Unexpected Wedding (23 page)

“Vince thought he had no responsibility around the house,” her mother said. “We both worked. I had to remind him more than once this wasn’t the Old Country and I wasn’t his mother.”

“Don’t worry, Gia.” Bev patted her arm. “I raised Rock differently. We’re close, but not that close. I don’t feel the need to come over here every day and re-wash your dishes and make sure my son’s shirts are clean. And he’s been on his own a while. He knows how to unload the dishwasher.”

Gia nodded and took a sip of tea. “I’m not worried. Rocky already does too much for me. This morning he got up and made me a breakfast smoothie.”

Bev beamed with pride.

“What’s this about not being allowed in the garage?” Her mother asked.

“I don’t know. Rocky said to stay out of there. He said it was dangerous. I don’t believe that, but it’s his garage. I’ll wait ‘til he calms down about it.”

Bev leaned in again like she had another secret. “He has exercise equipment out there and some tools and a few other things from when he... well, he has exercise equipment out there. Maybe he doesn’t want you to see him working on his pecs.”

“He’s pretty cute,” her mother said. “You might want to watch him work on his pecs.”

“There is that,” Gia mused, “but he gets such a workout driving that chair around. Does he really need to lift weights and all that?”

“He needs what he needs,” Bev said. “If it makes him feel better about himself, why not? He was supposed to be doing strengthening exercises for his shoulders. I think his right one was giving him some trouble and the physical therapist gave him a regimen. He’s young, so that worried him. A lot of guys completely blow out their shoulders after so many years in the chair. He doesn’t need to take any unnecessary risks. Trouble is there’s nothing the boy won’t try, so there you have it. Good luck with that.”

“I know,” Gia said. “The day I met him he’d fallen out of his chair and was scrambling down and back up a steep embankment. He wouldn’t let me help him.”

“No, he usually won’t, but if he really needs help he’ll probably ask. I’ve jumped in more than once and got in trouble—and by jumped in, I mean I really jumped in.”

Gia didn’t have to ask. Her curious glance must have begged for details.

“He and Max are like two little boys when they get together. They’ve been known to wrestle over a foam football in my living room and try to drown each other in the pool. They were swimming one day. Nick was out there half asleep in the shade. I came home from the mall and the boys are pulling each other under. Now, I know they’re adults, but I’m the mom, and I see them flailing around. First, they are laughing, then nothing. They’re completely under—no sound, no splash. And it seems to be so long. So I get scared and jump in the pool, shoes, clothes, sunglasses and all. I screamed for Nick, and he’s like ‘Whatryoudoin’ B?’ They popped up on the other end of the pool—laughing. I’ll never live that down.”

Gia laughed. The pool was good news. She loved to swim, and that was something she and Rocky could do together.

“Anyway,” Bev continued, “he seems to be deliriously happy about you and the baby, so maybe he’ll settle down a bit. I know he wants to stay healthy for a long time.” She shoved her cake plate away. “Speaking of that, may I say one thing?”

“Certainly.”

“I can see you’re devoted to my son. My mother’s heart did a cartwheel when you jumped to his defense in there earlier. He needs that. He’s always there for other people and it’s nice to see he has someone there for him.”

“I want to be there for him.”

“I know, and I want you to know I’m here for you if you have any questions. You two will be fine, but there are considerations other newlyweds don’t have. Let’s face it Gia, catheters, medication, and pressure sores aren’t all that romantic.”

Gia flicked the handle of her tea cup with her thumb. “Well, neither is insulin, glucose meters, or injection pens, but diabetics get married every day. Same with cancer patients, people with narcolepsy, and the learning disabled. Everyone has something to overcome.”

Bev’s chin quivered and she squeezed her lips together to keep from crying. “Gia, I believe you’re the best thing that ever happened to Rocky.”

“I hope so. ‘Cause he’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

****

Gia slung a dishtowel over her shoulder as Rocky closed the door and made sure the porch light was on.

“I’m sorry, Rocky. That was wild.”

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for. We knew it would be interesting when we shared the news this morning.”

“They sic’ed the popo on us.”

