Begin Again (5 page)

“Am I missing something?” Elyssa’s neck had stiffened, and her tone was miffed
.
Turning to his date, Adam explained, “I’m sorry, Elyssa.
Caterina’s family suffered a great loss a few years ago.” As briefly as he could, he explained what had happened. “I’m working with Pettrone and Ludzecky Builders on the new music hall in Queens, and their wives run it now.”

Elyssa gave her condolences
.

A man rushed up to her. Adam recognized him as a member of the Brooklyn town board, who served as her co-chair. After introductions, he
said, “Rafael Castle just came in. Would you be able to meet him now?”

“Of course.” She nodded to Caterina. “Excuse me.” To Adam she said, “Grab some champagne and keep Ms. Ludzecky company.”

Caterina glanced after Elyssa. “You don’t have to do that. I can entertain myself.”

“I’d like to get to know you better. Maybe you can tell me more about your family.”

She frowned. “The O’Neils?”

“No, the Ludzecky family. Why did you ask about them?”

“I’m married to Aidan O’Neil.”

“Ah. The former president’s brother-in-law.”

Adam recalled the story of the famous New York family. Four brothers, and a sister who’d married the now ex-president. He’d read somewhere what each of the brothers did: photographer, journalist and two ran a pub. Called Bailey’s. “Of course I know about
them. As a matter of fact, I read Dylan and Rachel’s book about the family. I’ve got his others on my TBR pile.”

“I don’t discuss them with anybody, Adam.”

“I’d rather hear about
your
clan. Tell me about seven girls and one boy growing up in one house.”

Her eyes filled with mirth again. “I’ll do you one better. Come over here.”

They walked down the row of photographs, then turned
a corner. And Adam came face-to-face with the woman who’d dominated his thoughts since he told her he didn’t want to see her. But there she was with her six stunning sisters. In bridesmaid apparel, each a shade of pink, three graced one side of the bride—Caterina—and three on the other. His gaze focused on the third woman to the left. She wore a strapless, form-fitting deep rose dress. He had no
idea she had those kinds of curves. Her hair was chin length then, but as thick and luscious as the rest of her sisters’. “I…I’m speechless. This is a spectacular photograph. Did the groom take it?”

“He insisted on shooting some photos himself.”

“It must be valuable.”

“Apparently, which is why we donated this one to the Youth Arts Center.” She shook her head. “We all think it’s silly
that someone outside of the family would buy one of our wedding photos. But I guess all of Aidan’s work is coveted.”

“This one is beautiful.”

Caterina regaled him with a few stories about her sisters, which he absorbed intently. He particularly liked the one about Paulina and Antonia playing pranks on their sisters. “But Paulie was the instigator. Though Nia’s shy, she did whatever her
twin told her to.”

“I met her.”

“She works at the business, too.”

Right then the last bids before dinner were called
.

“My cue to leave,” Caterina said. “I promised my in-laws I’d be back by eight. They have Katie and Donnie.”

Adam’s brows rose. “You named your son after Paulina’s husband?”

“Yes. My sister-in-law Sophie named her child after Peter.”

“How sweet. You and
your family must be close.”

“Very. It was nice meeting you, Adam.”

“More so for me, meeting you. I hope I see you again.”

“Perhaps, because of the music hall.”

As she walked away, Adam shook his head, his mind filled with the beautiful Ludzecky women. He had a feeling they’d stay in his mind all night.

He walked the exhibit and made sure he bid on a few pieces. Dinner was called,
so he headed to a table up front that had been reserved for Elyssa. Several people had already been seated, and he ended up next to someone who again seemed vaguely familiar
.

Elyssa touched the man’s arm. “Rafael Castle, this is my friend, Adam Armstrong.” The man had blue eyes the color of sapphires and curly brown hair. His smile was broad when he said, “The architect? I admire your work.”

“Thank you. I’m familiar with yours, too.”

“I’m always surprised to hear that.”

“Don’t be so modest, Rafe.” To Adam, Elyssa explained, “He was recently featured as one of New York’s up-and-coming artists at the Guggenheim.”

“Now there’s a beautiful building.” Rafe took the emphasis off his own work. Adam did the same thing sometimes.

