He crushed his empty cup. “And in case you’ve forgotten, to cap it all off, I live in the garage at my mother’s house. That would be sure to impress Natalie’s parents, don’t you think?”
Instead of slapping Tino down for disparaging the place the three brothers had helped Joe remodel into a man cave for the three of them, Jack did something totally unexpected. He laughed. In fact, he laughed loud and long until his face was beet red, and he struggled to breathe.
After about a minute, he laid his head down on his arms on the tabletop, his huge shoulders still shaking. Okay, his reaction pissed off Tino big-time.
“What is so damn funny?”
Jack sat back up, clearly trying to rein in his amusement but failing miserably. “You are, little brother. You should see your face right now. I always figured when you got around to falling for somebody, you’d fall hard and fast. No wonder you’re running in circles like a dog chasing its tail.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
Although he suspected he knew and regretted asking the question for the simple reason that Jack was very likely to answer it. Sure enough, his brother’s eyes filled with what looked like sympathy.
“Have you given any thought to the possibility that she might be the one for you, little brother? Otherwise, you wouldn’t give a damn what she or her family thought about where you sleep at night.”
“Well, shit.”
The truth settled in Tino’s gut. What was he supposed to do now?
Meanwhile, Jack gathered up the remains of their meal and carried it over to the trash can. It was his brother’s way of giving Tino time to regain control. When he came back, Jack crossed his arms over his broad chest.
“You probably don’t want my advice, but I’m going to give it to you anyway, free of charge and everything. You gotta know that it wasn’t easy to tell Caitlyn about my fucked-up childhood or for her to share what her abusive bastard of an ex-husband put her through. But as hard as it was to rip open all those old wounds, we both knew if we wanted to make a go of it, we had to be honest about all that crap. Hell, most of the time I still can’t believe she wanted me anyway.”
It was Tino’s brotherly obligation to snicker even if there wasn’t much about this conversation that he found amusing. “Well, if it’s any comfort, Mikhail and I can’t believe it, either. God knows we’re both better looking, not to mention better dancers.”
Jack didn’t rise to the bait, a clear sign that he was zeroed in on his self-assigned mission. “Here’s the bottom line, little brother: If I’m right about what’s going on between the two of you, tell Natalie who you are and how you feel. If she’s the woman you think she is, then she’ll accept you as is.”
Then Jack’s big hand settled on Tino’s shoulder. “If she won’t, don’t just walk away—run.”
—
On Thursday morning, Natalie started past the basketball court on her way into the community center but then stopped. It looked different, better somehow. She wandered over to take a closer look. Sure enough, the poles that supported the baskets had both been painted and now stood perpendicular to the ground instead of being canted at an angle. A couple of two-by-fours had been added to prop them up, maybe to give the new cement time to solidify. The backboards and nets had been replaced and the lines on the court repainted.
Somebody had been hard at work, but she had no idea who it might have been. Refurbishing the court had been on her wish list of things to do, but the money allotted for the community center project had stretched only so far. She would like to thank whoever had stepped up to bat.
Inside the building, she set her things down in the computer lab and went looking for Clarence, knowing not much ever got by him around there. She found him pushing a huge dust mop up and down the gym floor. He stopped as soon as he spotted her.
“Miss Natalie, you’re here bright and early this morning.”
She held up the coffee and muffins she’d brought for them to share. “I needed to go over the lesson plans the other teacher left me for tonight’s class, and I won’t have time to do it after I get off work.”
He accepted the coffee and chocolate muffin as he led the way over to the stage to sit down. “You spoil me, young lady, but I’ve told you that before. You shouldn’t go to all this bother.”
“It was no trouble. I was going through the drive-up anyway, and it’s no harder to order two of everything.”
Once they were settled, she asked, “I noticed the basketball court outside has new hoops and fresh paint. Do you know who did it?”
Clarence washed down a bite of his muffin with a sip of coffee before answering. “It was your friend Tino. He, another man, and a teenager showed up with the materials yesterday afternoon. Right after they got here, Tyler and his friends came. Between the bunch of them, they got it all done in no time. It looks really nice out there.”
Tino did all of that? She’d seen him briefly on Tuesday when they’d both been at the center. His basketball practice had ended almost an hour before her computer class did, but he’d hung around until she finished up. No matter how many times she told him that she was perfectly safe walking to her car by herself, he insisted on waiting. All of that aside, he had to have everything organized to redo the basketball court by then, so why hadn’t he said anything? Maybe he wanted to surprise her, but that didn’t exactly make sense.
The odd look Clarence was giving her made her realize she’d been silent too long. “It looks great. I hope the kids who play out there all the time will appreciate what he did.”
Clarence nodded. “I thought it was smart of him to have the neighborhood kids help out. Maybe investing some of their own time and energy in the project will make them appreciate what they have more. I’d hate to see it get trashed again.”
“Me, too.” She checked the time. “Oops, I’d better get moving. I’ll only be here another few minutes, but I’ll be back this evening.”
