by Ava Catori
“Oh, yes, I get that now.” Barbara wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “What they’ve found so far has been reassuring, so I’m not that stressed anymore, but the baby’s problem wasn’t the only surprise in store for me.” She took a big breath and explained. “When the doctor was here yesterday, he asked about family history. He said it was really important for cardiac pathology.” I nodded to show she had my undivided attention. “Yeah, well that’s when I found out that Dylan Bishop has known all along who my father is.”
“Oh no!” I can’t begin to imagine how I would feel if I’d spent my life wondering who my father was and suddenly learned that someone close to me knew and had kept quiet. “Is it someone you know?”
She shook her head and finished chewing the last bite of her donut. Barbara licked her fingers one by one and then wiped them with a paper napkin. “Nope, I never had the opportunity to meet him.” She laughed, and then added, “Maybe I would have if I’d been the religious type.”
I raised my eyebrows in a silent question because I didn’t understand what she was saying.
“Gia, it turns out that you’re not the only one related to the mob. Apparently, I am too, but I’ve got one on you…my father is not only a mobster, he’s also a priest!” Her laugh was stilted with frustration.
And then I had this weird certainty that I knew who she was talking about. Just to make sure I hadn’t really fallen into an alternate reality, I asked, “What’s his name?”
My question surprised her, but she answered anyway. “Roberto Guarnieri, why?”
It was my turn to laugh. “Oh, Barbara, this is so incredible!” I hugged her and she looked at me as if I were mad. “Well, first let me tell you that your father and my mother went to school together.” She appeared to be incredulous and opened her mouth to say something. Before she had a chance, I cut her off. “Wait, wait, that’s not all! This changes everything.”
And it did. Now her grandfather would have no choice but to believe I wasn’t encroaching on his territory. Surely, he would believe his own granddaughter!
Also, if I knew my Italian men well, he’d be ecstatic to have a new male descendant.
Now, what would be perfect, was if it made him happy enough to make my father’s troubles go away.
* * *
14
Hunter
I lifted my head. I was alone and in the dark. Where did Gia go? I glanced around and realized she’d left. Not only was her desk empty, but the lights were off. There was just the glimmer of the electronic timers on the coffee machine and the printer. Where had the time gone? My watch said I’d been out for a good two hours. It was my own damn fault; we were up drinking all night, trying to help Ryder through his heartache. Barbara was at the hospital with their son, but she sent Ryder home. We gathered around him and kept his mind as busy as we could. We knew it didn’t help much, but it was all we could do.
My neck ached from the way I’d fallen asleep. I rolled it to the left then right, hoping to ease out the discomfort. There was no point staying there. I’d check in with Ryder, and then give Tiffany a call. We could get a bite to eat before going up to the hospital. Gia was probably up there already mothering Barbara through the experience. She had a soft side, but kept it guarded a lot of the time.
Work, there was work to do. Torn between getting caught up now or holding off, I opted for the lesser of the two evils. My hangover was still bearing down on me. I’d give it another day. Nah, then it would just pile onto Ryder and he had enough to worry about. I sucked my self-induced pain up and went to check out what I could get accomplished.
Gia wasn’t sympathetic, but then how could I blame her. She was there doing work, and didn’t need to babysit a hung over co-worker.
I climbed into my truck and stared through the windshield. If I was going to get through the day, I knew what I needed. I stopped at Pandora’s Lunch Box, got a sandwich and a couple of bottles of water. I ordered a sandwich for Barbara, too. I was certain she’d barely left the baby’s side. Then ran next door to the pharmacy to pick up something for the headache.
* * *
A quick trip to the hospital to drop off the food and I’d be on my way. Barbara filled me in on the latest. Ryder was there, but looked twice as bad as I felt.
“Thanks for thinking of me,” she said. “You just missed Gia. She was here earlier.”
