Chapter Six
Familial Expectations
Oliver thumbed his ring. He had hoped to whisk Felipe off to have a proper date before they left for the case, but between finishing up the paperwork for Mrs. Ennis’s blessedly uneventful death, processing whatever evidence other investigators dropped off, and packing for the trip, Oliver hadn’t had a spare moment to himself.
He could have pulled out the ring after they came back from getting bagels and lox that morning, but he didn’t want to propose for the sake of doing so.
There would be plenty of time after the case was over to do it properly.
As they reached the stoop, Felipe winced at the eruption of shrill barking from inside the house.
Kuchen’s black and orange head appeared through the curtains, followed by Pastel, who took one look at the men and howled like she was being murdered.
Agatha Pfeiffer’s voice rose on the other side of the door only to be drowned beneath the dogs’ yapping.
Felipe had just raised his finger to the bell when a harried Agatha opened the door with Pastel in her arms. While the orange Pomeranian tried to wiggle free and lunge at Felipe, Kuchen wagged her tail and pant-snorted at Oliver.
“Who needs a doorbell with these two?” she said with a roll of her hazel eyes as she shut the door behind them and put Pastel down.
A smile crossed Oliver’s lips as he knelt to pet each of the Pomeranians.
Kuchen licked his face and tried to leap into his arms only to be tackled by her sister.
The dogs tussled until, somewhere in the back of the house, Louisa yelled to them in Spanish.
Pastel tilted her head before toddling off to find her with Kuchen in tow.
Agatha shook her head and apologized as she took Oliver and Felipe’s hats and coats.
While she prattled about the sudden cold snap with Felipe, Oliver studied her outfit to report back to Gwen.
The gown Agatha wore reminded him of what the heroines in her paintings often wore.
It appeared to be composed of shades of blue velvet with the cut of a medieval dress with a long, hanging belt and a collar of decorative lace so large it was more like a shawl.
In her dark blonde hair, she wore two decorative combs with a chain between that complimented the floral motifs in the lace.
It was a different silhouette than what Oliver had seen most women wear, but he liked it; it made her look ethereal.
“You look very nice, Agatha,” Oliver said as she hung up his coat.
“Thank you, Oliver. We attended a friend’s salon this morning, so I decided to stay in my Sunday best, unlike someone,” she replied in a stage whisper.
“Some of us prefer to be comfortable!” Louisa Galvan called a moment before she stepped out of the dining room with the Pomeranians at her heels.
Seeing her in her old burgundy and cream striped tea gown with her long, black hair hanging in a plain braid, no one would have guessed she had visited a prestigious salon with her Aesthete partner only hours earlier.
“I can only stomach being dressed formally for so long before I lose my temper. I’d have taken to furs by now if it wasn’t my turn to cook. Come and sit. Dinner’s ready.”
Following Felipe and the others into the dining room, Oliver drew in a long breath.
As always, the food smelled heavenly. A loaf of freshly sliced bread sat in the middle of the table along with a long dish filled with chicken, peppers, and tomatoes.
Beside it sat a ceramic pot with a lid. Using his handkerchief, Felipe carefully opened it to reveal a pot of orange rice.
“Arroz rojo,” Felipe said with a contented sigh.
“I thought it would pair nicely with schnitzel and red sauce,” Louisa replied as she sat down and motioned for Felipe to dole out the food. “I tried not to make it too spicy for you, Oliver, but I apologize in advance if it is.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.” It didn’t smell anywhere near as sinus-searing as the chili oil Felipe liked to add to his food. “It all looks delicious.”
“Doesn’t it? Louisa’s an amazing cook. For dessert, there’s shortbread from that little bakery down the street, so make sure to leave room,” Agatha added as she passed Oliver the butter dish and a slice of bread.
“You know how we’ve been working with Theo Bisclavret and Bennett Reynard on their project to combat anti-magic prejudice?
Well, the other day we stopped by the society to give them the money from the Lady’s Art and Performance Society fundraiser.
Bisclavret was working in the greenhouse, so we went to give it to him since Reynard wasn’t in the library.
When he saw how much money was inside the envelope, his eyes got wide, and without a word, he disappeared into the shed.
