by Rich Amooi
No kick, but he wasn’t expecting one since there was nothing incriminating there. He glanced at Natalie again who still had the cheesecake stranded in no-man’s land between the plate and her mouth. She obviously had her finger on the trigger. The trigger being her foot and the target being his leg again. As painful as it was, he was enjoying her company. He knew he would probably get it good from her but he couldn’t help it. He knew he was just seconds away from another painful kick.
“Really?” said Federico. “It tickled? All my years of kissing Olive and I do not recall a single time when it tickled.”
Giovanni nodded. “Well, honestly, it was most likely from her mustache. I’m pretty sure she was a transvestite.”
Sharp-shooter Natalie gritted her teeth and let her foot fly under the table, connecting directly with Giovanni's shin in the exact same spot.
“Son of a biscuit!” Giovanni yelled, grabbing his shin again. How did she do that? He had to remember to pick her for his team if they ever joined a co-ed soccer league. Still, in between the jabs of throbbing pain he tried hard to contain the laughter that was building up inside.
Federico glanced under the table again. “Another cramp?”
“Yes,” he answered, his voice a few octaves higher this time.
Federico pointed to his cheesecake. “You haven’t touched your dessert yet.”
“Good call.” He took a bite and chewed slowly. “Mmm.” He took another bite and moaned again, looking at Natalie. “So tasty.”
Natalie looked away. “Thank you.”
Was she blushing? He was pretty sure of it.
Giovanni enjoyed the cheesecake and the conversation. The entire evening was wonderful. He was sure he’d have a bruise or two on his leg tomorrow, but he was okay with that. Natalie was a gem. An angel with a devil’s smile.
As they wrapped up the evening Federico smiled and put one hand on Giovanni's shoulder and the other on Natalie’s. “This feels like family to me.”
Giovanni glanced at Natalie and said, “Yeah. Feels good.”
Natalie flashed an insincere smile and turned her back. She stood by the sliding-glass door looking out at the backyard. What was that all about? Was she embarrassed?
Giovanni hugged Federico. “Thanks again for everything. It was an enjoyable evening.”
“Yes! We’ll do it again soon! And next time bring the dog! I don’t mind.”
“Sounds like a plan. I’m sure Precious would like that very much.” He turned and approached Natalie. “It was really a kick seeing you, Natalie.”
Natalie snorted and smiled.
That smile could melt glaciers.
Giovanni smiled and hugged her. “Sleep well.”
She squeezed his arm. “Thanks. You, too.”
What the hell was that arm squeeze all about? Was that some secret code? Maybe he was reading into it too much. But it seemed like something. Her gaze dropped to his mouth.
Son of a biscuit! She’s checking out my lips, I’m sure of it! I can’t kiss her. She’s engaged! That is not kosher. Not gonna do it. Get those thoughts out of your head. Walk away!
His heart pounded as he scooted to the side and slid open the door. “Thanks again.”
“Oh . . .” she said.
Giovanni whipped around and almost knocked her over. “Yes?”
“I’d be happy to go with you tomorrow . . . to deliver the guitar. I have the day off.”
“You would?”
She nodded. “I mean—if you want company. I have some experience working with orphans.”
Giovanni smiled. “That would be great. Thank you. I need to leave the house by nine in the morning, if that’s okay.”
Then she did the unexpected. She got on her tiptoes and kissed Giovanni on the cheek. “See you tomorrow at nine then.”
Okay, what the hell was that? Was that a friendly kiss? A promise-of-more-to-come kiss? A sorry-I-mangled-your-shins kiss?
He had to admit he sucked at reading women. He didn’t look back and marched to the back gate, his heart still drumming a song he hadn’t heard in a long time.
He felt something.
Something good. Something wonderful. Something strong.
And he was pretty sure that something was going to keep him up most of the night.
Chapter Twelve
Sacramento was a little over two hours from Los Gatos. Not the most exciting drive in the world, but much more tolerable with the presence of an attractive woman in the car. Giovanni pretended to look down at the compartment between the seats, then took a quick peek at Natalie.
Scratch that. Not attractive. More like pretty.
Pretty freaking hot!
He glanced over at her again. The more he looked the more beautiful she got. He couldn’t stop looking. At least she didn’t notice—that would be embarrassing.
“You don’t think I can see you doing that?” she asked.
Crap.
What was he thinking? Of course she would notice! She was a cop and she was trained to spot peculiar behavior. Or in his case, idiotic behavior.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” he lied.
“Why were you looking at me?”
Good luck getting out of this one. Maybe he should just tell the truth.
“If there’s a law against looking at a beautiful woman you’ll have to arrest me.”
She snorted. “Nice try . . .”
He glanced over at her and she was grinning. Good sign.
She didn’t speak for a moment and then said, “You think you’re smooth, don’t you?”
“Like a smoothie.”
“You know how ridiculous that sounded?”
Yes. It was pathetic. “That’s all I could come up with at the moment.”
Natalie laughed. “Well, at least you’re honest. Tell me about James.”
“Okay.” He thought about it for a moment. “I don’t know much about him, really. I saw a picture. Cute kid. Brilliant guitar player at the age of eight. Lives with foster parents.”
