Blue Collar Romeo

by Jenny Gardiner

  Valentina rolled her eyes. “Way to come off as a pretentious git. You owe her an apology for that.”

  “Or I’ll force you to do so,” Lorenzo said, hovering over him in an imposing stance.

  “Who’s forcing whom to do what?” a voice said from around the corner. It was their mamma, Fabiana, a beautiful woman with short, no-nonsense salt-and-pepper hair and warm brown eyes.

  As she took her seat, Allegra entered with Tomasso’s espresso. Valentina and Lorenzo glared at him.

  “Okay, fine,” Tomasso said, looking up at Allegra with puppy dog eyes. “I’m sorry I snarled at you. I didn’t mean to be rude. I’m distracted.”

  Allegra dismissed it with a wave of the hand. “I hadn’t even noticed you were being short with me. I’m sorry you’re distracted. Is there anything we can do to help?”

  “See.” He pointed at Allegra. “The rest of you jump up my behind, giving me grief, but sweet Allegra here asks how she can help.”

  “Oh, poor widdle Tomasso,” Valentina said. “Can I get you a diaper and a bottle of warm milk?” She smiled at Lorenzo, who pretended he was sucking on a pacifier.

  “You two best stop or I’ll make you sit in a corner like I did when you were children, with your noses touching.” Fabiana’s lips formed a thin line.

  Valentina faked a look of horror on her face. “Anything but that! With Tomasso? I’d have to smell his breath up close and everything? I promise, I’ll repent!” She stuck her tongue out at her brother.

  “So, Tomasso, what can we do to help you?” His mother reached for the marmalade for her cornetto. “You must be anxious about your upcoming departure to New York.”

  He shrugged. He had been so preoccupied with thoughts of Gisele even his dream job was taking a second seat to it.

  “How about finding me a place to stay?”

  Valentina wrinkled her brow. “You’re moving to New York for several months and still you haven’t found a place to live?”

  He held his hands up. “So shoot me.” He frowned. “I’ve been preoccupied with other things. I hadn’t gotten around to it yet. I was hoping I could find some family in New York, but so far nothing has materialized.”

  Valentina leaned against the table, one arm draped over the edge, her other elbow resting on it, her hand on her chin. “You need a place to stay in New York City, eh?” She scratched her chin in thought.

  “Yeah. You’ve got an apartment for me?”

  “Maybe something better,” she said. “Perhaps you can make your little sister happy while she provides you a perfect place to stay while you’re in New York.”

  He cocked his brow. “You’re a real estate broker now, are you?”

  “Much better than that,” she said. “I’m a lonely woman wanting to figure out how to get the man in my life to stay for an extended visit. And you, my favorite brother—”

  Lorenzo smirked at her. “I thought that was me.”

  She shook her head. “Not this time.” She curled her finger toward Tomasso, beckoning him. “You, my favorite brother, are about to make my life that much easier.”

  Chapter Eight

  “I’ve got great news!” Parker said as he stood at the stove, scrambling some eggs. “I’m going to Italy!”

  Gisele’s eyes opened wide. “Like, taking off a week of work to visit Valentina?”

  He shook his head. “Even better,” he said. “I’m going to take a few months off, kind of like a sabbatical, to spend some time with Valentina in Chianti, see how we really get along, if we have the makings of a long-term thing or not.”

  “Wow.” Gisele frowned. “So just like that”—she snapped her fingers for emphasis—“you’re leaving me?”

  He held up his hands to assure her. “It’s not ‘like that.’” He ground some pepper into the eggs and took a small taste. “I’m not leaving you, per se. More like I’m taking a little extended vacation.”

  “But that means you’ll be there, and I’ll be here.” She pursed her lips. The two of them had been together nonstop, basically, since their mother died. She knew, intellectually, that someday Parker would have to claim his own life again, but in practice, the idea seemed a bit heartbreaking.

  “I’m sorry, G.” Parker turned off the stove and scooped eggs onto her plate, then his. “It’s nothing personal. But I’ve been kind of burning out on work anyhow. And while I know it seems sudden, now that we’re apart, I miss Valentina and I’d like to spend some more time with her.”

