Chapter Seven
It was a simply gorgeous afternoon. One of those rare spring days when the April sun was so warm, it almost felt like summer. The tulips in the park were opening, which meant the peonies would follow soon after. Her favorite flowers, Gina loved to see them blooming all over the city.
She was minding her own business. Truly. Winter in Chicago can feel like forever, and as nice as it was today, it could snow again tomorrow.
Gina sat on a blanket, resting against the trunk of a mighty oak, to read her book and take in the delightful spring air.
Sure, she could have accomplished the same thing in her own backyard, except she wouldn’t have gotten any peace there—not with Teo and Luca at home, anyway. How was she supposed to know he would come prancing through the park?
And he wasn’t alone.
Something made Gina glance away from her Kindle. A flash of movement in the periphery, perhaps. But there he was.
No man had the right to look that good in a pair of torn, faded jeans. She could make out the ridges of his abs beneath the tight, white Henley he wore. Sunlight glinted off the fine hairs on his muscled forearms.
Too busy talking with his shaggy-haired companion—Kit King, if she were to guess—Matt didn’t appear to notice her.
She lowered her gaze, pretending to be engrossed in her book, while discreetly watching him come closer as he walked along the trail.
So much for peace. Gina was almost angry he’d disturbed it, which was stupid.
It’s not like he knew she’d even be here.
What was he doing in Coventry Park, anyway?
He lives here, Gina. Duh.
Still, shouldn’t he be worried about encountering a mob of overzealous fangirls or something? She glanced up again to see a pair of warm brown eyes looking right at her. Gina brought her knees up, balanced the Kindle on her thighs, and heard him chuckle, followed by a high-pitched shriek.
Four girls, bouncing on the balls of their feet, surrounded Matt and Kit. With their shiny, fresh faces, they couldn’t have been older than fifteen. Taking advantage of the distraction, Gina gathered up her belongings and headed out of the park toward First Avenue.
Quickly, she glanced over her shoulder to see Matt staring after her while he signed an autograph.
Gina hurried. Speed-walking, she broke into a run.
For the past month, Matt had shown up at the bakery every Thursday morning to get cannoli.
Sara said he probably came by to see if she was there.
But the last thing on her agenda was to get involved with anyone, especially Matt McCready.
Once she made it out to the sidewalk, Gina easily blended into the throng of shoppers on the avenue. She paused at the corner. A latte for the walk home could salvage what remained of a perfectly good afternoon, but considering Beanie’s was his likely destination, she thought better of it.
“Hey, Gina.”
Fuck.
Should she stop, or just keep walking and pretend she didn’t hear him?
Her feet still moving, she went with the latter.
She passed Charley’s, maintaining a steady pace to Ash Street.
Then, turning the corner, like a frightened little rabbit, Gina skirted past the red double doors and ran all the way home.
“Scaredy-cat.”
“Am not.”
Out of breath, after closing the door behind her, Luca caught her panting in the kitchen, so Gina had no choice but to tell him about her run-in with the rock star.
“Then why didn’t you just talk to the guy?”
“Because…” She wasn’t sure how to answer that.
Luca closed the fridge and chuckled. “You’re afraid.”
“I am not afraid of Matthew McCready.”
“Yeah, you are,” he said, tossing her a bottle of water. “Afraid of getting your heart broken.”
With a shrug, Gina twisted off the cap.
“Get over it. We’re not all assholes like that jag-off, Passarelli, you know.”
“Let’s leave him out of this, okay?” And giving her brother a meaningful glance, she slugged down the water.
Luca threw his hands up. “Fine, but I think you should at least talk to him.”
“No, I shouldn’t.”
“Big mistake, sorella.”
“Maybe.” Probably. “But it’s too late now, anyway.”
Back in her room, Gina sat on the bed and switched her Kindle on. She didn’t read the words on the screen, though. Instead, she gazed out the window, watching the sun’s descent into the sky.
Gina hated Sundays.
It started with the eight o’clock Mass at St. Vincent’s and usually ended with her brothers bickering at the dinner table.
In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…
Under her mother’s watchful glare, Gina made the sign of the cross and hastily exited their pew. She still hadn’t forgiven her for her egregious sin this morning.
