The Proof is in the Pudding (40 page)

Liddy had just finished helping me dress when Phil Logan arrived, brandishing a manila envelope. “I’ve sprung you, Del.”

Liddy picked up the bag with the clothes I’d worn when I fell from Roland Gray’s balcony. “We’re ready.”

Right behind Phil was a nurse steering a wheelchair. She stopped in front of me and opened up the footrest.

“Here we are,” she said cheerfully.

“Thank you, but I don’t need that. I broke my arm, not my leg. ”

“Hospital rules.” She pronounced those two words in a tone that discouraged argument.

I sat.

She pushed.

Phil talked.

“I’ve organized everything for you while you’re plastered up.” He ticked off items on his fingers. “One: You’ll have celebrity guest cookers helping you on your next eight shows. Two: I’ve arranged to have catered meals delivered to your house every day so you don’t have to cook at home. Three: Eileen will be running Della’s Sweet Dreams full-time. Four: Mickey authorized me to hire a dog walker to come to your house three times a day to take Tuffy out. She starts this afternoon. Her name is Helen. Five: Shannon and Liddy are going to come over every day to see what you need. I wanted to hire a private nurse to stay with you, but Liddy said you’d never go for that. Actually, she expressed it in surprisingly strong language.”

“Thank you, Liddy,” I said

Phil ran out of fingers and started on his other hand. “Six: I’m assigning the intern in my office to take you wherever you need to go. While I made my rounds this morning I had him drive me, as a test. He passed.”

“Once again, you’ve thought of everything.”

Phil beamed. “That’s my job.”

When we got to the hospital’s entrance and the nurse wheeled the chair back inside, Phil said, “Liddy’s taking you home. I’d come with, but I’ve got places to go and problems to solve.”

With that, Phil took off at his usual warp speed toward the hospital’s parking lot.

As soon as Liddy opened my front door, Tuffy bounded out to greet me. He leaned against my thigh and looked at my cast with curiosity. I gave him an ear scratch. Then I stepped inside and found several of my favorite people in the living room.

Shannon called out, “Surprise!”

“I am surprised.” Mostly I was surprised to see Nicholas talking to John and Weaver, with none of the three of them scowling.

“We’re celebrating your return,” Bill Marshall said. He was standing behind one of the two card tables someone had set up and covered with tablecloths, passing out beer and soft drinks. Behind the other card table, Shannon and Eileen were arranging deli platters and a basket of bagels.

“I smell Junior’s,” I said, looking at Nicholas. He smiled at me.

“Welcome home,” John said quietly.

“We’ve got terrific news, Aunt Del!” Eileen said.

“John’s back on the force,” Weaver said.

“I’ve got more good news,” Nicholas said. “After what Detective Hatch put you all through, I wanted to tell you before you saw it in the paper tomorrow morning.”

Shannon grimaced. “I hope somebody shot him.”

“Mother! You don’t mean that.”

“Not
fatally
,” Shannon said. “Just in some place that really hurts.”

“He’s taken early retirement. And he’s leaving the state.”

“I feel safer already,” I said.

John looked skeptical. “It’s hard to believe he quit. Where did he go?”

“Not where I’d like to see him,” Nicholas said. “He was offered a job in Washington—at Homeland Security.”

“Now I feel less safe,” Liddy said.

Weaver grunted. “At least he’s no longer a pimple on our ass.”

“Elegantly put,” I said with a smile. “Now let’s have some celebration bagels.”

John and Weaver left together because they were on the four-to-midnight shift. Liddy and Bill went home to change because they had theater tickets. Eileen had gone to her parents’ house for the night, to keep her mother company.

Nicholas and I were alone on the couch in the living room. Tuffy lay on the floor near my feet, and Emma was curled up on the cushion of the club chair to the left of the couch.

“This looks pretty domestic,” Nicholas said.

I glanced around the room. “I never thought I’d get things put back together after Hatch turned the house upside down.”

“I wasn’t talking about the furniture. I meant us.”

I shifted my left arm into a more comfortable position. “I know I’m not very exciting with my arm in a cast and pain pills making me sleepy. You don’t need to stay, really. I’m fine.”

Nicholas sat up straighter. “I know you’re fine—and independent—and can take care of yourself.” I was surprised that he sounded angry.

“Don’t be testy,” I said.

“You make it very hard for me to—I’m trying to say something.”

“We don’t play games with each other. You can say anything you want to me.”

Nicholas took my right hand in both of his. “I’m trying to tell you that I’ve fallen in love with you.”

“I know.”

“You
know
?”

“Of course I know. You’ve done everything except say the words.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“I’m glad.”

Nicholas let go of my hands and drew back. “What do you mean, you’re glad? Is that all you’re going to say?”

“What do you want me to say?”

“I want you to tell me in one simple, declarative sentence how you feel about me.”

“I love you, too.”

Nicholas expelled an exasperated sigh. “In journalism we call that burying the lead!”

Then he kissed me. Deeply, at first, then, as I responded, he was tender. After a few moments, he brushed my mouth with his lips and whispered, “Marry me.”

“Louder, please. I didn’t hear you.”

“You make me crazy.” He kissed me again. Pulling away, he fixed me with a hard look and said, “Marry me. This is a onetime offer.”

I stroked his face with my good hand and ran the tip of my index finger around the outline of his full lips. The sight of him, the scent of him, the taste of him, his touch, all made me melt. “How long do I have to think about the onetime offer?”

“As long as you need . . .”

He kissed me again, and I lost track of time.

Use a double boiler set (or a heat-safe bowl and a slightly larger pot to simulate a double boiler). Add about 1 inch of water to bottom pot, set it on stove burner, and turn burner on. While water is coming to a boil, put all the ingredients
except
starch and about a half cup of the milk into the top part. Add the starch to the reserved milk, stir until dissolved, and then add that mixture to the other ingredients. Place top container over—not in—bottom container of boiling water and constantly stir the lumpy mixture until ingredients are melted, thoroughly combined, and thickened into a pudding with a glossy sheen. Turn off burner.

 

Remove top container from stove and pour pudding into 4 to 6 small bowls, pot-of-crème dishes, or heavy dessert glasses. Chill in refrigerator about one hour, or serve warm. This is delicious served plain or topped with pieces of the same kind of nut as in the pudding, or with whipped cream—or both.

 

Enjoy!

The world knows Linda Dano as an Emmy-winning actress, talk show host, and designer, but she’s very much at home in the kitchen. Even during her busiest times, she loved preparing a nightly meal for her husband, Frank Attardi . . . although sometimes that meant starting the meal with her coat still on, on the many days they ran late at the TV studio.

Mix together all ingredients
except
wine. When rolling meat mixture into meatballs, moisten hands frequently with the marsala wine. Fry gently in olive oil until browned. Serve with your favorite marinara sauce (heated), with or without pasta.