3. Olivia
OLIVIA
M y favorite quality of Helen’s was the way she defied all expectations. She was a very wealthy woman, but she almost exclusively wore clothing made by little vendors she found at flea markets and fairs and ate at hole in the wall establishments that had great food but no clout.
Her money came from her late husband, who she met while teaching adult swim classes at the local YMCA.
He’d decided he was too old to not know how to swim and turned to a community rec center to remedy the problem.
He treated his wealth the same way Helen did now that he’d passed, mostly like it didn’t exist. Hence the millionaire at the YMCA.
Helen was one of those people that had lived a hundred lives and done almost every job there was, so I was not shocked when she told me she was teaching swim classes when she met her wealthy husband.
They’d hit it off, gotten married, and lived a wonderful, eccentric lifestyle until five years ago when he had a massive heart attack and passed away. Since then, she spent her time bouncing between charities and tending to her pet projects.
Her most recent one was the home she’d hired Lucas and me to build. Helen was mostly a positive, cheerful person, but I knew she missed Dalton deeply. It had surprised me when she told me her intention to leave the home they shared, but I understood sometimes it helped to get a fresh start.
So today, for our lunch with the esteemed builder who would make it happen, we were meeting at Anthony’s.
It was my favorite local pizza spot and the source of the stain on the day I’d first met Lucas.
I’d since forgiven Tony for serving me anything red while wearing that outfit, even though I’d shamelessly begged.
He swore to do better in the future and gave me garlic knots as a peace offering.
Anthony’s was also where I’d met Helen. We’d bonded over those amazing garlic knots and even though she was old enough to be my mother, we’d become fast friends.
We both loved odd antiques, crime procedurals, and hole in the wall pizza joints.
More importantly, we were both on our own for all intents and purposes.
I think we’d recognized that and filled that open space for each other.
I’d just pulled into the lot when Helen parked next to me in her ‘64 Oldsmobile and immediately hopped out with a flourish. She wore a big, circle skirt with a funky pattern, lime green satin heels, and carried a bright orange bag that matched her costume jewelry necklace.
When I climbed out of my car, small arms immediately enveloped me in a hug .
“Liv, dear! You look divine as always.” She held out my arms to inspect me. “So conservative, but you make it work.”
In reality, I was wearing a two-piece linen skirt and top ensemble that showed a tiny sliver of my midriff if I moved just right. Hardly conservative by normal business standards, but Helen was not what I would classify as normal.
The assessment made me realize I was once again wearing white to eat Italian food in front of an Alessi.
Why was I like this?
I’d suggested Anthony’s, knowing Helen would love it, but almost immediately I’d gotten nervous it would seem unprofessional to Lucas to meet in a pizza joint.
As a result, I’d been so focused on hitting the perfect combination of casual and professional, I had completely overlooked my color choice.
Again. Now I had to try to keep stain free for the entirety of this meeting.
Good luck to me.
Lucas must have arrived as Helen and I were saying hello.
Over Helen’s shoulder, I noticed him striding across the parking lot toward us.
He was dressed for a job site today in black work pants and brown leather boots.
A gray t-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders and showcased his incredibly defined arms. The man looked obscene.
Helen followed my gaze to Lucas. She turned back to me with a devious smile and a glint in her eye that I’d come to recognize as dangerous to whomever underestimated it.
“Lucas! So lovely to see you!” As he reached us he bent down to give her a hug and she grabbed his face to kiss him on both cheeks. He took on a bit of a scarlet hue as he backed up and cleared his throat.
“Hi Mrs. Arnoult. Always a pleasure.” He turned to me and nodded, “Ms. Dawson.”
I returned the gesture, “Mr. Alessi.”
“Oh, come now. So formal,” Helen admonished. “Let’s head inside and make sure Tony sets aside cannoli before the rush.” The woman had priorities and I couldn’t blame her. Tony’s wife Maria made the best cannoli I’d ever eaten.
Helen led the way as Lucas and I fell into step next to each other.
“I trust the updated plans met all your needs,” he muttered, shooting me a sideways glance.
I side eyed him back and let out a huff of exasperation. “Yes, Mr. Alessi, but can we please get some pizza before we start on my dissertation of the benefits of hidden electrical outlets?”
That got me a small chuckle. Hearing him laugh caught me by surprise. After all our consummately professional emails, it was almost odd to see him have a human reaction.
