“Thank you!” Loretta beamed. “I think I will.” Tears began to rim her eyes as she realized her dream of owning her own restaurant was coming true. She lifted her lids up to the heavens and said a silent thank you.
Before they left, she and Alonzo set up an appointment for the next day to sign the lease and to discuss the build-out schedule. Loretta planned to move into the cottage sooner rather than later.
Velma and Alonzo embraced like old friends and bid each other goodbye. Loretta overheard him say something to Velma about Malachi as she was returning from the restroom, but she dismissed the thought as she gazed around at her restaurant.
“You ready?” Velma asked.
“No, not really,” Loretta said. “I wish I could roll up my sleeves and get to work now.”
“You’ll have plenty of time for that,” Velma said. “Let’s go home, crack open this expensive bottle of wine your new landlord was gracious enough to give to us, and celebrate.”
“Sounds like a great idea,” Loretta gushed.
“Alonzo, feel free to join us,” Velma said. “You haven’t been out to the house in a long time.” He’d come by a few times when Velma and Malachi hosted small, infrequent dinner parties. “Come on out when you finish up here,” Velma felt comfortable enough to offer.
Alonzo looked at Loretta. His mind was clearly turning.
Loretta glanced in his direction, hoping he’d say yes.
Alonzo wanted to go. It had been a long while it seemed since he’d done any socializing that didn’t involve promoting the vineyard. But he thought better of mixing business with pleasure.
“I’d better not,” he said. “I still have tons to do here. But thank you, Velma. I appreciate that.”
“No problem,” she said. “We need to catch up. It’s been too long.”
“Well I suspect I’ll be seeing a lot more of you now,” he said, referring to her friend now having a business at the vineyard.
“You bet you will,” Velma said. “Just like old times.”
Velma bid Alonzo goodbye with a quick hug.
Loretta thanked him with a smile. “See you tomorrow,” she said.
“See you tomorrow,” Alonzo said. He watched the women walk away, his eyes discreetly glued to Loretta’s enticing full figure.
His chauffer, Pep, came up behind him from the grounds.
“Is that the same woman from the airport?” Pep asked, having overheard him showing someone around Miss Marissa’s old restaurant.
“It sure is,” Alonzo said, not able to tear his eyes away from Loretta.
“Did she take the place?”
“She sure did,” Alonzo said. “She took the restaurant and the cottage, too.”
“I didn’t know you were renting out the cottage?” Pep looked up at him, surprised.
“I didn’t either, Pep. I didn’t either. But it’s time.”
“It has been a long time,” the short, brown man said, patting his boss and friend on the back before he walked on toward the vehicle office at the front of the vineyard.
***
As Velma turned her truck out of the driveway of Thornton Vineyard toward the main road, Loretta glanced back over her shoulders. She was happy with the deal she'd made.
She couldn’t help it; her mind flitted to Alonzo’s touch. He was a kind gentleman, with an undeniable strength and visible pride that reminded her of her father.
Loretta had grown up in a financially poor household, but she’d had love. Her husband got killed in the same steel plant her father had worked in for years. Her daddy was a man’s man -- strong, quiet, and prideful, not taking anything from anyone. His word was his bond and his actions spoke louder than his words.
Alonzo had that same demeanor about him.
Thinking about her accusation, she felt bad, because she couldn’t have been more wrong about him. Glad they’d cleared the air, she looked forward to stealing glances at him every day. Quietly admonishing herself for thinking about him in that way, she knew she couldn’t help it. There was an unmistakable magnetism, one she knew could lead to trouble if she were not careful.
Loretta smiled to herself and steered her mind away from foolishness so she could concentrate on her business. Pleased with the day, and excited about her meeting to sign the lease the next morning, she exhaled.
Velma glanced in her rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of Alonzo’s tall, disappearing frame as they drove away. She exhaled too, but for reasons that had nothing to do with Loretta’s restaurant deal. Relief began to fill Velma’s soul as Alonzo’s frame got further and further away. She dismissed the memory of the look on his face when she’d told him about Malachi.
***
After they got married, she and Malachi frequented the vineyard together at least once a month for wine tastings. On one such visit, Alonzo asked about Malachi, who had been mysteriously absent the past several visits. Velma remembered telling Alonzo that Malachi had left her. She believed he would understand because he’d gone through the same thing years before. But it was the look in Alonzo’s dark eyes that let her know he didn’t believe she was telling the full truth.