“The title of your exhibits is clever, Rafe,”
Elyssa added.
“Castle in the Sky.”
He laughed with ease. “You’d think I decided to paint the skyscapes just to use that line, wouldn’t you?”

Shaking his head, Adam said, “Somehow, you seem too down-to-earth for that.”

Elyssa cocked her head. “I’m sorry Jonas Crane couldn’t attend with you.”

“He’s under the weather.”

“Jonas Crane?” Adam said. “I tried to buy one of his pieces once
but didn’t get it. You know him?”

“He was my mentor, and much more.”

The woman on the other side of Rafe touched his arm. “Mr. Castle, I’d like to talk to you about
Lavender Loneliness
, the painting you donated.”

Dinner was served, and Adam settled in and ate his filet mignon. He listened to officials ask for support for the center. He overheard Elyssa courting the banker next to her,
trying to get him to furnish his new building with artwork from the auction. Some of the donors had been asked to say a few words, and when Rafe Castle was called up, he spoke with charm, enthusiasm and confidence. Adam liked him
.

Back at the table, Rafe didn’t sit down. “Want to see the painting Jonas Crane donated?”

“Of course. Maybe I can get this one.”

As they threaded their way
through the exhibit, they passed the Aidan O’Neil photograph. Once again, Adam’s interest was piqued
.

Planting her feet, adjusting the angle of her body, Paulina held up the bat. The ball flew to her and she swung. The smack was loud, and the sphere bulleted past the pitcher’s head. Past the second baseman. And finally beyond the fence. “Yay!” Nia called out from the sidelines
.

Two boys also yelled, “Yay, Mommy!”

“Yay, Aunt Paulie!”

Smiling broadly, Paulina took her victory lap in long, powerful strides. As always, the feel of the wind in her hair, the bases under her feet and the joy of victory consumed her. Her teammates waited for her at home plate, and she slapped hands with them. God, she loved sports
.
Since this was a local-businesses league, Frank
was up next and struck out. The other team came in to bat, and hers jogged out to the field. Frank grabbed her hand. “Nice job,

Pettrone. You still got it.”

“Sure I do. You’ll do better next time.”

At first base, Paulina situated herself behind the white square, to the left of the other team’s base coach
.

“Nice hit,” the guy said.

“Thanks.” Since he was staring at her, she
introduced herself. “Paulie Pettrone.” “Steve Lowden. I own an electrical business and I’m a friend of Frank’s. We grew up together.”

“Then you must be okay.”

Play at the plate was slow. Paulie tried to keep her mind on the game, until the opposing team finally netted three outs. As it was the bottom of the ninth, Pettrone Partners won.

Thoughts of Donnie when he named the team encompassed
her.
All the workers here make the company successful. They
are
our partners.
He’d played shortstop, and sometimes, she forgot and looked for him between second and third.

The kids came running out to her after the teams partook of the end-of-the-game protocol. Her guys hugged her, and Salvador hung back. “Did you enjoy the game, sweetie?” Paulina asked the boy
.

“Yes, Aunt Paulie.”

“No, he didn’t.” This from Ben, who earned a grimace from Paulina because of his sour tone. “He drew the whole time.”

Paulie ruffled Sal’s hair. “Maybe you can show the pictures to me when we go get ice cream, honey.”

Dark-as-night eyes lit up. Peter’s only child had become introverted after his father died. He’d been a sunny two-year-old when his dad was alive, but he’d gone into himself
after the accident, as if everybody’s grief was too much for him.

Paulina searched for Nia, who’d come to watch, too, and saw her talking to one of the other team’s players. She led the kids back to the bleachers to wait for her, but Ben rushed over to his aunt and tugged her away. Paulie heard him say something about ice cream.

When Nia joined them, Paulina asked, “Who were you talking
to?”

Her sister’s face was flushed, and it wasn’t from the early evening sun. “A man from a company we deal with for flooring.” Paulie raised her eyes brows. “And?”

“Not now.” Nia spoke in a hush
.

Ten minutes later, the team gathered at The Ice Age, a shop near the field that sold their favorite custard. They got cones for the kids, and Paulina eased back in line to get hers and Nia’s
treats. Someone said from behind, “Hello, again.”

She turned. “Hi, Steve.”

Motioning to the table where Nia sat with the three boys, he said, “Your kids are adorable. Triplets?”

