“I tried to tell her to skip her parents’ church this morning and just come here, but she had a thing.”
Sarah rolled her eyes and pushed her glasses further up her tiny nose. “I teach a Sunday school class, Maxi. I can’t very well just skip that.”
Robin interjected, trying to stop the bickering before it unfolded into a full-blown argument. “It’s cool. You didn’t miss anything important. I’m just so happy you’re here.” She waved a hand in the general direction of the heavy-laden table. “Help yourself to food.”
Maxine pushed away from the table and went behind Robin’s chair, slipping her arms around her older sister’s neck and hugging her. “I’m so excited for you. I just love Tony.”
Robin grinned. “Yeah? Me, too.”
As soon as Maxine let her go, Sarah hugged her. “Me, three. And, I’m thankful that you’re back in my life. I was thinking about it this morning, about all those years I didn’t even know you existed. I wish I’d grown up with you like Maxi did. You are amazing and I just love you so much.”
Robin had never heard anything like that from Sarah before. Emotion, raw and real, swamped her and her eyes burned with tears. She pushed away from the table and pulled Sarah into her arms. “I’m glad you don’t remember,” she said, resting her cheek on top of her youngest sister’s head. “I’m glad you’re saved from that, and I’m so happy you live with me now. It helps make up for lost time.”
As Sarah followed Maxine to the buffet tables, Tony returned with a too-large slice of chocolate cake. “Your cake, my love,” he announced with flare.
He looked at her face and a frown immediately appeared between his brows. “Why are you crying?”
Robin took his face in her hands. “Because God has blessed me with such love in abundance. I don’t even know how to begin to thank Him.”
Tony put a hand on top of hers. “We’ll work together for Him and serve Him. That’s how.”
Not caring how many hundreds of eyes might be watching, Robin leaned forward and kissed him, just a quick brush of her lips on his. “I’m looking forward to it.”
Maxine returned with a plate piled high with food, followed by Sarah who had a bit of salad and some steamed broccoli on her plate. As Sarah sat down, she said, “Not many options for the herbivores among us,” she said with a smile. “Pot luck suppers at churches are always full of meat and cheese.”
Maxine took a bite of a chicken leg. “Ah. That’s the good stuff,” she said with a smile. She pointed the leg at Robin and Tony, who sat back down across from them. “Have you two set a date in stone yet?”
Robin grinned the silly grin that kept spreading across her face ever since Tony put the ring on her finger. “April twenty-first is about the soonest it can possibly be.”
Tony rubbed the back of her neck. “Robin suggested we just elope, but I convinced her that I was worth a church wedding.”
With a fork laden with potato salad, Maxine said, “You don’t want to elope. There’s no fun in that. I know I’ll never elope.”
“Oh, I don’t know.” Wiggling his eyebrows, Tony said, “It could be fun.”
Sarah swallowed a laugh and covered her mouth. “Tony!”
Barry Anderson, former professional football player turned corporate lawyer, walked up to Tony, wool ski cap covering his ears and leather gloves on his large hands. He slapped Tony on the back. “My friend, congratulations.”
Tony smiled and stood, shamelessly hugging Barry. “Barry, mi fratello!” He turned and faced the table. “Barry, my dearest brother, I would like to introduce you to Maxine Bartlett and Sarah Thomas, Robin’s sisters.” The two best friends could not have different appearances. Barry, a few inches shy of seven feet who had a body that gave evidence to his extensive workout regimen, blond hair, a thin blond goatee, and icy blue eyes, compared to Tony, dark coloring and just at six feet with a strong lean body strengthened by rowing. And yet they considered themselves brothers as if they’d been born to the same parents.
Sarah was closest, and reached forward to shake Barry’s hand. He slipped the glove off of his right hand and gripped her petite hand, swamping it. Maxine, her eyes uncharacteristically wide, made no move to rise or shake his hand. She just said, “Nice to meet you.”
“I should have realized Robin’s sisters would be just as lovely and beautiful as Robin. It is very much my honor to finally meet you both.” Barry nodded to each of them and looked them straight in the eye as he greeted them. Then he turned back to Tony. “Sorry I’m late. The flight out was delayed almost two hours.”