Since that evening, Velma hardly ever came out to the vineyard anymore. But Loretta’s visit, and her need for a space, gave her the courage to face Alonzo again. All along, Velma had been trying to convince herself that she was being paranoid; that she had simply misread his stare.
The visit this morning had confirmed it in her mind. Alonzo didn’t know anything at all, and he seemed genuinely glad to see her.
She exhaled as she told herself a milestone was behind her. Velma let calm surround her as she looked forward to opening the bottle of Thornton Original and helping her friend celebrate finding the perfect spot for her new restaurant.
Chapter 7
The next morning, Loretta got up early because she had to meet with Alonzo. To her surprise, Velma was not dressed.
“Are you coming with me?”
“No,” Velma said. “I think you need to go by yourself.”
“But I can’t find my way back over there.” Velma had already told her the GPS was practically no use at all in the valley with all the twists and turns on unmarked roads.
“Yes you can,” Velma said, handing her a piece of paper with directions already mapped out for her. “Just follow this map and remember the landmarks and you’ll be just fine.”
“Are you feeling okay?” Loretta asked.
“I’m fine. I just get the feeling you’re going to be a while, and I have some things I need to take care of in my home office while you’re gone.”
“You don’t fool me, Velma Jones,” Loretta said, as she pressed her new white cotton sundress down with her hands. “You’re up to something.”
“No, I’m not,” Velma said, giving her an approving look about the dress she’d picked up on one of their shopping escapades. “I just know when three’s a crowd.”
“What in the devil are you talking about?”
“Oh, come on, I saw more than business going on between the two of you yesterday,” Velma said. She was stirring her coffee and peeking up from her morning newspaper.
Loretta blushed as she prepared coffee in her favorite little canteen-style cup from Velma’s cupboard. “Oh, hush up!” she said, smiling.
“See, I knew it. And Alonzo had that same boyish look on his face when he looked at you. What did you do to him? The man is clearly smitten with you.”
“You really think so?” Loretta asked, rushing to the table to sit next to her friend.
“I know so.” Velma took off her glasses and looked at her. “I’ve known Alonzo Thornton a long time, and though I haven’t been around him in some time, I know he doesn’t light up for anything or anybody. Everybody knows that. He has gazelle focus -- that vineyard and his son. But I saw a spark in him yesterday.”
A delicious smile formed on Loretta’s lips. “He is handsome, good Lord.”
“He’s alright,” Velma chuckled.
“Who am I going to tell? The captive in my basement,” Velma joked.
“I suppose you’re right,” Loretta said. “I just feel like a kid with a high school crush around him.”
“Well it’s written all over both your faces, so don’t worry about trying to hide it,” Velma chuckled, putting her reading glasses back on. “Now go on and get out of here. You don’t want to be late.”
Loretta finished fixing her coffee and teetered outside to the truck. She’d slipped into a comfortable pair of leather sandals with a wedge heel. Her little briefcase-looking purse was slung over her shoulders.
“Have fun,” Velma hollered after her. “And take it easy on my Xena. She’s strong but old, and I do remember that lead foot of yours!”
“I will!” Loretta hollered back as she pulled out of the long, curvy driveway and headed to the main road.
***
A little while later, she was sitting in front of Alonzo in his office -- her and the butterflies whizzing around in her stomach. His office was in a separate stone dwelling at the back entrance of the vineyard, overlooking the grounds.
Alonzo handed her the copy of the signed lease and the keys to the restaurant and the cottage.
“All yours,” he said.
“Thank you,” Loretta said.
“No, thank you. I’m glad to have you as part of the Thornton Vineyard family. It will be good to have life in the restaurant again.”
“Well, I’ll do my best to do it justice.” Velma had already told her stories about his wife running the place successfully before she left him. Loretta wanted to say she hoped she could do his wife’s previous reputation justice, but she didn’t want to broach a perhaps embarrassing subject.
What woman would be fool enough to leave Alonzo Thornton? she thought. He was handsome, sexy and wealthy. What more could the woman have wanted?
“You already have done the place justice,” Alonzo said. “You spoke your dreams, your visions, inside of its walls. You’re going to run a fine establishment, Ms. Devon.”
Loretta stood up and reached out to shake his hand. “Loretta,” she said.
Alonzo extended his hand. “Alright Loretta,” he said. “Do you want to take a look inside your cottage again? There’s some furniture back there, but you might want me to add or remove some things. There are a few rentals on the grounds not being used right now, so I’m sure we can shift some things around for you if you’d like.”
“That’s very generous of you,” she said. “Thank you, I would love to look inside again,” Loretta said. She’d only glanced at the place before.
