Friends in High Places

by Toni DeMaio

  “His name isn’t on the deed to the home you and Leo bought together is it Lisa?” Gino quickly asked.

  She shook her head, “No, absolutely not.”

  “Good,” said Gino, “So he isn’t the head of any house. And I’ll watch the kids while you and Mario can work together here on Saturday nights.”

  “I think there’s a better solution, Son,” Mama Maria said, putting her firm grip around Gino’s shoulders this time. “You work weekends and need to keep them free and I believe Kat and Meri Donovan will have a wonderful time with the children. You should hear how the bambinos talk about both of you,” she said, beaming at mom and me. “They love you and we all thank you for your kind offer on behalf of our family. So tomorrow night is the perfect time for the children to start staying with you both. Let’s tell them now. I know they will be so excited!”

  Mama Maria looked deeply into my eyes as she stepped toward me and enveloped me in a soft and very firm hug. “You have much love to give, Kat. I thank you for loving my grandchildren. I know they will be safe with you.”

  “You, Meri, You’re a strong mama like me,” she added, giving mom a hug too. “We are like sisters.”

  “And Gino,” Mom said, quickly, “if you’re free any Saturday evening please join the fun at my place. We’d all love that.”

  He reached out for mom and gave her a huge hug. “I would love it too, Mrs. Donovan, thanks for asking.”

  He grinned at me over her shoulder and my heart leaped into my throat. Maybe it wasn’t done between us yet. The next hurdle to get over would be telling him I’m Tori’s biological mother when I received the DNA results and had absolute proof. I had no doubt they would come back positive but I could only imagine how he was going to take that shocking bit of news. I’d had several weeks to get used to the idea, but I’d be springing it on him out of the blue.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  ANGEL

  Early mornings I sit out on my deck high above the mountains. I’ve imagined this place and drawn it into my reality which is always the first step in manifesting all things…good or bad. So with divine blessing I co-created this beautiful heavenly home.

  I’ve always loved log cabins and this one stands on top of the tallest mountain I could imagine with a breathtaking view of the valley below. I especially wanted to have it built up off the ground on stone pillars so the wild river I’ve always loved from back home can rush forever beneath me before spilling over the cliff and down the steep incline in a powerful and very beautiful waterfall.

  My deck is made of glass, and my waterfall is often filled with rainbows. I love meditating out here and just blending in as one with the beauty surrounding me; and all recreated from my best earthly memories.

  The birds; parrots, love birds, and doves, along with many smaller ones, like parakeets and canaries are always around, and often swoop in to visit us and Rocky loves having them around even more than he did in life; just purring and watching now. Here, in spirit, surrounded by perfect harmony and peace, he no longer feels the need to hunt.

  Today is Saturday on earth and we sit in silence, as we do each morning, while I pray for the strength I will need this evening when I face down the powerful evil living in Uncle Mario.

  As I sit in the white light of divine protection I know I am ready for this battle and I am confident I’m equal to this assignment. The soul of the frightened girl I had been so many years ago as a victim of the same kind of evil, has done her work in the safety of this plane of existence. I have connected to divine source, opened my soul to the healing power of love, forgiveness and acceptance. Now I will do everything possible to protect the children and expose that evil. To put it in earthly terms, the force will be with me tonight in the deepest sense.

  At peace, I sit bathed in love and listen as I connect with spirit and receive my final instructions. I am not to interfere with the free choice of the human beings involved and I am not to alter the learning path, the sacred contracts to experience certain events in life, previously entered into by any of them, but I am also ready and able to step in and answer all prayers for divine help, just as I have been taught to do. Your spirit guides are really like your safety net, but we can only help when you ask us, otherwise we would be interfering. So remember to ask when you need help.

  ***

  The day is sunny, crisp and cold in the Pocono Mountains. The weather is giving no hint of the danger ahead…

  At Gino’s place, I watch Tori and feel her anxiety as she sits in the middle of her bed, surrounded by dolls, lacy pillows and stuffed animals that clearly show how much they have been loved and needed since her mom, Linda, made her transition. She is hunched over her diary; writing quickly, pouring her fear through the pen and onto the pages.

