Текст книги "A Few Broken Rules"
Автор книги: Kate Kane
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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 14 страниц)
Chapter 17
Ben entered the kitchen and bent to kiss Lane’s cheek, “Did I hear the kids are bringing Jack Stack?”
“Yes, Jess sent a text to Gabe.”
“Joey just called to say he landed at Johnson County exec. He has Evie with him. They should be here in about 15 minutes.”
He looked at Gabe. “Did Jess give you an ETA?”
The garage door opened and all three of them turned, expecting to see the Parker Kids returning with barbeque, but were greeted instead, by Pauli who held his duffle bag.
Ben looked at him and raised his chin toward the garage door. “Take it back to the car. Jess brought a guest home and Evie will be staying here, so you and Joey are either at the Parker House or staying with the folks this trip.”
Pauli nodded, dropped his bag, walked into the kitchen, and hugged Lane. “You look amazing.”
“I feel much better now that I’m through the first trimester. We saw the doctor yesterday and got our first ultrasound.” She replied.
Ben had known for months that Pauli had a thing for Lane, and he thought his baby brother held the embrace just a little too long this time. He cleared his throat. “Pauli, this is Gabe Greer. Gabe, this is my youngest brother, Pauli.”
Gabe stepped forward, flashed his movie star smile, and reached out to take Pauli’s hand. “Dr. Bellini, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Gabe Greer, Grammy award winning singer, star of both the big and small screens had just told Pauli that it was a pleasure to meet him, and it left Pauli speechless. It took a few beats for Pauli to realize that Gabe Greer must be the friend Jess had brought home. Oh, this is not good. He thought.
“Nice meeting you.” Pauli replied.
Lane smiled, thinking that would make nine for dinner. The kitchen table would only seat six comfortably.
“The kids are out picking up Jack Stack. I’ll set the dining room table.” She announced to anyone who was listening.
She opened the cabinet, got nine dinner plates, and placed them on the counter. Ben had gone to the butler’s pantry and gotten a tablecloth, which he unfurled and put on the dining table. Lane carried the plates and the silverware to the table.
“What can I do?” Gabe asked.
“You’re a guest. You can sit and wait for dinner to arrive.” Lane told him.
Gabe laughed. “I’d rather be part of the family. Give me something to do.”
Ben looked at Lane and tilted his head as if to ask what she knew about Jess’s relationship with Gabe. So, Gabe Greer wants to be part of the family. My two youngest brothers have competition. The basketball game tomorrow could be brutal. Good thing there’s a doctor in the family.
“You know as much as I do.” She whispered to Ben before raising her voice to Gabe, “You can get the glasses and bring them in.”
“How many? From what you said, I count nine. Is that right?” He called to Lane as he opened the cabinets closest to the sink. It was where he thought everyone should put drinking glasses.
They heard Gabe opening cabinets. He’d been at the house for less than six hours and he’d made himself at home. Of course, it was what they’d told him to do, wasn’t it?
Gabe walked into the dining room carrying five glasses. Pauli who was carrying the other four followed him. They placed one glass at each place setting.
Gabe looked at Lane. “Surely you don’t use linen napkins for barbeque. Shall I bring in a roll of paper towels?”
Lane looked up at him. “Sure that would be good. When the kids get home, they’ll transfer the food to serving dishes. If they get home first, we’ll wait for Joey and Evie before we sit though.”
As she spoke, the door from the garage opened again and everyone walked into the hall. Joey Bellini was dressed in a variation of the Bellini casual uniform, of khaki slacks and a polo shirt or sweater, wearing black slacks and a black cashmere sweater. He was carrying Evie’s suitcase. Without waiting for the introductions, he walked down the hall toward the bedrooms. He quickly found the vacant guest room and left Evie’s suitcase on the bed before returning to the hearth room where everyone had gathered.
He recognized Gabe right away and walked toward him with his hand extended. “You’re Gabe Greer, right? I’m Joey Bellini.” He said as the two men shook hands. So, this is the friend Jess brought home. At least they were staying in separate rooms; there may be hope yet.
Joey glanced around the room. “Where’s Jess?”
“She and the boys should be home with Jack Stack soon.” Lane responded.
Joey nodded. Of course, a trip to KC wouldn’t be complete for Jess without at least one stop for her favorite barbeque.
The words were no sooner out of Lane’s mouth than the garage door opened again. The Parker Kids (it was impossible to begin thinking of them as anything else) bantered their way into the house, giving the impression that everything was back to normal.