  “Why doesn’t she just come here then?” Gisele grabbed ketchup from the fridge and sat at the breakfast table.

  “It’s not that easy. She has a fledgling business to deal with and a lot of family commitments.”

  Gisele scowled as she made a ketchup puddle on her plate and began distractedly swirling her egg in it. “But you’ve got family commitments too, you know.”

  He cocked an eyebrow as he spread butter on his toast. “I do?”

  “Um, yeah you do. Like as in me. Your only sister. Make that only remaining relative. Or are you prepared to simply dump me like Dad did?”

  “Hey”—he reached over to put a hand on her shoulder—“you know I’m not ‘dumping’ you. I’m not leaving you, sweetie. You’ll always be my sister and our lives will always be intermingled. But I am approaching my thirties, and it’s high time I did something about my own personal life at this point. Don’t you think so?”

  She sighed. “I guess. But I’d like to go on record saying I don’t like it. Not one bit. What am I going to do without you?”

  Her brother patted her on her head. “Maybe you can go to work every day like you’ve been doing for years now. And you can get together with friends, and hey, maybe while I’m gone you’ll meet a nice young man.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, that’s not gonna happen.”

  “Why not?” he said. “It would be good for you to put yourself out there.”

  “Oh, so I can think I’ve fallen in love and go through all the hoops of fire and have a big stupid wedding only to find I’m stuck with some jerk who starts to resent me and I don’t even realize he’s sleeping around on me and then I have babies and he leaves and never comes back? Thanks, but no thanks.”

  Parker took a bite of his eggs. “You do know that all men aren’t like our father, don’t you?”

  “Well, you’re not. But even you won’t stick around. Leaving me alone in the cold, cruel city while you gallivant across the Tuscan countryside.”

  “If you’re trying to make me feel guilty, you’re doing a bang-up job.”

  Gisele looked up at her brother and wrinkled her forehead. “I’m sorry. That’s not fair of me, I know. It’s only that I’m going to miss you in a bad way. Because it’s always been you and me, and now it’s just going to be me.” A tear formed in the corner of her eyes.

  Parker pushed back from the table and stood up, reaching a hand out for his little sister. “Come here, you.” He pulled her toward him and dabbed at her tears with his sleeve. “I guess it wasn’t fair of me to up and leave you all alone, no warning, was it? Hard enough to have your beloved brother not here.” He winked and she smiled through her tears. “But to do that and leave you to rattle around this place all on your own... that wasn’t very thoughtful of me, was it?”

  She thrust out her lower lip in a pout. “It’s okay.” She sniffled. “I totally get that you need to live your life. I don’t want to hold you back. That would be obnoxious of me anyhow.”

  He scruffed her hair, then tucked a strand of it behind her ear. “Nothing you could do would ever be obnoxious, G. You’re the best kid sister a guy could ever have. We’ll figure this out. Trust me, I’ll make sure you’re in good hands.”

  ~*~

  “Sooo...” Valentina said as she opened a bottle of Brunello from one of the family’s vineyards located in Montalcino, to the south of Chianti. She poured a small amount into her glass, then swirled it before taking a sip, letting it roll off her tongue as she breathed it
in. She smiled as she swallowed it. “That always makes my day. Anyhow, back to our discussion.” She turned to Tomasso, who was on his phone, totally ignoring her.

  “Hello, Tomasso!”

  She tapped him on the shoulder and handed him a glass of wine. Finally he looked up and shook his head to escape the fog he was in.

  “Sorry, cara,” he said. “Busy talking reclaimed wood on Facebook.”

  She arched her eyebrows. “Boy, you sure know how to have a good time, don’t you?”

  “Stop, Valentina.” He repeated what his sister had just done with her wine before swallowing a sip. “It’s what makes my day. It’s my passion.”

  She scratched his head affectionately before sitting down next to him. “I know. It’s why I don’t tease you too much about it. Plus you’re scary talented. I don’t want you to disown me when you’re rich and famous because I mocked for being a woodworking geek.”

  “Newsflash: we’re already rich and famous.”