  Dear Diary,

  Today is finally Saturday, the day Uncle Mario has planned his sick party with Gia and me. Thank God for Kat and Mrs. Donovan. They are our earth angels, just like Angel said, and because of them we will all be safe tonight. But I’m still sick to my stomach at the thought of how mad Uncle Mario will be when he realizes he won’t be having any more chances to mess with Gia or to start messing with me because now Daddy and Aunt Lisa have both agreed we can spend weekends with the Donovans. I guess we can thank Grandma Maria for that because she is the real boss of this family.

  Gia is still making me crazy though, because on the phone this morning she said this is going to push Uncle Mario over the edge when he realizes we’ve found a way to avoid him for good and that I have no idea how crazy and horrible and dangerous he is. She says all this is going to do is make him do something even worse, like maybe kill all of us kids and maybe Aunt Lisa too.

  I really wish I could just go to sleep right now and see Angel and talk to her about it just one more time. But last time I saw her she said to have faith and pray for her help

  so she can step in and really it does look like things are getting better. I mean, at least we won’t have to face Uncle Mario tonight and the boys will be safe, too. I know we’ll all be safe if only for tonight. I just wish I could convince Gia of that!

  “Tori! Anthony! Are you both packed?” Gino calls up from downstairs, “It’s almost time to leave for Mrs. Donovan’s.”

  I have to stop writing now. Daddy’s calling us.

  I watch Tori close the diary while the door springs open and Anthony bursts into the room; so excited he’s practically flying through the air. He lands on the bed just as Tori drops to the floor and shoves her diary under the mattress.

  “Get out of my room, you little freak!” she screams, “Don’t you know you’re supposed to knock first. I could be naked in here.”

  Anthony bursts out laughing and collapses in giggles. “Like anybody cares if you’re naked!” he screams, “You’re crazy, Tori!” He leaps back up and begins jumping up and down on the bed as if it were a trampoline.

  “Stop it!” Tori shouts, “Dad! Get him out of my room!” she bellows, just as Gino appears in the doorway and, due to all the jumping, Tori’s diary begins to peek out from its hiding place.

  “Both of you cut it out and let’s get going,” Gino says, “Now.”

  Both kids immediately began scrambling for their bags, and soon everyone is bumping along down the stairs. I grab the end of the diary and tug once so it will fall and land open on the floor, then I make sure the pages are turned to Tori’s last entry, just in case we need reinforcements later tonight.

  ***

  As it turns out, things are heating up fast at Lisa and Mario’s.

  “What do you people expect from me?” Mario bellows from under the heavy quilt on the bed he shares with his wife. “I’m sick and I don’t give a rat’s ass what Mama is going to say about me not showing up for work tonight.”

  “I know you’re not a hundred percent, Mario, but it just looks suspicious when you call out the first Saturday night you’re supposed to be taking over as head chef; especially when you were so ungrateful and nasty to her when
she announced your promotion,” Lisa says in a tone of voice that shows little sympathy for her husband’s ‘illness’.

  “Screw my fake promotion!” Mario shouts, “She’s just trying to keep me from having a relationship with the kids and drive a wedge between us. I’m sick of you never taking my side, Lisa. Who are you married to anyway; me or your mama’s restaurant?”

  “You’re acting like a big baby. I’m in the middle here, Mario, and I don’t see why you can’t understand it. That restaurant is what puts a roof over our heads and food on the table. We were raised with a strong work ethic and sometimes I feel as if I’m doing it all on my own around here. You say you’d rather be hanging out here on Saturday nights with the kids. But all you’d really be doing is yelling at them because everything they do pisses you off and you’d be drinking beer because that’s your only real hobby.”

