“Second, I figure I’m safe because I can’t see either of you explaining to Maria that you beat me up on our very first meeting.”
“Man, Angelo,” Russell stole back his coffee. “This guy’s smart. We’re gonna have to be sneaky.”
“Third,” now he had both of their attentions. “I win because I’m the one who has a date tonight with Maria Amelia Avico Parrano.”
Russell grinned, “Got us there, my short Italian friend, doesn’t he?”
Angelo groaned.
Chapter 9
“Hogan?” Maria looked aghast at the three men entering the restaurant’s back door. She’d dreaded this moment, having no idea how she was going to tell Angelo about her boyfriend. Or whatever she was going to call Hogan.
She started to feel relief that it had occurred without her, but decided they wouldn’t be laughing together if the two boys knew. Maybe Hogan had somehow identified and befriended them both to make it easier. She had no idea what was going on.
“Maria!” Hogan called out happily. Dropping a to-go cup into the garbage, he walked up to her. No, he swaggered, looking immensely male and pleased with himself. Just steps before he reached her station he winked at her broadly.
Then he kissed her. Not a little kiss, but one that shifted her from bewildered to melting. She could feel his smile turn just a little wicked.
“I told you, Angelo, and I told you,” she became vaguely aware of Russell’s teasing tone over the buzzing in her ears. “Parents have sex too. Lucky for us or we’d never have been born.”
Angelo whimpered quietly.
She pushed Hogan aside and saw that they had quite the audience. Russell had an arm draped over her son’s shoulders, perhaps holding him from charging at Hogan, perhaps merely keeping him upright. Graziella stood by the kitchen door and looked even more melty than she had this morning. Manuel, the sous chef, and Nora beside him, were grinning at their boss’ complete confusion.
A couple of the other line cooks were applauding. Marko, the young dishwasher, was the only one apparently sharing Angelo’s state of shock. She was becoming a second mother to the teen and apparently Ms. Parrano with a boyfriend was more than he could imagine.
Russell shook Angelo in a friendly fashion. “Maybe parents only have really a really bad time in bed, leaving all the good times for us young studs.” Russell winked in Hogan’s direction.
Hogan had slid a hand around her waist, and appeared far too pleased with himself.
Maria grabbed a wooden spoon and whacked Hogan on top of the head.
“Hey! What? Ow!”
“You! You get out of my kitchen. You already mess up my food once this morning. Out! Out! Before you make me mess up even more.” She chased him to the back door.
Then just before he ducked through to escape, she stopped him with a hand on his jacket. Two could play at this game.
She pulled his head down into a kiss and let herself flow against him. He felt so good, it was impossible. But it was so very real at the same time.
Then she scooted him out the door with a soft, “Shoo!” and a slap of her wooden spoon on his backside for good measure.
Maria turned back, and squared her shoulders to face whatever the consequences were.
Angelo came up and took both her hands. He squeezed them hard and looked her right in the eye.
“Does he make you happy, Mama?”
She shrugged. Happy was such a small word for how Hogan Stanford made her feel. “Yes, Angelo. He does so far.”
He didn’t speak, but merely wrapped her in a fierce hug. Over his shoulder she could see Russell grinning at them.
Maria tried not to cry, but she’d raised two such good boys that she couldn’t help herself.
“Tonight, I am cooking you a special dinner.”
Maria’s apartment had been overflowing with wondrous smells when he arrived.
Once she’d buzzed him through the locked door, it could have been a different world though he was just two blocks from the shelter. Seattle was like that. It was a small enough city that shelters backed onto art galleries and condos towered above seedy bars which were just two doors down from a good French restaurant in one direction and a narrow Pho noodle shop in the other.
Her condo was on the seventh floor, well above the vibrant mix of the Pioneer Square evening. Even in the night he could see that she had a decent view over the viaduct to the Sound. When that came down in a year or so, it would be magnificent. The contractor had done a good job on the sound insulation, you couldn’t hear the roadway much at all.