  She held up her glass to the light, momentarily lost in thought. “Huh. I guess you’ve got a point there. Though the Romeo fame isn’t quite the same. I mean it has little to do with us and everything to do with our ancestors. Whereas your fame will have everything to do with your skills.”

  Tomasso chuckled. “Yeah, well, I don’t think you need to worry about my leaving you in the dust anytime soon. I’ve yet to hear of any wood-carvers whose names are on the tip of your average tongue.”

  “Paul Bunyan?”

  He laughed. “I think he was a lumberjack. And he wasn’t even real. But nice try.”

  “So you excited for this new adventure?”

  His eyes lit up. “Are you kidding? This is my dream come true. I’ll be working with the world-famous Grady O’Malley, who’s spent his whole career restoring the woodworking in historic brownstones in Manhattan from the golden age of New York City.”

  One of their kitties, a calico named Gatto—Italian, for cat—jumped into Valentina’s lap. “Hmm... world-famous Grady O’Malley, but I’ve never heard of him. I guess that’s in keeping with that notion that no wood-carver’s name is on the tip of your average tongue.”

  “You’ve proven your point there, although you even met the man when he was here.” She shrugged, clearly unimpressed with the magnitude of the man’s talent.

  “So Mamma tells me you’re still trying to find a temporary place to stay.”

  “I’ve got a bead on a few places, but so far nothing much has materialized.”

  “Perfect. Because I’ve got the answer to your prayers.”

  Tomasso took a sip of wine. “Do tell.”

  “Here’s the deal. Parker is coming to spend a few months here. We’d like to see if we can make a go of it in the same place at the same time for a while without killing each other, maybe see how compatible we are. Which means his place is empty and you can stay there!”

  Tomasso’s eyes widened. “Seriously? No strings attached, I just get to hold down the fort at his house?”

  “It’s all yours. You won’t even have to feed a cat or walk a dog. Simply show up. I already have the passcode for you to get into the house, and you’ll be good to go.”

  “Valentina! I always said you were my favorite sister. And now you’ve proven it once again. Don’t forget to remind Lorenzo that you went out of your way to do your favorite brother a solid. Thanks!”

  “You’re most welcome. I think you’ll have a great time. From what I hear it’s an amazing home—I believe it’s one of those historic brownstones like you were talking about. Plus, Parker said it had been, quote, ‘lovingly restored’ about eight years ago.”

  “Damn, this makes things super easy for me. And he’s in the city? Not like an hour away in the suburbs?”

  “He said it was on the Upper West Side. A beautiful tree-lined street.”

  Tomasso gave his sister a huge hug. “I can’t thank you enough. This will be the best three months of my life.”

  Chapter Nine

  “So I gave our conversation the other day a lot of thought,” Parker said as he packed two large suitcases for the next three months. Gisele was sad that he would be gone in a matter of days, leaving her alone to feel like the only person on the entire island of Manhattan. She was good at self-pity, she knew.

  “Does this mean you’ve changed your mind and you’re only going for a few days then you’ll be back?” She gave him a big, fake, wishful, toothy grin while batting her eyelashes to lay it on thick.

  He shook his head and scruffed her hair. “No such luck. But I did have a stroke of genius that you’re going to love. Well, to be truthful, Valentina had the brilliant idea.”

  Gisele lifted an eyebrow. “She’s going to send a surrogate in your stead?”

  Parker clapped. “Brava! How’d you figure that out?”

  Her eyebrows pressed downward. “Wait—what do you mean? I was just joking.”

  “In that case, I have a wonderful surprise for you. You see, I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of you being in this big old house all by yourself. Besides, I hate to up and abandon you. So I’ve found the perfect houseguest to keep you company while I’m out of the country. I think you two will have a fantastic time. I mean he told me when we were in Monaforte that you’d both had some in-depth conversations leading up to the wedding, so I’m comfortable that you’ve at least gotten to know each other. In other words, it’s not like I’m dropping a complete stranger in your lap. And I get to feel good about you having someone who’s got your back. Plus you’ve got some great company.”

  Gisele’s heartbeat started racing and her breathing became shallow. For a minute, she thought she might hyperventilate. Either that or blow an aneurysm. “Oh, my God. Please, whatever you do, do not tell me what I think you’re about to tell me.”