“You’re not planning to wear that, are you?” Her brows knitted, Rosemary’s gaze slowly traveled from her daughter’s feet to the top of her head.
Glancing down at her buff ankle boots, Gina smoothed her fingers over her pants. “What’s wrong with what I’ve got on?”
“You cannot wear jeans to church.”
But I’m not…
They were black denim, not blue jeans, for chrissakes. Folks wore them all the time, but she wasn’t about to argue with her.
“Go put on a nice dress, yeah?” Rosemary lifted her chin, urging Gina back upstairs. “That’s what we wore to Mass when I was a girl.”
Here we go.
“And be thankful you don’t have to wear a hat anymore. Nonna used to pin a lace handkerchief to my head,” she said for the hundredth time, her mouth twisting into a too-quick smile. “Besides, you might meet a nice boy, or Vinny could be there. Now, change.”
He wasn’t, thank God.
Outside on the church steps, wearing a dress her mother also disapproved of, Gina inhaled a cleansing breath of air. With the clouds covering the sun, it wasn’t nearly as warm as it had been yesterday. She rubbed her arms, wishing she’d taken a sweater, and traipsed down the stairs to the sidewalk.
Matteo came up from behind her and, grabbing Gina by the shoulder, wrenched her around. “And just where do you think you’re going?”
“Home.”
Hazel-green eyes boring into hers, he cocked his head as his fingers raked through a dark forest of thick, wavy hair. “You’re not riding with us?”
“No, I’m gonna walk,” she said, glancing at the line of cars waiting to get out of the parking lot. “Wanna bet I make it to the house before you?”
“Yeah.” Teo hooked his arm around her. “C’mon.”
“What are you doing?”
“Walking with you.”
Oh.
His fingertips pressed into her shoulder. “Don’t let her get to you, Gina.”
“Who?”
“Mom.” He looked at the sky, shaking his head before his gaze landed back on her. “C’mon, I’m not stupid.”
“Yeah, well, I can’t seem to do anything right where she’s concerned.”
“Heh, and Tony can do no wrong,” he said and kicked at a pebble on the sidewalk. “Fuck that. Keep on doing what you’re doing, Gina, because you’re doing just fine. Don’t let her tell you different.”
“I’ve been thinking it might be time to get my own place, but if I do, then I can’t afford grad school.”
A certification in midwifery had been her goal from the start. Was it still? Forty hours a week in an office besides taking call, Gina wasn’t as sure as she’d been before. She loved obstetrics. The mamas. The babies. But she wanted a life outside of work, too, not that she had much of one now.
Teo’s hand dropped from her shoulder to her waist. He stopped walking. “Want a roommate?”
“And leave your cushy apartment in the basement?” Her brother had everything a guy could want down there. “You can’t be serious.”
“Maybe,” Teo said with a shrug. “If we don’t open up that location in Wrigleyville, I’m leaving.”
“You don’t mean that.”
Did he? No, he couldn’t.
“Yeah, I do.” Nodding, he wet his lips, then taking her by the hand, they resumed walking. “I can’t work with him anymore, Gina. I can’t stand to even look at him.”
“I understand how you feel, but…”
“No one does.”
She squeezed his hand. “He’s your brother, Matteo.”
“And he betrayed me.” The venom in his voice was unmistakable. Teo unlocked the front door and ushered her inside. “C’mon, I’ll help you get the sauce going.”
By noon, she and Teo had a pan of ziti baking in the oven and beef braciole simmering in a pot of marinara on the stove.
Stuffed with bread crumbs, parsley, onions, garlic, and fresh-grated parmesan cheese, the kitchen smelled heavenly.
Gina had just put down the last layer of bananas, chocolate pudding, and graham crackers on an icebox cake for dessert, when Nick and Sara, followed by Tony, his wife, and their four kids, came in through the front door.
“Gimme that baby,” their mother shrieked, and dashing out of the kitchen, she took the pink-wrapped bundle out of her daughter-in-law’s arms.
Teo’s features hardened. He took the icebox cake from her hands and put it in the fridge. “I’ll be downstairs. Let me know when it’s time to eat.”
“Teo, don’t…”
“Let him go, Gi.” Nick stepped in between her and their brother. “He’ll be all right. He just needs some time by himself.”
“I hate this,” she said, hugging herself.
