Pieces (Riverdale #1)

by Janine Infante Bosco

  Cara turned and looked at him for a moment. “I wish I had a place like this.”

  “It could be our place.” He said softly, taking her hand in his.

  “Why do you do that?” She asked absentmindedly.

  His eyebrows furrowed, and he looked at her. “Why do I do what?”

  “Share everything with me.” She cocked her head to the side and tried to jumble the thoughts that were spiraling in her mind. If something went wrong in her life, he searched for the resolution. If she was missing something, he made sure she had it. Whenever she felt like she was drowning, he was her lifeline, her S.O.S.

  “Because I want to;” He said so simply, and she wondered if it really was that simple.

  “You know one day you’re going to get married and want to share all these things with your wife, you should really keep some of these places for her.” She said half joking, half pondering the inevitable. She choked on her words, for that day, scared the shit out of her. He slung one arm around her shoulders and tugged her closer to him.

  “Marriage is over rated and definitely not in my foreseeable future.” He laughed and pressed his lips to the top of her head. “Besides, you’re my person, if I don’t have you to share things with, they’re not as meaningful.”

  “You don’t mean that. You told me yourself you want kids one day.” She said, leaning her head against his shoulder. They’ve sat like this time after time, but tonight there was a certain intimacy about the way they held each other, so comfortably.

  “True.” He waited a beat and then began again. “So what do you say, if we’re both still single in five years, you and I get married and have a kid or two?”

  She shook her head and a small chuckle escaped her lips. “Sure, Jake. Whatever, you say.” She looked up at him when he tugged on a strand of her hair, lightly. “Hey.”

  “Hey, yourself, I’m serious. You want kids too, two to be exact. You don’t want your kid to be an only child like you. And if we’re getting into specifics you want a boy first so he can watch out for the girl.”

  Cara looked at him, shocked that he remembered exactly how she pictured her future family. She often allowed herself to dream of what it would be like to have a family of her own. She could always see the kids, but never the face of the man she would call her husband. She would bet, that Jake remembered that too.

  “Who better to have kids with, than your best friend, no? Seems like a no brainer to me.” Jake said completely sure of himself. She smiled at him. She loved that about him. When he was adamant about something, he owned it with his whole being.

  “Okay, if in five years from now, neither one of us are in a relationship, we’ll get hitched and have some babies.” She shook her head at the ridiculousness of her agreement, and the fact that she was sincere. He dropped his arm from her shoulders and held his hand to her.

  “Come on now, it’s not real unless we shake on it.” He raised an eyebrow and waited for her to shake hands on their promise to one another. Cara slid her hand into his and they shook hands, sealing the deal. “Now that that’s settled, there’s just one more thing.”

  “What’s that?” She asked, curiosity spiking in her voice.

  “About before, and what you said.” She looked at him, trying to remember what she had said. “I’d never take off without you.”

  Realization dawned upon her as the first glimpse of sunlight made its way above the mountains. “Oh, that. I was just kidding around.” She said as she took a deep breath of the fresh air.

  “Kidding around or not, I just want it to be made clear. I need you, Cara, just as much as you need me, if not more.”

  She didn’t look at him; she just continued to take in the view. Without uttering a word, she laced her fingers with his and gave his hand a squeeze. The simple gesture assuring the both of them that, that need would never diminish, for either of them.

  Chapter Three

  It was Sunday, which meant one thing, a big family dinner at the Lanza house. Jake was starving and he and his father, had been fighting Deb Lanza, to throw them a crumb or two since she started cooking, six hours ago. His stomach growled loudly, as the two men tried to trick Luke’s six year old daughter Ava, into grabbing more stuffed animals for their tea party. They made a quick escape into the kitchen. Like two scavengers, they searched high and low for something to pick on, something Deb wouldn’t notice.

  “Joe! Stop picking on those rice balls.” Deb slapped her husband, Joe’s hand with a dish towel. He grunted and reluctantly pulled his hand out from under the tin foil covered tray.

  “Damn it woman, you cook all this food, but no one is allowed to eat it.” He reached behind her, grabbing a breadstick she had wrapped with prosciutto, biting into it angrily. “What? I’m starving!” He said with his mouthful of innocence.

