“Maybe I should put that away,” Danny said, moving toward the picture.
Dot reached out her hand to stop him and said, “No.” Then she maneuvered to be a step higher than he was. Now they could see each other eye to eye.
“Danny, listen. I know Sadie was an incredibly important part of your life. You don’t have to hide her from me. I love you.Allof you. For everything that’s ahead and everything in the past.”
He blinked rapidly to fight the tears that threatened to spill over. He pulled her closer to him. She rested her cheek just below his collarbone. Closing his eyes and breathing deeply into her hair, he said quietly, “Thank you. I love you, Dot.”
“I love you, too.”
She started to unbutton his shirt. “Let’s see if we can make it up the stairs before I...”
They didn’t make it up the stairs.
Chapter 75
This has been a dream come true,” Dot said to Mary and Harper as they finished a light bite of bagels and coffee on New Year’s Day at Blackstone in the West Village in Manhattan.
“I can’t believe we pulled it off. New Year’s Eve in the city with our guys from Wisconsin?” Harper said.
“Wonder if they’re freaking out about the prices,” Mary said, watching Jake, Tommy, and Danny ordering for them at the register.
“They’ve been really good sports,” Dot said. She’d planned the trip after Election Night—three days in Manhattan over New Year’s Eve with Danny, Jake, and Tommy.
“We showed them a good time,” Harper said.
“They’ll never be the same.” Mary winked at Jake as he looked back to check on her.
“How are you feeling about taking Jake to Sunday supper before his flight back to Milwaukee tonight?” Dot asked Mary.
“Ready as I’ll ever be,” she said. “I have a feeling everyone’s going to love him more than me. He’ll be the family favorite.”
“Your Nonna is going to make him sit next to her,” Harper said.
“I imagine she’ll be pushing him to move to New York.” Mary knew Jake was up for the challenge of running her family gauntlet. She just wasn’t sure if she was.
“Tell me about it,” Harper said. “I know my brother is going to hit it off with Tommy at brunch today. He’s shocked that I’d date anyone who wasn’t a hardcore lefty. I can just hear him gloating from across town.”
“Danny was a hit at Christmas dinner in Providence,” Dot said. “My mom and dad told me after that he seemed like an all-American boy with great manners. That’s high praise, coming from them. And my sister said, ‘He’s the brother I always wanted.’ They talked about sports most of the time. To be honest, I was happy to just sit and listen.”
For Danny, visiting Rhode Island at Christmas was the first time he’d not been at the Taylor farm in many years. Dot wasn’t surprised when Danny fit right into her family flow.
Over the visit, the Clarks mostly steered clear of politics, except to talk up Dot’s work on the campaign and how much she got out of her Wisconsin adventure, both personally and professionally. When they’d left to travel south to Manhattan, her parents and Anne had gone to the train station to see them off and waved from the platform.
“You made quite an impression on them,” Dot told him.
“It feels good to have them in my corner. And you next to me,” he’d said as they held hands, sipped the Starbucks they’d purchased for the trip, and watched the New England coastline fly by.
For New Year’s Eve, the six of them had gone to a special dinner and dance party at the Summit One building near Grand Central Station. They’d stayed out until after two in the morning, then all went back to The Standard, where they were staying. They’d really splashed out on the three-day trip, agreeing that it was worth the money to show them New York to repay them for the good times they’d had in Wisconsin.
The guys brought the coffees and bagels back to the table. They were short a chair, so Mary got up and then sat on Jake’s lap to make room for him.
Danny made a toast. “To The Crew!”
“I’ll drink to that,” Harper said, grateful she’d had plenty of water the night before and hadn’t taken an allergy pill. She had learned her lesson about drinking on Zyrtec during the Wisconsin tornado night fiasco. With everyone gathered, she decided now was the time to tell them about her plans.
“I have some news.” Harper reached for Tommy’s hand. Dot’s eyebrows shot up in anticipation.
“Go on,” Mary said, eager to hear it.