“This looks great,” she said to Jeff, giving him a hug. “It reminds me of what it was like when I was little.” Jeff hugged Nonna back.
“Look at the floors,” he said pointing down. “I’ve cleaned off all of the dust and mopped them. I think there’s hope.”
Serena and Nonna looked down at the floors, then walked around the parlor and into the hallway. The floors were richly colored oak planks in remarkable shape.
“I think a coat of varnish is all they need,” Jeff said.
Nonna looked at him. “You’re right, Jeff. I think that’s all they need.” She was so happy she was beaming.
“I’ll do that,” Jeff said. “I might have to get out of here for a few days while the varnish dries.”
“You can stay with us!” Nonna said excitedly. “You haven’t stayed with us for a long time. We’d love to have you.”
Jeff looked over at Serena, who kept her face completely blank. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Jeff staying with them. She wasn’t sure at all.
“I think that’s a plan,” he said to Nonna.
********************
A few days later, Serena was in the kitchen working with Jimmy and Olive on the evening’s menu when Jeff came in the back door. He had a thin black and white kitten that looked to be about six months old in his arms and a pleading look on his face.
“Can we keep her?” he said to Serena when she walked over. She reached her hand out and rubbed the cat on its head and behind its ears. When she was growing up, she had always had a cat. Kitty, named so by Nonna, was a tabby who had a litter of three kittens before they got her fixed. Adrianna had insisted on keeping all of the kittens and Nonna gave in. “But only if we get them fixed,” she said. So they got them all fixed, and for a while, they had four cats. Serena had loved them all, but one by one, they met their fate. When Serena left for culinary school, there was one cat remaining, Boxer. He had white paws that looked like boxing gloves. He was pretty old when Serena left.
Adrianna found him dead in the yard one day.
“We aren’t getting any more pets,” Adrianna told Serena when she called her to give her the news. “It’s too hard when they die. I can’t deal with it.”
Serena smiled at the cat and then looked at Jeff, still smiling. “What’s her name?” she asked.
“I haven’t named her yet,” Jeff said. “What do you think would be a good name?”
Serena studied the cat, hoping a name would come to her. But nothing did.
“I think you should name her,” she finally said. “She’s yours.”
Jeff looked at her gratefully. “I’ll let you know when I come up with it,” he said, walking toward the staircase. “I’ll put her upstairs and go get a litter box and some food.”
When he came back down, he called into the kitchen. “I’ve named her Rosie,” he said. “I found her by the rosemary bushes, so I’m calling her Rosie.”
Serena smiled at him and put her thumb up. “I like it,” she called to him. Rosie. What a sweet name for a little kitten. She felt unreasonably happy about the kitten and its name. She couldn’t help herself. She smiled for a long time.
A few days later, Jeff brought Rosie downstairs.
“I think she wants to go out,” he said. “I think she needs the outdoors.”
“Probably,” Serena agreed. “Do you think she’ll stick around?”
“I don’t know. I guess I’ve got to give it a shot.” He walked out the back door and Serena followed him. He put Rosie down and the kitten stayed by his side for a few minutes, rubbing around his legs and Serena’s legs. Then she began to venture out into the yard. Jeff and Serena stood and watched her. A few minutes later, Rosie ran back up to the patio and Jeff picked her up. “Time to go back upstairs, Rosie,” he said. He kissed the cat and Serena’s heart melted at the sight. Big Jeff kissing a cat. She leaned over and kissed Rosie, too. She loved her.
Within a couple of weeks, Rosie was going in and out like an old pro. She had fattened up into a beautiful cat. Jeff let her outside every morning and took her in before he started his shift. Serena had started cutting up shrimp and fish for Rosie and giving it to Jeff every night to take to her. Rosie was Rossetti’s cat in every sense of the word.
Nonna called the cat Rosita. “Maybe that’s what I should’ve named her,” Jeff said to Serena one night at the bar. “Rosita.”
“Rosie is a good name,” Serena said. “That’s just Nonna’s way. She always has a special name. I’m surprised she doesn’t call you Jeffie.”