Each of them carried bags of food into the kitchen. They placed the bags on the island, and Jake and Jess began the process of opening containers and exchanging Styrofoam and plastic containers for serving bowls and platters. Jamie carried the food into the dining room as Gabe came into the kitchen.
“What can I do?” He asked.
Jess looked at him and shook her head. “You can take drink orders.”
Gabe Greer was possibly the only actor in Hollywood who had never been a waiter, but he walked around the hearth room asking what everyone wanted to drink.
As he returned to the kitchen, he recited the orders. “I have three Cokes, two iced teas, a coffee, I’ll have a Coke. What will you guys have?”
Jake replied, “I’ll have a Coke.”
“I’ll have iced tea.” Jess replied as she handed him an ice bucket and tongs. “Fill this and take it to the dining room. Then you can go into the garage and get the sodas from the fridge.”
Social norms dictated that Ben escort Evie into the dining room, and Lane should be escorted by Gabe; Evie should take the seat to Ben’s right and Gabe should take the seat to Lane’s right, but this was an informal family dinner. Ben, Lane, and the kids had standard positions at the table. Lane and Ben at opposite ends with the boys on one side and Jess on the other. Tomorrow, for Thanksgiving dinner, Lane would have place cards, but for tonight, they’d improvise. Ben escorted Evie into the dining room and seated her to his right; Jake and Jamie took their seats at the table next to her; Lane suggested Gabe sit to her right; Pauli took the seat on Lane’s left; leaving Joey at Ben’s left and Jess between him and Gabe.
After everyone sat, Ben, Lane and the Parker Kids took the hands of those seated next to them. It was Wednesday, Jamie’s turn to say grace. After everyone had joined hands and bowed their heads, Jamie, who was normally the most eloquent of the Parker Kids, began to pray.
“Most gracious heavenly Father, we come before you this evening with grateful and penitent hearts. We ask you to bless the food on our table and the hands of those who prepared it. We thank you for our family and friends who are here to share this meal with us this evening. We ask you to bless each of us and keep us safe from harm, especially Gabe and Jess during their upcoming travel. In Jesus’ name we pray.”
Everyone said, “Amen.”
Ben, Lane and each of the Parker Kids picked up a bowl or platter and handed it to their left so that the barbeque feast of pork ribs, beef ribs, crown prime ribs, chicken, pulled pork, beef brisket, cheesy corn, coleslaw, potato salad, onion rings, fried mushrooms, french fries, and baked beans began a clockwise journey around the table.
Gabe thanked Jess as she passed a platter of ribs to him. “What’s the difference between these ribs and the other ones?”
Jess pointed at the platter she’d given him, “Pork ribs,” she pointed to the platter Ben had, “Beef ribs,” and then to the platter Jake held, “crown prime ribs. Believe me, you want to try all of them.” She picked up the cheesy corn and dropped a spoonful onto his plate. “And you’ve got to try this.”
Good Lord, lunch had barely had time to digest and now this feast. Did these people eat like this all of time? Gabe thought. There was no doubt about it. He was going to have to find a gym.
As if Ben had read Gabe’s mind, he looked up and said, “Welcome to the Midwest. By the way, our home gym is at your disposal. Jess can give you the grand tour after dinner. Both Jamie and I usually work out in the mornings, but feel free anytime.”
“Thanks.” He looked at Jess and quietly said, “If this is how your family will be feeding me while we’re here, I’m going to need to hit the gym for at least two hours a day.” He looked around the table. “You know what they say, the camera adds ten pounds. Although my father is a DP and he says it’s all about the lighting, I still don’t need to take any chances.”
Jess laughed. “Yeah, like you need to worry.” She looked at the confused faces around the table. “DP is short for the Director of Photography.”
Conversation turned into a comfortable rhythm as they discussed topics from barbeque to principal shooting in Italy. “The production company has rented a villa for Jess and me.” Gabe continued talking, but Joey didn’t hear much after the words “for Jess and me.”
“I understand you speak Italian.” Ben said to Gabe. “How did you learn?”
“When I was a kid, I travelled with my parents when they went on location. I spent a lot of time in Italy when I was in my teens, and I just picked it up. I hope I didn’t offend your father this afternoon when I spoke Italian to him.”
Ben laughed. “No, Papa thought it was considerate and respectful on your part. Besides, in case Jess hasn’t mentioned it, my family tend to have private conversations with each other in Italian. You talking to Papa put us on notice.”