“That big storm?” Tony inquired.
“Yeah. The snow has really been picking up. We passed 12 or 15 foot drifts on the way to the airport. I guess it’s a good thing we made it out at all.”
Tony nodded. “How was Christmas in the Alps?”
Barry’s lips thinned. “Same thing every year.”
“You should really think about Florida next year.” Tony chided. “You could water ski off the Keys instead of making snow angels.”
Barry kept his face blank. “Maybe next year.” He pulled his ski cap off and gestured to the buffet table. “I’m going to get something to eat. That little plate they give you on the airline is never enough for me.”
As he walked away, Maxine leaned in to Robin and said in a low voice, “Do you know who that is? That is the Barry Anderson.”
“Yeah, that’s Barry. I told you about him helping my dad.”
Maxine lightly thumped her sister on the forehead with her flat open palm. “No. That is Barry ‘The Bear’ Anderson. Like, that is really, really him. Don’t you remember him playing? Remember the Super Bowl that year? Are you really that out of it?”
“Yes. And I remember telling you that he used to play sports and he’s a lawyer, now.” Robin said, feeling a little confused.
Maxine grinned. “Play sports. You are so cute. You said he was a big guy and a lawyer and drank Shirley Temples. I was imagining fat Elvis meets Perry Mason meets Freddie Mercury. You never said anything about him being that Barry Anderson. You know I had the biggest crush on him when he was in the League. And he is still the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen in my life.” She put her hand on her chest. “Oh my gosh. I can barely breathe.”
Robin’s eyes widened and she laughed a shocked laugh. “You are incorrigible.”
Maxine winked and went back to her plate.
Tony’s lips thinned as he stood again. “Good afternoon, Jacqui.”
A tall redhead with porcelain smooth skin sailed toward their table, draped in a full length mink coat. “Antonio, what a pleasure to see you,” she said, air kissing within inches of both of his cheeks.
“Ladies, I’d like you to meet Barry’s wife, Jacqueline Anderson. Jacqui, this is Sarah Thomas, Maxine Bartlett, and my beautiful bride to be, Robin Bartlett.”
She waved a hand toward Robin. “You are such a darling. Bartlett. Bartlett? Now, are your people any relation to the Chesapeake Bartletts?”
Maxine dryly interjected, “I seriously doubt it.”
Jacqueline took that in. “Hmm. Well, it is just so very nice to meet you in person.” Robin stood next to Tony and held her hand out. Jacqueline slipped off her gloves. Robin thought her long manicured nails made her hands look like she’d never worked a day in her life. The women briefly squeezed hands and Tony gestured to the buffet line. “Barry’s fixing himself a plate. Would you care to eat?”
A quick look of disgust crossed her face as she surveyed either her husband or the selections on his plate. “Ugh. Church food. Not the slightest bit interested.” She put a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “I’m afraid I can’t stay, Antonio. I just had to pop in and say ‘hi.’ My curiosity was positively killing me as to who finally landed the most eligible bachelor I know and snagged you right out from under the noses of Boston society!”
At the conclusion of this announcement, Jacqueline Anderson actually looked Robin up and down from head to toe as if inspecting a Dickens
ian orphan or a horse of questionable pedigree. “I’m so looking forward to the wedding. The papers are already talking about how it’s going to be the event of the year.” She nodded toward Barry, who had stopped on his way back to the table to talk to Peter O’Farrell. “Be a dear and tell Barry I’ll see him later. I simply must go, now.”
She swirled away, leaving the cloying smell of expensive French perfume in her wake. Robin slowly sat as she watched her mink clad departure for a second, then her eyes skimmed over Barry, who’d barely glanced at his wife’s retreating back before continuing his conversation with Peter. She looked at Tony. “What was that?”
Tony lifted his red plastic cup. “That, cara, was Jacqui Anderson, in all her glory, being just as nice as she is humanly able.”
With an astonished tone, she asked, “And – Antonio?”
Tony actually grit his teeth. “It doesn’t bother me, but that fact doesn’t seem to stop her from trying to make it bother me.”
