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“For a second he just stared at me, then he threw his head back and laughed while flipping me the bird.” Sam smiled, remembering. “Everyone in the room went silent and turned to stare at him, mouths open. I got the impression that he didn’t laugh like that often, and later learned that was the case. His husband had died a few months before, and he hadn’t smiled since.” He drew a breath. “His sister-in-law and her husband Benny came up to me afterward and thanked me. Told me about Ryan’s passing and how Frankie had been inconsolable. They were crying.” He cleared his throat. “I cried too, then.”
Vivian’s smile was sweet. “And you became friends?”
“Yeah, we did. We talked every time I went to play. My own grandfather had passed away and I missed him. Frankie reminded me of him. Turned out they even shared first and middle names. Franklin Delano. My grandpa was called Del. Frankie kind of took me under his wing. I’d just broken up with my old girlfriend and…well, we were both lonely, I guess. He loved Siggy. Used to growl at me when I’d leave him at home. Frankie growled, not Siggy.”
Vivian chuckled, then sighed. “What else do you know? Did he have any enemies?”
“Not that I knew of. But I guess I didn’t know him as well as I thought. I found out today that he has a son. A son that despises him, apparently. Enough not to want to be involved with his funeral, only the reading of his will.”
“Frankie had money?”
“Yeah. He told me once that his husband had made a ‘shitload of cash’—his words, not mine—when he sold some kind of software. We talked sometimes about what he should do with the money. Charities he could give it to. He gave away a lot. But never once did he mention a son.”
“That hurts you.”
Sam shrugged uncomfortably. “Yeah. But I’m sure he had his reasons. Who knows, maybe the son was from a previous marriage and hated him for being gay or for leaving his mother. We see that from time to time in clients.”
“We do,” she agreed. “And what else?”
“Why do you think there’s more?”
“Because I know you. You’ve got that groove just here.” She pointed to her forehead. “Talk to me, Sam. You’ll feel better afterward.”
He would. He always did. “There was something going on with McKittrick. She asked me where his husband was and I told her that Ryan had died and that they’d been together for a long time, that they’d run an antique store together before their retirement. She…tensed. Just a tiny reaction.”
But Sam had been watching her carefully. The fact had startled her.
“Why would that make her tense?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you ask her?”
Sam laughed bitterly. “No. I didn’t.”
Vivian sighed again. “So she wasn’t happy to see you, I take it.”
“No, not at all.”
“Well,” Vivian said briskly. “Why do you think it would make her tense?”
Sam looked away, concentrating on that moment when Kit’s blue eyes had flickered before she’d yanked down the iron curtain over her expression.
“It was almost like she was surprised because she knew something different.”
And now Sam really wanted to know what that something different was.
“You could ask her partner,” Vivian suggested cautiously.
“I could.” But he really wanted to hear it from Kit. Asking Connor Robinson felt like…cheating, somehow. “Or I could ask one of Frankie’s friends at Shady Oaks.” He gave Vivian an assessing look. “You just transformed some of my grief into curiosity. Well done.”
She gave him her best impression of innocence. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. We’re just chatting.” She held out her hand. “Help an old woman up. I’m done for the day, so I’m going home early.”
He pulled her to her feet, then patted her back when she gave him a motherly hug. “Thank you,” he murmured, then pulled away. “I’ll need to rearrange my schedule for the next few days so that I can support the residents. I promised I’d be back tomorrow for a little while. The music helps them.”
She smiled up at him. “I think it’s you who helps them, Sam. The music is a nice freebie. Let me know if I can take any of your cases.” She started for the door, then paused, her smile brightening. “I have a message for you. Rita Mendoza says to tell you that she’s ‘taking the plunge.’ ” She used air quotes.
His heart immediately lightened. “She’s going for the adoption?”