“What? Oh no. Two are mine, twins, and one’s my sister’s.”

“I have a son. He’s seven and lives with his mother. Maybe I’ll try to bring him to one of my games. Like you did.”

“He could sit with ours.”

“Hmm.” He watched her. “Or, we could take them all for pizza sometime.”

“Together?”

“Well, we could sit apart if you want to.” His tone was dry, making her realize he’d asked her for a date.

She laughed. “No need.” As she’d told Magdalena, she’d wanted to meet some men, so she added, “Yeah, let’s do it.”

They exchanged phone numbers and Paulina went back to Nia’s table
.

“Who’s that?” her sister asked.

“A guy I met at first base. What did the flooring guy say?”

“Vince Davidson. He asked me out.” Her brows knit. “I hedged again. I’m just not ready.”

“Nia, this is the second time in a few weeks that you’ve been invited on a date. We talked about this. You have to try.”

“Maybe.” She nodded to Steve. “He’s cute. But you never liked blond men.” “Things
change. I’ve been trying to tell you that.” She thought of Steve and then of another blond, Adam Armstrong. She wondered how he was. She hadn’t heard from him since he’d made a suggestion about getting together. When she’d showed interest, he’d rebuffed her. It didn’t make sense. Paulina wished she could talk to Nia about that, but she didn’t feel comfortable doing so.

Watching her children
eat their ice cream, she realized that a lot of things hadn’t made much sense since Donnie had died. And she was tired of that. She’d have to think of ways to counteract her attraction to the handsome architect. Maybe Steve Lowden was a start.

“You can stop stewing now. We’re here.” Joe swerved into a parking space at the site the Metropolitan Music Hall would occupy and turned around. “I know you hate being late.”

“Yes, but there was traffic. It wasn’t your fault. Are you staying for the ceremony?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world. I can’t wait to see that little spitfire again.”

That
little spitfire
had been haunting Adam’s dreams, though he couldn’t figure out why.

It had been two weeks since he’d met her, and he hadn’t heard from her since she’d emailed him
.

Why would you? You shot her down
.

That was true, though the reasons for it weren’t quite as definitive today as he’d felt then. She was still on his mind a great deal of the time.

From a distance, Adam
scanned the crowd that had already gathered. But he didn’t see Paulina. Was she late, too? There was the borough president of Queens, who among other things, made recommendations for land use and planning. Some people on the borough board he’d met. He recognized a secretary who was competent and quick to get back to him. She was talking to two women, one facing him, one in a tailored beige suit,
with long, free-flowing hair down her back. He saw that the other was Paulina. Hair in a braid, as usual, wearing nondescript clothing.

He strode to them. “Hello, ladies.”

“Hello, Mr. Armstrong.” Up close, he was startled to see this wasn’t Paulina. She was her twin, Antonia
.

The woman with her back toward him pivoted.

And Adam startled. Speechless, he stared at her. This was Paulina.
He recognized the tilt of her chin, the arch of her eyebrows, the full lips. What he hadn’t been prepared for were the skeins of blond hair in cascading curls down her back.

“Adam?” she said, her hazel eyes darkening. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, of course.” He cleared his throat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare.”

“At what?”

Stepping closer, he went to reach for a few strands but
thankfully realized the inappropriateness of the gesture, out here in public, with all these people around. Instead he pointed. “This.”

“My hair?” Her lips parted as she gritted her teeth. “I could kill Nia. I didn’t have time to dry my hair—I hate being late—so I twisted it up with a clip. Nia thought it should be down for pictures. So she snatched the clip and hid it from me. Now it’s a
wild mess.”

“Your hair is lovely.” He managed to compose himself and turned to Nia. “Why isn’t yours down?”

“Too much bother. I like the braid. But she’ll be photographed today, and she should look beautiful.” Raising her chin, Nia finished, “She hates to fuss, so I decided for her.”

“Whatever!” Paulina rolled her eyes. “Change the subject, Nia. All this talk of my appearance is embarrassing
me.”

He smiled. They were cute together
.

“May I have your attention, please?” The borough president’s voice boomed over the microphone. Adam had liked working with the guy. He was insightful and understanding of the building process. Surprisingly, he and Adam had agreed on most things as he was drawing up the plans that had then gone to the city for approval, which they’d gotten easily.