They laughed at the thought. Serena looked over and Angela was at the end of the bar, waiting on Jeff. She was drumming her fingers on the bar.
“You’d better go, Jeffie,” she said with a laugh. “Looks like Angela has an order.”
Steven came in then and Serena spent the rest of the evening talking to him. At one point, he reached over and rubbed Serena on her thigh and she felt tingles in her spine. It wasn’t long before they left the bar and Serena followed him back to his house. It was August and it was hot and sticky. Steven cracked the window so they could hear the waves, but the ceiling fan whirred above them and the air conditioning was on. They made hot and sticky love.
And then Steven had to go out of town again. He went out of town a lot, Serena thought. He was going back to Tampa to present the Florida panhandle’s statistics.
“They do it every year,” Steven said. “It’s my first year to present, so I’ve got to do a good job.”
“How long will you be gone?” Serena asked him.
“I’m thinking three days. I’d like to say two days, but I don’t think that’ll work. I’ll have to drive to Tampa, present for two days, then drive back.”
“Why didn’t they do that when they had the annual meeting?” she asked him. “It doesn’t seem efficient to have another annual meeting so close to the other one.”
“I agree,” Steven said emphatically. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a say in it. That other meeting was more administrative, and I am the administrator of this branch of the institute. This meeting is focused on statistics.”
Serena was getting used to Steven going out of town. On the second night he was gone, she sat at the bar and Jeff brought her a drink.
“What’s this?” she said looking suspiciously at the martini glass. The drink was pale green in color.
“It’s something I’ve been working on,” Jeff said. “If you like it, I’m thinking of making it a house drink. It’s a Rossetini,” he said.
Serena took a tentative sip. The chilled martini met her lips and she swished it in her mouth before swallowing. She took another sip.
“This is very refreshing,” she said. “I like it.”
“I was thinking we could offer a special price on it at first. So customers would know about it. What do you think?”
“I like the idea of having a specialty drink,” Serena said. She sat at the bar and sipped on the martini. She noticed that Angela wasn’t there.
“Where’s Angela?” she asked Jeff when he came over between orders.
“She went to New Orleans with some friends. Some kind of reunion, but I couldn’t tell you what. Cindy’s taking her place for a couple of days.”
Serena looked behind her and saw the dinner waitress, Cindy, taking drink orders. She would make a lot of tips. Maybe Serena should consider letting Cindy work some nights in the bar, if Cindy liked it.
Joe was at the piano, playing smooth jazz and singing the occasional song. Serena looked over at him and waved. He nodded his head at her and smiled. He started to sing a Frank Sinatra classic, “All the Way.” Serena had grown up in Rossetti’s listening to Joe sing Frank Sinatra and she knew every word to the song.
“When somebody loves you it’s no good unless he loves you, all the way,” Joe sang in his smooth voice. Jeff said something to Sandy and came around the bar to Serena’s stool.
“What are you doing?” she asked, laughing.
“I’m asking you to dance,” Jef
f said. “May I have this dance?”
Serena slid off of the barstool and took Jeff’s hand. He led her to the dance area while Joe sang, “Happy to be near you, when you need someone to cheer you all the way.”
Jeff led her slowly around the dance floor. Serena noticed that customers were watching them.
“Taller than the tallest tree is, that’s how it’s got to feel. Deeper than the deep blue see is, that’s how deep it goes, if it’s real,” Joe sang.
Jeff held her close and Serena melted against him. She caught Joe’s eye when Jeff twirled her and he winked at her. His smile was big as he sang the song and played the piano. She loved Joe.
After the dance, Serena went over to Joe to thank him.
“I remember you loved that song when you were a little girl,” he said. “I played it special for you tonight.”
“Thank you,” Serena said giving Joe a hug. “I needed to hear that tonight.”
“I knew that,” Joe said.
It was Joe’s last song of the night, and he closed the piano. “I’ll see you, Serena,” he said as he walked out the door. Serena waved at Joe. Jeff and Sandy both waved goodnight to Joe.
