When Smiles Fade (42 page)

Both hoped their love affair would never end.

The next morning, Izzy was confused when she found them both in the same bed. “Aunt Emma, why are you in Salvatore’s bed?” she inquired with innocent concern. “How come you didn’t sleep in your room? Were you scared? Did you have a bad dream?”

Emma reached out and pulled her up onto the bed. “No, it’s just that, sometimes, big people sleep together because they like each other,” she explained simply. “Remember how Ethan and I used to sleep in the same room?”

Izzy scrunched up her face. “Yeah, but you didn’t like Ethan. He was mean. Remember? He used to yell all the time and, sometimes he would grab my arm and squeeze it real hard and that would hurt too. Or sometimes he would yell at me with his nose touching mine. I didn’t like him.”

Emma gathered her niece in her arms and she wiggled her way under the covers between the two adults.

Izzy continued to chatter. “Well, I like Salvatore and I would sleep in here too, except I can’t, because I really like my princess room.”

Salvatore gave her a gentle squeeze. “Yep,” he said, “we wouldn’t want you to give up the princess room.”

“Ewww, your breath stinks!” Izzy said with disconcerting candor. “You should go brush your teeth.”

Salvatore laughed, shuffling out of bed and making his way to the bathroom.

“Are you and Salvatore going to get married?” the child asked Emma bluntly.

Emma was shocked that Izzy even knew about the concept of marriage. “No, we’re not planning on it right now, Little Miss Thing! We just really like each other. Now stop asking so many questions so we can go make pancakes for breakfast! Hurry up! Then we can surprise Salvatore!”

Izzy jumped over her aunt before she could sit up and ran to the kitchen at full speed. “Don’t come in the kitchen, Salvatore!” she sang. “Me and Aunt Emma are surprising you, okay?”

With a mouth full of toothpaste, Salvatore yelled back, “Ohray!”

When he came out of the bathroom, Emma was sitting on the side of the bed, staring at him.

“Well, good morning, gorgeous,” he said, striding across the room, laying her back on the bed, and giving her a long kiss.

“Good morning,” she managed to respond when they came up for air. “Let’s not forget we have Little Missy Nosey in the other room. You never know when she’ll come running in here demanding to know what we’re doing. So unless you’re prepared to explain to her why you have your tongue in my mouth,” she added mischievously, running her hand over his ass, “we better get moving!”

“Oh, really?” Salvatore teased, looking sexy as hell. “You’re going to tell me to get moving and then touch me like that and expect me to just go?”

“Yesss!” she hissed, but what she really wanted to do was pull him back under the covers and make love to him again. “Now move it!” she added with gusto.

He stood and pulled her to her feet. “You know, I’m used to doing the bossing, not getting bossed. I like it, though, when you’re bossy. It turns me on.”

“Oh God! Whatever, Salvatore. You’re so weird!” Emma teased.

In the kitchen, they came upon an amusing little scene. Izzy was insisting that Tony and Vincent leave so that she and her aunt could prepare a surprise breakfast for everyone. The two men were busy teasing her, declaring she was too little to cook. Hands firmly on her hips, Izzy glowered up at the two men, who towered over her, and demanded they do what they were told without further argument.

“Hey, Miss Bossy!” Emma called out. “Maybe if you say ‘please’ they’ll listen to you.”

“But Aunt Em,” Izzy complained, “they said I didn’t know how to cook, that I’m too little! Tell them that I
can
cook. They’re really making me mad!”

Salvatore looked at his two childhood friends. “You two better be careful before Izzy really gives it to you!” he quipped. “If I were you, I’d be scared silly. Besides, Izzy
knows
how to cook. So why don’t we go in the living room while the ladies prepare breakfast for us.”

“Fine,” Tony said in a teasing manner, “but only if I get a lot of bacon,
crispy
bacon.”

Vincent joined in on the fun. “And I want potatoes, well done. Make sure they’re nice and brown, will ya?”

With the men out of the kitchen, the girls started to cook breakfast. For the first time, Emma felt as if she and Izzy were in a place where they belonged.

