Caffrey Aloha

Chapter 5

Betty Burke, who with the other two grandmothers was currently getting a facial, sat up and removed the cucumber slices that were over her eyes. "Wait!" she ordered in a commanding voice Elizabeth rarely heard from her sweet mother-in-law. "Three hours from now we have a dinner reservation." She named the restaurant. "If we tell you where to find our sons and husbands, I expect them to meet us there unharmed and on time. If for any reason they can't join us, you will promise to be there to explain why."

"I don't know if..." Mozzie trailed off under Betty's stern glare.

"Promise," she insisted. "Or no one tells you where they are."

"I... I promise," Mozzie muttered.

"Fine. Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth named the sports bar where the men were spending the afternoon, and Mozzie scurried out.

Betty smiled smugly. "I may be retired, but I still can pull out my teacher's voice when I need it. The secret is not to overuse it, so it keeps its power."

Elizabeth giggled. "I'm sure the green scrub on your face helped. Mozzie's fascinated with science fiction and aliens."

Betty raised a hand to her face and looked across the room at a mirror. "Oh, my. I didn't realize it dried to such a... a... an alien green." She laughed. "Who was that?"

"Mozzie's a friend of Neal's. He's..." How did you describe Mozzie to the uninitiated? "He's an expert in many things, not all of them legal."

"How did he know where to find us?" Noelle asked.

"He introduced me to a friend who grew up in Hawaii, someone who helped me with local resources for planning your wedding. Billy runs a Hawaii-themed store in New York now, but he has a large family here, and he recommended this spa. I think it belongs to a sister-in-law. Billy knew when we were going to be here, and he could have told Mozzie."

"Mozzie," said Irene. "Such an interesting name. It sounds a little like Oz, but he can't be the wizard. We already assigned that role to Joe. What do you think, Dorothy?" she asked her daughter. "Is he part of our journey as you prepare to marry the wizard?"

"A munchkin, perhaps?" Noelle mused. "Warning us about the wicked witch who would steal and destroy a treasure?"

"I suppose that means he's about to send our scarecrow and lion down the yellow brick road," Elizabeth said, remembering that Neal and Henry had identified with those characters.

"I wish I'd known," Angela complained. "I want to go with them."

"You'd have to be the heartless tin man," her grandmother warned.

"That's okay. I haven't had a boyfriend in ages. My heart's probably all rusted."

###

The Burke, Caffrey and Winslow men had been playing poker for an hour and a half. At first Edmund, Peter and Henry played at one table while Graham, Luke and Neal played at another, and Joe watched and egged them on. Then Joe joined the winners from both tables for the final round.

When they first arrived at the sports bar, Joe had mentioned that he didn't have a best man. The wedding would be small and simple, with no groomsmen or bridesmaids. "That means no one's been designated to give the toast at the reception. I think the winner of today's tournament should get that honor."

"What happens if you win?" Peter had asked.

"When I win, you mean." Joe laughed. "I can pick whoever I want to make the toast."

The bar had been recommended by their hotel's concierge as a place that had facilities for poker. The tables were designed specifically for card games, and they'd been given fresh decks of cards. With such competitive players, the games had been intense, and other patrons of the bar gathered around to watch.