Chapter 23 #2
His face split into a huge grin. “That’s awesome. Way to go, sis.”
“Atticus? Who’s Atticus?” Another voice came from the back of the store. Salvatore was wiping down the table with a dark red rag.
“He’s a famous author.”
Sal shrugged. “Reading is boring.” He glanced at me with an appreciative wink. “Looking good, Phee.”
I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. The only thing that excited Sal was baseball and beer. Another reason why we were definitely not compatible. “Still a no.”
“C’mon.” Sal flipped the towel over his shoulder. “I’ll take you to Antonella’s for dinner.”
“Nope.”
“Who is this asshole?” He zeroed in on my brother. “Is he hotter than me?”
Lance snickered and found a chair near the window. “Not touching that one.”
Salvatore was undeniably handsome and knew it. Another checkmark in his hell no column as far as I was concerned. I patted his arm. “I wouldn’t want to ruin our friendship.”
“Ruin it. Please!” He patted his chest.
I laughed.
Romeo gave his son a shove. “Go on, get ready for the lunch rush.”
“Fine, fine.”
“Eat first, then we’ll talk about the wall. What can I get you?”
I sat across from my brother. “I’ll have the Cloud Nine.”
Lance rubbed his belly. “That sounds good to me too.”
“Your usual lemonade?”
I smiled up at Romeo. “Yes, please.”
“Coke for me.”
“You got it.” He bustled off behind the counter, the usual good natured arguments flying around in the kitchen area.
Lance folded his hands over the scarred table. “So, Atticus?”
“Oh, don’t start. You were ready to stuff him in your trunk before you knew who he was at the grocery store.”
“Well, no guy is usually good enough for my sister. Rich dude has a leg up. The fact that he’s my favorite author means you’ll get me advanced copies.”
My smile faltered a little.
“What?”
“Nothing.” I pushed up the watts on my smile again. “Not sure I have that kind of pull.”
“I bet you do.” He stretched out his legs. “So, that’s why you’ve been skipping Sunday dinners?”
“No.” I crossed my arms over my middle. “I’ve actually been really busy. I was up in the Adirondacks last weekend.”
“And you didn’t tell any of us.”
I sighed. “It was a last minute thing.”
“And we had no idea where you were.”
“Did you actually notice?”
Lance’s eyebrows shot up. “Of course we noticed.”
“I didn’t get a text.”
“I stopped by looking for you at the bookstore. I thought you were working on one of those crazy paper things with Court.”
“I finished that one weeks ago.”
“I can’t keep up with you.” Lance sighed. “Stuff just gets in the way. You know how it goes.”
“I do.” And I understood it completely. People got busy. “You were in Pasadena last week weren’t you?”
He sighed. “Yeah. I couldn’t turn down the job. I swear, I’ve been getting more jobs doing patchwork on systems than the web design I went to school for.”
“Patchwork?”
“Yeah. Hackers are finding new ways to dig into websites and scrape data. Stealing identities is chump change for some hackers, but it’s still decent money on the dark web.”
“Greek to me.” But the idea of it felt closer now that it happened to someone I love. While it wasn’t quite the same, a thief was a thief as far as I was concerned.
“Greek to most people thankfully, but it’s dangerous enough that I can ask emergency fees. I can finally breathe for a few weeks. I’m ahead with my mortgage and paid off one of my school loans.”
“That’s awesome. I didn’t realize that was what you did. I thought you were doing apps and websites.”
“I backed into it.” He flipped his cap around as Romeo came back out with our food. “You don’t want to hear about this.”
“Hear about what?” Romeo asked as he set an overflowing plate in front of each of us. Pesto and cheese melted into the bread and the scent of spicy ham made my mouth water.
“Lance’s prowess on the computer,” I said around the bite of a pickle chip.
Romeo made a face. “I only turn on my computer to do my expenses.”
I laughed. “I have to agree. The only tech things I do are post on social media for work.”
