| |
A single, reassuring breath was all Chrissy allowed herself time for before stepping into her father’s hospital room. “Hey, Mom. Hi, Dad.”
Her mother’s eyes widened the moment she looked up to see Saks at her daughter’s side. Saks mused it was hard for the woman not to recognize him since he wore his club jacket. But who stood with her mouth open was dark-haired Gloria. She smirked at them as if she’d won the lottery.
Vincenzo’s head lolled to the side, and his lips drew into a tight line. Saks didn’t blame him. If he had a daughter who brought home a man like himself, he wouldn’t like him either.
“And who do you bring?” he said. Vince squinted at Saks.
“Anthony Parks, though he goes by the nickname Saks.”
Vincenzo Serafini’s mouth formed a small “o” before it quirked.
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit, Saks? He leaned on Saks’ name like he was muscling some goombah, giving him a difficult time.
“I’ll come to the point. Chrissy and I are getting married.”
“What? You don’t ask me for permission?” Vince’s voice shot up in indignation.
“You already gave that permission when you offered up your daughter as a peace offering to my family.”
“Saks,” Chrissy warned as her hand settled against his arm.
“No, Chrissy. Let’s call it what it is: a damn shitty way to open up the lines of communication between two halves of an organization that never should have split.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Chrissy,” Saks said. “Show him the ring.”
Chrissy pulled the box out of her pocket and opened it.
“Do you recognize this?”
Suspicion glimmered in her father’s eyes, but he said nothing.
“This could have been your mother’s engagement ring. Only she got another from your father. You people have been lying to us all along. The Roccos and Serafini were one organization at one time. Only this,” he pointed to the ring, “broke it up.”
“We never talked about it,” Vince said. “And when my mother died, my father barely talked about her at all.” His voice was thick, and his hand strayed to one of his eyes, wiping something away.
“And now my uncle gave that ring to Chrissy. He’s old and has no children. My father will continue to run the business, but Dad and Vits both recognize I won’t follow them into it. So, he has no heir. There is no reason for the Serafini and Roccos to be apart anymore. So, he engineered pushing Chrissy and me together. Maybe he thought a Rocco man couldn’t resist a Serafini woman. I guess he was right.”
“I can’t speak for my father,” Vince murmured.
“Dad, Saks won’t enter the business, but he doesn’t want to see yours crumble. You’ve been very stubborn in keeping Mario from helping you. Now, who’s going to run the business for you while you recover, huh?”
“I thought I would—”
“Would, what? Keep your goombahs in line? Shouldn't you let a young man do that? At least on your orders.”
“At least,” Saks interjected diplomatically, “until you’re on your feet.”
Vince Serafini sighed. “Mario is too much of a hothead.”
“Which is why,” Saks said, “you should go home and keep an eye on him.”
“I admit I hate this place. I miss my wife’s cooking.”
“Oh, Vince,” Rose whispered. Complimenting an Italian woman’s cooking was the way to her heart.
“But,” the man sighed, “the doctor said I need a couple more days.”
“How about if I arrange a medic to stay with you for a few days at your house?”
“What medic?”
“The one who works for my Uncle Vits.”
“Oh, him. I’ve heard of him. Yeah, he’s okay.”
“We’ll get an ambulance to bring you home, and settled in your bed. Anything else you need, we’ll have brought in.”
Vince nodded his head and seemed lost in his thoughts for a long while. So long in fact, Saks began to fear he’d flip sides and tell him to fuck off.
“You can get what you need to make things easy for my Rose,” Vince finally said, “but I don’t need an ambulance. How would that look, eh, brought home in a wagon? The neighbors would stare.”
“Vince,” his wife protested.
“Mom,” Chrissy started, “I’m sure you’d much rather be home working on Gloria’s wedding dress. We’ll get a wheelchair and not let Dad walk too much until he’s stronger.”
“The doctor said I should walk more,” Vince protested. But the women were fully engaged in the wedding dress conversation.
“But,” Rose sputtered, “what about your wedding dress?”
“We’ll flip a coin on who gets married first. Then you can work on that one.”
Gloria glowered, and stuck her tongue out at Chrissy.
Chrissy quietly laughed. “Then, we’re settled.”
Vince’s jaw fell open. “Who said Gloria could get married? Rose, why are you working on Gloria’s wedding dress?”
“Dresses, Vince, I’ve been working on both of them for months now.”
“Mom!” Chrissy exclaimed. “What made you think I’d get married?”
“The way you look at Anthony, then and now. You wouldn’t do anything else with him.”
Chrissy huffed adorably, and Saks couldn’t help but grin. “I’ll call the nurse and get the ball rolling.”
It took several hours before the on-call doctor wrote the orders for Vince’s release. Chrissy and Gloria took off for the house to get things ready for the Serafini meeting that night, while Mario showed up to drive the elder Serafini home.
As they began the trek out of the hospital, Vince fidgeted in his wheelchair. “I have a charge account at the Randall’s Pharmacy. The doctor called in the prescriptions, and Rose called in the other things we need so that everything will be ready. Thank you, for doing this.”
“No problem, Mr. S.”
“But answer me. Why are you helping us?”
“I’m not helping you. I just want Chrissy happy. And it makes her unhappy when she’s on the outs with her family. And the discord between the Serafini and Roccos upsets her. I don’t want her to worry that our respective families will start shooting at each other.”
“Hey, that could still happen.”
“There might be some competition between my mother’s lasagna and Mrs. Serafini’s. The rest of it I leave in yours and Uncle Vits’ hands.”
“How did you know that the Roccos and the Serafini were once one organization?”
“It didn’t occur to me until today. But the way my uncle and your father talked to each other that day in the diner was the clue. Like old friends—old, wary friends. Afterwards, I learned that that was an argument over your mother. And today I thought about how to get the Roccos and Serafini together. That’s when it hit me. You guys always did things in tandem. We were rivals, but no one ever got really hurt. It occurred to me the Roccos and Serafini acted more like family members in an argument than wise guys protecting their turf.”
“You’re right, son. It never occurred to me. When I heard of the shit that went down with families in other states, I would always shake my head.”
“There are two things that always draw family together. Weddings and funerals. And I’m not in the mood for the latter.”
“Well, I’m not opposed. But my father, you’ll have to convince him. And he’s not around.”
“I know. Finding him? That’s the next thing on the list.”
“List?”
“Things to do to keep Chrissy happy.”
Rose Serafini nodded. “You keep up that attitude, son, and you’ll be a member of the family before you know it.”