The furnishings were not fancy or complex, IKEA mostly. “They were Angelo’s,” Maria explained. The kitchen, however, was magnificent.
A red sauce was simmering gently on the back burner and filled the apartment with layers of olfactory wonders. It was a heady blend of tomato and spice and possibility.
They shared a glass of Barolo as he regaled her with tales of meeting Russell and Angelo. She set him to making tiny prosciutto bruschetta dressed with olive oil and fresh mozzarella. She formed meatballs with practiced, delicate gestures, and slid them into the sauce to cook.
He fed her a bruschetta and she kissed his fingers. He held a glass of wine for her to sip as she worked on the salad. A drop of wine caught at the corner of her lips and he kissed it away.
Her eyes were so dark when they looked up at him. Worlds were revealed there. Worlds of desire, and of hope.
Without a word, he moved to the stove and turned off the burner.
She washed her hands and was toweling them dry when he drove his fingers into her hair and kissed her. That soft sigh as her lips parted against his absolutely slayed him.
He went to lead her to the bedroom, though he didn’t know which door to head for.
She undid the knot on her apron, and pulled it off over her head.
For the brief moment that gesture forced their lips apart, she whispered, “We’ll always have the kitchen floor.”
He lay her down on the smooth, polished oak. And then feasted upon her.
Spaghetti and Italian meatballs, while sitting naked on the kitchen floor. Spumoni ice cream sandwiches in a hot shower, dripping cherry, pistachio, and chocolate flavors faster than they could eat them. They eventually had made love in the bed as well before collapsing into sleep.
Hogan rarely slept more than five hours. He awoke seven hours later when Maria’s alarm went off. Thankfully, being a wise woman, she’d set it a little earlier than she really needed.
Chapter 10
Hogan hated missing Maria’s breakfasts, but shifting his schedule at the shelter was worth it. Eric let him move to morning and lunch prep, with Monday and Tuesdays off so that his schedule matched Maria’s. With the quality of the additional foodstuffs that arrived from Angelo’s restaurant, only a day or two old, he could have asked for anything and Eric would have given it to him.
The shelter was being more fun as well. Richie was as weird as ever, but Hogan stopped being his primary target. He now shared that particular gift more equally with the other kitchen volunteers. Eric teased about making Hogan an honorary KP-private, after all, only on Army Kitchen Patrol did anyone have to peel so many potatoes.
Hogan knew the place hadn’t changed, so it must be him. He supposed it made sense, because he certainly didn’t recognize the Hogan Stanford of mere weeks ago whose favorite place was sitting quietly at his living room window. It was as if the Seattle he’d grown up in and always loved had come back to life for him.
Maria knew surprisingly little of Seattle, having only lived here for six months and spending most of that in her son’s restaurant. And she certainly hadn’t been here for a Christmas, so he led her to every ridiculous touristy thing to do. Seattle at Christmas was a wonderful city, even if there was a lack of snow except for one fine-dusted evening.
They stood in the cold rain for half an hour to ride on the Christmas carousel that was set up on the Westlake Center mall each winter. Two grownups
and hundreds of little kids with harried-looking parents in tow. The carousel was a spectacle of lights and joy. He rode a carved blue charger, and Maria beside him on a splendid lavender mare. They both giggled like they were six again.
He took her on quiet drives through neighborhoods known for their Christmas lights. He saved the “Garden d’Lights” show at the Bellevue Botanical Garden for an especially clear night with a half moon shining high in the sky. They had nearly frozen on the cold, clear night, but the stars had sparkled and the lights had glittered off her hair until he was quite assured that she was magical, no matter how often she denied it.
She had tickled Santa’s beard at Macy’s in the window below what every Seattleite worth his salt still called the Bon Star. It was a great white star that had shown down Third Avenue every December for decades despite the store’s name change.