“Oh yeah? I saw her this morning. She seemed distracted,” I said, not mentioning that it was probably her armor so she didn’t have to deal with me.
“How are you feeling? From the looks of Ryder, it looks like you guys hit it pretty hard last night,” she said with a smirk.
I nodded. There were no words. She knew. “I’m going to take care of a few things, get us caught up on the Landry house where I can. We’re still waiting on a few things, but I can get some odd jobs done.”
“Thanks, Hunter.” Her eyes were distant. She was lost in thought as she turned back to her baby’s empty bassinet. She answered before I could ask. “He’s getting more tests.”
“Keep me updated. I’ll keep him in my thoughts.” I said my good-byes.
Walking out to my truck, I dialed Tiffany’s number. Her voicemail kicked on. “Hey, Tiff, how about we get some dinner tonight? Call me,” I finished.
I revved my truck, and flipped on the radio to the local New Jersey talk station. Sometimes the topics sucked, but I liked that they updated the weather and news every fifteen minutes or so. There was mention of a fast moving storm coming in, but they were pretty sure it would turn out to sea before hitting us too hard. There would be rain, wind, and a mess to clean up if I didn’t tie down loose supplies.
My phone rang. “Hunter Bishop,” I answered.
“Hey, babe, listen, about tonight,” Tiffany started. “I’m going to pass. I’m not feeling like myself. I think I’ve got a stomach bug.”
“Do you want me to bring you something?” I offered.
“That’s sweet, but no. I don’t want you to end up catching it,” she said, begging off.
I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me, probably more of a habit than anything. “Okay, but if you need anything, give me a shout.”
“Thanks, hon. I’m going straight home from work and plan on sleeping,” she finished before hanging up.
It was probably for the best. I wouldn’t be good company. Maybe I’ll see if Gia wanted to watch a movie and pass some time. Better yet, I should climb into bed after work myself and try to feel human again.
I made a mental note to pick up some flowers. I’d drop them off later, and just check in on Tiffany. Poor thing probably felt awful. Maybe I should get something for her to hydrate with, and some ibuprofen in case she had a fever.
The Landry house was in mid-job state. Stupid delivery suppliers were getting sloppy. They’d delivered the wrong stuff last time and had yet to replace it all, giving us a lame excuse over the mix up. I’d get it if it were once or twice, but lately, they’d been dropping the ball. We needed to look into another supplier to see if we could swing a deal.
I headed inside to cut in the edges and put up paint tape for later in the week. We had an endless supply of house builder beige. It made the job easy, cleaned the place up, and gave it a fresh look.
My mind drifted to Gia again. She’d been on my mind a lot more these last few days. I shook off the feeling, and finished taping the corners and trim. Flowers, I’d go in search of flowers. Tiffany needed me more than she realized. Sure, she felt like crap, but everybody wants someone to take care of them, right?
* * *
15
Gia
The grocery store was crowded and the storm the main subject of conversations. There was no way to escape the frenzy. After telling us it was going to die at sea, the forecasters were announcing it was going to be a huge one. The speakers blasted the radio newscasts. It was all doom and gloom. There I was in the middle of the crowd emptying the shelves. I rushed through the aisles and grabbed wate
r, dried fruits, batteries for my portable radio and candles to weather a possible three to four days without any power.
I didn’t need to look at the list offered by the store; I’d spent my youth on this very shore. I knew by heart what I needed. Of course, I could have gone home to my mother and let her handle it all, but the truth was I would rather have gone for a root canal without anesthesia than be locked in with her for days on end. Just the few hours I’d spent with her yesterday had taken their toll on me.
With Barbara’s blessing, I was going to camp out in our offices in the new building. It wouldn’t be perfect but with the inflatable bed I’d retrieved from my mother’s home and a fully charged tablet full of books, I would be okay.