Maxine set her fork down. “Wow.”
Tony patted the back of Robin’s hand. “She will be extremely helpful in the wedding planning. She is a master at events. Just … don’t let her bully you.”
Maxine wasn’t done. “You know what? I’ll say that backwards. Wow. There.”
Robin took a bite of her cake, letting the chocolate frosting sing in her mouth before slowly chewing it and swallowing. She washed down that bite with a sip from a cup of really bad coffee in a white Styrofoam cup. “What did she mean by ‘the event of the year?’ She made this sound like it was going to be the next Royal Wedding.”
Tony waved his hand in a dismissive manner as Barry set his plate next to him. “Don’t let that bother you, cara.”
“I think the event of the year is exactly what it should be,” Sarah said dreamily. “Imagine what we could do!”
Maxine leaned forward and put her hand on top of Robin’s. “It’s okay, Robin. We’ll help you. We’ll get a really good wedding planner and it’ll be a breeze. I even have an old design instructor from college who opened her business last year. I helped her with some initial advertising. I’ll call her and see if we can meet.”
Suddenly nervous, Robin licked her lips. “I’m not sure. Why can’t we just elope?”
Tony laughed. “Because, cara, I want to show you off to the world.” He turned to Barry. “You free in the morning? I have some things to go over with you.”
Barry nodded around a mouth full of cauliflower casserole. “I have you blocked off until noon. After that, you’re buying me lunch. I’ve been out of the office for two weeks. I’ll go in at seven and make sure I don’t have any major fires to put out before I come over.”
Tony nodded as he looked at his watch. “Nine is good.” He snapped his fingers and turned to Robin. “I know what I forgot to tell you.”
“What?”
“You need to go ahead and get your passport application turned in. It takes several weeks, and I don’t want to delay our honeymoon.”
Her mouth felt a little dry as she contemplated, suddenly, all of the details she’d need to handle in the next four months. She barely heard him. “Passport?”
“Yes. To go to Italy. Remember?”
Mind whirling, wishing she had a pencil and a paper to take notes, she nodded. “Right, Italy.”
He frowned. “You okay?”
She shook her head and nodded. “Just a little overwhelmed. I need to remember where my birth certificate is, too.”
Tony took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Relax, my love. All will be fine. I promise.”
Greater Than Rubies: CHAPTER 2
ONY paused in working his way through the stack of end-of-the-year and fourth quarter revenue reports when his secretary, Margaret, buzzed through on the intercom. “Mr. Viscolli, there’s a young man coming up who has a business card with a handwritten note from you on the back of it.”
A happy relief flooded his chest. “Yes, Derrick. I remember him. Please have the chef send up some hearty hot food and some hot tea. Maybe hot chocolate, too. He’s going to be cold and hungry.”
He felt relieved to have a break. For the first time in nearly three years, Tony faced the unappealing prospect of having to instigate some layoffs. One of his West Coast endeavors was still infuriatingly and stubbornly unprofitable. The problem was that the project was currently overstaffed. But Tony had a stubborn streak of his own. From a public image perspective, he couldn’t lay his reputation on the line and layoff nearly 200 workers right before Christmas then turn around and employ at least that number of staff to pull off his wedding and reception a few months down the road. From another perspective, he realized that his employees had families and financial obligations and depended on his company to meet their needs.
But for the last two years, he had been throwing money at that company with no tangible profitable return. Half a year ago, the tax write off and depreciation options had stopped being very much fun. The bottom line was that it would have to turn around before the end of first quarter next year, or else he would have to write it off as a complete loss. Since that wasn’t an option, he had to get creative. He was going to have to pray long and hard about the problem.
Tony had time to file the reports away and make sure nothing pressing waited for him on his desk. Closing his eyes, he uttered a brief prayer, “Please God, help me focus on this meeting and let me make a difference in this young man’s life.”
As he raised his head, a knock sounded on his door. Margaret opened it without waiting for him to bid entrance, and in walked Derrick DiNunzio.