  She spun away from the mirror where she’d been applying her make-up, to face him. “You just don’t get it, Mario. I was relieved when Mama said you’d be working with me and I was so glad you’d be there to help me close up tonight. It’s like you could care less if we spend time alone together and it’s hard to believe you don’t realize I’d feel much safer if you were there when I count the money and lock the money in the safe. I’m nervous every Saturday night when I leave and run to my car. There isn’t a soul around there.”

  “That’s right, there isn’t a soul around that place in the middle of the night so why waste your time being scared?”

  “You’re an asshole, Mario,” Lisa says, glaring at him as she fastens her hoop earrings and steps into her heels. “I’m dropping the kids off at Mrs. Donovan’s on my way in to set up for lunch. I just hope Mama was able to get somebody to cover your double shift.”

  “It isn’t even right for me to cook for the customers when I’m sick as a dog,” Mario grumbles, “Just tell Mama I’d be there if I could. And since I’m going to be home, after all, there isn’t any reason to drop the kids at the Donovan’s, I can keep an eye on them here like I always do. ”

  “No thanks,” Lisa says, “I don’t need them getting sick, too, and missing school. You just rest and get better. There’s soup and herbal tea in the fridge. You need to throw this thing off because we need you back at work.”

  “Yeah, yeah…like I said, that restaurant is all you care about it.”

  Lisa gave Mario one last dirty look, then slammed the bedroom door as she left.

  “Bitch…just like her kid,” he muttered under his breath, as he sat up and punched her pillow hard enough to shake the bed.

  Mario didn’t take it well when people put a stop to his plans. His attempt to outsmart everyone and still have his ‘party’ with Gia and Tori had failed. He looked more dangerous than usual, as if he was getting ready to explode and I braced myself as I drew nearer to tap into his twisted thoughts.

  And I found this monster had a plan B ready to put into action. He stood and grabbed his robe, determined to have a word with Gia before she left with her mother for my mom’s place. He planned to frighten her into agreeing to pretend she’s coming down with the same imaginary illness he was faking so he could drive over and pick her up this evening. He was going to make it clear to Gia that if she didn’t do it, and convince Tori to come back with her, he was going to make sure Sal and Anthony had an accident; a very bad accident.

  I stepped in front of him and whispered into his ear as he poked around under the bed with his foot, attempting to find his slippers. “Not on my watch you won’t, Asshole. Not on my watch.”

  He spun around in a circle, his eyes wide; then stopped and shook his head. “Maybe I am getting sick,” he whispered, “Now I’m hearing things.”

  ***

  I decided to zip over to Mama Maria’s to see if Gino had stopped over there for an early lunch and, just as I’d thought, I found him sitting at a small side table, sharing an antipasto with Brian Jr. of all people. I decided to listen in on their conversation, hoping

  Gino would finally realize my sister Kat and Brian Jr. would never be getting together in any way other than as step-siblings. And if he didn’t realize it, I planned to influence the conversation in that direction to help things along.

  They were talking football, but they looked up when Lisa walked in, waved, and came toward them.

  “Hey, two of my favorite guys,” she said, “I think I’ll grab a cup of coffee before the mob comes in and sit with you guys for a minute; ready for coffee and dessert?”

  In a few minutes she was back with three cups of coffee and three pieces of Mama’s cheesecake. “On the house,” she said, putting the biggest piece down in front of Brian Jr.

  He beamed at her as if she was the most gorgeous woman in the world and Gino nearly dropped his fork. I tapped into his thoughts and with relief, watched the truth finally began to sink into his confused mind as he realized Brian Jr. was and always would be in love with his sister, Lisa, who, it seemed, was just as crazy about him in spite of the sad fact she had married that creep Mario on the rebound and was living to regret it. Apparently no more so than at this very moment when she and Brian were locked in a deep conversation. It was almost as if Gino and the restaurant around them had ceased to exist.

  It was a beautiful and tragic truth. That’s what Gino was thinking. And since divorce wasn’t a word in Mama’s vocabulary, Gino was sad for his sister and for Brian, who wasn’t such a bad guy after all. He sat sipping his coffee and trying to think of a solution to their huge problem.