I loved the tiny room I rented from Marge on the beach but there was no way I was staying in her cottage during a raging storm. Unlike my old landlady, I didn’t believe the dune would be enough protection if the storm was as bad as predicted. It didn’t matter how many times she’d been lucky throughout the past five decades, staying in her home was tempting fate, and it infuriated me to see her risk her life that way.
I hoped the police would force evacuate all the first row houses just to make sure everyone stayed safe.
Maybe if I hadn’t grown so fond of Marge, I would be less mad at her for acting irresponsibly. But then again there was something wrong with me because I was getting mad at everyone.
I was mad at my uncle for being such a jerk.
I was mad at my mother for acting as if everything was normal when my father could get a life sentence.
I was mad at the Bishop men for getting drunk when Barbara was at the hospital.
I was even mad at Barbara for making light of it. And most of all, I was mad at Hunter for letting Tiffany make a fool of him.
Hunter was a smart man, really sharp. At work, he always kept his eye on the ball. So why couldn’t he see Tiffany for what she really was? She was a regular gold digger; a pretty bimbo who would only stay around as long as she hadn’t found a richer prospect. I was certain that the man she was dancing with last night was rich enough to keep her in the style she wanted, but seriously, it would have taken more than a few cocktails before I would have rubbed myself against him the way she did.
Honestly, I couldn’t blame the girl for getting totally drunk. Upon closer inspection he was more than twenty years older than her. I think nothing less than a lobotomy would have been required to make me kiss that guy. She acted as if she was giving him mouth to mouth resuscitation.
“Earth to Gia…” Hunter’s voice derailed my train of enraged thoughts as I parked my cart next to my car and wondered how I was going to fit it all in the trunk already filled with the bed and some linens and things. I ignored him. Maybe if I pretended I hadn’t heard him he would walk away.
No such luck. A gentle but firm hand landed on my shoulder each finger burning a hole in my clothing and sending shivers down my spine. A strong pull and he turned me around to face him. “Are you okay?”
Oh, no. I was far from okay, but the problem was I had no idea what was wrong with me.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied. “What are you doing here?”
He didn’t answer right away but said, “Let me help you.”
Releasing his grip on my shoulder, he gave a quick look at the mess in the trunk before picking up the pack of water bottles to set on my back seat. He emptied the rest of my groceries from the cart and nodded in approval as he inventoried what I’d bought.
“I’m on my way to Tiffany’s house,” he said gesturing in the direction of his cart. “Poor baby said she was staying home tonight. She’s not feeling good, so I thought I’d surprise her with some chicken soup.”
Chicken soup and a huge bouquet of flowers, I noted. The sight of it made me want to scream. The thorn of the roses tore my heart apart and forced me to admit what my anger was all about. I was jealous. How pitiful was I? Yet as I turned around to hide my expression, I couldn’t help myself. I snorted and muttered between my teeth, “More like a bad hangover.”
“What did you say?” Hunter asked stepping right behind me as I opened my door.
Throwing my handbag on the passenger seat, I said the first thing that came to mind. “For sure, she’ll be happy to see you come over.”
But Hunter didn’t buy it. Had he understood me just fine the first time? He turned me around and pinned me by the shoulder to the car. “Look at me,” he growled. The rumble of his voice made my knees weak as I lifted my face to plunge my gaze into his.
We stood there looking at each other for a few seconds. He shook his head as if he’d given up on trying to understand what had been puzzling him. Just as I thought he was going to let me go, he framed my face with his hands and bent down to kiss me.
First his lips brushed tentatively over mine but when I closed my eyes and parted my lips, surrendering to him, all hesitations vanished. His hard body pressed against mine as he took possession of my mouth. I moaned and wrapped my arms around him holding on for dear life.
It was a movie kiss, so full of passion I didn’t even notice when the rain began to fall. It took the sound of thunder to make Hunter pull away. We were both drenched. The expression on his face told me he was as surprised as I was by his sudden impulse. He ran his thumb on my swollen lips and looked up at the dark sky.
