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“Oh, my goodness gracious!” Maggie squealed with delight. “Wait till you taste the dump—I mean gyozas!”
Yoko opened the insulated bag where she was keeping the dumplings warm. She placed them on trays and handed them to Izzie and Alexis. She nodded in Maggie’s direction. “I don’t trust that one.” She snickered.
“Why is everyone always picking on me? So I like food. Does that make me a bad person?” she whined.
Izzie laughed and addressed Zoe. “We go through this at almost every meal.”
Maggie pouted. “They’re so mean.”
Zoe scoffed. “I don’t think so.”
“Oh swell. You’re on their side and you just met me.”
“Your reputation precedes you.” Zoe was in on the jokes now.
Maggie shook her head, feigning annoyance. Then she scurried past Annie and grabbed two dumplings from the tray Izzie was holding.
Izzie looked at Zoe. “Need I say more?”
Maggie stuck out her tongue and then popped another dumpling into her mouth.
Myra began to herd the crowd. “Come on, everyone. Let’s go sit in the atrium and enjoy these luscious-looking gyozas.”
Annie addressed Fergus. “Let’s crack open one of those bottles of sake and grab the ochoko cups.” She was referring to the short, rounded cups used to serve sake. She brought over a small stack of plates and paper napkins.
Everyone settled into a chair or ottoman, or leaned against something. Fergus did the honors of pouring the Japanese rice wine, then added, “I should probably go check on Charles and Yoko.” He thought he’d give the Sisters a chance to catch up before the serious stuff started later.
In the kitchen, Charles shooed Yoko toward the atrium. “You’ve done all the hard work. All we need to do now is to cook it up.” He checked the steamer basket filled with slightly aromatic rice. “All good here.” Charles grinned. “Fergus and I will get this sorted.”
Before Yoko went to sit with the others, she returned to her van and retrieved the beautiful white peonies she had been growing for Myra. She could barely get her arms around the bundle.
She entered the house to a chorus of oohs and aahs. Ordinarily, peonies were available for only a very short time in the spring. With all the other flowers available, most florists didn’t try to keep them throughout the year, but Yoko was masterful. And she did it for Myra.
“Oh, Yoko, they are glorious!” Myra jumped out of her seat. She was over the moon.
“Myra, you stay put. We’ll take care of this.” Yoko and Alexis walked through the atrium and along one side of the kitchen to the entry area at the back door.
Straight ahead was a large utility room. There was a professional-size washer and dryer, two tankless water heaters, a large laundry folding table, a double utility sink, a wall-hung ironing board, and floor-to-ceiling cabinets on the far end. To the left was a very old wooden door that led to an equally old set of steps. These were the stairs that led to their “war room.”
Yoko gave the stems one more quick cut while Alexis filled a clear, large, wide-mouthed vase. “Had you met Zoe before?” Alexis asked Yoko.
“Not in person. But Izzie often spoke about her. When she had to go into the city, they’d get together. Drinks. Dinner. Lunch. Whatever they could fit into their schedule. Zoe traveled internationally for several years.” Yoko paused and looked at Alexis. “There seems to be something going on with the company she works for.”
Alexis furrowed her brow. “Didn’t Izzie call Zoe about your job?”
“Yes, that’s why she’s here. I mean that’s the reason she came down. To look at the plans.”
“So, what happened?”
“Izzie felt some serious tension coming from Zoe. Izzie said Zoe seemed tightly wound. Not at all like herself, Izzie said. But you know Izzie—she is almost as relentless as Maggie and she coaxed it out of her.”
“Izzie has a little more patience than Maggie.” Alexis chuckled. “What did Zoe tell her?”
“It all started when she read some articles about structural failures. So she did some research and discovered dozens upon dozens of buildings collapsing. Bridges falling over.” Yoko continued fussing with the flowers. “You know she grew up in the town where the Silver Bridge collapsed?”
“But that was years before she was born.” Alexis calculated the two decades in her head.
“True, but her father’s uncle was one of the people who died. Her dad was around five years old at the time.”