The last customers left and Sandy and Jeff started closing down the bar. It was a much more simple process than closing down the kitchen. Serena really did need to get going, but she stayed, sipping on a last drink. Jeff came over to her.
“I’ve finished the painting in the other rooms,” he said.
“Really?” Serena said. She couldn’t believe that.
“Yeah. It’s just painting, nothing hard.”
“Does it look good?” Serena asked.
“Why don’t you come up and see for yourself,” Jeff said. And then he added, “Rosie would like to see you.”
“Okay,” she said.
A few minutes later, Jeff and Sandy finished wiping down the bar and Sandy left. Jeff walked over to the stairs. “Come on,” he said, motioning with his hand. She followed him up the stairs and into the parlor. Jeff led her from room to room of the upstairs. The golden ecru had been the right color.
They walked into Jeff’s bedroom, which he had also painted a golden ecru.
“This looks gorgeous,” Serena said, turning around in the room. She turned again and Jeff caught her. He started to dance with her again, though there was no music. Serena laughed.
“There’s not even any music,” she said.
Jeff walked over to his dresser and turned on a radio. It was playing classic rock, and it was a slow one. U2 singing “With or Without You.” Jeff turned off the overhead light and lit a candle. He took Serena in his arms and danced with her slowly. She felt loose from the drinks and the dance they had already shared that night. Jeff pulled her close against his body and she pressed herself against him as they danced. She rested her head on his shoulder, but after a minute, he lifted her head and leaned down to kiss her. She opened her mouth and kissed him back.
Jeff led Serena to his bed and laid her back on the comforter. He took off her shoes and gently undressed her. His hands awakened every nerve ending in her body as he smoothed them across her thighs, brushed them across her breasts. As he undressed, Serena was waiting, wanting to feel him beside her, inside of her. Finally, he was free of his clothes and Serena saw his body in the candlelight, coming toward her. She held out her arms, taking him in close to her, kissing him. The radio continued to play, but it was only a backdrop to their lovemaking. Jeff made love to her tenderly, as he had the last time they had been together. It was different from the wild and ferocious lovemaking she and Steven had been having lately. Serena felt loved by Jeff. She felt adored.
When she woke up early the next morning, Serena didn’t know where she was for a few seconds. Then it all dawned on her. She was in Jeff’s bed and he was sleeping peacefully beside her.
What the hell was she doing?
Jeff woke up and looked at her.
“Don’t tell me you’re regretting last night,” he said.
“I don’t know what to think about that,” Serena said. “I just know I’ve got to get home. Nonna will wonder where I am.” She got out of bed and started putting her clothes on.
“Serena, come here,” Jeff said gently. She looked at him like he was crazy. He held out his arms and she fell on the bed and into his arms. She started crying. Jeff smoothed her hair.
She pulled away from him. “What are we doing?” she asked. “What am I doing? I’m in love with Steven.” She cried again.
“Are you?” Jeff asked. “Are you in love with Steven?”
“Yes!” she said. “And what about Angela? Aren’t you in love with her?”
“No,” Jeff said. “No, I’m not in love with Angela. I’m in love with you.”
“That’s not possible,” she said. “That is not possible. You didn’t care about me when we dated.”
“I admit that we had a very. . . .” He searched for the right word. “Uncommitted relationship,” he finally said. “I thought that’s what you wanted. You seemed so standoffish.”
“Standoffish!” Serena scoffed. “You were the one who was standoffish.”
“Maybe we both were standoffish,” Jeff said. “I just know that you didn’t seem like you wanted a relationship and I guess I didn’t want one either. I was too busy climbing the ladder to partnership.”
“What made you change?” Serena said. “What made you so different when you came to my mother’s funeral?”
“When your mother died, I realized that you were suffering. I knew what that was like from when my Nonna died. I wanted to comfort you.”
Serena sat sniffling on Jeff’s bed. “I don’t understand,” she said.
