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“Jeez, how old is he?” May brushed her teeth.
“You know, I never asked.”
She spit into the sink. “You wouldn’t.”
“Yeah, so I want you to meet him and Bea—that’s his daughter. Actually, you should meet all of them, Nev and Cath, too. Do you have anything planned today?”
“Just this whateverness with you.”
“You blocked out the whole day, huh? ‘Reconcile with Allie.’?”
“Maybe it was important to me.”
“Ben says you’re writing a book about me.”
May turned, glaring, but it wasn’t her real glare, it was just the big-sister glare she used to put her in her place. “Don’t sound so pleased. It’s not really about you.”
“He says she has knobby knees and giant hair.”
“He talks too much.”
“I think I might be starting to like him.” She handed May her clothes. “Get dressed. You need to eat something, and we have a ton of shit to figure out.”
After that, it was easy.
Ben left the apartment with three minutes to spare.
Chapter 17
“Wait.” Jean tapped the steering wheel for emphasis. “Hold on just a second. You’re telling me that when you say ‘Dan,’ you mean Dan Einarsson? As in former-Jets-quarterback Dan Einarsson?”
“Yeah.” Allie found the button to roll down her window and stuck her elbow out into the New York sunshine.
They drifted over a bridge in dense traffic, making their way back to the city from May’s place in Queens to lunch with Winston. The East River snaked out beneath them, glittering and blue, and Allie wanted to make herself part of the moment—a real New York moment, on a beautiful summ
er day. “I didn’t tell you before that May’s ex was Dan Einarsson?”
“No, you did not tell me that before. I would have remembered.”
“I thought for sure I told you. Sorry. To me, he’s just Dan.”
Jean shook his head, unbelieving. “?‘Just Dan.’?”
“I’ve known him for years. Anyway, I didn’t know you were into football.”
“Psssh. You come to the city on a quest to find your mother and save your family, and it just so happens that your sister’s former boyfriend is the football player Thor Einarsson.”
“I know, right? We Manitowoc girls get around. Anyway, so May calls Dan—”
“Your sister is friendly with him? After she…?” Jean lifted one hand and made a stabbing motion in midair beside his head.
“She stabbed him, yeah, but it was with a shrimp fork, you don’t have to make it seem so dramatic.”
“I saw the video. It was dramatic.”
“You don’t cross my sister. But they worked out their shit amicably, so, yeah, they still talk from time to time. And Dan’s got this foundation—”
“You could get me an autograph, I think. Maybe one of those autographed team balls. My mother runs a charity auction. She’d be out of her mind if I got her an autographed football from Dan Einarsson.”