He had lost weight in the weeks since Tony first met him outside of a dirty bar in the absolutely wrong neighborhood. Tony had looked at the teenage boy with bloody knuckles and dirt on his face and seen a reflection of himself not long before. Then something, the Holy Spirit he supposed, pressed him to help this young man. He told Derrick to come see him when he turned eighteen. Now Derrick stood before him, right there in the same black leather jacket with the hole in the elbow, dirty jeans, worn out boots, and red-rimmed eyes. He had a scruffy beard and chapped lips.
“Derrick DiNunzio,” Tony said, stepping forward with his hand out. Derrick looked at it and hesitantly shook it. Tony gripped Derrick’s hand with his other hand, trying to convey friendship and warmth. “I’m pleased you decided to take me up on my offer and come see me.”
Derrick shrugged and tried to act tough, but he kept looking around at the very large and well appointed office. “Yeah, well you said maybe you had a job for me, Mr. Viscolli, and I could really use the work, so I came.”
Tony looked at Margaret over Derrick’s shoulder. “Just go ahead and bring in the food when it arrives if you could, Margaret.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, closing the door behind her.
Tony gestured to the brown leather couch and chairs that formed a sitting area near a lit fireplace. “Please, sit down, Derrick.”
Derrick shoved his hands in his pockets and slouched toward the couch. “What kind of job you need me to do, Mr. Viscolli?”
Tony ignored the question and sat in a chair facing Derrick. “Lei parla Italiano?”
The youth shook his head. “Nah. My mom, she didn’t speak English and she wanted to learn. By the time I was old enough to talk, she refused to teach me any except when she was cussing me out.”
“Well, cussing does sound more sincere in Italian, doesn’t it?”
“I never questioned her sincerity, Mr. Viscolli.”
Tony chuckled. “That’s too bad. I was hoping to knock some of the rust off my Italian while we talked. I guess it will have to wait until my honeymoon.” He sat back and hooked his foot on his knee, brushing an imaginary piece of lint off of the gray silk pants leg.
“Yeah, I saw in the Globe about you getting married. No disrespect. She looks smokin’ hot. Like, smokin’. Congrats.”
Once more it struck Tony just how much this young man reflected a younger version of himself. He vividly remembe
red – not so very long ago – having a very similar outlook and nearly identical priorities. What he couldn’t have realized is how much better his life could be when he stopped trying to run it himself and instead gave his life up to Christ.
With a little smile, Tony said, “None taken. And I agree. She is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen. So, you have a mother. Who else is in your family?”
“Just me.” Derrick’s eyes narrowed. “Why ya asking?”
“I am a curious man. My mother was alone when she came to Boston, pregnant with me. Her family had disowned her in Florence and my father had a great aunt here so she came to America. To say she was disappointed in our neighborhood is not an exaggeration.”
Derrick cocked his head. “My mom was from Naples.”
“Ah. Napoli.” Tony did a quick calculation. “Navy brat?”
“Air Force.” Derrick crossed his arms and leaned back. “Knocked her up, brought her here, then dumped her. She didn’t know anything about getting the military to track him down or nothing. Found out too late. He’s dead, now. I never met him.”
“In our neighborhood, that is nothing new.”
“You say ‘our’ like you’re still there. But, you’re not. You got out.”
Tony shrugged. “Not entirely. I still go to church near there, and I do a lot of community work there. But, you’re right, I no longer live there.”
“Again, no disrespect, Mr. Viscolli, but you don’t even sound like you ever lived in Southie.”
With a wave of his hand, Tony dismissed that remark. “That just takes hard work. I hired someone to teach me how to speak properly.”
Derrick gestured with his chin. “And the suits.”
“Right. That, too.” He tapped a finger on the arm of his chair. “I have to maintain a certain look in order to do good business. That may or may not be ‘right’ on some fundamental level, but it is the way the world works. I recognized that and conformed.” He thought back to his teenage years. It might as well have been him sitting in that chair instead of young Derrick DiNunzio. God had given him a chance, and he would do the same for this young man. “My last winter on the streets, I slept in the doorway of that old brick building near that pasta place, Buenos. You know where I’m talking about?”
Greater Than Rubies, a Novella inspired by the Jewel Trilogy Page 2