The Unquiet - J. D. Robb [149]
“Now, why don’t I believe that?” She yanked off the plastic wrap.
“It’s true. She’s the bossiest woman I’ve ever met. And she always gets her way. Even my ex-wife couldn’t stand up to her.”
“Well”—she paused to get every molecule off her spoon before scooping up more—“you could put up with a lot for a dessert like this.”
“Tell me about it.”
They hummed and groaned and wiped the bowls clean with their index fingers, feeling no embarrassment because they both knew there was tapioca pudding and then there was tapioca pudding. He waited patiently for her to take her last lick, then gently took the cup from her fingers.
“Can I ask you a personal question?”
“After sharing your pudding with me? Of course.”
“Do you have children?”
“No.”
“Then why didn’t you go back to your maiden name and just use Bonner as a pseudonym? I mean, would you have, if you hadn’t started writing the Patty Ann stories as Ivy Bonner?”
“God, no. Changing my last name was always a huge incentive for marriage . . . to anyone.” She chose water when he offered it or bottled sweet tea to drink.
“How bad was it?”
She took a sip of water. “When my dad’s father came here from Sweden, through Ellis Island, someone misread his surname Garde as Gardner. Being new and not wanting to rock the boat, he didn’t say or do anything about it. Unfortunately, he gave his oldest son a very traditional Scandinavian name: Leif.”
The corners of Craig’s lips twitched. “Leif Gardner.”
She nodded gravely. “Leif fell in love with my mother . . . Rose.”
He put his elbow on his knee and his fist in front of his mouth before he muttered, “Rose Gardner.”
“Mm. Now my mother doesn’t believe in suffering in silence . . . or suffering alone. So when she had a daughter—me—she wanted to name me Daisy or Petunia or Orchid or Lily or—get this one—Mum.”
He sucked air in between his teeth like something hurt, but his eyes were dancing with merriment.
“My dad talked her out of those and they compromised on Ivy, which is almost tolerable if you think of the alternatives.”
“The other night you said you had a brother.”
“Jay.” He looked first confused, then disappointed. “That’s the name he finally settled on . . . though his could have been much worse, too. Greene, Jersey—you know, for the state, the Garden State?—Spade, Tater—Tate for short—Sonny, Able, and, um . . . oh, or Bean.” She shook her head at his silent chuckles. “Once again my father interceded, and his full legal name became Random J. Gardner. The J is just a J.
“We used to call him Randy until he hit puberty and the other kids were learning what they thought were dirty words . . . then he was a randy gardener and everyone would howl with laughter. So in college he went by RJ. He said the girls he dated spent most of their time trying to guess what the initials stood for, which was okay because he didn’t really want to talk as much as he wanted to get in their pants. But by the time he graduated that was getting old, and he started wanting something a little more serious. So now he goes by Jay, and if anyone asks if he has a middle name, he says it’s just J, and they don’t think to ask if it’s his only name.”
“What does your mother think of that?”
“Oh, she did her damage. She doesn’t really care how we deal with it. And she was gracious when I decided to keep Bonner . . . though I did rely heavily on Patty Ann for my argument.” Having cleared their palates with water and tea, Ivy picked up the turkey sandwich, took half, and handed the rest to Craig. “Tell me about this gazebo. I know it was your mother’s wedding canopy. Why’d you move it down here?”
“I didn’t.” He considered her and collected his thoughts as he chewed, then answered. “Actually, Gus helped his father make this for my grandfather, who wanted it built in honor of his new baby daughter, Sophia. My mother. The idea was that she’d sun in it as an infant, learn to walk in it as a toddler, practice reading in it as she got older. I heard she was a bit of a tomboy, and when she had friends over, they used it as a fort against bad guys or a castle where