“Gabby isn’t here today?” Renata asked.
“I would hazard a guess that Jacob has a fever or some such thing. It’s amazing how protective mothers get with every little sniffle.” Tony shrugged.
“I suppose it would be hard to worship when worried about your baby. She couldn’t put a sick child in the nursery.”
Tony made note of Renata’s more casual clothing today—cream cords, athletic shoes, and a plum sweater. She looked good. “Going for a hike today?”
“Yes, it’s been ages since I’ve been out to the Holy Hill area, and it looks to be a beautiful day. I have a camera with me. I love the beauty of nature and hope to get a few pics of the views.”
“Once again you will miss a Packer game? It starts at noon.”
“Does it? I’m sorry to disappoint you, Tony, but I rarely watch television and don’t get the newspaper. I pick up most of my news from Facebook and work. Pretty pathetic, huh?”
“I don’t know. I get about as much news as you do, I suppose. However, I have a Packers schedule posted on my refrigerator. I don’t miss any games. If it’s important, you pay attention.”
“I’m a failure as a Wisconsinite, because I don’t find them important enough. Sorry, being honest.”
“I would like to watch a game with you sometime. I keep seeing different facets to who you are, and I suspect I would learn something that would change the way I view watching the game forever.”
“Forever is a long time, and you pin too high an expectation on me, Tony. I’m a simple young woman trying to grow in my relationship with Christ and overcome a difficult past.”
“There’s nothing simple about you, Renata.”
“There’s far more to you than meets the eye as well.”
“Possibly. Is it a contest to see who will spill their story first?” Tony’s eyebrows went up.
“I don’t think this is like a staring competition. We’ve only met. I need time to find out who I am in Christ and His will for me before jumping into any relationship beyond friendship.”
“Ditto. I guess that’s one thing we have in common.”
“You too?”
Tony nodded.
“Pretty bad?”
“Yeah, but for some reason I suspect you’ve suffered more.”
“I wouldn’t minimize your pain, Tony. Don’t ever think I would want to claim the ‘I suffered more than you’ prize.”
“There’s a prize?” Tony grinned, lightening the mood. He reached over and put his arm around her, grabbing her by her far shoulder, hugging her to his side. “I like you, and I want you to know that.”
“Thanks, Tony. You are a special guy too. In my opinion, one of the best I’ve ever met.”
Tony nodded, gave her another squeeze, and let go. “Enjoy your hike today.”
“I will.” Renata went off in search of Stephanie and to meet the other women who were joining them.
* * *
October 2009
Renata had a horrible cold. By Wednesday night, she was miserable enough to go to the walk-in clinic. The doctor prescribed an antibiotic for her sinus infection. She managed work with a box of lotion tissues, apologizing to customers and coworkers. After the lunch rush, her manager sent her home to rest and recover, and told her to take the rest of the week off. Renata was grateful for this. She knew with flu season coming up, that they wanted to keep the passing of germs to a minimum. Renata’s sales were doing well. During her few weeks on the job, she’d seen an increase of ten percent over her predecessor’s sales numbers. Her commissions would cover the loss of her hourly wage.
She received a text from Tony mid-afternoon about the evening’s group outing. She had marked it on her calendar on Sunday afternoon but, while she expected the Bible study held at church tonight would be good, she was not up to going.
See ya tonight?
Sick. Not coming.
Sorry. Bad?
Sinus infection, sent home from work. Got antibiotics.
Ouch. We’ll miss you. Prayin 4 u.
Thanks.
Renata was in bed early and spent a large part of Friday sleeping as well. By Saturday morning, she was better and showed up at work. She stayed late after the bank had closed, to finish filing paperwork and checking lists of calls to make on Monday. By mid-afternoon, she was home and in bed again, worn out. Before she crashed, though, she got a text message from Tony.
Packer party Mon nite—you up 4 it?
What time?
6:30—kickoff at 7:30
I think I can come.
Sweet. See ya at church.
TTFN (ta ta for now).