After breakfast, Tony pulled Emma aside. “Hey, Em, I need your help.”

“Sure, what’s up?” she responded, wondering what he could possibly need from her but happy she could return all the kindness he had showered on Izzy and her.

Tony didn’t mince words when he spoke. “My sister Macie, well, she needs a little help. Ya see how ugly she makes herself look. I’m scared if she don’t do somethin’ ’bout that appearance of hers, she’ll end up an old spinster. Listen, between you and me, she’s thirty-one years old and I don’t think she’s ever been laid. I was thinkin’ you could take her out and pick some nice outfits for her. Maybe get her hair done up real nice and teach her how to use some makeup so she don’t look dead all the time. Hey, you could take her to get paint on her nails. Ya know, spruce her up so maybe a man will come along and want to marry her or somethin’. I need ya to make her womanly. Could you do that for me?”

Emma was amused at his description of all the fixing up he believed his sister needed and touched that he loved her enough to ask someone to help her. “Of course I’ll do that for you, Tony. We can make it a special day together, just her and me. How about tomorrow? Can you be here with Izzy?”

“Yeah, sure, tomorrow. That’s real good. I like that. I don’t know how much I like babysitting, but hey, how bad can it be, right?” he asked, looking for Emma to tell him it wasn’t a big deal to watch Izzy. But instead she laughed at him and left the room to call Macie.

Emma told Macie that she was tired of being stuck in the apartment and needed some “girl time,” which made Macie chuckle out loud. “So I was thinking we could go shopping, get our hair done, and, you know, just hang out and do things that girls like to do.”

Flattered and excited at the thought of spending time with Emma, she agreed quickly.

Salvatore called an acquaintance of his at Nordstrom to let them know that Emma and Macie were coming in. “Make sure they get treated real good. I want them to be taken care of and get all the attention they need. It’s your job to send them home happy. Understand?” he told the man who managed the store, who assured him that everything would be perfect.

When the two girls arrived at the store they were immediately escorted into a private area. Emma quietly told the salesladies to focus on Macie. Once out of the old lady garb that Macie normally wore, Emma noted that she had a nice figure. She hosted a healthy round ass, hourglass curves, and perky breasts. Macie was elated as she watched her own transformation. After they had bought nearly a dozen outfits for Macie they were taken to another room where they were greeted by a hair and makeup stylist. By the time they were finished, the girls were high on excitement. It had been a fun day, and while Macie didn’t say too much the whole time, the perpetual smile on her lips told Emma she had done a good thing.

As they walked through the apartment door they were greeted by Isabella. “Macie! You look beautiful. What did you do?” she blurted.

“Your Aunt Emma took me out to buy some clothes and get my hair done. Do you like it?” she asked, feeling a little self-conscious about how different she looked.

“I love it!” Izzy told her.

Just then Tony and Vincent entered the foyer. “Well now, look at you,” Tony said to his sister. “You clean up real good,” he went on in an attempt to flatter her.

“Thanks,” his sister replied bashfully.

Vincent was watching Macie from a distance. When he was back in the kitchen with Tony cooking linguini and clams, he looked at his friend hard. “What the fuck are you lookin’ at, Vin?”

“Listen, Tony. Macie was lookin’ real nice when she came home. I was wunderin’…I was just thinkin’ maybe I’d ask her out on a date. Who knew she looked like that under all that grandma shit she’s always wearin’? How ’bout it? You think that’d be okay?” Vincent finished.

“Oh yeah? So now ya wanna take my sister on a date, huh? Yeah, well, I guess that’ll be all right. But you need to ask her yourself. And I want ya to be real nice about it too. She ain’t never been out on a date before so don’t go acting like an asshole,” he ordered.

“Who me? When did ya ever know me to be an asshole, Tone?” Vincent mocked, pretending to punch his friend in the stomach.

“You’re always an asshole, Vin. Just don’t be one to my sister or I’ll lace your fuckin’ pasta with laxatives so you can’t leave the bathroom for a week,” he joked.