“Do you know what happened to the parents?”
“No,” said Giovanni. “Poor kid. That’s why I was nervous about meeting him. I’d hate to say the wrong thing, you know?”
“Just be yourself. That’s the best thing you can do. Don’t treat him any differently than you would any other kids you meet for the first time.”
“Really?”
“Absolutely. He’ll be able to spot insincerity or pity a mile away.”
“Good to know. Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
Giovanni was glad Natalie offered to come along. Very sweet. He felt a lot less nervous about meeting James, too.
“How do you know so much about foster kids?” he asked.
Natalie didn’t answer.
Giovanni glanced at her. She was looking out the window at the rolling hills along Highway 680. Deep in thought. It looked like the question hit a little too close to home. He remembered her reaction at dinner, too. Obviously she didn’t want to talk about it. Time to change the subject.
He pointed to the stereo. “Feel free to take command of the radio and listen to whatever you want.”
“You’re very sweet.”
“Hey, I’m not giving you the radio. You get to temporarily use it until I get tired of whatever music you choose. Which may be pretty quick.”
She laughed. “I was talking about you changing the subject. You don’t like people to feel uncomfortable—that’s very sweet. And sorry for not answering you earlier.”
“It’s okay.”
“I was a foster kid.”
“Oh . . .”
“My parents died in a car accident when I was very young. I was with them actually but the car seat saved me. I don’t remember them, so that’s probably why I don’t have a lot of baggage that goes with it. My foster parents were amazing, wonderful people and they even reunited me with my grandfather. For that I will be eternally grateful.”
“Federico is
one cool dude. Where did they find him?”
“He was in Italy. But the most amazing part is he and Grandma left everything . . . their home, their business, and their life just to come to here to be with me.”
“That is amazing.”
“So I was just thinking about James and what he must be going through. Not everyone can be as lucky as me and it can be very difficult for some children. Even traumatic.”
“Yeah.” Giovanni smiled. “Glad you turned out okay.”
“Thank you.”
“Except for maybe that obsession you have with inflicting pain upon the shins of innocent people at the dinner table. You may have some issues there.”
Natalie poked Giovanni in the side of the arm. “You called me a drunk transvestite!”
Giovanni couldn’t help but laugh.
“I would kick you right now, but you’re driving and I don’t want us to crash.”
“So this would be the perfect time to tease you a little more then?”
“Yes, but just wait till you stop the car. You’re going to get it.”
He smiled. “I certainly hope so.” He looked over at Natalie and she was blushing. She was also smiling. “And yes, I’m looking at you again. I love your smile.”
“Thank you.”
“And I like you.”
“Thanks again.”
“A lot.”
She turned and looked out the window at the rolling hills again. There was no way she liked the scenery that much. Had he taken it too far? Probably so. He was flirting with an engaged woman and that was wrong.
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.
But he couldn’t help it. He felt a connection with Natalie and deep down he wished she were single. It wasn’t fair she was getting married. Especially to a guy who didn’t even appreciate her. He looked over at Natalie again and her smile was gone. He’d bet a million dollars she was reading his mind. She was a woman. The chances were damn good.
“Not going to happen,” she said.
“What?” he answered, even though he was almost certain he knew what she was talking about.
“You and me. You need to quit flirting with me. I’m engaged, or did you forget that tiny little fact?”
He should have bet the million.
“Sorry,” he answered. “I don’t do it on purpose. You bring it out of me. Naturally.”
They didn’t speak much the rest of the drive. Giovanni felt like an idiot, but he figured it was best to leave it alone and not say anything else. He apologized and that was all he could do for now. Two hours later he parked in front of a modest home in Elk Grove, a suburb of Sacramento.
“Remember,” said Natalie. “Just be yourself. You’ll do fine.”
“I’ll do my best. Thanks.”
The front door swung open and James waved. Cute kid. Just like in the photo. He had short, curly brown hair, pale skin, and black-rimmed glasses. They seemed to clash with his Sacramento Kings basketball jersey.
“Hi,” said James.
“Hello. You must be James.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m Giovanni.” He pointed to the right with his thumb. “And this is Natalie.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Natalie.
“Nice to meet you, too.” James stared at Giovanni. “Giovanni’s has my favorite pizza. Hawaiian. I like extra pineapple. Are you the owner?”
“No.”
“I got in trouble yesterday for letting a fly in the house.”
“You want us to come in so you can shut the door?”
“Okay. We knew it was you when the doorbell rang and not somebody trying to rob us.” He pointed above the door. “We have security cameras. You want to see the monitors where we were spying on you?”
Giovanni laughed. He liked the kid already. “Sure. Sounds cool.”
“Okay.”
They stepped inside the house and Giovanni closed the door behind them.
James pointed to the guitar case Giovanni was carrying. “Cool case. It’s smaller than mine.”
“The guitar is smaller, too—made for a kid.” Giovanni looked down the hallway and then back to James. “You know any kids around here who play guitar?”