Renata didn’t want to look ignorant at the party, so she made sure that she looked online to find out who the Packers were playing. The party would be exciting, since it was the Vikings and former Packer quarterback, Brett Favre, who they were up against. The Pack had the home field advantage. She fell asleep smiling.
No monsters visited her during the night.
* * *
Sunday found Renata seated next to Tony at church. After the service, they were in the lobby with Gabby, minus her husband and baby. Stephanie, John, and James were present, as were Sharon and Pastor Dan, who was not leading worship this week.
“Gabby, did I tell you Renata agreed to join our Packer party Monday evening?”
“Tony, seriously? Renata, you are in for a treat. The party will be sans kids as well. Some of the children have the chicken pox. Not all the family will be there. The entire clan won’t overwhelm you.”
“You didn’t tell me this was a family gathering, Tony.” Renata’s hands got clammy, and her heart rate sped up.
“Sorry, a few friends will be joining us. Stephanie, are you coming?”
“I had already agreed to meet James, John and Tanisha at the Trysting Place to watch the game there. Thank you for the invite, though. It sounds fun.”
“Do you mind if I come to pick you up at six-thirty, Renata? I was thinking of bringing my bike. I have a second helmet.”
“That’ll be fine. I’ve never experienced a motorcycle ride before.”
Gabby put her arm around Renata. “Never fear. Tony is a conscientious biker and doesn’t take unnecessary risks. I’ve ridden with him and found it fun. You’ll enjoy it.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t forget to wear as much green and gold as you can, Ren,” Stephanie chimed in. Renata had worn a brown corduroy skirt that went past her knees as well as brown boots with low heels. She had on a green shirt tucked in neatly with the Green Bay logo in the upper left corner. She had already planned to go shopping that afternoon to expand her Packers wardrobe.
She smiled at her friend and saluted. “Aye, aye, captain.”
There was more laughter and coffee before everyone left for their various homes. Stephanie and Renata stopped off at Mayfair Mall.
* * *
Stephanie left after shopping to meet with friends. Renata had planned a relaxing afternoon at home and had settled down to journal when there was a knock at the door. She rose and looked through the peephole to see Edith, her upstairs neighbor. She opened the door.
“Edith, this is a surprise. Do you need something?”
“Dearie, yes!” said the little old woman. “There are some terrible goings on up on the roof.” Her voice lowered to a whisper, and she quickly looked up and down the hall to make sure they were alone. “There are ninjas up there. I had to come and warn you.”
“Ninjas? The Teenage Mutant kind or real flesh and blood ninjas?”
Edith whispered again, “They be the real ones. They tapped my phone line and found out I did not like Obama and Pelosi, and the President sent them to do away with me.” Edith’s voice trembled with fear or excitement. Renata wasn’t sure which.
“Did you see them?”
“Oh, dearie, you don’t know much, do you? They are covert operatives, and you never see them”—her voice lowered even more and took on a sinister tone—“—until it’s too late.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Can you come back to my apartment to make sure the coast is clear?”
“Sure.” Renata checked to make sure her keys were in her pocket, as her door had a habit of locking when she didn’t want it to, and helped Edith up the stairs. The woman was tiny, smaller than Renata, and probably weighed all of eighty pounds. She had an unsteady gait. Renata was afraid the older woman would topple and fall, even when walking on a flat surface, not just when taking the stairs.
Renata left Edith in the hall and did a quick reconnoiter of the apartment, which was identical to her own. She noted several small envelopes of pills unopened on the kitchen countertop with the previous two days’ as well as today’s date on them. She went back to the hall to get Edith.
“It’s safe to come in, Edith.”
“Well if you are sure, dearie. Thank you for checking for me. I wonder if they’ll be back.”
“I doubt it. They probably realized you were more than capable of fighting them and left scared.”
“I am pretty fierce. My case manager tells me I’m a tiger. Grrrr!” Edith motioned with her hands, scratching out at an invisible attacker.