They rode the ferry from the Seattle waterfront over to Bainbridge Island. He took her to the Streamliner Diner, a 1950s classic of chrome, Formica, and leatherette bench seats. Their return trip through the mid-winter darkness had shown the glorious display of the Seattle skyline from the twin sports stadiums in the south to the Space Needle that still commanded the northern end of downtown.
There was one special thing that Hogan wanted to share with her, but for that he’d need a little help.
“Maria!” She turned from studying the dark waters of Elliot Bay at the call. Cassidy, Jo, and Perrin were trooping down the pier toward her. Hugs and surprise were shared all around.
“What are you all doing here?”
“We were hoping you knew. Russell was being awfully mysterious.”
Maria shook her head, “Hogan too. He just said to meet him here.”
“Hogan!” Perrin practically crowed with delight. “I told you that’s why we hadn’t seen her in so long. It’s not that she decided we were too much trouble. So tell me. Tell me! Is he really wonderful? Was your first time on the Ferris wheel?”
The Seattle Great Wheel shone just a few piers to the south of where they stood.
“No, it wasn’t on the Ferris wheel.”
“So…” Perrin drew it out so dramatically that the other girls giggled, despite being overly serious women turning thirty. Perrin tipped her head ever so slightly saying that this would be a great opportunity to tease the others.
“The kitchen floor at my condo.”
“Yes!” Perrin did a fist pump and danced a bit about the pier. Her white hair shining where it peeked out beneath a crazy knit hat. It was gray and covered with a line of what looked like tiny blue British police boxes.
Maria shared a moment of shock with Jo and Cassidy about what Perrin had just gotten her to admit, then they burst out laughing in unison.
“Don’t worry, Maria,” Jo gave her a hug. “Neither of us know how Perrin does it, but if it’s about boys, don’t ever think you can hide it with Perrin around.”
Perrin switched over to an energetic shimmy that might have been a start of a conga line. Maria grabbed her waist and soon they were all dancing about the pier in the reflected city lights.
“Oh, look at that!” Perrin stumbled to a halt and they piled up behind her like a train wreck.
Just a few hundred feet off the end of the pier, a sailboat had turned toward them. Its rigging was festooned with brightly colored Christmas lights. Blues, golds, reds, and greens traced the line of the mast and where the sails would be if they weren’t furled. The lights also swooped along the low, sleek lines of the hull and traced each window. A spiral of purple lights even wound around the tiller where several dark figures moved about the cockpit.
“It’s beautiful!” Maria felt there was something familiar about the boat. She almost had it when Cassidy cried out.
“Hey! That’s our boat!”
Russell’s voice floated back to them over the water. “It is, my love.”
In moments the boat slid up at a landing beside the pier. The four women scrambled aboard, Hogan meeting them at the rail to offer a hand, and in moments, Russell was motoring out into Elliott Bay once more.
Cassidy hurried to the stern and leapt into Russell’s arms. Had he been a lesser man, they’d have tumbled backward off the stern and into the cold waters below.
Angelo popped his head up from below. “Who wants hot cider?”
Jo and Perrin went back to give a hand.
Hogan straightened from re-securing the lifeline, he’d dropped a section of it for them to climb aboard.
Maria pulled his face down to hers and kissed him. “An evening sail! What a pleasant surprise.”
He rubbed his hands very possessively from her shoulders to her hips and back. Any chills she’d felt waiting on the dock he banished as if they’d never been.
“Cut it out, you two,” Russell called. “You’ll just make Angelo nervous.”
“And me sooo totally envious!” Perrin walked up to them carrying two steel cups with snap lids. She handed one to each and then hugged them both fiercely.
“Hi Hogan. I’m Perrin. And if I ever find out you don’t appreciate Mama Maria enough, you’re going overboard, winter or not. We clear?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Hogan glanced at Maria for guidance as Perrin made the threat sound completely serious. Maria left him to flounder. Like everyone else, he’d have to figure out on his own how to deal with Perrin.
“So,” she winked at Maria before turning back to Hogan. “Kitchen floor, huh? Way to go you two.” She gave him a friendly punch on the arm and headed back to the cockpit.