James laughed. “You’re funny. I was told not to get too excited about the guitar you brought me. So I need to pretend because kids get excited about things and I’m a kid.” He started to turn and then stopped. “And it’s very important that I say thank you for the guitar many times before you leave.”
“Okay!” said a man approaching the entry. He extended his hand. A woman appeared by his side. “I’m Roger McLeod and this is my wife Betty. You must be Giovanni and Natalie.”
Giovanni introduced himself and Natalie, and they followed the McLeods into the living room and sat on the loveseat. It was a tight squeeze so Giovanni’s hip was right against Natalie’s. He wasn’t going to complain about that at all. It felt good.
James sat on the floor facing Giovanni and his guitar case.
Roger gestured to the cookies and scones on the coffee table. “Please help yourself. Betty is going to make some tea.”
Natalie and Giovanni both reached for the same chocolate chip cookie and bumped hands.
“Go ahead,” she said, blushing and pointing to the cookie.
“No,” said Giovanni, pointing to the cookie. “Please. Beauty before Beast.”
She laughed and took the cookie.
Betty eyed the ring on Natalie’s finger. “When is the wedding?”
Natalie and Giovanni looked at each other.
“Oh . . . no!” said Natalie, breaking the silence.
Betty checked out Giovanni for a moment. Then she studied Natalie. She furrowed her eyebrows and looked like she was having a difficult time grasping the situation.
Giovanni forced a smile and decided to help her out. “Natalie’s engaged, but not to me.”
That was awkward, but at least Betty didn’t dig any further.
The McLeods must have been in their late fifties. How were they able to keep up with an eight-year-old boy? They must have had a lot of energy.
“We want to thank you for coming all this way and for your generosity,” said Roger.
Giovanni smiled. “It’s a pleasure. When I read about James’ talent and his love of the guitar I was impressed. And fascinated. I’m glad I can help.”
Roger nodded. “He has a special concert Saturday night with the music conservatory, so your gift was perfect timing. The other guitar wouldn’t have been . . . let’s just say, photogenic.” He pointed to the guitar on the stand in the corner. It was the one in the photo in the article. Although now it had a small strip of duct tape on the body.
The guitar was in very bad shape and Giovanni was grateful that he could help. And judging by the look on James’ face, the boy was grateful, too.
James was like a hawk scoping out his prey—his eyes didn’t budge from the guitar case.
“He will be the youngest person ever in their history to perform on that stage,” continued Roger.
Natalie smiled. “Who knows? Soon he could be performing all over the world. Would you like that, James?”
James nodded, his eyes still on the guitar case. “I wanna go to Italy and Spain and France and Germany and Switzerland.”
“Sounds amazing.” Giovanni pointed to the case. “Can I give you the guitar now?”
James jumped up from his spot on the floor and plopped down directly in front of Giovanni. “Yes, please. Thank you.”
Giovanni was going to open the case, but changed his mind and decided to let James do it. Just like Christmas, he always enjoyed when people opened up their presents in front of him. More than opening up his own.
He slid the case out from the side of his chair and pushed it to James. “Go for it.”
James pulled the case closer and turned it so it was face up. He undid each of the latches carefully—like he was trying to defuse a bomb.
Then he slowly opened it.
Giovann
i wished he took a picture to capture the expression on the boy’s face. His eyes couldn’t have been any wider.
James smiled. “You made this with your hands?”
Giovanni nodded. “I did need the help of a few tools, but yes. Handmade.”
“Cool.”
James pulled out the guitar, sat on the ottoman, and immediately played. No warm up. No checking to see if it was in tune. No. None of that nonsense. He just played.
Like a pro.
Giovanni considered himself a pretty good player, but James was better. Much better.
And he was eight years old.
Giovanni turned to Natalie. Her mouth was hanging open, too. Not a surprise.
When James finished the song everyone clapped.
Natalie put her hand to her chest. “That was amazing!”
James ran his hands along the curves of the guitar’s body. Could a boy that young really appreciate the uniqueness and beauty of a handmade guitar? It certainly seemed so.
“Thank you,” said James. He smiled at Giovanni. His eyes sparkled and expressed his deep gratitude. “This guitar is the perfect size for me. But only for five more years. Then I’m going to turn into a teenager.”
Giovanni laughed. “That’s true.”
“Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.”
He was one of the coolest kids Giovanni had met in a long time. Giovanni felt his chest tighten and a warmth spread through his body. How lucky he was to be able to give this boy a gift that he made with his own hands. To see the appreciation on the kid’s face was worth it.
He smiled at the beautiful boy. “My pleasure. It was a pleasure to hear you play, too.”
Roger cleared his throat. “James, don’t forget to say thank you.”
“Thank you, Giovanni. Thank you, Natalie.”
Natalie jumped, obviously not expecting to be thanked. James hugged them both.
“I didn’t do anything at all,” said Natalie. “This all happened because of Giovanni.”
“You came to visit me.”
“Oh.” She smiled and blushed. “That’s true! Then you’re welcome.”
Natalie fiddled with the radio on the way home. She felt nervous for some reason. She peeked over at Giovanni. He had a very satisfied grin on his face. He was a good man. Generous. Handsome.