  “Stop picking.” She warned and that was enough for Jake to second guess digging into his mother’s food without her consent.

  “Grandpa!” Ava called as she ran into the kitchen. She was dressed in a pink tutu and a silver princess crown. She carried a plastic wand, that, trailed ribbons. “You are late for the tea party.” She said as she pointed her wand at him.

  “I’m sorry princess, I was starving thought I could grab some food for our tea party.”

  “There’s no food at a tea party, silly. Just tea!” She glanced at Jake, and scowled. She was just as scary as her grandmother if you messed up her tea party. “Uncle Jake! Where is your tiara?”

  Jake watched his father sigh and pretend to cry. “All the women in my life, want me to starve,” said Joe. Ava’s little eyes were staring daggers at Jake, and he scrambled to figure out where he had put the goddamn tiara. He looked around the kitchen, and spotted it on the counter, hurrying over to grab it. He placed it on his head, it was probably crooked, but he didn’t care, he just didn’t want to upset his niece.

  “Here it is, see I’m all ready for the tea party.” Jake said, praying his brother would get his ass here sooner rather than later. He perked up when he heard Sam call out from the front of the house.

  “Hello? Where is everybody?” She called. Then Jake heard another female voice, and sighed with relief that both Sam and Cara were there. They pushed through the kitchen door and Jake looked up at them like they were his savior. He knew he looked ridiculous standing in the middle of the kitchen with a tiara on his head, and the laugh that burst from Cara’s mouth only validated his suspicions. Yep, he looked like a big asshole.

  “Save me,” he pleaded with the two girls.

  “That’s a good look for you.” Cara winked at Jake and he grunted in return, glad his pain amused her.

  “Excuse me, Miss Ava, where is my kiss?” Sam bent down and pointed to her cheek, smiling at the little girl. Ava’s pout disappeared as she ran to her aunt, and threw her arms around her neck. Jake looked at Ava baffled, he had done everything she asked, and she looked like she was the one in pain. “Aunt Sam! Thank God! Grandpa and Uncle Jake don’t know how to play tea party right.”

  Jake frowned. “Hey, kiddo. I wore the crown!” He said as he pointed to the glittering thing on top of his head, no doubt ruining his hair that took him a half hour to do. “That’s more than, Grandpa did.”

  “Jake, zip it. It didn’t fit me. And I got stuck wearing the feather thing, instead!” Joe grunted.

  “Feather thing?” Sam looked up at their mom, for answers.

  Deb rolled her eyes. “He wore a feather boa for two minutes before he spilled sauce on it.”

  Jake chuckled, his father tried so hard not to curse when that had happened. Cara covered her mouth with her hand to hide her laughter. Sam looked back at their father, who had his arms crossed against his chest, sulking. She smiled at him and winked. “You tried, dad.” She said softly, standing up. Jake mused, that’s one thing about his sister, she always had their father’s back, talk about daddy’s little girl. She took Ava’s hand in hers, leading her towards the tea party table.

  “Car
a will you play tea party with me and Aunt Sam?” The little girl asked hopefully.

  Jake placed his hands on Cara’s shoulders and gave her a slight push. He began to speak over her shoulder to Ava. “Cara would love to! In fact,” he took the tiara off his head and placed it on Cara’s head. “She’s been looking forward to it all day.”

  Cara raised an eyebrow and looked over her shoulder at him, then straightened the tiara on her head. “I’d love to play tea party.”

  “Yay!” Exclaimed Ava.

  Jake watched them file out of the kitchen into the living room, perfect time to escape and smoke a much needed cigarette he figured, and excused himself, giving his parents free reign to kill each other over what Joe could or could not eat.

  Jake sat down on one of the Adirondack chairs his parents kept on their front porch. He lit his cigarette and propped his feet on the white railing that wrapped around the house. As he leaned back against the chair, he felt exhaustion overcome him. It was nothing new. Lately he had been constantly battling fatigue; he just hoped it wasn’t mono again. That would really ruin his social life.