“Uh…” was all Hogan managed.
“I know,” Maria empathized. “She does that to you.”
“Is she married?”
“No, and don’t get any ideas.”
“Huh? No, I didn’t mean that. I was just wondering if we should observe a moment of silence on the behalf of whatever unsuspecting male she ultimately sets her sights on.”
Maria kissed his cheek. “He’ll be very lucky, whoever he is.”
“Like me,” Hogan hugged her tightly, then she led him back to the cockpit to meet her other friends.
“Oh look at that one!” It was probably the tenth time Perrin had said that this evening. “It’s so sweet!”
Hogan was very tempted to dismiss her as flighty, maybe even empty-headed. The others were careful of her. Perhaps careful with her would be more accurate. Protective, maybe overprotective. Except Maria. Perrin was the one Maria was most often beside, which told him that there was far more to the waif-like girl than appeared on the surface. Though it was clear that the three girls worshipped “Mama Maria” almost as much as Angelo and Russell did, it was Perrin who had threatened him. There was something special about her relationship with Maria.
Perrin was pointing off to starboard at the latest boat to join the Christmas Boat Parade. Every year, the boat parade would visit the various waterside communities from Tacoma to Seattle and all around Lake Washington and Lake Union. The lead boat was a tour boat and hosted a different choir each night. Tonight a gospel choir was belting out the carols, not really needing the speaker system. Their music carried clearly over the quiet waters.
The newest arrival at the tail of the boat parade wasn’t much to look at. It was a couple on a small boat with a single strand of blue lights. He’d always found blue lights to be a little sad.
“They’re so cute. Like a puppy dog just so happy to be here that they don’t care how they look.”
Hogan had looked at the same boat and seen someone who simply hadn’t tried very hard. He liked Perrin’s interpretation much better. Maybe he was starting to understand what Maria saw in her.
He turned from the boat and found that he was somehow seated hip to hip with Perrin in the cozy cockpit. By the bright Christmas lights that he’d spent an afternoon helping Russell put in place, he could see Perrin’s soft blue eyes very clearly. In that instant he finally understood; he was facing a deeply insightful intelligence masked behind a hyperactive smokescreen. He’d faced
corporate executives who couldn’t rouse such a focused and intent look.
“Single, divorced, or widowed?”
“Uh, divorced.”
“Why?”
“I can’t say.”
“Can’t or won’t? Why? Is she famous, or an international spy?” Definitely still a layer of flighty there.
“No,” Hogan shook his head. “I’m just not allowed to.”
Perrin squinted at him for a long moment, then glanced over his shoulder and back.
“Mama Maria swore you to secrecy?”
Hogan opened his mouth to answer.
“No,” she corrected herself. “She said it was bad for you to talk about your ex- or even think about her.” Perrin didn’t make it a question.
“How did you just do that?”
“What?”
“Answer a complex question correctly without a single fact.”
She hit him with that flashing smile and a girlish grin. The flighty chick was back. “Magic.”
He laughed, but stopped her from turning away with a light touch on her arm. “No, really.”
Perrin sobered and inspected him carefully, then nodded to herself as if deciding something about him.
“Maria said you’d been hurt, but she chose you. That means you’re an amazing man because I know that she is scary smart about people. That’s means you told her something, but now you can’t tell me anything. So, she’s trying to help you erase the past.” Again that simple shrug, making her conclusion obvious. “I want to grow up to be just like her.”
He took both her hands in his, figuring it was probably the only way to keep her focus on him. Then he kissed her on the cheek.
She blinked at him in confusion.
“You’re on the right track. You’re scary smart, Perrin.”
“What did you do to her?” Maria held Hogan’s hand as they returned up the Pike Street Hill Climb to reach his condo. The Market was mostly closed, so they took the outside stairs at the south edge of the Market to enjoy the night. It was a long steady climb that slowly revealed the waterfront each time they stopped at a landing to look back at the way they’d come.
The Complete Where Dreams Page 60