“Can I ask a favor?” Clarence reached into one of his pockets. “I found this cellphone in the men’s room this morning. The battery is dead, but I’m pretty sure that it belongs to Tino or the other guy who was with him. I know it wasn’t in there before they came.”
He held it out to her. “Can you get it back to Tino? Even if he’ll be back tonight to coach the kids, he’ll be looking for it.”
She took the phone. “It does look like his. I can stop by his house on my way to the office.”
Not that she actually knew where he lived, but how hard could it be to track him down? She headed for the computer lab where a quick Internet search produced an address that wouldn’t take her too far out of her way. There were several different names listed with his, which seemed odd, but maybe it was an apartment building.
After letting her assistant know that she’d be a little later than expected, she reviewed the lesson plans and then hustled out to her car. Even if Tino wasn’t at home, she could at least leave him a note that she had the phone.
After entering the address into her GPS system, she took one last look at the refurbished basketball court. There were a lot of reasons she liked Tino, maybe even felt something stronger for him, but the way he’d bonded with the people at the center was right at the top of the list. Once again, she was struck by the difference between him and Benton.
After one wrong turn, she finally arrived at the address. She took a minute to study Tino’s home and found she liked it. For sure, there was something warm and welcoming about the neatly landscaped yard and the old-fashioned look of the house itself.
By comparison, the place Natalie had inherited from her father’s mother was fussy and overdone. She planned on gradually replacing a lot of the furnishings with stuff that was more suited to her own taste, not to mention a lot more comfortable. Purchasing the couch for the living room had been an important step in that direction, and she’d also moved her aunt’s old bedroom furniture to a guest room and bought a new set for herself. There was still a lot
to do, but she didn’t have much free time to devote to the project.
It was time to get moving. She really hoped Tino didn’t mind her dropping in on him with no warning.
When she started up the driveway, an older woman stepped out on the front porch, clearly on her way out. Okay, this was awkward. Maybe this wasn’t Tino’s place after all. The woman had started down the steps before she noticed Natalie standing there.
“Hi, can I help you?”
Natalie remained where she was but held up the dead cellphone. “Maybe. Could you tell me if Tino Gianelli lives here? He left his phone at the community center yesterday. I thought he might be looking for it.”
The woman offered her a warm smile and joined her in the driveway. “You’re Natalie Kennigan, aren’t you? I should’ve recognized you immediately. I’m sure my son will appreciate your going out of your way to bring it to him.”
This was Tino’s mother? She looked nothing like him, but maybe he took after his father’s side of the family. “Yes, I’m Natalie, Mrs. Gianelli. It’s nice to meet you.”
Looking a bit puzzled, the woman said, “Actually, it’s Mrs. Lukash, but please call me Marlene. Any other time I would invite you in for some coffee, but I have to be at an appointment in a few minutes.”
She pointed back up the driveway. “But then you’re not here to see me, are you? Tino’s car is here, so I assume he’s home. If you knock on the garage door, he should answer.”
“I’ll do that.”
“You might need to knock a few times and then give him a few minutes to answer. His bedroom is upstairs on the second floor, so he might not hear you the first time.”
Marlene got in her car and drove away as Natalie slowly walked up the driveway and tried to make sense of the directions Tino’s mother had given her. Why would she knock on the garage door if his bedroom was on the second floor of the house? It was also interesting that their last names were different. He hadn’t mentioned his mother remarrying after his father died.
None of this was adding up. Suddenly, she had a bad feeling about how this was going to turn out. It was tempting to go into full retreat and simply drive away. That wouldn’t work. Marlene was sure to mention she’d been there when she got home from her appointment.
Bracing herself for whatever came next, Natalie raised her hand and knocked.
Chapter 19
Tino stepped out of the shower. As he dried off, he opened the bathroom door to let out the cloud of steam that had filled the small room. A sound coming from downstairs caught his attention. Who would be knocking on the garage door at this hour?
He yanked on the flannel pajama bottoms that he’d slept in and ran his fingers through his hair. He hadn’t shaved yet, so scruffy was as presentable as he was going to get. The knock came again before he reached the bottom step. Whoever was out there must be getting impatient, because the next round of knocking came faster and went on for longer. It was tempting to head back upstairs without answering the door. The last thing he wanted was uninvited company before he’d had his first cup of coffee.
Of course, it could be his mother needing something or, worse yet, Jack needing some grunt work done. He really didn’t feel like wielding a hammer all day, but he might as well get it over with. “All right, all right, I’m coming. Hold your horses.”
He threw the deadbolt and yanked the door open. But instead of his obnoxious brother, it was Natalie standing there, her hand poised to knock again. Her eyes went wide as she stared first at his face and then slowly lowered her gaze, taking a slow trip from still-damp skin on his chest down to his bare feet and back up again.
Finally, her mouth quirked up in a small grin. “I guess you weren’t expecting company this morning.”
Well, no shit. He wasn’t and most especially not her. Unable to think of anything else to say, he pointed out the obvious. “I was in the shower. Did you need something?”
