Renzo (The Ciprianos of Kellington) (5 page)

Taking her by the hand
he smiled and said, “I do want her to be happy and I plan on doing so. Let me
ask you this, what is her favorite meal from the restaurant?”

“I think it’s the
rigatoni with marinara sauce. She’s in love with the sauce. I know the last
time we were there she nearly cleaned the plate with the bread.”

Renzo smiled. “I’ll
wait for her to call me and if she asks me to lunch, I’ll bring the food over
to the shop. I just want her to feel that she can at least trust me. Delia, I’m
starting to like her and I would love to know more about her. I’ll just have to
prove to her that I am not what she thinks.”

After
his talk with Delia, Renzo headed over to his mother’s with a sense of relief
from the realization of where Jaslyn was coming from. Now he knew he had to
have Jaslyn as his own. She needed to be loved and he had plenty of love to
give. He just couldn’t believe she had been through so much, yet came out
strong. When he finally pulled into his mother’s driveway, he could see his
brothers’ cars already there. Even though they would call or text often, they only
saw one another from time to time when they weren’t so busy with their jobs,
and there still was nothing better than coming to their mom’s for a home cooked
Sunday meal.

When
he walked inside he was greeted by his brother Simone. “Hey, brother.” He gave
his brother a hearty hug and smile. His mother was shouting in Italian at
Gianni and Federico to get the plates from the kitchen. “Is that Renzo at the
door?” his mother asked.

“Yes,
Mom, it’s me!” They made their way outside onto the patio. His other two
brothers helped her carry big platters of food. When he went to take the one
platter from her hand he heard her say, “Oh, now all of my handsome men are
home with me.”

The
men sat down to a feast like no other. Their mother had made their favorite
meal. When he saw the
Pasta alla Norma
,
a delicious dish made with tomatoes, fried eggplant, grated ricotta salata
cheese and basil topped on rigatoni pasta, his mouth watered. No one could make
this dish better than his mother. He knew by the time he left later he would be
too full to move. As dinner progressed Simone asked Renzo, “So, Ren, how’s the
restaurant business been going?”

“It’s
been going great. Both places have been doing pretty good lately. How’s the law
office been?”

“Well
your brother, the lawyer, was single handedly able to get a client off. It was
mainly an issue of mistaken identity.” He put another forkful of pasta into his
mouth grabbing a hunk of bread to sop up the sauce.

“That’s
great news, bro. I know your client was happy about you for sure. Hell, if I
had you as my lawyer, I’d be real happy. What about you, Federico?”

“I
have two clients who I am working with right now…really beautiful plans for
restoration of their backyards. One wants a grotto with a pool, something
resembling the Playboy mansion pool. Cost, obviously isn’t a problem so got to
get working on that,” Federico told his brothers with a chuckle as he took a
sip of red wine.

“It
seems like everybody is doing well. What about your love lives?” asked
Filomena.
The whole table grew silent and she laughed. “I
know I don’t ask for much, but I want my boys to be happy. I would like to have
some grandchildren running around here before I get too old to remember them
being around.” She heard a couple of coughs and murmurs along with glasses
being drank, which only made her smile even more while eating Tunnacchiu
'Nfurnatu, baked tuna.

Dinner
went on without a hitch as talk quickly went to other things besides the love
life of the Cipriano men. After they had helped with putting food away as well
as clean up, Filomena told her boys, “Come, boys, I want you to see the statue.
Renzo, you didn’t get the chance to see where I decided to put it.” They all
walked toward her flower garden, something that Federico designed and planted
for her years ago. She kept up with some of the upkeep of the garden, but had
help as well. She had put the statue in the center of her flower garden, where
the paths met. It looked beautiful indeed as her sons marveled at it while they
walked around it.

“So,
Mom, this is the statue?” asked Gianni.

“Yes,
it is. I can’t believe I was able to find it at long last. I know your father
would have been so proud I found it. It still looks just as good as it did when
I last saw it.”

“Where
did you find it?” asked Simone.

“At
Timeless Treasures, it’s an antique store that Renzo and I found in town. I’ve
been giving the young lady plenty of business. I told everybody I knew about
her and her lovely pieces.”

“A
young lady?
What’s her name?” asked Federico.

Renzo
knew as soon as his brother hears about a woman, he would seek and find her and
make her his own. This was something he could not let happen. It would only
make matters worse and fuel the fire she built from all the gossip.

“Her
name is none of your business,” he said in a stern manner. Everyone got quiet,
for none of them had ever heard him speak out like he did just now.

“Well,
it looks like Renzo is interested in someone. So that means hands off,” Simone
said with a chuckle.

“You
better believe it, brother, and that goes double for you, Federico.” Both
Simone and Federico pretended to be scared, but it was Gianni who stood up for
his brother.

