11. Dom
11
dom
After dropping Ella off at the shelter, I was certain that she was the one I’d been waiting for. I couldn’t explain it, other than to say I felt different around Ella. Lighter. Better.
I thought she was starting to acknowledge this connection between us too. She’d seemed more relaxed at dinner, gifting me with genuine smiles as she listened to me drone on. And her laughter? It was music to my ears. That she hadn’t reciprocated with similar information was disappointing, but I was a patient guy. When we got to a point where she felt comfortable sharing personal stuff with me, it would be that much sweeter.
My mom’s discreet nod of confirmation had been an added bonus. Like my grandfather, she had a gift for matchmaking. Nonno hadn’t yet met Ella, but my mother had, and the smile and wink she’d given me when I took Ella into the private room was encouraging.
I had to proceed carefully, however. Something told me that I could lose the progress I’d gained tonight if I came on too strong or pushed too hard.
Still riding the high of the evening, I wasn’t ready to call it a night yet, so I swung by the IAC—the Italian American Club—to play darts and maybe have a beer with whatever friends and family happened to be around.
My uncle Sal was there, as were my uncles Enzo, Carmine, and of course Rico, who ran the place. They were gathered at the bar, heads together, as if in deep discussion.
Rico was the first to notice me. “Young Dominic,” he greeted, almost like he was announcing my arrival.
The others straightened and looked my way with unreadable expressions. I knew then that whatever they’d been talking about involved me somehow.
Rico had a draft poured for me by the time I reached them.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Angelo said you brought a girl to the restaurant tonight.”
Ah . I should have known. “I did, yes.”
“It’s not like you to bring a girl to your mamma ’s restaurant,” Enzo said. “This one must be special, eh?”
I shrugged. The smile I couldn’t completely hide said it all.
“It’s the one they’re calling the Angel of the Animals, isn’t it?” Carmine asked. “Ella something.”
“Ferris,” my uncle Sal said. He didn’t seem as pleased with the fact that I’d taken her to Mama C’s.
“Doesn’t sound Italian,” Rico said.
“She looks it though, eh?” Carmine said.
My eyes narrowed. “How do you know what she looks like?”
“Lucia. She showed me pictures when she tapped me for a donation.”
Lucia had pictures of Ella? I shook off the feeling of unease. Both Lucia and Gina knew Ella wanted to keep a low profile. I’d expected them to respect her wishes.
“What do you know about her?” Sal asked.
“Not much. She moved here about six months ago and works at the animal shelter.”
“What about her family? Did she mention anything about them?”
I wondered why Sal was so interested. “Only that they weren’t in the picture. Why?”
Relief passed over my uncle’s face as he patted my shoulder and smiled. “No reason. I’m proud of the way you boys are volunteering over there. Not only are you doing a good thing, but it’s positive publicity for the department as well. Are you headed back there tomorrow?”
The abrupt change in topic wasn’t lost on me. “I was planning on it, yeah,” I said.
“Good, good.” Uncle Sal stood. “I may stop by myself, see how things are going.”
“They appreciate as many hands as they can get.”
Uncle Sal said his good nights and left, leaving me with more questions than answers.
“What was that all about?” I asked Uncle Enzo.
He shrugged. “He’s just worried about you.”
“Why?” I murmured, but Enzo was already talking to Carmine about something else.
As I stared toward the door Sal had just gone through, I couldn’t help thinking that there was more to it than that.
The shelter had even more people volunteering the next day. Lucia must have spread the word about us volunteering, and Vinnie and some of his friends from the Cecilton PD showed up as well. The fire department and the police department had a friendly rivalry going on, and if we were getting good publicity, they wanted some too. But a heads-up would have been nice, especially since more press had stopped by to cover the story.
The few times I’d tried to slip away unnoticed didn’t go as planned. If it wasn’t one of my crewmates demanding my attention, it was one of the Giggle Trio, as I’d started calling them. The blonde—Carrie—was the worst. Like a clawed octopus, that one.
“So, where’s this girl everyone’s talking about?” my brother Vinnie asked quietly as he followed me to the cooler filled with ice and cold drinks.
I wasn’t surprised. If the uncles knew about Ella, everyone knew. They gossiped worse than old ladies.
“Probably holed up in her office,” I said.
“Smart woman,” Vinnie murmured. “Mom said she’s the shy, quiet type.”
“She’s not comfortable around crowds of people,” I confirmed.
Maybe it had something to do with her hearing impairment. Or maybe it was just the way she was. I was craving a little space myself at that point.
“Sucks for you, huh?”
I turned to my brother, bottle halfway to my mouth. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He grinned at me. “How are you going to convince her to come to Sunday dinner?”
Right. Sunday dinner. Attending the family meal was a requirement for anyone we were serious about. Was I that serious about Ella? Yes, I absolutely was. Was she ready to meet everyone and be put under that kind of scrutiny, well intended as it was? That was a great big hell no.
“I took her to the restaurant last night.”
Vinnie laughed. “Yeah, I heard. That’s not going to cut it, and you know it. But don’t sweat it. Remember how long it took Nicky to bring Kat around?”
“Good point.”
I loved Kat like the sister she’d become, but I’d never met anyone as socially awkward. Nicky had introduced her to the family in small doses until she knew enough of them to feel comfortable at Mama C’s.