That came out far more unfriendly than he’d meant for it to because she took a step back from the door and her fair skin flushed pink. “Sorry about dropping by unannounced. I would’ve called first, but I couldn’t. Well, I could have, but it wouldn’t have done any good.”
He was pretty sure that even if he’d already had a gallon of coffee to clear his head, her explanation still wouldn’t have made much sense. “Can you run that by me again? Maybe slower this time with shorter words.”
Natalie glanced past him to the annex, maybe wondering why they didn’t continue the discussion inside. It would only be good manners to invite her in, maybe even offer her some coffee, but there were reasons he’d never told her where he lived. Too late to change things now, his feet remained frozen in place and the words of welcome refused to come.
Before speaking again, she started rooting around in her purse. Finally, she dragged a familiar-looking cellphone from its depths. “I stopped at the community center this morning to do a few things in the computer lab. When I saw Clarence, he thought this was most likely yours and asked if I could return it to you. Apparently he found it in the men’s room right after you and another guy finished up working on the basketball court. I’m guessing that might have been your brother?”
She held out the phone. “Thank you for doing that, by the way. I was hoping to eventually get around to fixing it up, but other things had to take priority.”
“It was. My brother, that is, and you’re welcome.”
Although she wasn’t really the reason they’d done the work. And maybe he really was being a total jerk by making her stand out there in the driveway like some stranger he barely knew. Taking a half step back from the door, he gestured toward the small kitchen on the other side of the room. “The coffee should be ready by now. Would you like a cup?”
That she didn’t immediately leap to accept the offer told him all too clearly that he was sending her a fucked-up mix of signals. To offer her an easy out, he added, “Unless you need to get to work.”
She bit her lower lip while she considered her options. “I do need to get to work, but a quick cup would be nice. That is, if you’re sure it wouldn’t be any trouble.”
It would be trouble, all right, but not the kind she meant. He moved aside to allow her room to come in and then closed the door after taking a quick peek out toward the driveway. His mother’s car was gone, so at least he didn’t have to deal with introducing the two women in his life to each other. Then it occurred to him to wonder how Natalie knew to look for him in the garage instead of the house.
Right now, Natalie was standing in the center of the small living room, her eyes bright with curiosity as she studied their surroundings. “I met your mom, by the way. She was leaving for an appointment just as I arrived. She was nice enough to point me in the right direction.”
Well, great. Now he’d have to allow time in his schedule for an inquisition from his mother when she got home. Maybe it wasn’t too late to see if Jack could use an extra pair of hands today. That would give him an excuse to hustle Natalie back out the door and avoid his mother for a few hours.
And didn’t that positively reek of cowardice?
He headed for the kitchen and pulled two of the last three clean mugs down off the shelf. One had the Marine Corps symbol on it, although Jack had drawn a red circle with a slash across it just to irritate Mikhail. The rim on the second cup was chipped, but the only other option was one with an obscene message on the side that a buddy had sent one of his brothers as a joke. Mismatched dishes were only one of the downsides of three brothers sharing the place, using it mostly as a place to crash on their brief visits home between deployments.
He carried the coffee out to the living room where Natalie was studying the array of gym equipment in the corner. “I’m sorry if you wanted cream in yours. I ran out of milk yesterday and haven’t been to the store.”
“Black is fine.”
She sipped the coffee as she continued to look around. “So this is where you live.”
There was nothing judgme
ntal about what she said, but he went on the defensive anyway. “My brothers and I thought someone should stay close by for Mom. She never complains, but we all know she gets lonely without Dad.”
Natalie’s expression was nothing but sympathetic. “That has to be hard for her. I’m sure she appreciates how you guys watch out for her.”
She glanced toward the staircase. “I’m guessing your bedroom is upstairs.”
He nodded. “Actually, there are three bedrooms up there and a full bath.”
Not that he’d invite her up there to look around or to try out his bed—his twin bed, the same one he’d had since he turned seventeen and moved into the annex with Jack. Mikhail had joined them a few months later when he’d turned seventeen, too.
“Amazing. I’ve never seen another place like it.”
No surprise there. “I doubt you’ve run into many people in your circle of friends who live in a garage.”
For the first time, she looked at him with a hint of anger in her eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”
Knowing things were spinning out of his control didn’t mean he could stop them. “Just what I said. Nothing more.”
She set the cup down on the coffee table and stepped close enough to glare straight up into his eyes. “Are you by any chance under the impression that I judge my friends by where they live? If so, you don’t know me at all.”
“Oh, we both know how well I know you.” He injected enough heat into his words to make sure she knew he wasn’t talking about where either of them lived. “Remember, I’m the one who had you on your back and begging for more the other night. Hell, if we hadn’t gotten back to your house when we did, we’d have ended up naked in the backseat of my car.”
Natalie raised her hand as if to slap him, but then she dropped it back down to her side. He was almost sorry she hadn’t carried through with the impulse. He deserved it. Before he could apologize, she started for the door.
“Where the hell are you going? We’re not done here.”
Always Be True Page 20