Chapter 8
“Renata, honey? You awake?” Basilio asked. His rich voice and enticing accent was a welcome wakeup call to her usual jump from the bed and go, even though they were driving in a car to an existence she wasn’t completely sure of.
Renata opened her eyes and looked around. They were driving down a two-lane highway surrounded on both sides by a bit of shoulder and hills of varying shapes and sizes, some covered with trees, others cleared for pasture land stretching as far as the eye could see.
“It’s beautiful here,” she said, yawning and trying to wake up.
“It is. Sorry to wake you, but we’re almost there,” Basilio said.
Renata looked in the backseat and found Kaiser sleeping soundly, his head back, his mouth open and his ever-present bear clutched tightly in his hands.
“He’s been so good on the drive,” Basilio said.
“Unfortunately, he’s become accustomed to moving often at the drop of a hat,” Renata confided.
“Well, no more. You don’t have to be afraid anymore,” Basilio told her, reaching out and patting her knee.
Renata nodded, not completely convinced her nightmare was over, or even near to being over.
“You can trust me. I will not let you down,” he said.
“I’m trying,” she answered, offering him a sincere smile.
“What time is it?” she asked.
“About 7:00 A.M.”
“It’s so early. I hate to wake up your uncle this early in the morning.”
“He knows we’re coming at some point. I don’t think he’ll mind,” Basilio answered, happily driving along, admiring the scenery, his mate at his side and his son safely asleep in the back seat.
They cleared a rise on the highway and up ahead could see signs of civilization.
“Hey, what’s that?” Renata asked, sitting up and trying to focus on the buildings in the distance.
“Not sure, but we’re getting real close to Uncle Roman’s,” Basilio said, glancing at his cell phone and the maps app.
“Looks like a gas station. Maybe they have a bathroom,” Renata said.
“We’ll pull in and see,” Basilio answered.
As they approached the gas station, and what looked like a diner attached, Basilio’s phone spoke to him, telling him they’d arrived. He slowed the car on the highway and glanced over at the mobile home park and then across the road at the large house protected by a security gate.
“Guess this is it,” he said, pointing at the mobile home park. “What do you say we have breakfast at the diner first, then go wake Uncle Roman?”
“That’s my vote,” Renata answered.
Basilio put his blinker on and slowly pulled off the highway and into the parking lot. He chose a parking spot in the middle of the lot that would allow him to drive either forward or backward as needed if he needed to get his mate to safety without warning. He got out of the car and looked around before leaning back down toward the inside of the car and speaking to Renata. “Leave the doors unlocked, just in case we need to get back into the car quickly.”
Renata looked up at Basilio through the open driver’s side door he was still standing just outside of. “Okay,” she said, realizing he was at least taking her need to be careful at all times seriously. Renata got out of the car then opened the back door, unstrapping Kaiser from his car seat and taking him in her arms.
Basilio came around behind her and reached in after she stepped away from the car and grabbed Kaiser’s bear.
Renata smiled to herself on seeing that Basilio was already so in tune with Kaiser’s needs.
They entered the diner and looked around.
“Hi! Welcome. Would you like to have breakfast or just a break for gas before getting back on the road?” a pleasant cashier greeted.
“Breakfast please, but a restroom first,” Renata answered.
“Of course, the restrooms are at the back, right behind me and to the right,” the cashier answered.
Renata glanced at the girl’s name tag so she could thank her properly. People always liked to be recognized individually, that much she’d learned from her own experience in the hospitality industry. “Thank you very much, Yvette.”
“You’re very welcome.”
“Here, honey, let me take Kaiser and you go to the restroom. We’ll get a table,” Basilio said, reaching out his arms.
“Okay, if he wakes and is looking for me, I’ll be right back.”
“We’ll be fine,” Basilio said, grinning at her while he took the little boy in his arms and propped him up on his shoulder, smoothing Kaiser’s back while he watched Renata go toward the bathrooms at the same time he tried to follow the cashier to where she was leading him into the diner.