I could do something like that. Ella had already met several of my relatives—Lucia, Gina, Uncle Sal, my mother. I could introduce her to Vinnie today. And I’d offer to take her to Nonno’s bookshop for coffee or something. Vinnie’s wife, Haven, was a masterful barista and able to put anyone at ease.
The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea. “Come with me.”
Checking to make sure no one was paying attention, I led Vin into the older section, where I knocked on the closed door. “Hey, Ella. It’s Dom. Got a minute?”
A few moments later, the door opened, and there she was, looking just as beautiful as ever. Her hair was up in a messy bun, held in place with No. 2 pencils. The dark circles under her eyes bothered me, but the way her gaze softened when she looked at me overrode everything else. The need to take care of this woman was a powerful thrum in my gut. I wanted to take her in my arms, kiss the daylights out of her, then feed her a good meal and run her a hot bath.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
Her eyes were so pretty. Black diamonds, surrounded by long, inky lashes. I could stare into them for hours, I decided.
Vinnie discreetly cleared his throat, reminding us of his presence. Ella blinked, then looked his way, schooling her features into the polite mask I’d come to recognize.
“This is my brother Vinnie,” I said.
Her eyes went to his T-shirt and lingered briefly on the CPD logo emblazoned on the front. “You’re the policeman.”
Her smile was pleasant, and her tone was politely cordial, but I didn’t miss the subtle tensing of her shoulders. It reminded me of the way she’d reacted to me the first time I met her. Perhaps she was just like that with everyone she didn’t know, and with me, she’d gotten past that.
“I am,” Vinnie replied.
“It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too.”
I looked between the two of them, sensing a subtle tension and unsure what to make of it.
“Vinnie’s here helping out today with some of the guys from his precinct.”
“Thanks for that,” Ella said, lowering her eyes.
Vinnie nodded. There was another awkward pause. I didn’t care for the way he was looking at her. Like he was assessing a suspect or something.
“Well, we’ll let you get back to it,” I said, suddenly anxious to put some distance between the two of them.
She nodded.
I heard the soft click of the door closing behind us as my brother and I walked down the hall.
“What was that all about?” I asked angrily once we were out of hearing range.
He didn’t respond for long moments, then said, “What do you know about her?”
Not this again. “Why is everyone asking me that?”
“Who else is asking?”
“Uncle Sal. Last night at the club.”
Vinnie nodded, as if that made sense, while I felt as if everyone knew something I didn’t.
“Vin, what’s going on?”
“I’m not sure,” he said, his expression serious and thoughtful.
“ Vin . Talk to me.”
He exhaled. “I get the feeling there’s more to her than meets the eye.”
I didn’t disagree. I’d had the same impression. Vinnie’s instincts were on point, which was one of the things that made him such a good cop. When it came to Ella though, I wasn’t sure I liked the implications.
“Do you think she’s in some kind of trouble?” I asked quietly.
His eyes met mine and narrowed. “Why do you ask?”
That wasn’t a discussion I wanted to have at the shelter, especially not with so many people milling about. “Like you, just a feeling.”
We reached the front of the shelter, where staff and volunteers were busy doing their thing.
Vinnie looked pointedly beyond the main doors and said, “I don’t know about you, but I could use an espresso.”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
Fifteen minutes later, we were seated in one of the private alcoves at our nonno’s book shop. My brother Nick was there too, which wasn’t surprising. He had said the words came easier to him there than anywhere else, so that was where he penned his bestsellers. At that moment, however, his laptop was closed, and he was looking at the two of us, giving us his full attention.
Haven, Vinnie’s wife, brought over a tray of espressos and set them on the small round table between us. I raised an eyebrow because it wasn’t like either of my brothers to let Haven serve them. I understood why a moment later.
“Tell Dom what you told me,” Vinnie said quietly.
Haven sat on the arm of Vinnie’s chair. “Joel overheard some people at the restaurant talking about the Angel of the Animals.”
Joel was Haven’s half-brother. He’d started at Mama C’s in the kitchen when Vin and Haven first got together, and he’d done such a good job that he was promoted to server.
“Okay,” I said, unsure of where this was going.
With all the local press coverage, a lot of people were talking about what had happened.
“They were out-of-towners,” Haven continued. “A beautiful woman and a huge guy. Very well dressed. Very classy.”
“Okay,” I repeated, wishing she’d spit it out already.
“They asked Joel if he knew her, and when he said he didn’t, they started asking about the shelter, like where it was, what hours it was open, who they could contact about making a donation. Joel told them about the website Gina did and that it had all the information they needed. He saw them checking it out on the woman’s phone right after he talked to them.”
I blinked. “Still not seeing the significance here.”
She looked at Vin, who nodded encouragingly.
“Go on.”
“Joel said—and I feel silly even saying this, but he said they gave off Cosa Nostra vibes. Oh, and they left a crisp one-hundred-dollar bill as a tip.”
At that, my eyebrows shot up to my hairline. Vinnie thanked her, and with a quick, chaste kiss, Haven returned to the coffee bar.
“Sounds like someone’s been watching too many late-night movies,” Nick murmured.
“Maybe,” Vinnie agreed. “Maybe not. We don’t know much about Ella other than that she’s relatively new in town and keeps a very low profile. After meeting her today, I’m certain there’s more to her backstory than she’s letting on.”
“But Cosa Nostra?” I said in disbelief.
Vinnie shrugged. “I’m not saying that’s the case. What I am saying is that maybe you should talk to her.”
The question was, would Ella talk to me if I did? Or would she put more distance between us?