“I’m sure you are, Edith. I noticed you haven’t taken your pills the past few days. Maybe you’d like to do so now?”
“Oh, I get tired of taking those pills, but if you insist, I will. I’m sure I’ll get in trouble when they find the packets unopened. I always do.” Edith ripped open the package for Sunday, got some water, and with dramatic effect and some feigned gagging, managed to swallow the pills. With a wink, she took the rest and hid them in her freezer behind the ice cube tray.
“Edith, do you think that’s wise?”
“Oh, what they don’t know won’t hurt them, will it?”
“But it might hurt you, Edith.” Renata opened the freezer and removed the ice cube tray, which was empty, and found twenty packets of medication there. She turned to her neighbor. “Edith. This is horrible. Why are you hiding all these pills? They must cost a fortune.”
“Nah, insurance pays for it, so I don’t care. I hate taking them, and it’s fun to see my case manager try to figure out where they went to. They’ve never found them before and don’t ask for the empty containers either.” Edith laughed. “The new woman I have is green. She hasn’t a clue. I do what I want.”
Renata took the packets out and looked through the cupboards to find a freezer bag to put them in. She grabbed a notepad near the phone, jotted a quick note, and inserted it in the bag. “When does she come to see you again?”
“Tomorrow morning.”
“I did you a favor, Edith, in helping you rid your home of ninjas, right?” Edith nodded. “Now I want you to do me a favor and leave this on the countertop here for your social worker tomorrow. The ninjas won’t be back tonight, but if you keep hiding your meds they might try to come and find them.”
“Do you think so? Maybe they were after my pills? Ohhh!” Edith put her hand over her mouth and, with wide eyes, looked from the bag of pills to Renata. “Okay, dearie, if you say so, I’ll leave them there.”
“If I’m not around, do you have someone to call if you get scared again?”
“There is an emergency on-call person I can talk to if I need to.”
“Good. I hope you don’t need to call, and if you lock your door I think you’ll be fine. I was assured by the landlord this apartment building was specifically built to repel ninjas. I think you’ll be okay.”
“If you say so, dearie. You’d better go now. I want to watch Wheel of Fortune.” Renata left, realizing Edith had totally forgotten her fear of ninjas and would be fine.
“Have a good night, Edith.”
“You too, dearie, and give that hunk who comes to see you a kiss for me,” Edith purred. Renata smiled and left to go back to her apartment, shaking her head in wonder at the weird world she had entered when she moved to Milwaukee.
Renata sat in her favorite chair to think and pray. She prayed for her neighbor upstairs. As much as her past haunted Renata, they were real events. How much more terrifying to be fearful of things that were not real? Edith was a sweet woman, and Renata assumed she was mentally ill, but a delightful and sweet woman.
She hoped the case manager would be able to encourage her to take her medications. Renata shook her head, giggling that a seventy-something-year-old woman would purr after Tony. She wouldn’t tell him, but it made her grin. She agreed Tony was a hunk, although she was not going to give Tony a kiss. Not for herself and definitely not on behalf of someone else.
It’s not that she didn’t want to kiss Tony. She did. He was attractive to her in every way. She had learned years ago how much danger could be entered into with one kiss. She didn’t want to go down that slippery, yet delightful, slope of passion again. It made decision-making hard. Having been married, she also knew sexual passion could lead to other passions as well. Like jealousy and violence. She shuddered. No. She would resist kisses, as much as she missed and longed for them.
She simply did not trust herself. Especially with a guy like Antonio De Luca. She was sure he would respect her boundaries, but how long before frustration bred other less friendly emotions? It wasn’t worth going there. Friends didn’t kiss, and she only wanted friendship. Could men and women be friends? She didn’t know. She had never had a male friend before. All she had experienced with Tony in the past weeks was new territory. She was committed to protecting her heart and her body from pain as much as possible.
