Awww. I just keep learning things about these characters. They surprise me. sometimes they delight me. Other times they depress me. Still other times they make me slap my forehead or tisk or throw my hands up.
The next installment of the LONG NIGHT dinner party is from Nolan.
I hope you enjoy it to pieces. There's a flashback embedded in there, which isn't the norm, but here it fit.
Enjoy some Nolan. i always do. He's another one i have a real fucking soft spot for.
We'll see...
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Nolan couldn’t quite put a finger on just why he was so distracted this evening. But he was. Distracted.
“That’s the third time I’ve had to call your name.” His wife hissed through clenched teeth as they sat in Jonah’s den that evening, waiting for the big family dinner to get underway.
“I’m sorry.” He offered promptly. There was no excuse, really, he was sitting right next to her. “What’s up?”
He made himself focus. He looked her in the eye and gave her his undivided attention. And winced. She was looking beautiful, but a bit like a wrathful goddess at present. He tried his best smile; that usually melted her no matter what her temper.
Not tonight.
“Don’t you try that on me Nolan Delaney—“ She said, boring holes into his eyes with her own. “Either you snap out of it or I’m getting back in the van and going home. I’m not interested in dealing with all this on my own tonight.”
He swallowed, feeling appropriately chastised. He slipped his hand over hers, where it rested on her knee, and squeezed. “I’m here. I’m sorry. I have a lot on my mind.”
She pursed her lips and narrowed her gorgeous eyes skeptically. “All afternoon I’ve been begging and pleading with you to tell me—“
“So sorry!” Velvet Delaney half-sang as she whirled into the livingroom, looking flushed and glowing and perfectly put together despite the well-used apron covering her cocktail dress.
Nolan stood automatically, helping Zahra up as well, and received Velvet’s customary cheek kisses, then reclaimed Zahra’s hand while she received the warm greeting as well. “Hey Sis.” Nolan murmured. “You look enchanting, as always.”
Velvet giggled. “You charmer!” She gushed. “I refuse to believe you can even spare a glance at another woman when your wife looks as ravishing as she does this evening!” Impulsively she squeezed Zahra again before standing back to verbally admire her sister-in-law’s dress, hair, makeup, and what-not.
Nolan smiled deeply. His wife was quite ravishing. “She’s a goddess.” He replied, and lifted Z’s smooth, dark hand to his lips for a gallant kiss. She smiled at the gesture, smiled for Velvet’s sake, but Nolan saw in the flashing of her midnight dark eyes that she was still pretty pissed at him.
“Can I help in the kitchen?” Zahra offered immediately. She was always more comfortable in a kitchen.
“No, no, not just now. I promise I’ll let you know.” Velvet breathed, throwing her pale green gaze around. “Lola’s in the kitchen with me, coloring.” She said with a genuine smile. “Where are the other beautiful Delaneys?”
Nolan could hear cartoons on low in the den behind him. “Ajay’s in the den.”
“Keer went with Avalon and Genny.” His wife finished.
Velvet sighed a very happy sigh. Nolan had misgivings about her, sure, but there was one thing he was sure of after all these years: she loved her family. She was a person full of love and good intentions. He just wasn’t certain good intentions were enough in some instances.
“I have to apologize—you may not see Vienna this evening.” She said in a suddenly low and somber voice.
“Is she ill?” Nolan asked sharply.
Zahra and Velvet looked at him, then looked at eachother. “No, no.” Velvet rushed to assure him. “Broken heart.”
Z looked sympathetic and Velvet nodded sadly. “Poor thing. Who was it?” Z asked in that same low voice.
Nolan refrained from rolling his eyes. Then he suppressed a smirk. He’d imagined the twins were made of sterner stuff—had never seen either of them over-emotional or prone to moodiness the way Jonah’s other two girls were. But. He supposed, with a small surge of affection, that tough and level-headed as they were, they still carried the DNA of Jonah and Velvet, two of the most romantic, soft-hearted people he’d ever known.
And she was eighteen, right? He supposed moping up in her room over some idiot boy was par for the course for any girl that age. Ugh. He hoped Keer could somehow skip all that teenaged nonsense. He almost groaned outloud thinking about Lola getting to be that age. No thanks.
He’d missed part of the conversation again. Fuck.
“—trust a boy in a band.” His wife was saying. He nodded along thoughtfully.
“Excuse me, ladies, Where’s my brother disappeared to?” Nolan smiled kindly, but he was sure his disinterest in teenaged love-life catastrophes showed all over his face.
Velvet paused, ready to say something or other about the kinds of boys who formed local bands, no doubt, and looked stumped. “You know, I’m not sure. He’s not in the kitchen. Why don’t you go see if you can find him and drag him back to his hosting duties!” She said with a sweet-as-pie smile. “Hog tie the man if necessary.”
Nolan laughed but didn’t feel merry. His brother was one of the other little problems niggling at his mind tonight. He’d greeted them when they’d first arrived. He’d looked pleasant and well groomed and perfectly normal, but, something cold just slid right down Nolan’s spine at the sight of him.