  Because he hadn’t yet drawn the obvious conclusion that if Brian was still hopelessly in love with his sister, then he most likely wasn’t at all in love with Kat, I decided to help things along. I leaned in between Brian and Lisa, and I got through to Lisa first.

  “Ask him about Kat,” I whispered, “You know you’re curious about how he really feels about her. Remind him again how his dad and her mom are getting married soon.”

  I felt relieved when Lisa said, “So Brian, has it fully sunk in yet that you and Kat are soon going to be brother and sister? Anyone who saw the way Meri Donovan and your dad were cozying up at the party would assume it’ll happen before the end of the year.”

  Brian broke into a warm grin. “You must be psychic Lisa! I have some inside info that my dad is planning a big sparkly surprise for Meri this Christmas Eve. But don’t say anything, either of you,” he added, shooting a look at Gino, who sat with his mouth hanging open looking as silly as he was beginning to feel.

  “I’ve always wanted a sister,” Brian continued, “And it took me a minute to realize Kat has been like a sister to me since I got back in town. We’re hoping she’s the maid of honor and I’m the best man, but we’ll go with the flow. They might even elope to the islands! I haven’t seen my dad so happy in years.”

  I felt sorry for Gino. He looked totally miserable as the complete truth dawned on him. Kat had told him there wasn’t anything but friendship between her and Brian and he hadn’t listened to her. He should have believed her without question and now he wondered if she’d ever forgive him.

  He figured he must have been blinded by jealousy the night he came running up the steps of the bed and breakfast and found them hugging and…since Brian Jr.’s broad shoulders blocked his view of Kat, he hadn’t actually seen them kiss. So maybe he was just projecting his desire to kiss Kat into the situation. If he’d been hugging Kat it would have definitely turned into a kiss.

  He was an idiot. At least that’s what he was thinking. Kat had tried to set him straight more than once, but he was just too stubborn to listen. Linda had always said that was his only fault…at least in her eyes. Was it too late for them? He wondered if Kat would ever give him another chance.

  “Yes, of course she will!” I whispered in his ear, “She loves you, too.” I kept sending him these positive thoughts, “You can’t give up, Gino! Now’s the time to be stubborn! Never give up on true love.”

  ***

  At the Bed and Breakfast Mom and Kat a
nd all the Rossi kids were chattering and laughing and decorating the first floor from one end to the other, as well as the two trees Mom always had; one in the front room and a bigger one in the game room. Brian Sr. had brought the tall ladder in from the shed out back and he was stringing colored lights twisted with evergreen along the mantel piece and over the archway into the dining room, then all around and down the banister of the long staircase to the upstairs.

  The second and larger tree, already brilliant with tiny twinkling lights stood tall in the corner of the game room. Both Gia and Tori had been put in charge of placing Mom’s collection of crystal angels among the branches, an even bigger honor since I’d passed over and mom loved the angels even more as I’d been the one to give them to her our last Christmas together.

  Gia’s hands trembled noticeably and Tori closed her own hands over her cousins trying to steady and reassure her. “Calm down. He can’t get to us here no matter what he threatens to do,” Tori whispered.

  “But you don’t understand…This morning just before Mommy brought us over here, he grabbed me and pulled me into their bedroom. He pulled me by the neck, and lifted me right off the ground, and it really hurt.”

  Tears were streaking down her trembling cheeks and Tori hugged her, even as her stomach turned, “That’s terrible. Where was Aunt Lisa?”

  “She was waiting for me out in the car with Anthony. I was the last one out when he grabbed me just as they were closing the door after them. He said if I don’t tell Mrs. Donovan I’m coming down with the sickness he’s pretending to have and if you and I don’t call him and ask him to come and get us tonight he is done waiting and he’s going to make sure Sal and Anthony have a bad accident…Tori I’m scared he’s going to kill them this time…What are we going to do?”