“I know,” he said and laughed. “How often do we get to tell people that?”

She brushed away a piece of hair that was stuck to her eyelash. “I’m going to finish cleaning up. Can I get you anything?”

“No, thanks. I’m heading to the bathroom and then I’m going to sprawl out on the couch here and watch the news and decompress. You wanna cuddle up with me and discuss it?”

“You know I do. Our parents are baffling in so many ways, and I have some other news.”

“Great. Meet you back here.”

Gia unplugged the coffee pot and further condensed the leftovers. She rinsed the recyclables and tied off the trash bag, then realized she had no idea where to put either one.

When she returned to the living room, she was surprised to see Rocky had already transferred to the couch. He hadn’t changed his clothes or removed his shoes.

“I thought you were going to get comfortable. Didn’t you want to change?”

“I took off my belt and washed up,” he said. “Everything else is too much trouble. I’ll get undressed when I go to bed.”

She’d wondered about that belt the other day when she watched him center the buckle at his waist. Why would he need to mess with a belt if he didn’t have to worry about his pants falling down? It was the same day she contemplated why he had so many shoes. But if she lost the use of her hand, wouldn’t she still paint all ten nails to match the other hand and complete the look? Conclusion: He needed certain shoes and certain belts to complete certain looks. She should be happy he was conscious of such things.

“I hope you’re not changing your routine because of me. You should be comfortable in your own home.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve been known to lie on this couch in my boxers and eat a whole pizza. Have to tell ya that will probably happen again.”

“Fair enough.”

He turned slightly and rearranged the pillow behind his head. “C’mon,” he said. “Cuddle up. You promised.”

She moved her hair to one side and prepared to inch her way onto the narrow space. It wasn’t weird or anything, but they’d never tried to lie down together before and she couldn’t tell if they could pull it off now. The spongy couch did not cooperate.

He pulled her into his arms as if she weighed nothing. “This couch is getting old and saggy,” he said. “Hard for two people to stretch out.”

“Exactly how many women have you tried to stretch out with on this thing?”

“Not nearly enough.”

“I’d smack you if I wasn’t trying to hold on.”

“I’m kidding. Don’t waste a good punch.” He moved again. “Is that better?”

“Yes.” She rested her head on his chest and put an arm across him. “Perfect.” She pressed her legs alongside his and couldn’t help but notice how much longer his were. It was another thing she’d wondered about. How tall was he? She imagined his big, powerful body on the football field. What a presence he must have been. She made a mental note to look around for pictures.

“Do we recycle?”

“Yes. Bin’s in the garage. They take it with the trash every Thursday.”

“I have a garbage bag and some plastic in there by the door.”

“I’ll take everything out when I leave in the morning.”

O—K. So he wasn’t going to give her a pass to the garage. “Thanks. There’s no more cake so don’t get your hopes up at breakfast.”

“Yes, there is. I saw some in the freezer.”

“Don’t touch that. It’s for our first anniversary. You’re supposed to freeze the top and eat it in a year.”

“Who told you that?”

“No one had to tell me that. It’s the law. I’m warning you, Rocky, don’t mess with that cake.”

“What are you going to do, call the wedding cake police?”

“No more police,” she said and jabbed him in the side. “Stay away from the cake.”

He took her hand and laced his fingers with hers. “What’s your news?”

“I have a job interview tomorrow. Probably not my dream job, but it’ll do. It’s at the community rec center.”

“Doing what?”

“I’m not sure. They have day camps all summer for kids. I’m willing to check it out. I also filled out an online application to be a substitute teacher. If all else fails I can stay busy doing that come August. And lastly, I talked to a detective today. I’m filing a report about the assault. It’s all I can do, and I need to do it on the outside chance it will help someone in the future. You were right about that and I could still kick myself for not paying attention to those letters I received at camp. Those could have been evidence.”

“Water under the bridge, babe.”

“I know. I’m thinking I want to do something else, but we can talk about that another time. Now back to you. How was your day? Were you brilliant?”

“I tried to be, but I spent too much time thinking about you. I’ll try to do better tomorrow.”