“I had been struggling for a while with what I was doing for a living. I was defending big corporations when I didn’t really believe in it. I was working eighty hours a week. When your mother died, it made me take a hard look at myself.”
“What do you mean?” Serena said. “Why should that affect you?”
“It made me realize that I hadn’t been doing right with you. I liked you a lot, but I was allowing us to have a meaningless relationship. I didn’t want that anymore. I want my life to have meaning.”
Serena was confused by everything Jeff was saying. “You should have told me that,” she said, “before I got involved with Steven. You should have said that. Now we’re both involved with other people.”
Jeff put his arm over Serena and kissed the side of her face. She turned to him, offering him her mouth, and he took it, kissing her deeply and tenderly. He took off her panties, the only thing she had managed to put on, and moved inside of her again. Serena’s mind told her to push him away and get up and leave, but her body told her to stay. She stayed, pulling him deeper and deeper inside of her until she moaned out loud with pleasure.
“It’s getting windy,” she said later, as she and Jeff lay in bed. She was worried what Nonna would think about her being out all night. Nonna knew Steven was out of town. Where did she think Serena was?
“The hurricane’s coming,” Jeff said.
“What hurricane?”
Hurricane Isaac,” Jeff said. “Haven’t you been following the news?”
Serena had not been following the news. She had been working and obsessing about Steven. That’s all she ever did. That’s all she thought about.
“It’s supposed to hit sometime tomorrow,” Jeff said.
Serena jumped out of bed. “I’ve got to get home,” she said. “Nonna will wonder where I am. I’m embarrassed to have been gone all night like this. She knows Steven is gone.”
Jeff leaned up on his elbow. “Just tell her you were safe with me,” he said. “She won’t mind.”
“I’m sure you’re right about that,” she said smiling. She opened the bedroom door and Rosie walked in and jumped on the bed. “Rosie’s hungry,” she said as she walked away.
Serena was grateful that Nonna wasn’t home when she got there. She didn’t feel like facing her grandmother’s
questions. She checked her phone for the first time since last night, and Nonna had called her and left a voice message. She had texted her. Serena felt guilty and called Nonna right away.
“Nonna, I’m sorry I missed your call and your text,” she said. And before her grandmother could say anything at all, Serena said, “I was with Jeff. I went up to look at the paint job and we started listening to music and I just fell asleep. I’m sorry. I know you were worried.”
“Yes, I was worried, cara. But I feel better knowing you were with Jeff.” Serena knew that she would.
“I’m sorry, Nonna.”
“It’s okay. I’ll get over it. Did you know there’s a hurricane coming?”
“Yes, Jeff told me. I had no idea.”
“I think we’re going to be closed tomorrow,” Nonna said. “It’s already getting very windy. I think we need to hunker down.”
“I agree. I’ll come in later and do the dinner crowd and then I’ll close it up.”
Serena checked the rest of her messages. Steven had left two voice messages and several text messages. He said he was on his way back home. Serena was afraid to call him back. She worried he might hear something in her voice that she didn’t want him to hear.
She was very confused.
Serena went to work as usual. She called Sandy and told him they were closing Rossetti’s after dinner and he shouldn’t come in. He sounded relieved. “I’m worrying about the hurricane,” he said. “I want to go inland to my parents and check on them.”
“Go ahead,” Serena said. She spotted Rosie out the back door and opened it to let her in. Rosie headed for the stairs and Serena went up after her. When she walked into the parlor, she called Jeff’s name. He came out of his bedroom and walked down the hallway toward her.
“Rosie’s here,” she said. “It’s getting kind of bad outside. We’re going to close after dinner tonight so you don’t need to come down.”
“I know,” he said. “Elena called me. She asked me to come to the cottage to stay with y’all during the storm.”
“Oh,” Serena said. “Okay. I’ll see you later then.”
She walked downstairs and started working on dinner with Jimmy and Olive. A few customers came in that night, but everyone was gone by eight. “Let’s close up,” Serena said. “Let’s all get to our safe places.”
Serena's Choice - Coastal Romance Series Page 12