  That wasn’t the only thing ruining his social life, he admitted to himself. Lately he couldn’t shake Cara from his mind. He couldn’t figure out what had changed, or why she was constantly on his mind. But lately, he found himself rushing through his dates with Joanna, to see Cara. He noticed it the other night, when he took Joanna bowling, and he felt himself wishing he was with Cara, remembering how competitive she was at the game. It made it more fun for him because he would tease her, and keep the bumpers on for himself, half the time she never caught on because she was too enthralled with finding the perfect angle to get a strike.

  It seemed like every minute he wasn’t with her, he was thinking of her, or counting the minutes until he’d see her. He didn’t know where this was coming from, but he told himself he needed to get a grip on this shit, before it backfired in his face. He grabbed the ashtray that sat on the little table between the two chairs and put his cigarette out, just as Luke’s truck pulled into the driveway. He watched his brother and Nick get out of the truck and make, their way towards him. “Finally, now maybe mom will let us eat.” Jake said, rubbing his hand across his growling stomach.

  Luke laughed, “Sounds like mom. I bet dad, isn’t too happy.”

  Jake’s eyes widened in exaggeration, “Are you kidding me? This dinner may be the end of Deb and Joe as we know it, if she doesn’t give that man something to eat, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”

  “Is everybody here?” Nick asked as he shoved one hand casually into his pocket.

  Jake looked at him and gave him a knowing stare, patting him on the back. “Yes, lover boy. Sam is here.” Then it struck Jake, if Nick and Sam got together, he’d have nothing to tease them about. He made a mental note, realizing he should back off a little.

  Luke opened the door and immediately called out to his daughter. “Ava! Daddy’s here!”

  He glanced behind him and Nick looked stuck standing at the threshold of the house. “What are your feet stuck?”

  Jake raised one eyebrow, from behind Nick, at his brother. He waited for the slight nod, and Luke gave him the go ahead. Jake lifted his knee and kicked Nick in the ass. Snapping out of his trance, he stumbled over the door jamb, catching himself before he tripped.

  “You know I can still kick both your asses without blinking an eye.” He scowled between the two brothers that were too amused to fear the threat.

  “Daddy!” Ava ran to her father and jumped into his waiting arms as Jake closed the door behind them.

  “There’s my princess!” He smiled as he hugged her tightly, carrying her into the living room. He stopped mid stride. Cara and Sam were wearing tiaras, and feather boas, holding up tea cups as his father pretended to pour the tea. Joe, also wearing a feather boa, and was that lipstick? Looked up at his son and dropped the teapot.

  “Thank God. Tea party’s over kids! Deb! Time to eat!” He hollered.

  Luke nuzzled his daughter’s cheek. “Did you drive Grandpa crazy today?”

  “No Daddy. But Grandpa isn’t very good at playing tea party.”

  Nick leaned against the door jamb, his hands stuffed into the pockets of his worn, faded jeans. He nodded towards Cara and smiled, “Hey, Cara.” She looked up and sent one of her dazzling smiles his way, but Nick was immune to her charms, he was too consumed in Sam.

  “Well, well, well. Look what the wind blew in.” Sam said, her voice rich with sarcasm.

  He raised an eyebrow, pushing himself off the door jamb to advance towards her. “Nice to, see you too, sweetheart.” He winked at her. Sam rolled her eyes and glanced at Jake, probably looking for him to save her from the wrath of Nick, all he did was shrug his shoulders. There was no way he was intervening. She sighed and went to walk past Nick, but he grabbed her wrist just as she brushed her hip against his in passing, stopping her in her tracks. “I missed you; did you miss me, Sam?” His voice was all but a whisper.

  Jake chuckled, reminding Nick he wasn’t the only one standing in the living room, and swung his arm around Cara’s shoulders. “Here they go again.” Jake whispered to her before raising his voice so Nick and Sam would hear him. “Hey guys, while we’re all happy to be watching you two go another round, do you think we can maybe eat dinner first?” He looked back to Cara. “You brought the popcorn for later, right?”