Later that day, after Macie had gone home, Tony found Emma sitting on one of the large sofas reading. “Em, thanks for what ya did for Macie today. She was real happy. Vincent thought she looked good too. He’s gonna ask her out on a date.”

Emma got off the sofa and stood on tiptoe to give Tony a kiss on his cheek. “No problem, Tony. It was a lot of fun actually.”

“Well, if ya ever need a favor, just let me know.” he offered.

“Hmmm, now that you mention it, I do want you to show me how to make that lasagna you cooked the other night,” she told him.

“Consider it done. I’ll show ya how to make it tomorrow. That sound good?” he asked.

“Sure, Tony. Tomorrow is good,” Emma responded, excited at the prospect of learning a new recipe that Salvatore would enjoy.

As he left her standing in the room by herself it became clear to her that every day with Salvatore was good. She was good. Izzy was good. Salvatore was good. Everything just seemed too good to be true.

Four months later, the three were still enjoying a blissful existence. Emma talked every week with Katie. After everything had happened that night with Ethan and Pete, Katie had put all of their belongings in a storage unit that Salvatore had rented for her. Emma had also been in touch with Brianna, who had met a guy from the US Air Force. She was planning to move in two weeks to Germany, where he was stationed.

“Bri, you’re out of your fucking mind!” Emma had exclaimed. “Why are you moving across the fucking globe? You haven’t even known him that long!”

Brianna had felt deeply insulted. “You know what, Em?” she had shot back. “You’re also living with some guy you barely know. Fuck, he didn’t even ask you to move in! You just went there and never left. Stop being such a bitch! I need you to be happy for me. Now do you want us to get together before I head out or what?”

Emma had felt guilty about upsetting the friend who had once sacrificed everything for Gracie and her. “Of course we’re going to get together!” she had assured Brianna. “Hey, I’ll see if Salvatore can hook us up with something special to do in the city. You can come for the weekend and we’ll make it a two-day party! How’s that sound?”

“That sounds like the Em I know and love!” Brianna had said, mollified. “Let’s plan on next weekend. I can’t wait to see Izzy either!” she added excitedly before hanging up the phone.

As it turned out, Salvatore was preoccupied with work the following weekend. He worked every other weekend, which meant Emma and Izzy were alone in the apartment, except for the presence of Tony and Vincent, who came in to cook or check on them. Emma missed Salvatore when he was gone all weekend, but he had insisted that he needed to do his part for the family business. She understood and didn’t ride him about it, but missed him nonetheless. Brianna’s decision to spend the weekend with her was therefore a cause for celebration. Salvatore made the necessary arrangements at the restaurant and impossible-to-get-into nightclubs. He also arranged for Macie to stay with Izzy.

When Brianna arrived at the apartment, she couldn’t believe the style in which Emma lived.

“Fuck, man!” she said, wide-eyed. “If I met a guy who could let me live like this, I’d never leave either. Girl, you hit the fucking jackpot with this one!” In the very next moment, she grew serious. “Does he hit you, Em?” she asked in a whisper. “Is he mean to you?”

“No, Bri, he doesn’t. I know that’s hard to believe, considering that every other man in my life abused the shit out of me. But no, he never has. He’s gentle and loving with me. He never raises his voice and we get along so well. We started out with this great friendship and now it has turned into this thing that’s so fuckin’ awesome. We eat at great restaurants and he buys me stuff all the time,” Emma explained.

“Does he talk about getting married and having kids?” Brianna asked, her tone envious.

“Nah, we don’t talk about that shit,” Emma said nonchalantly. “I don’t really care. I never really saw myself getting married. So I don’t think about it. As far as kids go, I don’t want to have any. I have Izzy and that’s enough.”

“Well, whatever works for you guys,” Brianna said.

At the end of the weekend, when it was time for her to leave for the airport, the two stood in the foyer and embraced for a long time. Emma was sad to see her friend moving so far away and silently wondered if this would be the last time they’d ever see each other. The idea of never seeing Bri again dampened her spirit, even though she knew that both of them had found a better life for themselves, and this gave her some comfort.