“I’ll get you a booster seat for when he wakes up,” Yvette said, putting the menus on the table she’d just shown him to.
“Thanks,” Basilio answered, taking his seat and arranging Kaiser so that he’d be more comfortable on his lap with his head leaning on Basilio’s chest.
“He’s precious,” Yvette commented.
“Thank you,” Basilio said proudly, peeking down at Kaiser sleeping against him.
“You’re welcome. Your waitress will be here in just a second. We’re always busiest in the morning.”
“Not a problem,” Basilio answered.
Renata came around the corner and spotted them right away. As she walked toward them, Basilio glanced up from the menu and saw her coming. He lit up, and Renata couldn’t help but notice. She smiled shyly at first but by the time she reached the table and took her seat, she was grinning ear-to-ear.
“What are you smiling about?” he asked, still cradling Kaiser to his chest.
“You, smiling at me,” she answered, reaching for Kaiser. “Your turn” she said, taking her seat with Kaiser in her arms.
“Be right back. Don’t leave me,” he teased.
“I’m not leaving you,” she answered, rolling her eyes with a smirk on her face.
She reached for her menu, and glanced over it deciding she’d have the standard breakfast of eggs over easy, hash browns, bacon and toast.
“Good morning. You know what you want?” a waitress asked as she came to stand beside the table.
“I do, but my, um, friend, didn’t mention what he wants,” Renata said.
“Your um fiance’ is back, and he knows what he wants,” Basilio said, his eyebrow raised. He took his seat and reached for Kaiser again. “Friend, Renata?” he asked.
“Well, this is still all new, and I’m not quite sure I’m not sleeping and this is just my imagination. Too many good things happening. Gotta be a dream,” she ended on a mumble. “And I got him,” she said, shooing Basilio’s hands away.
The waitress giggled at the obviously new couple and waited patiently for them to let her know what they’d like to eat.
“What do you want, hon?” Basilio asked Renata.
“I’ll have the basic breakfast, two eggs over easy, hash browns, bacon and toast, please.”
“Want onions in your hash browns?” the waitress asked.
“Yes, please,” Renata answered.
“Want a pastry or something sweet to go with it? They’re made fresh every day. Donuts, too,” the waitress offered.
Renata thought about it. Finally, she shook her head. “I really shouldn’t,” she finally said.
“Course you should, and you will,” Basilio said. He looked at the waitress, ignoring Renata’s protests. “What would you recommend?”
“The glazed donuts are hot and fresh, still warm from the fryer, and the blueberry cake ones are so good, too. Or the apple fritters, they’re fried just enough to be crunchy on the edges and still soft and sweet in the middle.”
“Sold, we’ll take two apple fritters. And I’ll have the Pride Breakfast,” Basilio said.
“You want the three meats — bacon, sausage and ham, or you want three servings of the same thing?” she asked.
“I want a
ll bacon please,” Basilio said.
“And your half a dozen eggs?” the waitress asked.
“Scrambled with onion, bell pepper and cheese please.”
“Hash browns and grits or double on one or the other?”
“Both please. And…” Basilio looked over at Kaiser still out cold in his mother’s arms. “What does Kaiser like?”
“He’ll want bacon and sausage, scrambled eggs and probably a couple of donuts, chocolate — one with sprinkles, one without,” Renata said. “And chocolate milk.”
“Got it,” the waitress said. “I’ll be right back, it shouldn’t take very long.”
Basilio, taking a page from Renata’s book, glanced at the waitress’s name tag. “Thank you, Libby.”
“You’re welcome,” she said, turning away to put their order in. “You know…” she said, turning back to the table. “You look so familiar.”
“I get that a lot,” he said. “Must look like somebody famous.”
“Maybe,” Libby said, smiling politely before going to put their order in.
“Told you,” Renata said.
“I know. But this is a small dot on the map, who’s she gonna tell? Besides, she wasn’t sure where I looked familiar from,” Basilio said.