“We need to talk,” he said as he looked at me again. “But first there’s something I’ve got to do.”
I nodded. Yeah, he had to take care of his sick girlfriend. Help her nurse the hangover she got from getting drunk while sitting on another man’s lap. I let go of him and wrapped my arms around myself to hide my sudden shivering. I was so cold. His kiss had drained the life out of me and now the only thing left was this frozen empty shell.
He took a step back to give me room and stood there watching me get into my car. I closed the door and turned on the engine. I was about to shift into gear when he knocked on my window. I lowered the glass a little to find out what he wanted.
“Are you going to be all right?” he asked.
Right. Suddenly he cared. I shook my head and scolded myself. I was being unfair. He’d always been a good friend and his asking probably came from a good place, not from guilt of having kissed me.
“Don’t worry, I have a safe place to weather the storm,” I said. “I’ll be just fine.”
Maybe if I kept repeating it often enough it would be true.
* * *
16
Hunter
I’m not sure what happened. I hadn’t planned it, and yet there I was pressed to Gia. I should have stopped. Everything that made sense washed away. I couldn’t think straight. The pull was too strong. Denying the urge was impossible. When she looked up at me, there was no going back.
She parted her lips and drank me in. Oblivious to the freshly starting rain, we lingered in a deep, passionate kiss. Only when we parted did I realize the weather had shifted. I ran my finger over her lip. I expected her to say something, to yell at me, to slap me, but instead she just looked at me.
I didn’t want her to go. I wanted to hold her longer, to kiss her, to tell her I couldn’t stop thinking about her. Guilt shut my mouth. I looked at my shopping cart still sitting in the rain, and noticed the flowers for Tiffany were now sopping wet. Tiffany. Oh, shit. I didn’t mean to…
I shook my head, as if it would help rearrange the marbles within.
“We need to talk,” I said looking at Gia again. “But first there’s something I’ve got to do.”
I watched her get in her car, and before I let her drive away, asked if she would be okay.
Afterward, I grabbed the flowers and soup that I’d left in the cart and jumped into my truck. I exhaled slowly, lost in my own confusion. Did that really happen? Denying the attraction was something I had trouble bottling any longer. Feeling like a heel, I stared through the windshield as rain pelted the glass. Tiffany didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. What kind of man was I to kiss another wom
an? I debated whether I should mention it, or hide it, and hope the secret wouldn’t slip out. It’s not like it would happen again.
After sitting in the parking lot too long, I turned the key in the ignition and started my truck. I had flowers to deliver, along with an apology. I drove and parked in front of Tiffany’s house. I wasn’t ready to go in. Tiffany was everything I thought I wanted, until Gia came into my life. We made great friends, and I thought that was enough. Only, the more time I spent around her, the more I liked her. Somewhere along the way, I crossed the border and realized it was more than that. Had she done the same? Or was I in friend zone territory?
It wasn’t fair to Tiffany. I had to either fully commit or walk away. Maybe it was time to take things to the next level. Was it cold feet? Was I finding excuses? And yet, when I pictured my future, it wasn’t Tiffany in bed next to me, it was Gia.
I knew what I had to do.
I got out of my truck, and ran up the sidewalk. After I rang the doorbell, I waited, standing in the rain. Her car was there, but nobody came to the door. I went back to my truck and pulled out my phone. Maybe she was sleeping. I texted, sending her a message asking where she was.
It wasn’t the answer I expected. Why?
I’m in front of your house and you’re not answering. I figured she’d be at the door in a second, but instead, I got another message.
Why are you here?
Can you open the door? It’s pouring and I brought you some things. I’d talk to her inside.
I can’t.
How sick are you? You can’t? Why not?
Fine, hold on. Something was weird.
The front door opened. I grabbed the bag and flowers and jolted inside. “I brought you soup and flowers, but we…” She didn’t look very sick.
“We need to talk.” She finished the sentence for me.