Enshrine

by Chelle Bliss

  She nods and motions toward my living room. “Everything is as you requested.”

  I turn, following their eyes, and see it instantly.

  A Christmas tree.

  Not just a tree, but one unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It reminds me of a smaller version of the one I visit every year in Rockefeller Center. Wide and tall, it touches my ceiling and has so many lights and ornaments I wonder how it stays upright.

  “You did this?” I glance back and forth between him and tree.

  He nods and looks at his sister. “Lee helped.”

  I head straight for her and wrap her in the biggest bear hug. “Thank you, Lee. Thank you,” I whisper and squeeze her.

  “You’re welcome, Callie. Anything for you and my big brother.”

  I hold her hand and grab Bruno’s too before walking to the tree to get a closer look. I can’t even adequately describe the magnificence and grandeur. The lights sparkle, and instead of being the typical tiny bulbs you can get at any drug store, they are large, round globes that twinkle. The ornaments are every color and shape imaginable. Large ones bigger than my fist are spread out among the smaller, more delicate glass bulbs.

  It’s modern, yet classic. No tinsel or tacky garland, but it has wide red ribbon cascading down the tree in streams. It is…spectacular.

  “Drink! Who wants one?” Becca yells from the kitchen as the rest of us check out the tree.

  “Me!” Lee walks away, leaving Bruno and me alone.

  I wrap my arm around his waist and rest my head on his chest. “I don’t even know how to say thank you.”

  “I don’t want a thank-you. Seeing the look on your face right now is all I need.”

  I smile and wipe away the tears. I’m a freaking train wreck of emotions, but not one of them is sadness.

  “You’re too much, Bruno.”

  “I know.” He laughs before kissing the top of my head.

  I feel his lips against me, the warmth of them as he kisses me. When I left for chemo, I decided to forgo the wig and go au naturel. It just felt right. By now, I’m used to seeing my bald head, and I know the people sitting with me going through treatment look the same.

  I slap his stomach and laugh before I stand on my tiptoes, wanting to feel his lips on mine.

  Just as his lips touch mine, the girls walk back into the room. “These two can make a girl sick, y’know?” Becca complains and makes a puking noise.

  “Yep. I can’t wait to deal with it for days at my parents. Not,” Lee adds.

  Bruno and I smile like idiots and ignore them. “Happy?” His hand touches my face.

  I close my eyes, melting into his hand. “More than ever.”

  Funny how that works.

  Darkness showed me the light.

  Bruno is the sun that scatters the rays in my world, driving away the dark and shining the beautiful light on my life. Standing among the three of them, I realize that I’m the luckiest girl in the world.

  25

  Buon Natale

  “Um, aren’t you going the wrong way?” I glance down at the Maps app on my phone.

  “Nope.” He doesn’t look at me, just keeps his eyes on the road, driving in the wrong direction.

  I point to the tiny arrow on my screen. “It says to stay on 80 and not take 380.”

  “Babe. Who’s driving?”

  “You, but Apple doesn’t agree.”

  “Their maps are shit.”

  “No, they aren’t.”

  “Where does 80 take you?”

  “Through Pennsylvania.”

  “Exactly.” My face shows my confusion when he glances at me. “I’m not going into PA.”

  “Why?” My eyes dart around.

  “It’s best to stay where I’m known.”

  “People know you?” I ask and laugh, being a complete smartass. “I’m sure they know of you in Pennsylvania too.”

  “It’s safer.” He shakes his head and grips the steering wheel tighter, adjusting in his seat. “I like it this way. It’s ten minutes longer. Can you deal?”

  “Uh, yeah. Are you sure it’s only ten minutes more? I mean, it seems like you’re going out of the way not to leave the state. Like, way out of the way.” He looks at me and gives me a look so serious I bite my lip to stop myself from continuing. “So is Lee your only sister?”

  “I have another one.”

  “Any brothers?”

  “One.”

  The old Bruno’s back. Not the one who told me about the sunrise but the slightly guarded and stressed-out guy who keeps his answers short and doesn’t add anything that normal people would refer to as small talk. “I’m just trying to figure out how many people will be there. I’m really nervous,” I admit and glance out the window, watching the snow-covered trees disappear.