  “What?”

  “You’re not planning on sending that brother of hers to stay here, are you?”

  “Wow. Good guess! Your spidey sense was spot-on with that one. Turns out Tomasso has to be in Manhattan for a few months for an apprenticeship and Valentina told me he was having a hard time finding a short-term lease. He’s going to move into our place while I’m gone. That way you’re not alone, and you’re much safer with a strong man in the house.”

  Gisele tried to object but the words seemed frozen in her throat. “But—”

  “Isn’t it great?”

  At last she was able to get the words out of her mouth. “It’s not great at all. I do not want that asshole in my house and I veto it. You should have asked me first. He’s a first-class, grade-A jerk, and he can go live under a bridge span in a cardboard box as far as I’m concerned. Because he’s not living here with me.”

  Parker furrowed his brows. “But G.—you were all sad at being alone in the city.”

  “Please, Parker. Seriously? Alone in the city? Isn’t that an oxymoron? By the very nature of it being a city, I’m not alone. I’ll be keeping company with one-and-a-half million other folks here on this island, and I will not be even remotely alone. You can go ahead and call him and cancel that.”

  Parker shook his head. “Sorry, Gisele. It’s simply not possible. I’ve offered the place up to him and he’s gladly accepted. Look, he’s Valentina’s brother, he’s a good guy, and he needs a place to stay. It would be rude of me not to have offered it to him, and now that I have, it’s a done deal. Besides, I don’t want you alone in this big old house. I want to feel safe knowing you’re safe. This matter is closed.”

  “Parker that’s not fair! You can’t do that to me. He’s the worst.”

  “I know for a fact that Tomasso is a good man who comes from a good family. His sister would never have suggested he move in here if she wasn’t certain he would be the ultimate gentleman. Whatever issue you have with him, I’ll ask you to keep it to yourself and be the best hostess you can to our houseguest. He, in turn, will be a respectful and helpful guest and everyone will have a wonderful time.”

  Gisele growled. “I’ll tell you
who will be having a good time: you and Valentina. You’ll be sexing your way through Italy while I’m here having shouting matches with the rudest, most ignorant, ugliest, meanest man I’ve ever met from Italy.”

  Her brother grinned. “Well, considering he’s likely the only man you’ve met from Italy, that’s not saying much.” He patted her on the back. “I trust you’re exaggerating matters a bit. I’m sure you can work out whatever your differences are.”

  Gisele stuck out her tongue. “And I trust I won’t speak to you for the next three months either. Good-bye.”

  She turned and left his room, slamming the door behind her.

  This was going to suck massively. Imprisoned in her own house with the Hunchback of Romeo Wines. More like the troll from beneath the bridge in the “Three Billy Goats Gruff.” Ugh.

  Chapter Ten

  It was approaching midnight by the time Tomasso finally settled in for the taxi ride from JFK Airport, thanks to flight delays, an interminable wait at customs, and a ridiculously long taxi line. When he arrived at Parker’s place, he was totally beat and ready for bed. As the cabbie pulled up, he sized up the brownstone, extremely impressed. It was a beautiful Italianate building, with tall windows and a stone stoop flanked by gorgeous, heavy cast iron railings and elaborately decorated newel posts and balusters. The majestic-looking doorway was flanked by large columns with ornate capitals that supported heavy door hoods, a dramatic carved keystone above the door, and acanthus brackets on either side. He looked up to notice the generous mansard roof and wondered if beneath that roofline was an artist’s garret: how he’d love to have a workspace like that overlooking views of the city. He also wondered why a single guy would live alone in such a huge place. Must be even more loaded than I thought. Oh well, at least he wasn’t after Valentina’s money.

  A heavy snow began to fall as the cabbie helped him unload his bags while Tomasso rifled around for his phone so he could pull up the passcode to get into the place. After mounting the steps, he punched in the key code and pushed open the large mahogany-and-beveled-glass door, desperate for sleep. His ears were killing him from the pressure change and he felt a cold coming on. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with anyone for a day or two while he adjusted to the time change and caught up on sleep. All Tomasso wanted was to be left alone.