* * *
On Monday night, Tony roared up to the curb in front of the apartment complex on his motorcycle. Renata was ready to greet him, coming out the door with a jacket over her fleece Packers sweater. Her long hair was in a French braid, woven with green and gold ribbon. Tony thought her eyes looked even wider under her bangs with her hair pulled back like that. He escorted her to the bike and handed her the extra helmet.
“Your hair looks cute. I like it.”
“Thank you.” They put on their helmets, and Tony got on the bike first.
“Sit behind me.” She threw her left leg over the bike and found herself right up against Tony’s backside. “Put your feet here”—he motioned—“and here. Good. Now, arms around my middle and hold on.”
* * *
Renata put her arms around Tony’s torso, which pressed her body against his strong back. I could get used to this, she thought. She glanced back to her apartment building and saw Edith at her window upstairs, waving farewell. Renata loosened one hand to give a wave back and smiled to herself. Tony started the bike, took off, and she held on with her arms around him. Dangerous, her mind cautioned. Unavoidable, she answered back, and I’m going to enjoy it while I can.
CHAPTER SIX
They arrived at the De Luca’s home in the suburb of Germantown. It was a newer home, with a great room perfect for a big-screen television and the raucous family gatherings. As Gabby had suggested, some were not present due to illness spreading among the grandchildren.
Renata was overwhelmed with names as Tony introduced her to his brother, Alexandr, and his wife, Sophie, who confided that her mother was home watching the kids so she could get a night out. Also present were brothers-in-law, Peter, Michael, and Paul, whom she had met at church. Gabby had come as well, but had left Jacob home with a sitter.
“Mama, Papa, I want to introduce you to Renata Blake, a newcomer to the area whom I met at church.”
“Delighted to meet you, Renata. Gabby told us about you. I am glad we could finally meet.” Grace De Luca gave Renata a hug, enveloping her in warmth. Renata was charmed with this plump woman, who was her own height with dark hair lined with streaks of silver and mocha and eyes identical to Tony’s.
Alberto De Luca was shorter than Tony and was in good physical condition, except for a little paunch at his waist. He had amber-colored eyes and more gray in his dark hair. “Renata, I’m glad you could join us. Tony warned us you don’t know much about football. Well, this
is as good a place as any to learn. We’re crazy for the Packers and good food, too. Antonio spent much of this afternoon preparing some special treats for us, in honor of you.” In a whisper he added, “Thank you for that, normally it would be popcorn and soda, and not the delicious stuff my son makes.”
He winked at her and grabbed her right hand to give it a little squeeze.
“We’re glad to have you here.” He motioned her to the living room containing a wraparound sectional sofa and other chairs, as well as beanbag chairs scattered around the room. A coffee table and side table had plates, and glasses were laid out by Tony’s sister-in-law, Sophie, who called over to her.
“Ginger and Gianna were not happy to miss getting to meet you tonight, Renata. I hope this will not be the last time you get to join us for football.”
“Thank you.” She allowed Tony to move her to a comfortable chair, and he went to get her a soda. The pre-game show was on with the noise down and everybody mingled.
Alexandr came to sit in a chair beside her. “You are not quite what I expected.”
“Really? What did you expect?”
“I’m not sure. You’re nothing like—” He glanced quickly to make sure Tony had not heard.
“Like?”
“Someone else Tony used to know.” A blush crossed his features, and he looked uncomfortable.
“Tony says you work for him on Thursdays, so he can go out with the young adult group. Thank you. It’s been a nice opportunity to get acquainted.”
“I enjoy the restaurant, so working one night a week is not a problem, although it is more Antonio’s niche than mine. His schedule at the restaurant would make it hard for him to have friends. I figure it’s the least I can do, since I bailed on taking on the place myself. We all hope and pray he will meet a nice girl and get married. His sisters are particularly interested in this outcome, so be glad you’ve been spared meeting the twins tonight. You’d have been interrogated to determine if you are good enough for my little brother.”
“You have no interest in that outcome yourself?” Renata smiled at him, appreciating his candor and the warning hidden there for her to beware of the machinations of the family.
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