  “Sorry. I’m being a dick. I’m nervous too, Cal. I’ve never brought anyone home with me.”

  I gawk at him. “Never?”

  “Never.”

  “Huh,” I say.

  “It’s not that big of a deal, Cal. I never really had a girlfriend to bring home.”

  “Right.”

  “Anyway, you met Lee, but there’s also Gabby, who is the youngest of us all, and then there’s my brother, Lucca.” He blows air out of his mouth and shakes his head. “He’s a piece of work, though.”

  “So you’re the oldest, then Lee, Lucca, and Gabby. Right?”

  “You got it.”

  “What’s wrong with Lucca?” He’s so lucky to have a brother and sisters. No matter how crazy they make him, he has to know how special family is… I’d give anything to make that aspect of my life different. Becca is the closest thing I have to a sister.

  “He just refuses to grow up.”

  “Um, he has a dick. Most men don’t grow up.”

  “I act like an adult.”

  I touch his arm and squeeze. “But you’re older. How old is he?”

  “Twenty-one.”

  “Oh, please, Bruno. He might as well be a kid. Cut him some slack.”

  He lifts his chin toward me. “You’ll see when you meet him.”

  I laugh because I’m right. Men don’t age at the same rate mentally. Twenty-one-year-olds still act like prepubescents except they’re horny bastards. “And your parents?”

  “My dad’s name is Gino and my mom is Franci. They’re your typical Italians.”

  “So we’re talking, what? Loud?”

  “Yep.” He smiles.

  “Well, if they’re anything like Lee, I’m sure I’ll love them. Tell me about them.”

  Bruno spends the rest of the car ride telling me everything about his childhood. His family seems to have a bond that I envy. His parents met at Woodstock, fell madly in love, and married a week later. He blames drugs for their quick courtship, but he’s only kidding…I think. Bruno says they waited to start their family because they were enjoying life a little too much.

  “They’re not your typical conservative older people either. Just be prepared. My mom can get…” His voice trails off.

  My eyes widen and I’m scared to hear him finish the statement. “She can get what?”

  “Dirty. She’s really lax about sex and doesn’t have a boundary or a filter.”

  I snicker. I like her already. “She sounds perfect.”

  “Dad’s no better. I swear the amount of weed they did in their youth has dulled their thought processes.” He relaxes into the driver’s seat.

  “Are you worried?” I grab his free hand and entangle my fingers with his.

  “Nah.” He glances at me. “It’s all good.”

  “Do I look okay?” I ask and touch my wig. I rarely realize it’s not my real hair most of the time. It’s become part of me.

  “Cal, they went through cancer with Lee. They know exactly what happens to someone battling for their life.”

  “Yeah,” I whisper, and I know it’ll be fine. Lee is the one who makes me feel more beautiful than almost anyone in the world besides Bruno. I peer
at my reflection in the side mirror and recognize the girl staring back. Lee gave that to me.

  Somehow, I doze off while we drive through New York heading toward Watkins Glen at the base of Seneca Lake. When I open my eyes, the terrain has changed. Rolling hills and mountains fill the window for as far as the eye can see. “Where are we?” I rub my eyes and stretch.

  “Watkins Glen. We’re just a few miles away from my parents’.”

  “Oh.” I straighten quickly, pulling down the visor and checking my makeup in the mirror. I want to look perfect when I meet his family. The last thing I want is to make a bad impression.

  My stomach fills with butterflies the closer we get. Bruno reaches over and takes my hand, slowly stroking the top with his thumb. “Just breathe, Cal.”

  I laugh nervously. The last thing I want is to become so overwhelmed that I babble. Because I do that sometimes—talk uncontrollably. Not usually around Bruno because he isn’t much of a talker, but I know I have the capability of being a blabbermouth.

  “It’s so cute here.” I push up the visor so I can get a better view. The downtown is classic and quaint. It looks like the small towns I dreamed about as a kid. Growing up in New York City made me crave green space, a backyard to play in, and the ability not to have to look over my shoulder every time I left the house.

  “Did you grow up here?”

  “We spent a lot of time up here. We lived in the city but spent weekends here and every holiday. But about ten years ago, my parents moved here permanently.”