On the walk back to the cottage, Loretta and Alonzo got to know each other a little.
“So, Velma tells me you’re just moving to the area?”
“Yes, less than a month ago.”
“No husband, children?” he asked.
“My children are grown and my husband, Clarence, died years ago,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” Alonzo offered.
“Thank you. It was a long time ago, but he’s still in my heart.”
Sadness used to fill her whenever she mentioned Clarence’s name, even after all the years. But not anymore. She only had loving thoughts when she thought of him. He would always be a part of her, and she knew he was looking down at her right now, wishing her every happiness.
“And you?” Loretta asked, stopping at mentioning whether she was talking about his wife or his children. She already knew what Velma had told her on the surface about his wife Marissa leaving him, but she didn’t know the details. And from Alonzo Thornton’s demeanor, she guessed that nobody really knew the details of his wife leaving. He seemed like he kept his personal business close to the vest.
“I have a son who should be graduating from UCLA next year. Umberto. He’s my heart and soul, but he doesn’t come home that often.”
Loretta glimpsed the loneliness in Alonzo’s eyes that she felt in her own heart for her children.
“I know what you mean,” she said. “Brianna and Terrell don’t come home that often either from school. These kids grow up and get their own lives,” she said, staving off that familiar longing to see their faces.
“I guess they do,” Alonzo breathed, as they walked.
“Velma reminds me it’s because I did a good job, raising them to be independent.”
Alonzo looked over at her and smiled. “I guess I’d never really thought about it that way.”
“Well you should,” she smiled back.
“I will, from now on,” Alonzo said. “But my hope is that he will come back here and take over the vineyard one day.”
“And if he doesn’t want to?” she glanced over at him.
“I can’t think about that,” he said, as if that was not an option for his son.
“You might ought to,” Loretta warned.
Alonzo gave her a thoughtful glance and nodded his head in resignation. “So how do you like it here so far?” he asked, changing from a subject he did not like to think about.
“Oh, it’s lovely,” Loretta said, looking at the picturesque water and mountains beyond the rows and rows of grapes. “It’s a far cry from Detroit, that’s for sure.”
“I’ve never had the occasion to visit Michigan,” he said. “But I hear it gets very cold there.”
“Cold is an understatement,” Loretta laughed. “Where exactly are you from in Italy?” she glanced up at him. His medium-length, dark, wavy mane was whispered with hints of gray. Alonzo’s olive skin and chiseled face added to his handsome, masculine features. He was something to look at in the early morning light of the dewy vineyard.
“I’m from a tiny Tuscan village that most people have never heard of, Galonias Harbour. In many ways, the feel is very much like it is here, and the scenery is something out of this world.”
Loretta noticed the faraway look in Alonzo’s eyes.
“You miss it?” she asked, glancing back over at him.
“I miss certain parts of it very much,” he said.
“It sounds lovely.”
They continued down the meandering path leading to her cottage.
He shook his head in affirmation. “It’s a hard life. The people in my village are very poor, but what they don’t have in things, they have in natural beauty all around them. Have you ever been to Italy?” he asked in his seductive, Italian accent.
“Oh, God, no,” Loretta giggled. “I haven’t been too much of anywhere outside of Detroit, and here to California to visit Velma years ago.”
“Well, one day you must travel and see for yourself. Words cannot describe the countryside.”
“Maybe one day I will,” she said. “After I start making a ton of money at my new restaurant.”
“I believe you will,” he said, motioning for the keys so he could unlock the cottage door for her. Alonzo gestured for her to go on inside ahead of him as he wrestled with getting the keys out of the old, iron lock a few seconds longer.
Loretta’s breath caught as her full bottom accidently rubbed up against his middle when she stepped past him to go inside.
“Sorry.” She involuntarily blushed as she glanced back at him over her shoulder.
“No apology necessary,” he said in a throaty voice as he tugged the key out of the lock. “I’ll have one of the guys spray some oil on this lock,” he said, his eyes full of desire as he handed her the keys back.
“Thank you,” she said, letting out a slow, discreet breath as she remembered the feel of his thickness behind her.
***
After they finished a quick walk-thru of the cottage again, she told Alonzo the furnishings already in the home woul
d be just fine. A casual elegance filled the place, leaving it with a fine, old world feeling she adored.
Loretta felt strangely at home. She had a feeling she’d live on the grounds for a long time.
Alonzo asked her if she’d like to stay for a late breakfast, but she thanked him and declined -- but not because she didn’t want to stay.
From This Day Forward: Multicultural Romance Page 5