She smiled and nuzzled his neck. His scratchy whiskers couldn’t deter her from getting closer, especially since he smelled so good. “That’s very sweet, but you need to concentrate at work.”

“Speaking of concentrating, I’m not going to be able to talk to you about our parents if you keep doing that.”

She stopped mid-nuzzle. “Right. So what did my dad say to you?”

“It was nothing. He was curious about the usual stuff, my job, where I went to school. My dad jumped in and we got on to football and touched on my injury. He wanted to know if I owned this house.”

“That’s nosy. Did you tell him?”

“He has a right to know if his daughter is going to have a roof over her head, so yes, I told him all about it. It’s not much, but no one can take it away from us. Your dad’s not that bad. I found him very charismatic and personable. No wonder he has a huge congregation. I kinda liked the guy once we got to talking.”

“I’m sure he likes you, too. It’s me he has a problem with.”

“Let it go, Gia. Your parents love you. Maybe this is a time for a new beginning.”

“Maybe. They’re probably discussing this baby’s paternity as we speak. I couldn’t tell where they ended up on that matter.”

“Who cares? But if it bothers you, maybe you should tell them the truth. As I’ve said before, they’re your parents. They’ll be there for you.”

“No... I have this terrible fear my father would say I got what I deserved.”

“This has to stop, Gia. You’re letting your anger get the best of you and that’s not healthy. There’s no way he would say that.”

She processed the ugliness of what she’d suggested. “I know. That sounded horrible. You’re right. I didn’t realize it was so bad.”

He shifted again and pulled her closer. “So how’d it go with the mothers? We heard cackling. Thought we were next door to a slumber party.”

“Oh yeah, those two are like long-lost sisters or something. They hit it off immediately.”

“That’s good.”

“Yes, but they did almost give me a heart attack when your mom asked my mom if they were driving back to Dallas tonight. She said no, that they would be staying over due to exhaustion. So your mom decides to tell my mom what a nice guest room you have. Mercifully, my mom jumped in and said she wouldn’t dare spend the night with us newlyweds. Then your mom apologized because she realized she was extending invitations when the new lady of house was sitting right there and all I could think about was how was I going to explain my mess in there and get the sheets changed for company.”

“I get it. Take a breath.”

“This story ends with us meeting my parents for breakfast in the morning if you have time.”

“I’ll make time.”

“Otherwise, we had great girl-talk. Those two became fast friends and were willing to talk about anything. And I mean anything.”

“Like what?”

“Sex. And food. But mostly they wanted to gross me out with sex talk.”

“You don’t mean like the birds and the bees ‘cause, well...”

“You don’t want to know.”

“Was my mom trying to give you helpful advice of a personal nature regarding my injury? If so, she has to die.”

Gia laughed. “No, it wasn’t like that. She only touched on your special needs—”

“I don’t have that many special needs. I do what I want. All you need to know is to not hide my Chips Ahoy in the top cabinets, don’t get any ideas about puttin’ down a bunch of throw rugs that I’ll get tangled up in, and don’t move anything out of my reach in the shower.”

“Understood.”

“And by the way, I’ve been meaning to tell you I have a really nice shower. Me and my dad put in this big spa-like stall with a built-in seat and all kinds of water jets and a couple of wands and a heat lamp and a rain shower head. It’s cool. You should try it.”

“You can stop with all the fancy courtin’ talk, cowboy. I already married you.”

He scooped her up so fast it took her breath. In one second, she was sprawled on top of him, nearly nose-to-nose. She let out a squeal and then laughed.

“Are you making fun of my shower?” He pinned her to him with one arm while he threatened to tickle her with the other.

“No, I’m making fun of the way you fondly talk about your shower.”

“Hey, that shower is awesome. You’ll talk about it too once you use it.”

She threaded her arms around his neck and planted tiny kisses on his cheek.

He seemed to respond, but then abruptly moved to something else. “Hang on a minute. Can you reach my phone?”

She dangled off the edge of the couch and retrieved it from the coffee table. “Um... Are you comfortable? Do I need to move?”

“Nope. Stay there. I have something to show you.”

She rested her chin on his expansive chest and waited.

“Here. I found this app.”