“I know, babe.” Two solid arms wrapped around her. “I do, too.”
“Are they ever going to be okay again?” Gina asked, glancing up at her second eldest sibling.
The corner of his mouth ticked up, and tipping his chin, Nick shrugged at the same time. “Miracles can happen, yeah?”
They can, but after eight years, Gina had her doubts that the rift between her brothers would ever mend.
Teo never came up for dinner. When Gina went downstairs to get him, he pretended to be asleep. He wasn’t snoring, and typically, he rumbled like a freight train when he slept, so she knew he wasn’t.
Combing the hair from his face, she kissed his temple. “I’ll bring a plate down for you, okay?”
“Thanks,” he said, his strained voice so soft it was barely audible.
“I love you.”
No one mentioned Teo’s absence at the dinner table as if it didn’t matter, which only made her angry for him.
Maybe if her parents had acknowledged Teo’s feelings and addressed the issue between him and Tony head-on, they wouldn’t all be walking on eggshells.
But no, they swept everything under the rug.
And now, all they had was a fractured, dysfunctional family to show for it.
While her mom served everyone squares of icebox cake, Gina watched her nephew, Anthony, chase his five-year-old sister around the table.
Kids will be kids, but jeez, Tony and Lina didn’t even attempt to correct him.
She rescued Nina before the little girl face-planted on the hardwood floor and deposited the child in her father’s lap.
“I’m gonna bring Matteo some dinner.”
“Not now, Gina.” Rosemary motioned for her to sit down. “We’re having cake.”
“Unbelievable.” Appalled, she shook her head. “Do you even hear yourself?”
“Gina Marie Rossi, you will not speak to your mother like that!” Her dad’s fist slammed onto the table, the impact knocking over the salt shaker. “Do you hear me?”
She nodded, then shooting daggers at her eldest brother, she turned and left the room.
“Hey.” Gina found Teo sitting in the oversized leather beanbag chair she got him last Christmas, staring vacantly at the TV. “You okay?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” He snickered, his gaze never leaving the screen. “I’m just a prisoner in my own fucking house.”
“You could’ve come up.” She put the food she brought him on the table, then made room for herself beside him. “I wish you would have.”
“Better I didn’t.”
Gina picked up a magazine lying on the table next to his plate. “Since when do you read?”
“I don’t, much.” Clasping his hands behind his head, her brother chuckled. “Asshole’s old pals are on the cover.”
She flipped it over. The boys known as Venery stared back at her. “So, I see.”
“Cool dudes,” Teo said, and finally turned his head to look at her. “You probably don’t remember, but they used to hang out here a lot.”
“I remember.”
“Yeah, maybe you do.” Smiling, he tugged on her ponytail. “You pulled Bo’s hair once. He pretended to cry, and you gave him your Furby so he’d feel better.”
“I didn’t give it to him. I let him borrow it,” Gina said, correcting him. “Furby’s tucked away somewhere in my closet.”
“Jesus, you still have it?” Teo laughed.
“Yeah, I kept my Bratz and Monster High dolls, too.” Gina punched his arm and stood. “Now, eat your dinner before it gets cold.”
He reached for the plate, setting it on his lap. “I am. I am.”
Tucking the magazine under her arm, she headed toward the stairs.
“Gina?”
She turned around. “Yeah?”
“I love you, too.” Blowing her a kiss, Teo raised a forkful of ziti to his mouth. “Thanks.”
After everyone had gone home, and she lay in her bed, Gina opened the copy of Revolver.
Her fingers skimming over the glossy pages, she smiled at the images of the drummer whose hair she pulled as a child.
Bo looked the same as he did back then. He had a daughter now.
Taylor was married with two kids already.
She vaguely remembered when Tony mentioned he was going to his wedding.
Gina gazed upon those warm brown eyes that looked for her yesterday in the park, taking in every detail of him at her leisure.
Music-driven. Protective of his privacy.
Fiercely loyal to his family, who he said were his brothers in the band.
The narrative painted him in a cold, harsh light.
Funny, her perception of him was very much the opposite.
It’s probably all bullshit, anyway.
She’d read it all later. There had to be more to the man than that. But as her gaze lingered on his image, Gina couldn’t help but wonder if maybe, just maybe, Matt McCready might turn out to be worth the risk.