For a moment, I thought he was going to find Reynard or someone else, but then, he came back with half a dozen jars of tomato sauce and pickled peppers to thank us for organizing the fundraiser. ”
“What’s the point in having wealthy friends and patrons if we can’t shake them down for money every once in a while?”
Agatha laughed and tossed a piece of crust to each dog. “I told Theo he didn’t need to give us anything as we were happy to help, but he insisted. I’ve been dying to make this sauce ever since.”
“He also gave us some of those delicious pickles he makes, but they’re long gone.”
The rest of dinner passed in companionable peace.
Between bites of paprika-dusted chicken and tangy, garlicy rice, Agatha and Louisa told them about what they and their artist friends had been up to while the dogs took turns pestering each of them for food.
Even though Teresa had been back at college for several weeks, Oliver still hadn’t gotten used to her not being at Sunday dinners.
Twice he caught himself about to ask her empty chair how her classes were going.
He would reply to her letter later once he and Felipe were home.
At least she seemed to be getting on well with her classmates and the new professor they had hired to teach interior design.
Beside him, Felipe laughed and replied at the right times, but every once in a while, Oliver caught flickers of anxiety or an undercurrent of pensiveness across the tether.
It was unlike him. Under the table, Oliver curled his foot around Felipe’s ankle and felt him press against him in return.
Looking up from his plate, he gave Oliver a half-smile that didn’t reach his eyes.
Louisa motioned for Agatha and Oliver to pass her their empty plates. “We were thinking of going to Amato’s Wednesday evening. Would you two like to join us?”
“We would love to, but we’re going out of town for a case next week.”
The moment the words left his lips, Oliver felt Felipe stiffen.
“Carino,” Louisa said, her gaze narrowing as she turned to Felipe, “you never mentioned you had an out of town case. I thought you weren’t taking those anymore due to your condition.”
Felipe’s jaw clenched. “If you mean I don’t take them because I’m dead, you know that isn’t it. I’m not taking out of town cases because I don’t want to anymore.”
“Yet you’re taking this one.”
“We wouldn’t normally have taken this case,” Oliver began, setting a calming hand on Felipe’s knee in hopes it would temper the tension choking the room, “but I wanted to, not Felipe.”
“At least someone is honest with us.”
“We’re only going to New Jersey, Louisa. It isn’t like we’re going across the country. We shouldn’t be gone for more than a week. You wouldn’t have even noticed we were gone.”
She leveled a glare at Felipe. “Were you even going to tell us you were traveling for a case?”
“Of course, I was. I was going to wait until right before we left, so this didn’t turn into a whole—”
Loudly clearing her throat, Agatha stood and plastered on a tight smile. “Felipe, can I borrow you for a moment? There’s a pot in the sunroom that desperately needs to be rotated, but I’m not strong enough to lift it.”
For a moment, Oliver didn’t think Felipe would take the out.
Then, he released a huffed breath and followed Agatha out of the dining room without a word.
Oliver froze in place as he watched them leave for fear of breaking the fragile truce between the Galvans.
By the time the door swung shut, the tension had fizzled out, but Louisa’s annoyance was obvious as she clanked the dirty dishes and utensils into a pile with more force than necessary and stormed out of the room.
Oliver gathered the remaining glasses and as many serving dishes as he could safely carry before he rushed to catch up with her.
The Pomeranians bounced off his legs and crisscrossed in front of him in hopes he would drop the half-eaten chicken or butter on his way to the kitchen at the back of the house.
He paused on the threshold to readjust his grip and heard Louisa murmuring under her breath.
When he cleared his throat, the scowl dropped from her lips at the sight of him juggling an armful of crockery.
She plucked the glasses from between his fingers and shooed the dogs back into the hall.
“I know you love him dearly, Oliver, but I swear that man will be the death of me.”
“In Felipe’s defense, he really didn’t want to take this case. I had to convince him.”
“Why did you take it? Is he pressuring you to go on long trips? If he is, I can give him an earful for you.”
“No, no, it truly wasn’t Felipe’s doing.
I might be related to some of the people involved in the case.
Not directly. Well, actually, I don’t know that.
I haven’t met anyone there.” Oliver took a deep breath and set the serving dish on the table.
He was making no sense. “The town we’re going to is where my parents lived right before they died and where I was born, though I have no memory of them or the town. ”