Ben had glanced at his brothers as he spoke the last sentence, just to be sure they understood. Joey nodded. Yeah, he understood, but he also knew Jess was fluent. Something he had sworn, under oath, to keep secret. He had convinced her that when the two of them were alone, he could speak Italian to her. Of course, they hadn’t been alone together since the day he’d left her at her condo over six weeks ago. He’d promised to call her and he had, but they both had busy schedules and they hadn’t managed to break free at the same time. It was the main reason he’d cleared his schedule to come to Kansas for Thanksgiving. Yet, what had she done? She’d brought a guy home with her. Where the hell does that leave me? He wondered.
Chapter 18
As usual, Ben was awake at 5:30 a.m. and dressed for his run. To his surprise, as he walked out of the bedroom, Gabe Greer was waiting in the kitchen, suited up in thermal running gear and a pair of lime green Saucony running shoes.
“Hope you don’t mind company since I don’t know the routes.”
Ben smiled, as he replied, “As long as you can keep up. I’m doing the ten mile route today.”
Gabe laughed. “If I can’t keep up, feel free to leave me in your dust.”
Ben ran first thing in the morning every day, rain, shine, searing heat or freezing cold. Some runners liked to listen to music as they ran, but Ben liked to use the time to clear the cobwebs from his brain while he got the kinks out of his body. He hoped Gabe wasn’t one of those runners who thought this was social hour. He smiled; the pace he kept would prevent most people from trying to carry on a conversation.
They walked out of the house and stretched in the driveway before Ben started out, heading south on Mission Road. As they crossed 99th street, Joey joined them. Ben shook his head. He’d been running this route since he bought his house five years ago and in all that time; no one had ever joined him. He wasn’t going to clear many of his own cobwebs, like how and when to tell the rest of his family about Jamie, because now he was trying to figure out what these two guys thought they were trying to prove this morning. He kicked it up to his six-minute mile pace. At least if Gabe couldn’t keep up, Joey could guide him back to the house. But, much to Ben’s surprise, both Gabe and Joey kept pace; and a little over an hour later, they returned to Ben’s neighborhood where Ben slowed to a cool down pace. Instead of peeling off to return to Parker House, Joey followed Ben home.
Ben entered the code to open the garage door and the three men went through and into the kitchen. Ben pulled three bottles of water from the pantry and handed them out. Ben finished his water and put the bottle in the recycling bin.
“I’m going to change before I go to the gym.” He looked at Joey. “You need sweats or something?”
Joey nodded. “Yeah, thanks.”
Gabe finished his water and followed Ben’s lead, putting his empty bottle into the recycling bin. He went to his room and changed into workout clothes. Last night, when Jess had shown Gabe where the room was, he’d seen a treadmill, a stair climber, an elliptical trainer, a rowing machine, a Bowflex, a couple of punching bags, free weights and two weight machines, one with a leg press. When he got to the gym this morning, Jamie was on one of the weight machines and Ben was on the other. He looked at them and, after seeing them side by side, he wondered why it had taken Jess three years to figure out they were father and son. Sure Jamie was blonde and fair while Ben had dark hair and an olive complexion, but their facial expressions and mannerisms were practically identical.
Gabe adjusted the settings and sat down to do leg presses on the machine attached to Jamie’s weight machine. In L.A., he had a personal trainer who came to his house to workout with him three days a week. When they were in Italy, he and Jess would have a personal trainer on site. Today, though, he was on his own. Joey came in and went straight to the punching bag. Interesting. He wondered what message Joey was trying to send. He had no doubt for whom Joey intended it.
There was a 60-inch flat screen on the wall opposite the weight machines and the local, early morning, news anchors were providing the background banter. The sports guy came on and talked about the championship football game.
Three sets of Bellini eyes kept glued to the screen until the reporter signed off, “This is Shane McGuire reporting from Rockhurst High School.” The newscast was obviously pre-recorded the day before.
The news anchors immediately went into a story about the head football coach being found dead Tuesday afternoon by a student, “whose name was being withheld because he was a minor.”
Ben and Jamie looked at each other. “It’ll be fine, Bambino.” Ben said.
Jamie smiled. “Hey, I’m a Bellini, what’s there to worry about?” However, his face was incongruent with the words.
The punching bag went still and Joey moved to the free weights, putting him directly in Ben’s eye line. Gabe saw the two exchange a glance, but neither spoke. He knew that if he hadn’t spoken Italian to Dante Bellini at the restaurant yesterday, the brothers would be deep in conversation right now. He’d done it to be respectful, but right now, he regretted having done it.
