It’s only been a few weeks.”

“I just have a very good feeling about this,” Mom says with a smug smile.

“I wonder what’s taking him so long.” I frown and stand. “I’m just going to check on him.”

I walk through the back door and hear voices in the kitchen. When I walk around the corner, it’s just Patrick and Quinn in the room, Patrick’s back is to me, and Quinn’s face is flat-out pissed.

“Fuck off,” Quinn growls at Uncle Patrick, and then he sees me standing in the doorway.

I’m stunned. What in the world could Uncle Patrick have said to warrant that response?

“What the hell?”

Chapter Seventeen

~Quinn~

I’m enjoying all of them. Louis is fascinating to talk cars with, which gives us quite a lot in common, and the whole family has been inviting and gracious.

Patrick hasn’t said much, but I’m fine with that. I already want to deck the asshole.

I walk into the house, shut the door behind me, and walk into the kitchen, looking for another bottle of wine. I’m surprised that Patrick is in the kitchen alone.

“The girls want more wine,” I say, spying a bottle on the countertop. I reach for it, and turn to leave, but Patrick is standing in my way of the door.

“I’ve looked into you,” he begins and crosses his arms over his chest. “I know that you’re a good attorney.”

“Okay.” I tilt my head, interested to see where this is going.

“So color me surprised when I discovered that you and Sienna are working on the case together. I wouldn’t think you’d need to fuck her to win this case. Or is that your plan? It’ll be easier to comfort her when she loses?”