“How long has he been back in the city?”
“Not long. He called the apartment to say hello, and I swung by here last week.”
Finn had come to town and met up with her daughter, and no one had bothered to mention it to Virginia. “When were either of you planning to tell me?”
The music stopped, replaced by applause. “Come on, he’s great. You’ll love this.”
Virginia had never been inside Bemelmans Bar, although she’d read about the murals painted by the eponymous author and illustrator back in the 1940s, in return for lodging. Whimsical was the word that came to mind: Central Park scenes where elephants ice-skated and giraffes lifted their hats in greeting. The gold-leaf ceiling reflected the glow of the lamps perched on each cocktail table.
Finn began playing again, a Cole Porter tune that was perfect for his warm tenor. In the dark, Virginia and Ruby slid into two seats at the black granite bar. Finn’s hands tripped along the keys of the Steinway, the long fingers as familiar to Virginia as her own.
The last time she’d heard him play was on the sturdy, well-worn upright in their parents’ apartment. After years of studying classical piano—Finn had been a quiet, good boy who practiced for three hours a day, like clockwork—he’d transformed at seventeen, wearing white leather pants, staying out until all hours, and driving their parents batty in the process. Virginia had been a sophomore in college at the time, clueless to the chaos. She’d come home one weekend to find her mother and Finn at each other’s throats, him refusing to accept his scholarship to Juilliard, wanting to be a Broadway actor instead, and her mother threatening to throw him out on the streets if he did.
He’d left, cutting off all contact with their parents. Virginia tried to stay in touch, but he traveled around so much, it was hard to know where to send the letters. He didn’t come back for the funerals, when their parents died within months of each other. A gig in Madrid kept him away, apparently. After Ruby was born, he made more of an effort, and they’d met up for lunch whenever he came into town, but Chester’s sullen disapproval of his lifestyle—by then, Finn was openly gay—left the few family reunions fraught with tension.
She missed him and should have made more of an effort. But Finn had pulled back as well, never responding to the letter she wrote telling him about her cancer. No doubt it’d been lost in the transatlantic mail—it wouldn’t be the first time—and by the time their annual Christmas call came around, she was up and about, healthy, and ready to move forward. Her “affliction,” as Chester called her bout with cancer, was over and no longer needed to be brought up.
After ending with a flourish, Finn stood and made his way through the crowd, shaking hands and flashing a white smile. Like Virginia, he hadn’t thickened with age. Instead, his slim shoulders and hips remained lithe, further emphasized by the elegant line of his tuxedo. He belonged in a black-and-white movie, dancing across a ballroom with some starlet. When he spotted Ruby, he grinned from ear to ear and gave a wave.
“Surprise!” Ruby gave him a big hug. “Look who’s here.”
“You. And your mom!” Finn and Virginia embraced. He smelled of cologne and cigarette smoke, and she breathed him in.
“I didn’t know you were in town until about two minutes ago,” Virginia said.
Ruby cut in. “Listen, I did something terrible. I almost burned down our apartment building.”
Finn’s eyes widened in alarm. “You did not!”
“I did. So now we have to stay with you and Xavier, just for a while, until they clean it up.” Ruby turned to her mother. “Xavier’s his boyfriend. He’s incredible; you’ll love him. Just wait until you see their place.”
Virginia put a hand on her daughter’s arm. “I’m sorry, Finn. I didn’t know about this and wasn’t sure where to turn, and then Ruby insisted we come here but wouldn’t tell me why—”
“Stop. Don’t say another word. You’re safe with me, ladies.”
He chatted briefly with the maître d’ and motioned for them to follow him. A bellboy filed in behind them, bearing Ruby’s garbage bag as if it contained gold coins, and they headed up in an elevator to the top floor. “We’re staying in a friend’s place here. The joys of home combined with the perks of a hotel.” He opened the door.
Virginia didn’t know where to look. A tiger-skin rug spread-eagled across the living room floor. Bright red walls reflected glints from the oversize chandelier that rose above a snow-white velvet sofa. It was all too much, from the lacquered chinoiserie to the disco music blaring on the stereo.
“Xavier!” yelled Finn. He turned down the volume as a bell-shaped man wearing a hotel robe appeared. Virginia guessed he was about a decade older than Finn and had about thirty pounds on him as well, sporting a head of hair so black it must be dyed and a matching mustache. Virginia blinked a couple of times, adjusting to the idea that this was her brother’s boyfriend.
“Are we having a party?” Xavier pulled Ruby to him, planting a kiss on her forehead. “Ruby, how lovely to see you again.”
“Xavier, this is my sister, Virginia.”
“Oh no!” Xavier covered his mouth with both hands.
Virginia startled. “‘Oh no’ what?”
“Your hair!”
Virginia patted her head. “What about it?”
“Ignore him, he’s being dramatic.” Finn clinked some ice into a glass at the bar cart. “Tom Collins, anyone?”
They arranged themselves in the living room, as Ruby recounted the story of the fire to Finn and Xavier.
“Of course, you must stay here, but only if I can cut your mother’s hair,” announced Xavier.
Finn nodded. “He advises salons all over the world, but originally he was a hairdresser. You’ll love what he does.”
“Yes, sure.” Anything to stop them from staring at her. “Tell me how you two met.”
Finn took Xavier’s hand. “In Monaco. He was consulting for a grand opening of the Hotel Metropole’s hair salon; I was playing at the bar. True love. When I got the gig at Bemelmans, I was excited that the three of you would finally get to meet.”
“You lead quite the peripatetic life, then.”
“We do. When I get a gig, we go there; if he gets put in charge of opening a new salon, we go there. From Amsterdam to, well, Xanadu! Now, how long do you need to stay? We’re here for four months, until March.”
“We’ll definitely be out of your hair by then.” This weekend, Virginia would have time to figure out the insurance for the apartment, arrange for cleaners. The co-op board might write her a warning or something—she wasn’t sure how all that worked—but soon enough it’d all be back to normal.
“I want to be in your hair, darling.” Xavier scooted over and ran his fingers through her unruly mane. “What were you trying to do, here?”
“It’s a shag.”
“It’s a shag rug. Let me play, won’t you?” He returned with a towel, scissors, and a chair, which he placed in the middle of the rug. “Sit.”
“I don’t need a haircut at the moment.”
“Go on, Mom.” Ruby wouldn’t relent, so Virginia, again, did what her daughter told her to do.
“How are you guys doing these days?” asked Finn as Xavier snipped away.
Ruby snuggled in next to her uncle. While Virginia was happy that her daughter and brother had established a close connection, she couldn’t help but feel she’d been kept out of some private club.
“We’re okay. And Mom’s totally fine now. Right, Mom?”
“What does she mean?” Finn swiveled around to face Virginia.
From the concerned look on Finn’s face, Virginia could tell he didn’t know about the cancer. Her letter must have gotten lost. But now was not the time. Virginia answered, keeping her head as still as possible. “I’m enjoying the single life. I have a job, working for Penn Central, which runs Grand Central Terminal. In the information department.”