"That's what it takes in this world, don't you think?"
"If you say so." She picked up the stack of pizzas and asked, "Are you ready to go see why Nathan summoned us to his home?"
I took a deep breath, pulled off my apron, and then dropped it onto the stool. "I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be."
"Then let's go."
When Maddy pulled up in front of Nathan's house, it was clear that he'd decided to begin his renovation without my guidance. There was a crew of three men working on the front of the house, removing vines and prepping the entire place for painting. A carpenter was working on replacing one of the rotting porch posts, and I could already start to see the bones of the place show themselves. No matter how I felt about Nathan, it was good seeing that he was making a start at restoring his bungalow.
We made our way through the workers, and Maddy rang the bell as I held the pizzas.
Gina answered the door, but she seemed reluctant to let us inside. "What have you got there?" she asked as she pointed to the bright red sleeves.
"We thought you might be hungry," I said.
"We already had lunch," she said. In a lowered voice, she added, "This was my uncle's idea, not mine."
"I suspected as much," I said.
Maddy said loudly, "Why aren't you inviting us in, Gina?"
She shot my sister a nasty look as Nathan appeared at the door. I was shocked by the difference I saw in him. Where he'd been vigorous and full of life earlier, it appeared as though the past few days had aged him years. His face was pale and gaunt, and there was a nervous tic to his forced smile that made me wonder what had happened to him since he'd invited Gina and Nancy into his life.
"Come in," he said.
"We brought lunch," I said brightly.
He managed a weak smile. "Thanks all the same, but I've been a bit under the weather lately. I don't have much of an appetite these days."
Maddy and I stepped inside, and I could see that the changes were taking place there as well. There were painters working in the living room stripping the woodworking, and I was happy to see that they were trying to restore the quarter sawn oak to its original splendor. At some point in the house's lifetime, some idiot had decided to paint it, and as the garish yellow shade was stripped away, the true beauty of the wood underneath it was beginning to come out.
"I like what you're doing with the place," I said as I looked around.
"You know how it is, more than most. It's a work in progress," Nathan said. "Why don't we go out onto the back porch? No work's started there yet, so we'll have some peace and quiet."
We moved through the house to the back, and it was no wonder that Nathan had been losing sleep. I knew from experience how difficult it was to live on-site when a remodel was taking place. Dust seemed to get everywhere, and there was a constant level of noise that quickly became unsettling.
Nancy was already outside waiting for us. There was a nice sun-deck on the back of the porch, with enough seating for all of us.
She smiled apologetically at us as she said, "I needed some peace and quiet, for the baby, you know."
Gina glared at her as though she were covered in boils, but Nathan's smile brightened somewhat when he looked at her. "It's perfectly understandable, my dear," he said as he patted her shoulder paternally. She sat tall, and Nathan took his place beside her, with Gina barely finding enough room on the other side of her uncle.
Maddy and I took the remaining chairs facing the three of them, and Nathan began to talk.
"First of all, thank you both for coming. I know it's been difficult, but I've decided to put the past behind us and clear the air."
"Then you don't actually believe that we killed Judson anymore?" Maddy asked him.
Nathan shook his head. "No, of course not. I never did, not really. Sometimes it just helps to blame someone for the troubles you endure in your life, you know?"
"We appreciate that," I said. "It means a great deal to both of us. Was that all?"
"No, there's another reason I've asked you here," Nathan said.
"What is it?"
"I want to apologize again for this situation with Italia's. I know it's not fair to you both, and I want to say that I'm sorry."
"Sorry enough not to open the restaurant up after all?" Maddy asked.
As Gina glared at my sister, Nathan said, "No, I'm afraid that's out of the question. Gina needs the work to take her mind off her grief, so as far as I'm concerned, it's a done deal."
At least I was right about one thing; it was clear from her reaction that Gina had no desire to run that pizzeria. Her expression told the truth no matter how much she tried to hide it.
Nathan took a deep breath, and then he said, "I don't know if you've heard about my recent accident, but it's changed my entire perspective on things."
"I'm so happy that you weren't hurt," I said, meaning every word of it. Despite everything, I liked Nathan, and I hated seeing him like this.
"It could have been tragic," he agreed. "It's made me reevaluate some of the decisions I've made in the past, and I've decided to rectify as many of my sins as I can, while there's still time."
"Nathan, you're still a young man," I said, though it was clearly a lie to all of us sitting there.
"Not in any way, shape, or form," he said with a smile, "but I appreciate you saying it." He took a heavy breath, and then said, "Putting things in order before I go is the most important thing in the world to me right now."
"Have you decided on what you're going to do yet?" Maddy asked innocently.
"That's no concern of yours," Gina snapped.
Nathan patted her knee. "Now, Gina, be civil. We invited these folks here, remember?"
"Sorry," she said, though it was clear from her expression that she wasn't remorseful at all.
"It's accepted," Maddy said with just as much guile. "We're curious about your plans. It's a fair question, Nathan."
"I'm not sure that's entirely true, and though my niece shouldn't have snapped at you, she was right about one thing; it's family business," he said.
After Nathan spoke, he turned to Nancy and smiled.
She looked at him so adoringly that I felt myself growing uncomfortable from the warmth. If I had to guess, I'd have to say that Nancy was going to figure prominently into the new plan. From the expression on Gina's face, it was pretty clear that she was beginning to realize it as well.