“Stop
that you, guys.
She’s a very lovely girl. I got to meet
her today.”

“The
verdict?” asked Simone

“Now,
boys, I will not have you bickering over this girl. If Renzo has his eyes on
her then the rest of you stay away. I’m happy for you, son, she’s a very lovely
girl. Have you asked her out yet?”

Patting
his mother’s hand he whispered in her ear, “
Parliamo
più
tardi
,
Mom.” She nodded. After dinner they went inside and Gianni started to play the
piano while Renzo and his mother sat down on the couch and quietly began to
talk.

“So
have you asked her out yet?” Filomena asked.

“Yes,
but she turned me down big time. I sent her flowers and even went and tried to
buy a lamp. She’s been hearing the gossip about us, so now she thinks I just
want to bed her and be done. But you know me and I am not about that. I found
out something else about her today that kind of makes sense to why she acted
the way she did toward me,” Renzo said.

“What
is that, my dear?”

“She
was in an abusive relationship before she moved here. The man not only broke
her body, but her spirit. Delia told me about what had happened when she
delivered the lamp. I said I would give her a week then I plan on pursuing her
once more. I want her to get to know me and not the rumors.”

“
La
povera
ragazza
. I can only imagine what she went through. You
remember your cousin Regina and all that she had to go through.”

Renzo
knew all about his cousin Gina. It was a sad topic to even remember. She had
died at the hands of her abusive husband when he was twenty. It broke his heart
deeply because they had been so close even though she was ten years older.
“Delia told me that she will probably call me tomorrow to ask me over for lunch
at the shop. She wants to make it to where at least she feels comfortable. So
I’ll bring over her favorite food and we will get the chance to talk a bit
more.”

Filomena
smiled and patted her son’s hand once more. “If you are anything like your
father, you will know what to do. You are a smart man and you have always gone
out for what you’ve wanted. I know she’s a lovely girl. If there is anything I
can do, just let me know.”

Kissing
her hand, she giggled while they listened to Gianni play the piano. “Dance with
me, Ma.”

“Oh,
son, it’s been forever since I’ve danced. I rather just sit and enjoy the
music. Hmm that gives me an idea.”

He
noticed a look of contemplation on his mother’s face. She was up to something.
“What are you plotting over there?”

Filomena’s
smile grew bigger as she giggled. “I’ll tell you in a week, my dear, in one
week.” Patting his cheek she smiled and got up to walk over to Gianni singing a
song in Italian. A familiar song she often sang when she was happy.

Renzo
knew his mother was up to something. Whatever it was, he wouldn’t know for a
week because his mother was a steel trap when it came to keeping secrets.

Chapter Four

When
Jaslyn got home from work that evening, she checked her voice mails and had
received a call from her mother. Grabbing the phone, she dialed her number as
she continued to get undressed and comfortable. “Hello there, sweetheart, how
are you?”

“I’m fine, Mom, how’s
everything with you?”

“Well I am doing pretty
good sweetheart. Ms. May Ellen wanted me to tell you hello. I had a talk with
your brother, he still wants you to visit during the holidays.”

Plopping down on the
couch with a sigh, Jaslyn laughed at the thought. “He knows I can’t stand that
woman. Why even bother going to see him and the girls? He knows he can at least
come by here and say hello. It’s been about eight months since I last saw him.”

“You know he’s been
working overtime, but I’ll make sure he calls you or maybe he can take a break
and bring the girls down to say hello.”

“And while he’s working
his ass off, she’s sitting on her ass doing absolutely nothing. Good Lord, I
don’t understand why he’s with her in the first place.” Taking a deep breath,
Jaslyn wasn’t going to get angry over that woman. “Anyways, I’m glad you called
me. It’s good hearing your voice after a long day.”

“How’s the shop been?”

“It’s been real good.
Stuff has been flying out the door faster than I can keep it in.”

“That’s great. At least
I know I’ll be getting a lovely Christmas present.” Both laughed at her
comment, which was something Jaslyn needed. “So have you met anybody new?”

“I did, but I had to
put him in his place,” she said, thinking about the look on Renzo’s face when
she did just that.

“Why did you do that,
sweetheart? He must have been ugly or something.”

Jaslyn laughed. “No, he
was nowhere near ugly whatsoever. He was very handsome. He just has a lot going
on that I’d rather not have in my life. I’m comfortable with where I’m at right
now.”

“Oh, you must like him
then. What does he look like?”

She rolled her eyes,
thinking of how she could describe Renzo to her mom. “Let’s just say he’s every
woman’s dream…tall, dark, handsome, and Italian.”

“You let him get away?
Girl, I know I didn’t raise you to let someone like that get away. What does he
do for a living?”

“He owns two
restaurants and his family is very well known here in town.”

“And you told him to
leave you alone!”