Not even ten minutes later and the waitress was back, her serving tray laden with food. “Told you it would be quick,” she said, smiling as she placed plates of steaming food in front of them.
“You weren’t kidding,” Renata said, shifting Kaiser to her left side to be able to eat with her right hand.
“Why don’t you let me take him so you can eat?” Basilio said.
“Thank you, but that’s not necessary. It won’t be long now and he’ll be awake,” she said, pulling Kaiser’s plate closer to her and cutting up his sausage for him, before moving the plate back to the chair with the booster seat in it waiting for him.
“How do you know he’s going to wake up soon?” Basilio asked.
“Food. Soon as he realizes he’s smelling food, he’s up,” Renata said, chuckling. She picked up a piece of her bacon and waved it under his nose.
Kaiser shifted in her arms slightly.
Renata took a bite of the bacon and chewed happily. “I love crunchy bacon,” she said before taking another bite. She put the bacon on her plate and lifted her fork to break open the yolk on her eggs. She dipped a piece of toast into the yolk and took a bite, moaning at the flavor. “Breakfast food is my favorite. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.”
Basilio was eating his own food and smiled watching her enjoy her food. “Noted. If I end up in the doghouse, make a spectacular meal featuring breakfast foods and I will be forgiven,” he said jokingly.
“Hey, it just might work,” she agreed.
Kaiser shifted again, and his eyes blinked before he sat up and looked around. He focused on the food first, then on Basilio. He looked up at his mom and grinned. “I’m hungry,” he said.
“I knew you would be. That’s your plate,” she said, pointing to his breakfast. “But, do you need to go potty first?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” he answered, sliding off her lap and waiting for her to stand.
“We’ll be back in a second,” she said to Basilio, reaching down to take Kaiser by the hand.
Moments later they were back, Kaiser running ahead of her and climbing up in his chair while Basilio pulled it out for him and held the booster seat steady so he could get into it without falling.
“Thanks,” Kaiser said as he grabbed one of his donuts and started in on it before Basilio had even pushed him all the way to the table.
“You’re welcome,” Basilio said, watching Renata as she sat down.
He gestured toward her chair and she shook her head. “No need to help me sit. Thank you, though.”
Basilio sat down and together they enjoyed their breakfast, laughing at a story Basilio was telling them of when he was a kid and refused to come down out of a tree because his mother was making him eat his vegetables before she’d give him the cookies she’d promised.
The waitress came by to see if they needed more coffee or anything else, and Kaiser, who’d almost cleaned his plate nodded. “One of those,” he said, pointing at a little girl sitting at the corner table with her parents.
“A funnel cake,” the waitress said. Then she looked at Renata. “It’s made with pancake batter, so it’s really just a fancy pancake.”
“You really want that?” she asked Kaiser.
He nodded, pushing his empty plate toward his mom. “Yep,” he insisted.
“You want strawberries on it?” the waitress asked.
“Yep. And cream,” he said, eyeing the plate the little girl was eating from.
“Strawberries and whipped cream. Got it,” she said. Then she looked at Basilio. “I finally figured out why you look familiar to me,” she said.
“Oh, really?” Basilio asked, stiffening.
“Yeah. You look just like a very close friend of mine. Younger of course, but still, the resemblance is uncanny,” she said, smiling. “I’ll have to get a picture of you before you leave. Roman won’t believe how much you look like him.”
Basilio had been looking at Renata, sharing a thankful look she didn’t realize who he was. When she said Roman’s name, Basilio’s head snapped up and he looked at her with surprise. “You know Roman?” he asked.
“Well, yeah. Do you?” she asked, surprised.
“He’s my uncle. He’s expecting us, but we didn’t want to wake him too early so we stopped for breakfast,” Basilio explained.
“Well, he lives just right there,” the waitress said, pointing to the trailer park. “I’m Libby. Welcome,” she said, smiling brightly.