That was troubling. Because, try as he might, Nolan couldn’t figure that one out at all. It was the same sort of visceral reaction he used to have bartending, when one of his patrons had a nasty secret of some kind. Like wife beaters, or gambling addicts who’d just bet the house and lost, or women who were two-timing, or crooked politicians.
But this was Jonah, for god’s sake. Whatever gut reaction he’d had to his brother this evening, Nolan was sure it couldn’t be anything sordid or scandalous. It was Jonah.
Nolan needed a drink.
He headed to the den first, to check on Ajay. “Hey buddy.” He said seriously, eying the cartoon on the tv screen. It looked awfully graphic in the violence department. “Whatcha up to?”
“Nuthin.” His son replied rather guiltily.
“You supposed to be watching this?” He asked stoically.
He locked eyes with his son for a long moment. “No.” The boy mumbled and reached for the remote.
When Ajay wasn’t looking Nolan grinned. He loved this age—when they knew right from wrong and were still utterly honest about their own misdeeds. Then he cleared his throat. “I think that’s enough TV for now, huh? Go see your Aunt. She’s looking to give you a big hug.”
Ajay laughed a little as he worked on locating the ‘off’ button, then he bounded out of the den with a pretty fetching smile. If he’d had an aunt like Velvet, Nolan had no doubt he’d have bounded out with the exact same expression.
Suddenly Jonah appeared. Looking pale and as distracted as Nolan felt this evening. “Velvet said you were looking for me?”
Nolan smiled an easy smile, though it didn’t feel so easy at present. “They started talking about teenage relationship problems and I wanted to get the hell out of there.” He explained,
“Oh.” Jonah said vaguely.
They stood awkwardly for a moment.
“You okay, Jones?” Nolan asked as Jonah said “I put the wine in the cellar.”
“Wait, what?”
“The wine. That you brought. That’s where I went. I was. Putting it away.”
Nolan blinked. “How come?”
“Why?” Jonah corrected automatically. Nolan raised an eyebrow and Jonah had the grace to look contrite. “Sorry. How come. Because.” He stopped. “Shit.”
Nolan smiled at his brother. “Unless you had something already chosen, I don’t want to impose—“ Nolan knew for a fact that he wasn’t imposing. Velvet had called the shop to tell him what she was serving and had asked him to make selections for the evening.
“No, no, no. I’m an ass. I don’t know what I was thinking. I. Christ.”
“Let’s go get it.” Nolan suggested. “I wouldn’t mind disappearing for a little bit too.” He wouldn’t mind dwelling in the wine cellar he’d designed for them either. And practically stocked himself.
He couldn’t be sure, but it seemed as though Jonah blanched. “Was I gone long?”
Nolan bit the insides of his cheeks. The old Nolan Delaney creep alarm was going off in his head. “Jones, what the hell is going on? You feeling alright?”
Jonah opened his mouth then closed it. He did that again. Then he shook his head a shade ruefully. “It’s a big night. Velvet’s put a lot of energy into making everything perfect perfect perfect.” He laughed weakly. “I guess I’m just on edge.” He admitted. “Celia’s here.”
Nolan frowned. He figured she’d be here. Fuck. Nolan couldn’t stand the woman. There were precious few people Nolan Delaney had to really struggle to be polite to. Celia Calder, Velvet’s mother, was one of those few.
Nolan had resigned himself to this meeting, to what it would entail, but that resignation didn’t seem to make enduring it any better.
“Now I’mma call her in here, son, and you know what you have to do.” Mack Franchesci, Owner of La Buggia Bella vineyards and five-star restaurant, Nolan’s boss and mentor for going on five years, said solemnly.
“Sir, I don’t think I can do that.” Nolan said just as solemnly.
Mack looked disappointed and a shade irritated. “Goddammit Delaney.” He said, getting up and pacing behind his enormous oak desk in the winery’s finest office. The one overlooking the spectacular view of the most beautiful vineyard Nolan had ever seen. The office that had been promised to Nolan, that would have been his in just a few short years. “I don’t want to have to fire you, boy.” He was exasperated but he was set on his path. “And you don’t have to tell me how wrong the old bat is, I know she’s a bitter, mean-spirited old ice-berg, but Goddamit Delaney.”
Nolan waited patiently where he sat, straight backed and somber in one of the chairs positioned in front of Mack’s desk. He’d said his peace, he’d explained everything to Mack, about his part in the whole Calder-Grey debacle, about his firm but less-than-friendly handling of the wealthy and influential Mrs. Calder, and beyond that he decided to stand his ground. He wouldn’t grovel. Even if it meant losing everything he’d been working for and dreaming of since he’d graduated high school.
Mack stopped pacing after a minute or two of conflicted muttering and creative cursing. “You know,” he said in a voice that was clearly put-out, “I have plans too, kid. I have plans to retire in three years and I don’t want to even think about changing that. I’m too old for all this. Goddammit.”