  “You were lucky.”

  “I guess I was.”

  “I would’ve killed to grow up here. Seriously. It’s the type of place I always imagined when I read books as a kid.”

  “Read a lot?” he asks.

  It is my escape. The way I can forget about my life and live a million lives that aren’t my own. “Yeah.”

  “I wasn’t much of a fiction reader as a kid.”

  I glance over at him and I don’t imagine he was. “Comic books?”

  “I liked military books.”

  It isn’t shocking that he likes things that deal with wars. It’s a man thing, and I can see Bruno spending countless hours reading about battles and weaponry.

  The waterfront is lined with boats, and then it gives way to a tree-lined street with beautiful houses that have to be more than fifty years old. “We’re here,” he announces as we pull into the driveway of a stunning white Victorian.

  “Jesus, it’s enormous.”

  “That’s what she said.” He snickers and my eyes flash to him.

  I can’t stop my laughter. Bruno’s sense of humor is…off and weirdly timed. It isn’t often that he makes a funny, but when he does, I relish it.

  “Sometimes I think you’re a goofball.”

  He winks at me and climbs out of the Range Rover. I open the door and hop out to follow him closely. “I was coming to open your door,” he tells me as he rounds the Rover and comes to a stop in front of me.

  “I got it. I’m a big girl.” I smile up at him, wide and playful. This is what I need this weekend. I want to smile.

  He wraps his arms around me and kisses my cheeks. The warmth of his mouth battles away the cold that has started to settle on my exposed skin. “It’s freakin’ cold.”

  His hands cup my ass. “Let’s get you inside and warmed up.”

  “You just want me naked.”

  He leans closer with his mouth next to my ear. “Although I want to bury my dick in you, I wouldn’t advise you to walk around naked. My mother may frown upon that.”

  “Don’t ever say dick and mother in the same sentence, please.” I giggle and stick my cold hands under his jacket and shirt to find his warmth. He hisses when my fingers touch his flesh.

  “Oh my God, Rocco’s here!” a male voice yells from the house and we both turn.

  “Dad.” He glances toward the door. “Ready?”

  I nod and look over at his father once more. The resemblance is uncanny. It’s like looking into the future, and I like what I see. The man has loose gray curls that flop around his face. The cardigan sweater reminds me of something from Tipsy Elves—playful and festive.

  “Hey, Dad,” Bruno greets his father as we walk up the steps, but I hide behind him.

  “Roc.” His father scoops him into a bear hug the moment his feet touch the top step and actually lifts him off his feet. “You feel lighter. Losing weight?”

  When his father sets him down, Bruno punches him in the shoulder. “Stop with the bullshit. You know I can kick your ass.”

  “You can try, kid, but I’ll always be stronger.”

  Bruno reaches behind him and pulls me forward. “Dad, this is Callie.”

  “She’s a knockout, son.” His father slaps him on the shoulder.

  I get the initial nod of approval and have passed the test so far. “Hi, Mr. Bruno.” I smile and hold out my hand.

  He glances down, confusion written all over his face. He wraps me in a hug just like he gave Bruno. I can’t breathe and I wonder how long my ribs will hold out under the crushing of his body against mine.

  “Pops, don’t kill her, please,” Bruno tells his father and grabs me around the waist.

  When I’m safely on the ground and his father disappears into the house, I look up at him and whisper, “Thanks.”

  “He’ll calm down. When he’s superexcited, he gets a little carried away.”

  “Rocco!” a woman screeches and comes running out of the house, jumping into his arms.

  “Mom,” he whispers and twirls around with her in his arms.

  The smile on my face grows so wide. This side of the man is something I only caught glimpses of with his sister. He is a family man. His face changes being around them, his body relaxes, and he is an entirely different person. He doesn’t carry himself so stiffly or seriously. There is a calmness and naturalness in how he moves and acts near them.

  She holds his face in her hands and peppers him with kisses. “You look tired, baby.”

  “I’m fine, Mom.” He laughs and lets her continue kissing his face.

  Lee pops out of the house, giggling, and heads straight for me. “Welcome to the nuthouse.”

  “Sounds like the best way to spend Christmas,” I tell her and