  “I even brought the different flavor seasonings,” She said and laced her fingers through Jakes. He spun her around and she dipped under their extended arms. He loved when she played into his shenanigans.

  They were all seated around the dining room table, just like they had so many times before, all in their respective seats. Deb and Joe sat on either end, while Jake, Sam and Nick, occupied one half, and Luke, Ava, and Cara the other. Jake hadn’t realized how much he had missed this, all of them together again. His mother always cooked a huge Sunday dinner, though there were times when all of them hadn’t been able to make it. Nick had been gone for the last six years, leaving one empty chair at the table. He smiled to himself, it was good to have everyone together again.

  “So Nick, when should we expect the delivery?” Luke asked as he cut Ava’s food for her.

  Nick handed Jake the salad bowl and grabbed another platter of food, helping himself as he spoke. “The trailers should be coming in by the end of the week. We probably will have enough work to keep us busy, for at least two months. By then the car shows will be in, full swing.”

  Joe looked up from his plate. “What are you guys doing?”

  “I’ve been buying old classic cars that are on their last days. We’re going to restore them, and flip them to collectors. I have two trailers coming from Seattle. Some really nice cars Joe, you’re going to love them.”

  “You got any bikes on that trailer?” Jake asked, and winked at Cara.

  “Why? Are you looking to buy another one?” She asked him, her eyes wide with curiosity. One ride with him and he had created a monster, he chuckled.

  “Maybe. I was thinking we’ll get his and hers Harleys.” He wiggled his eyebrows at her and bit into a piece of bread, chewing slowly as he watched her eyes light up.

  “You won’t even let the poor girl on the bike you have now.” Luke said and glanced at Cara, “You going to let him tease you like that?”

  Her eyes remained on Jake as she answered his brother, “Actually, your brother took me for a ride the other night.” She blew Jake a kiss and he grinned like a big fool. Yeah, he was in deep shit. He looked over at his brother, giving him a ‘so there’ look.

  “You bought into the garage?” He heard his sister say beside him, breaking him out of his stare down with his brother. By the outrage in her voice, he could tell she was not happy.

  “Well, that was the original plan.” Deb reminded her daughter.

  “Yeah, six years ago.” Sam said as she threw the half eaten piece of bread into her dish, disgusted. Clearly she wasn’t on board wit
h the idea. Jake mentally began counting down, the eruption that would surely come from his little sister.

  Joe took a sip of his wine, thoughtfully, before responding to the situation. “The last six years, Lanza Automotive, grew, a name, a reputation. This expansion is good. It’s the next step for the business.”

  Luke nodded. “If we would’ve jumped into all this six years ago, we might not be where we are now. We pull in good business, just with repairs. This expansion is going to be the gravy as far as I am concerned.”

  “Cara can talk to Rudy, next time she works the bar. I’m sure when he hosts the car show this summer he’ll give you prime space to showcase the new cars too.” Jake added. Hell, he would be on board, seemed good for everyone involved. Maybe down the road, he could persuade his brother and Nick to restore old bikes too. He knew a couple of riding buddies that would be interested in some custom bikes. He knew there was a big market for all kinds of bikes these days.

  “Definitely. I’m working tomorrow night. I’ll throw it out there.” Cara said and she took a sip of her drink before she continued, “I’ve been meaning to ask you Nick, if you found a place to rent or if you’re still at the hotel?”

  Deb’s eyes widened and she averted her gaze, directly to Nick. “What do you mean you have been staying at a hotel?”

  “Well of all the ridiculous things! Why didn’t you tell us, Deb would’ve set the whole basement up for you until you found an apartment,” Joe was just as outraged as Deb. It had always been in their nature to open their home to any of their kid’s friends.

  They had done the same for Cara, when they found out that her father was beating her. Jake was spiraling out of control, trying to keep her safe, and away from her father. When he had gone to his parents, and explained what was going on, they drove her to her house. Her father hadn’t been home, so she packed her things, and they brought her to live with them for six months. He shook the thoughts from his head, trying to get a hold on his emotions. Just thinking about those days, and seeing her beautiful face, swollen and bruised, made him want to go find that piece of shit father of hers, and torture him.