Nolan nodded sympathetically, but chose not to comment.
“Marilyn will have my balls in a vise if I have to go to her and tell her we can’t move to Italy for another few years more. Jesus effing Christ.” He ran a hand over his very bald dome and blew air through his lips. “I’m begging you boy, don’t let your pride get in the way of having all this.”
He stared Nolan down. Nolan stared back, not defiantly, but not defeated either. It was what it was.
“Sir, I don’t want to give this up either, believe me, but I haven’t done anything wrong, and I can’t stomach pretending otherwise.”
Mack threw his hands in the air and rolled his eyes to the heavens and he began muttering in rapid-fire Italian. He paced and cursed and shook his fists and gesticulated flamboyantly. Nolan knew enough Italian by now to catch the drift, as if his boss’ inflection, tone, and body language hadn’t been clear enough.
“I can only say how sorry I am that I’ve put you in this position.” Nolan interrupted after hearing himself referred to as a stupid, ungrateful fool in Italian for the third time. “I am sorry my actions have reflected poorly on you and your business and I’m sorry that you seem to feel you have no choice in the matter.” He swallowed. “But beyond apologizing for being less-than-polite, I don’t feel there’s anything more I can do to appease the woman.” He sighed and ran a hand through his own hair restlessly. “She wants my job, and nothing short of that will satisfy her.”
As if on cue the little intercom on Franchesci’s desk buzzed pointedly. She was here. And she wasn’t the sort of woman to be kept waiting. Mack met Nolan’s eyes in a last ditch attempt to persuade the young man to capitulate.
Nolan gave a soft smile and a slight shake of his head. He wasn’t going to back down.
“This girl, she worth it? Worth all the trouble?”
Nolan’s lips twisted. “I’m not the one in love with her Mack.” He said quietly. “But you know I’d cut off my own hand if Jonah needed it.”
Mack made a face that indicated he believed Nolan to be a complete idiot. Then he shrugged and with a heavy sigh punched the intercom button on his desk.
“Mrs. Calder to see you sir.” Carla, Mack’s secretary, said in her most professional voice. Nolan liked Carla. They’d been on a few dates. He wondered if she’d still see him even if he wasn’t destined to be the next owner of La Buggia Bella and one of the wealthiest people in Cedar Falls.
“I’ll be right there, thank you Carla.” Mack said evenly. He took his finger off the button and shook his head. “You be nice Delaney, you hear me?”
“Of course, sir.” Nolan responded promptly.
“She’s going to try to get a rise out of you.”
“I don’t doubt it.”
“I may not get a chance to talk to you after.” He said grimly.
Nolan swallowed and nodded. He stood and extended his hand to his boss. “It’s been an absolute pleasure working here sir, working for you.” Nolan cleared his throat to keep the emotion out of his voice. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all you’ve done for me. The opportunity.” He clamped his mouth shut because he could no longer keep the waver out of his tone. This place was his life. Until today it had been his future. Mack was like family.
But. He wasn’t family. He was a business man. Nolan was an employee. They weren’t bound by anything beyond professional courtesy. Jonah was family. And so, one day, would Velvet be too. This was the way it had to be.
Mack looked like he didn’t want to do it, but he shook Nolan’s hand miserably. “Goddammit Nolan.” Mack said roughly and pulled him into a firm, clumsy embrace. “You’ve been a son to me.”
Nolan received the rough pats on the back and returned them with equal vigor. Then Mack was adjusting his tie, smoothing the tufts of hair over his ears and clearing his throat as he walked to the door of his office, ready to greet Mrs. Sebastian Calder. Ready to fire the best employee and apprentice he’d ever had.
Nolan remained standing. He squared his shoulders, lengthened his spine and took a deep breath.
And he wondered, just as Mack had, if the girl was worth all this.
“Nolan?” Jonah was peering intently at his brother. “Where’d you go, just now?” He asked gently.
Nolan grimaced. “Sorry. Just remembering how much I enjoy your mother-in-law’s company.” Nolan intoned sarcastically.
“Sorry.” Jonah said quickly, reacting to Nolan’s suddenly stormy expression.
He shrugged. “She’s family. I knew she’d be here.”
Jonah didn’t seem to have anything to say to that assessment. They stared at one another again. “The wine.” Nolan prompted.
“Of course. Yes. Right. Sure thing.” Jonah hurried. “Let’s go get that wine you brought. The red will need to breathe, of course. I’m such an ass.”
Nolan smiled at his brother’s back as he followed him from the den. Between his wife’s suspicious glares, his brother’s unsettled nervousness, Celia Calder uncensored, and his own distracted moodiness, this evening was shaping up to be one long migraine.
And the honored couple hadn’t even arrived yet. Quite against his will and better judgment, Nolan’s gut roiled whenever he thought about Maggie and Grey. Another irritating little puzzle that he’d have to sort through before too long.
This was going to be a long goddamn night.
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