“But, Mom—”

“But Mom nothing, girl.
Jaslyn, what did he do that was so damn bad in the first place?”

“He’s a big time
player…even his brothers are well known players. I am not going to deal with
that.”

At first there was
silence on her mother’s end, but then she said, “So forget the fact he is a
player, what do you think of him?”

Jaslyn didn’t want to
answer that question because when she first saw Renzo, she thought he was the
most handsome man she’d ever laid eyes. “He’s handsome. You know who he reminds
me of? You remember Mr. Reginald who used to live in our old building when we
were kids? He looks something like him.”

“And you let him go, my
God, girl. I remember Mr. Reginald, now that was a handsome man indeed.” The
two continued talking for another hour or so before she got too tired to talk.
Before saying goodnight her mother said, “Maybe you should give him another
chance, baby. Talk things out with him and see how it goes from there.”

It was easier said than
done, Jaslyn thought. “I’ll think about it, Mom. I love you.”

“Love you too, baby,
goodbye.”

She hung up the phone
and took a long hot bath to relax before going to bed.

* * * *

The
following Monday seemed unusually slow for some reason. The customers trickled
into the shop ever so often and when they did come in, they would look around,
smile and wave their goodbyes when they left. Jaslyn hated days like this. “Are
you going to call him up before lunch comes around?” asked Delia.

Looking
at the phone, Jaslyn had been nervous about even the idea of calling him up,
but she had promised Delia that she would. Grabbing the phone, she called the
number for Filomena’s.

“Thank
you for calling Filomena’s, this is Linda, how may I help you?”

“Hello,
I’d like to speak to Mr. Cipriano, please.”

“May
I ask who is calling, please?”

“It’s
Ms. Whitman.”

“Please
hold, Ms. Whitman.” Soft music was played over the receiver as she leaned up
against the counter. Grabbing a pen, she began doodling flowers on a piece of
paper as she waited. Then she heard his voice say, “Jaslyn?”

“Hi,
Renzo, yeah it’s me Jaslyn. How are you today?”

“I’m
doing fine thank you. I put that lamp in my office when I got it and I have to
say it does look great. You sure do have an eye for things.”

“Well,
I’m glad that at least I picked the right one for your office. The reason for
my call was because I had thought about some things since the other day and I
wanted to know if you would like to have lunch with me today.” She bit her
lower lip, nervous because she didn’t know whether or not he’d say no. Hell, he
had every right to say no to her after how she acted. But she knew that if she
was going to make a fresh start with anyone, it might as well be right now with
Renzo.

“Why
sure, I’d love for us to have lunch. I can bring something from the restaurant
to eat. What would you like for me to bring?”

“Well,
I do love the rigatoni with the marinara sauce.”

“Fine
and I’ll bring you some and for dessert, what can I bring you for dessert?”

“How
about some of the Tiramisu, I really love it.”

“I
should tell my mom about that since it is her recipe we use. I’ll be bringing
over lunch at noon if that is all right with you?”

“Oh,
of course, I’ll be waiting for you to come. See you then.”

“Goodbye.”

Jaslyn
put the phone onto its dock, breathed out a huge sigh of relief before it came
to her that she had really went through with it. “So what’s the verdict?” asked
Delia.

“He’s
coming over at noon.” She looked at the clock and realized she only had
forty-five minutes before he came to the shop. “Oh Lord, I’ve only got
forty-five minutes before he comes over. What the hell did I get myself into
now?”

Delia
told her, “You are going to go and freshen up in the bathroom, take a couple of
deep breaths and I’ll set everything up in the back for you two. Now go on and
freshen up, woman.” Grabbing her purse, Delia pushed it against Jaslyn chest as
she pushed her toward the back with a giggle.

When
Jaslyn walked into the bathroom, she fixed her hair, which she had pinned in
the back, with ringlets cascading over her forehead and along her face.
Fluffing it up a bit, she went into her purse to get a small bottle of Aragon
oil that she kept to help keep shine on her curls. After spritzing and working
a bit into her hair, she washed her hands, and touched up her lipstick and
makeup.

Jaslyn
looked herself over, smoothing down the black sweater dress that she decided to
wear since it was a bit chilly out today. She adjusted the black leather belt
as well as the gold necklace she was wearing. “Lord, maybe I shouldn’t have
worn this outfit.” She realized it showed just a bit too much of her breasts
and even when she tried a couple of ways to cover it up, her breasts weren’t
having it today.

“Delia,
I need your help,” Jaslyn whined from the bathroom.

“What
is it you need help with?”

“Do
you have a safety pin?”

“What
do you need a safety pin for?” Delia walked over standing in the doorway.

“It’s
a shame I can’t run back home and change outfits.”

“What
you have on right now looks great,” Delia assured her.