"You might as well go on and tell them what you have in mind, Uncle Nathan," Gina said. "Everyone is going to know soon enough, and you've kept all of us in the dark long enough."
He frowned at her, and then asked the other woman beside him, "Nancy, do you mind? This concerns you as well."
"Whatever you want to do is fine with me, Uncle Nathan," she said.
Gina cringed visibly as Nancy called him uncle.
He nodded. "Very well. As I said before, I decided that it was time to set things right, so I'm going to tear up my old will and write a new one."
"Who was the beneficiary before?" I asked, more out of curiosity than anything else. There was a fortune at stake, and I couldn't help wondering who was going to miss out on it.
He shrugged. "I don't suppose it hurts to tell you now, since it was written before Gina and Judson came into my life, not to mention Nancy. I left everything to my relative in Timber Ridge."
"I didn't think you knew who that was?" I asked.
"I didn't, and I still don't, but I left a provision in my will for Bob Lemon to track my heir down and give them everything I own."
"But that's all changed now," Maddy said.
"Indeed it has," Nathan said. "As soon as Bob and I have hammered out the details of an exact listing of my assets, I've decided to divide my estate into three equal shares." He turned to Gina and said, "You'll get a third," and then he looked at Nancy and added, "You'll get a third, and your baby will get the remaining third."
That struck like a slap in the face to Gina. "She gets more than me, and she's not even blood family?" Gina shouted, clearly blindsided by the new order of things.
"She's carrying Judson's child," Nathan said, clearly hurt by her reaction. "I thought you'd be pleased."
"Have you lost your mind? In what world would I be happy with that?" She looked harshly at Nancy. "We don't even know if that's Judson's kid she's carrying."
"I've never been with anyone but him, not that way," Nancy said, the level of her voice increasing to match her accuser's.
"Save it, lady, nobody here believes you."
Nathan said calmly, "I do."
I wouldn't have been surprised if Nancy had stuck her tongue out at Gina at that moment.
"Then you're nothing but an old fool," she shouted as she stood and stomped off the porch and into the house, "and I'm going to prove that she's lying."
"I'd better go talk to her," Nancy said as she started to get up.
"Do you think that's the wisest course of action at the moment?" I asked her.
Nancy stood and looked at the door as she spoke. "We may not agree about everything, but these two people are the only family I have in the world, and I can't stand the thought of something like money coming between us."
She smiled once more at Nathan, and then disappeared inside.
"Should you leave them alone like that?" Maddy asked.
"Perhaps you're right," he said as he stood as well. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I'm sure that once I explain it to Gina, she'll accept it as the right thing to do. I want to get this settled so I can destroy the current will and replace it with something that means more to me." He looked at the pizza sleeves at my feet. "I hate that we didn't touch those. I'd be happy to pay you for your trouble."
"Nonsense," I said. "They were a gift."
"Then I want to thank you for the thought," he said. "Can you two see yourselves out? I'd better go inside and make sure everything's okay."
After he was gone, I started for the back steps when Maddy grabbed my arm.
"We should go out through the house," my sister said.
I couldn't believe that my sister was suggesting that we intrude on their family's difficulties. "Are you insane? He wants us to leave them alone. That much was pretty clear."
Maddy's eyes were gleaming as she asked, "Aren't you the least bit curious what they're saying right now to each other?"
I shook my head. "We're not doing it, so forget it. Now come on. We have three pizzas we need to get rid of."
Maddy shrugged. "Is there anyone else we need to go see? We could offer these as a bribe for information."
"If there's anyone who can be swayed by pizza, I haven't met them yet," I said as we walked around the house to her car.
I saw the workmen diligently toiling to make an old house beautiful again, and I suddenly knew the perfect thing to do with the pizzas in my arms.
I approached them and asked, "Would you gentlemen be interested in some pizzas, free of charge, to a good home?"
"Are you kidding? We'd love it," one man said.
I handed them the pizza boxes out of the sleeves, and said, "I'm sorry I don't have anything to offer you to drink."
"We'll manage," the man said. "Guys, go get the crew inside. I'm declaring a break."
As they gathered around the food, Maddy smiled at me.
"What?" I asked. "I couldn't bear to see it go to waste."
"And that's one reason I love you, Sis," she said.
"I thought you had to because we're family," I replied with a grin.
"You think so? Ask them in there, and then come back and talk to me. Let's go back to the Slice and get ready for the evening crowd. You need to make more dough for deep dish pizzas, you know that, don't you?"
"I don't mind," I said. "It's what I do."
"It's what we do, Sis," she said as she drove us back to the Slice.
I wouldn't have minded being rich. There were a lot of things I might buy, including a new pizza oven, but if I had to choose between wealth and my friends and family, it would be an easy decision. Love trumped everything else, at least in my book, and I'd lived my life by that rule.
It was the only way I knew how to be, and I was thrilled by that realization.
When we got back to the Slice, I was surprised to find a large, muscular man in a dark coat and hat standing with his back to us waiting at the door.
I felt the muscles in my stomach begin to tighten, and then I realized that it was Art Young's driver.
"I've got a message for you," he said without preamble as he turned to face us.
"What can I do for you?" I asked.
"Mr. Young would appreciate it very much if you would join him in his automobile over there."
I looked in the direction where he was pointing and saw the long, black vehicle parked on the edge of the promenade.