When we reached the door to Anthony’s small brick building, Lucas leaned ahead of Helen to open it for her. She praised him for being such a gentleman and floated through the door like royalty. He remained still, waiting for me to follow.
As I walked by, his hand raised to the small of my back, not quite touching me, but hovering an inch away.
The summer heat was blazing, but somehow the space between his hand and my body still sizzled.
When his thumb whispered along my back with the barest of touches, tingles zipped through my body and I swore it traveled to my toes.
Startled, my eyes snapped up to meet Lucas’s. When they met his, I saw my thoughts reflected in his expression.
Okay, so obviously it wasn’t just me.
I didn’t have time to assess what just happened because as soon as we crossed the threshold to Anthony’s, Tony himself greeted us with a giant smile from behind the counter.
“Mi Amor! Ah, it has been too long.” He rounded the counter to wrap me in a hug. Tony always said that. In actuality, it had been exactly four days since I’d seen him.
I’d been a regular at Tony’s for as long as I’d lived in the neighborhood. After spending the first few weeks here ordering pizza from every pizza shop within a reasonable radius, Tony had outshined the competition and became my go-to.
“Hi Tony! How’s your shoulder? How’s Maria?”
“Ah, I’m fine. You ladies fret over me too much. Maria’s wonderful. In the back. Make sure you say hi before you leave or I’ll have to hear about it all night again.”
I laughed. Maria was no joke. “Of course.”
“Is this your young man?” Tony asked with a barely disguised scowl as he eyed Lucas.
“Lucas Alessi.” Lucas reached out to shake Tony’s hand. “Ms. Dawson and I are working together on Mrs. Arnoult’s new home. ”
“Oh, Lucas,” Helen tsked. “I have told you a hundred times to stop calling me ‘Mrs. Arnoult.’”
After Lucas was properly chastised and Tony was satisfied that I didn’t have a gentleman caller, we sat at one of the bright red booths and placed our orders with a young woman who placed waters on the table along with a smoothie for me.
“Alright young people, let’s get the business out of the way so we can talk about more appealing matters. I saw the updated plans and love them. I just have a few questions before we begin construction.”
Helen’s questions were easily addressed. After twenty minutes of Lucas and I volleying answers back and forth, she was satisfied and moved on to the health benefits of cannoli (all psychological, of course).
“Tony! Honey, I’ll take mine to go. I have another appointment I need to run to.”
Lucas and I exchanged bewildered looks, but both moved to leave.
Helen waved her hands at us and shushed us back into our seats.
“No, no. You two stay and enjoy your dessert. Don’t cut your meal short on my account.
Maria’s creations are best enjoyed fresh.
Thank you for all your hard work. Everything is looking great so far. Keep me updated kids!”
She slid out of the booth, kissed us both on the cheek, and flitted off in a whirlwind, grabbing her treats as she went. I couldn’t be sure, but I was fairly confident I clocked that mischievous smirk again as she shuffled out.
A charged silence descended on the table. There weren’t any open items for Helen’s home that we hadn’t spoken about, so we had little to no work-related conversation to fill the space.
“You really don’t need to stay. I’m sure you have work to get back to,” I offered.
“You’ve both raved about this cannoli for the past half hour. I’m not leaving now.” He threw his arm over the back of the booth and seemed to make himself comfortable.
“Maria is a magician. I’m surprised you’ve never been here before. It’s not far from your office.”
“I have a few spots I hit and I’m a creature of habit. It’s just easier when I get busy on a project. Plus, not all of us have the metabolism to eat pasta and pizza every day.” His delivery was dry, but the slight tilt of one side of his mouth gave away the tease.
“A true shame. We can’t all be chosen ones.” I smirked and grabbed my smoothie to busy myself with something other than Lucas Alessi and his arm candy on display against the red pleather booth.
“What is that?” Lucas was eying my smoothie, which I hadn’t ordered because they weren’t on the menu, but the waitress brought me, nonetheless.
“It’s a smoothie. Obviously.”
“I know it’s a smoothie. How did you get it at an Italian restaurant where it isn’t on the menu?”
“Ah, that… Well, when I moved here, I tested every local spot. I found a few great food options, Anthony’s included. I spent a lot of time here and got to know Tony and Maria pretty well.”
“And that translates to made to order smoothies, how?”