Chapter 9
Before Basilio could thank her for welcoming him, a large male with light brown hair streaked with golden highlights and piercing eyes rose from the table the little girl was seated at and came up behind Libby.
“Basilio?” the male asked.
Basilio looked at the male. He scented of a big cat, so he figured this must be a member of Roman’s Pride family.
“Yes,” Basilio said, standing.
The man stuck his hand out waiting for Basilio to take it and shake. “I’m Riley Colter. We’ve been waiting for you. Glad you made it.”
Basilio smiled wide, shaking the male’s hand, realizing this was the alpha that had offered them sanctuary. “Thank you, Alp… Riley,” he corrected, looking around the diner, not sure if the locals knew about Riley and his Pride.
“You’re welcome. And Libby’s right. You do bear a striking resemblance to Roman. Should have known it was you when you walked in.”
“Haven’t seen him in years. I was a kid when he went off to join the military, but I’m looking forward to seeing him today.”
Riley’s eyes glanced out of the window and he grinned. “Here he comes. Libby must have texted him to let him know you were here.”
Basilio turned and looked out of the window. His smile was huge as he watched his Uncle Roman jogging across the highway and turning toward the diner.
“Here ya go, little man,” Libby said, sliding a plate with Kaiser’s funnel cake on it in front of him.
“Thank you,” Kaiser said, wasting no time diving right in.
“I’m going to meet Uncle Roman,” Basilio said. “You mind?” he asked Renata.
“Not at all, go right ahead,” Renata answered.
He rushed out of the diner and straight toward Roman. They both wore huge smiles and embraced several times before they started for the diner together.
Renata smiled watching them, then turned to face Riley as he spoke to her, introducing himself.
“Hey, I’m Riley. Welcome,” Riley said to Renata.
“Hi. I’m Renata. This is Kaiser,” she said, reaching out to touch Kaiser’s shoulder, while he chomped on funnel cake, powered sugar already dusting his face.
“Welcome,” Riley said. “That’s my daughter’s favor
ite, too,” Riley said to Kaiser. Then he focused on Renata. “You have no more worries. Breathe easy.”
“I already am a little. Having Basilio at my side has been…” she hesitated, searching for the correct word, “interesting. But he’s also managed to make me feel at ease. Being here, though, I don’t want to cause anyone any stress or trouble,” Renata said.
“You’re not. We take care of our own. You and Basilio are part of Roman’s world, that makes you part of ours. You’ve got nothing to worry about anymore.”
Renata nodded and looked down, using her napkin to blot her mouth and disguise the fact that she’d begun to tear up.
“It’s okay,” Riley said, stepping closer to her and placing a hand on her shoulder.
“I just know that at some point,” she glanced over at Kaiser, then up at Riley, “he’s going to track us down.”
“When he does, he’ll find a devoted male at your side waiting for him. And if your male needs backup, we’ll be there, too. There’s no excuse for what you’ve had to endure. It’s over now.” Riley looked up as Roman and Basilio came back into the diner.
Roman paused to hug the girl at the front register, then moved on into the diner. “Morning,” he said to Riley. Then he looked across the diner and called out to the cook, the waitress and what must have been the family of the alpha. Roman looked down at the table and realized Basilio and his family were in the middle of breakfast. “Ya’ll sit down and finish your meal. There’s no rush,” he said.
“Join us,” Basilio said, indicating the extra chair. “We could pull in extra chairs…” Basilio offered, looking up at Riley as he took his own seat.
“Naw, ya’ll go ahead and catch up. We’ll meet up in a little bit at Roman’s,” Riley said. “But for now, that there’s Richie, his woman Yvette is at the register. Libby’s your waitress. That’s my wife, Maia, and my little ones over in the booth. You’ll meet the rest later. This place is ours, so feel free to come in anytime you want. We all glad you here.”
Everyone waved and greeted them, and Basilio and Renata waved back.
“Thank you, Riley. I appreciate it more than you know,” Basilio said.
Safe On Base Page 7