“I’m
showing too much of the girls in the front here. I thought if I wore this since
it was cool out, I wouldn’t be too hot wearing it. Now when he sees me wearing
this, he’ll focus more on my boobs than on me.”

She
heard her friend giggle. “You will be just fine, girlfriend, now stop worrying,
I have a table in the back set up for you two, come on I want you to see.”
Grabbing her arm, Delia took her to a far corner of the shop where they had a
few dining room tables displayed. She saw a red and white checkered table cloth
spread across one of the medium sized tables with two lone chairs on either
end. “It looks great even though you didn’t have to do much to it.” Jaslyn
jabbed her friend in the side as they went back up front.

“Oh
hush, now how do you feel after you got yourself fixed up again?”

“A
nervous as hell wreck in a pair of high heeled shoes is how I am feeling right
now. But Lord knows why I’m just getting overly excited over having lunch.”

“With
probably one of the hottest men in Kellington, well at least one of the four
hottest men in Kellington. I can’t forget about the rest of the brothers, you
know. Just enjoy yourself and get to know him. You’ll see what I’ve been saying
all along about how special he is.” They heard the bell over the door ring as
Jaslyn caught her breath. “Stay right here.”

Jaslyn
watched her walk toward the front as she began to walk back and forth a bit in
the front of the table. She had never been as nervous as she was at that
moment. What in the hell did Delia talk her into, she wondered. Soon footsteps
could be heard coming her way. Suddenly two men appeared with two silver domed
trays, and right behind them was Renzo and Delia. He wore his basic attire of a
black suit with a white shirt and long black tie. His big hands held a small
bouquet of beautiful violets that he graciously handed to her along with a
smile on his face that made her smile up at him.

“Are
you ready for lunch with me, Jaslyn?” he asked as she smelled the flowers’
sweet fragrance.

When
she looked over toward the table, she saw the two waiters had already placed
their plates on the table and then another man came in with an ice bucket with
wine in it and two wine glasses that he set next to each plate. “Shall we sit
down then?” Jaslyn replied, walking over to one of the chairs, but the man who
stood next to that chair told her, “Please, if you don’t mind, ma’am, it’s best
to take the other chair.”

“All
right.”
She walked over to the other chair as Renzo helped
her sit. “Thank you.”

“You’re
welcome,” he replied as he went over to his chair and sat down. The man with
the bucket began to pour some red wine into her glass and then walked over to
pour some in Renzo’s glass as well. “Wait a minute, I think we are missing
something fellas.” He saw the guy that brought the wine leave as he motioned
for the other two by saying, “All right.”

Soon
the two men lifted the silver domed plates and immediately the warm aroma of
garlic, tomatoes, and basil hit her nose. “Oh, it smells delicious.” She looked
over and saw something even more delicious on his plate, something that looked
like beef rolled up. “I’m sorry to be staring, but can I ask what you have
there?”

“Oh,
it’s called
Bracioline
alla
Palermitana
or Beef Cutlets Palermo Style. It’s really
delicious,
would you like to try some?”

“Sure,
if that’s all right with you?”

He
got up from his chair and brought his plate over to her as she helped herself
to a beef roll up and put it on the side of her own plate. “Thank you.”

“You’re
welcome.” Soon the young man brought over a basket of cut up crusty bread, and
placed it next to her. “All right guys, you can leave and come back in about
forty-five minutes to clear the dishes and bring dessert.” And with that,
everybody left. Delia told them, “I’ll leave you both to eat your lunch.”

Jaslyn
watched as Delia left the two of them alone and then she looked over at Renzo
who appeared to be waiting for her to taste the food. She picked up her fork
and knife to cut into the meat and once she tasted it exclaimed, “Oh my.” She
continued chewing, taking another bite. Renzo smiled at her. “I think I might
have found another favorite from your menu.”

“I’m
glad you like it.” They both continued to eat their lunch in silence because
Jaslyn honestly didn’t know how to begin a conversation with Renzo. She would
look up from time to time to see him looking at her. “You know there was
something I’ve always wanted to ask. How did you get into selling antiques?”

Dipping her bread into
the sauce, Jaslyn was just about to take a bite, but decided to wait on eating
it. “Well, I have my Great Aunt Annie to thank for that. I used to go over to
her house for the summer and she always had these little antique dishes, vases,
and centerpieces around her home. I would always look at them, but she never
let me touch them. So I would sit on her couch, which she always kept plastic
on, and look at her pretty little knick knacks. Sometimes she would take me
with her shopping when she knew someone had a piece she could add to her
collection. She even had a piano that dated back to the late 1890s, which was
probably the only thing she’d let me touch because she gave me piano lessons.
My great aunt taught me to appreciate everything as far as when I went looking
for antiques. She told me what I needed to look for and what sold well. So I
owe all I have to her.” Taking a bite of her bread Jaslyn smiled remembering
those days when she was young.