“Bah. I make Calliope do that. That’s why we want to hire you again. She says we need to spruce up our look. But eat first and then we’ll talk about that.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” I snaked a roasted red pepper out of my overflowing sandwich. “Amazing as always.”
“Enjoy.” He waved to someone walking through the door and hustled off to greet the customer.
I glanced over my shoulder and spotted our mother. “Crap.”
Lance craned his neck and sighed.
“What’s she doing here?” I whispered.
“You really are out of the loop. Did you forget what month it is?”
I shrank down in my chair. It was playoff season, which was volatile enough, but it was also Keaton’s birthday at the end of the month. My mother always made a huge deal about it.
Romeo pointed to us and she gave us a distracted wave.
“Keaton loves your Holy Roller. I’d like to order five of those, as well as all the extras. Your antipasto to feed ten. Two of your Divine Italian mix twelve foot subs, and”—she trailed off as she looked at the menu—“a tray of your pesto chicken with a mix of bread.”
“Can do.” Romeo scribbled on his old school ticket pad. “When do you want these?”
“Last Sunday of the month if that’s possible.”
He nodded. “Feeding the team?”
She laughed. “A few of his old teammates are coming into town for his birthday. I want to make sure they’re well fed.”
I leaned forward, dropping my voice. “Think any of that food is for us?”
“Hey, Ma. Don’t forget the rest of us,” Lance called out.
She frowned over at us, obviously distracted. Her blond hair was threaded with silver and her typical braid was tangled in the various bags she was carrying. Party planning in full swing. “I figured we’d make burgers and hotdogs as well.”
I widened my eyes comically and Lance kicked me under the table.
I shook my head and picked up half of my sandwich.
Some things never changed. We’d get a few blackened Ballpark franks and the favorite son would be eating like a king with his court of hockey royalty. Typical in the Valentine household.
That was if Keaton actually showed up at the party. Last year he’d been on his boat, drunk. Then again, his old team had won the Stanley Cup and was a hefty reminder about what he’d lost.
I stabbed my finger into my sandwich for a roasted pepper. I felt bad for my brother, but he was steeped in his anger and the world had to go on no matter how unfair it was that he fucked up his knees and couldn’t play anymore.
Maybe he’d actually stop being an asshole and celebrate life if his old team was in town. A bunch of his fellow high school teammates had ended up on various teams. Some went to the AHL, a few went to Europe, and one or two actually ended up in the NHL like Keaton—though on different teams.
“Hey.”
I looked up and Lance gave me a lopsided grin. “She doesn’t mean anything by it.”
“Doesn’t she?” I pushed the sandwich away.
“Phee.”
“It’s fine. I’m used to it.”
Lance reached out to touch my arm. “What’s going on with you?”
I wasn’t sure, but I didn’t have time to do a deep dive of my childhood bullshit at the moment.
I had it better than most and had nothing to complain about.
Not really. The bell over the door dragged me out of my stupid head and I watched my mother head down the street.
She didn’t even bother to come over and talk to us.
“Julie on a mission,” I murmured.
“You know how she gets. Tunnel vision just like you and Lib.”
I sat back in the chair. Was I like her?
“Bella, are you ready to discuss the wall?” I glanced over at Romeo. “Yes. Lance is going to take the rest of my sandwich home.”
Lance frowned. “You’re not going to eat it?”
“Nah. You enjoy it. You should come by for dinner sometime. I’ll make your favorite.”
He perked up. “Can you make the big meatballs?”
I laughed. “Of course.”
“Will your boyfriend be there?”
I flicked a curl peeking out of his baseball hat. “Maybe.”
“Yes!”
I laughed and met Romeo at the cash registers. “So, what did you have in mind?”
Work was always easier to deal with. Especially when I didn’t want to deal with my family.
Romeo rubbed his hands together. “I have so many plans, cara.”
This was the important part. Seeing the joy and excitement on my clients’ faces.
“Then let’s get to work.”