Jamie looked at Gabe. “Gabe, could we trade places now?”
Gabe nodded and got up to trade machines with Jamie.
Ben finished his workout, got up and nodded to Gabe. “I’m going to go shower and dress. We’ll have breakfast around nine o’clock.”
Ben quietly opened the door to master suite and, as usual, paused to watch Lane sleep before going in to shower and shave. They’d been married about eight weeks and he still marveled at how lucky he was. He was married to the love of his life, he considered the Parker Kids his children from the moment Lane had said, “I do.” Even before that, if he was honest. He had set up testamentary trust accounts in his will for all three Parker kids over two years ago. After the wedding, he’d changed his will a bit naming Lane as heir. He’d added that clause about his issue and now he needed to talk to his cousin Daniela about adding Jamie by name. So much, change in such a short amount of time.
Lane murmured, stirred, and opened her eyes. She smiled and patted the bed inviting him to join her. He walked closer to the bed.
“I’m sweaty and smelly.” He said as he bent and kissed his wife.
She lifted the covers. “I don’t care. Hurry, you’re letting all the warmth escape.”
He stripped out of his workout clothes and climbed in next to her. He lay on his back and she snuggled next to him nestling her head on his shoulder as he put his arms around her and kissed her head.
“How’s Jamie this morning?” She asked.
“He’s fine. I left him in the gym with Joey and Gabe.”
He glanced at the bedside clock. It was nearing eight o’clock and he still needed to shower, dress, and get breakfast started, but he’d lay here holding his wife for as long as he could. He stroked her hair with his right hand and gently kissed her as she fell back asleep.
Ben quietly and carefully eased out of bed, picked up his workout clothes and went into the bathroom.
After he showered and dressed, he paused again to watch Lane as she slept. The first trimester of the pregnancy had worn her out, and while Dr. Sennette had told them on Tuesday that Lane should start getting some energy back now, he planned to let her sleep as long as she could.
He gently closed the bedroom door and headed toward the kitchen. He found Joey and Gabe already there, each cooking. Joey had set the electric griddle on the island and was making pancakes. Gabe was standing at the stove, frying bacon and taking orders for omelets. Each had a cup of coffee and they seemed to be getting along. Jess was hovering near Gabe trying to get a slice of bacon, but he was playfully slapping at her hand with the tongs.
“Back away woman, I’m warning you. It’s not crispy.”
“I don’t care. Give me a piece.” Jess whined.
“For God’s sake give her the bacon.” Joey growled.
So much for getting along. Ben thought.
Gabe picked up the slice that appeared to be most cooked. “Do you have any idea what under cooked pork will do to you?” He said as he put the bacon on a plate and handed it to Jess.
“I’m not afraid of a little trichinosis.” Jess said, practically moaning in delight, as she took her first bite.
Jamie got a tablecloth out of the butler’s pantry and was in the process of setting the dining table. Ben didn’t know whether Evie, Joey, and Pauli would be going with them to volunteer and had begun to suspect that if everyone went, the servers might outnumber the diners. Obviously, Ben’s presence in the kitchen was unnecessary. He commented that someone needed to call Pauli about breakfast as he made a cup of coffee and went into the hearth room to join Evie.
He bent and kissed her cheek. “Good morning. Did you sleep well?”
She patted his hand. “As well as usual. It’s something that happens as we age. We don’t require as much sleep which is a good thing, considering I’m up two or three times a night to use the facilities.”
He sat on the opposite end of the sofa. “Ah, something to look forward to.”
Evie folded the paper and looked at him. “How is Lane, really? She looked tired last night.”
“We had her 12 week appointment Tuesday and the doctor said her energy level should come back to normal now that she’s started her second trimester. I’m letting her sleep as long as possible…” He raised his voice “…although I may have to kill someone in the kitchen if all that noise wakes her.”
Lane walked into the room and bent to kiss Evie’s cheek before sitting in the chair adjacent to her husband.
“Actually, I woke up to use the bathroom, and found myself alone.” She leaned over and kissed Ben. “I saw the time and thought I’d better get up. We have a lot to do today.”
“You don’t have to lift a finger in the kitchen today; I’ve got it under control. You just relax and spend time with Evie.” Ben told her.
Gabe poked his head into the hearth room and looked at Lane. “I’m taking omelet orders. What’s your pleasure?”
Lane smiled, “I’m a purest. I’ll just have two scrambled eggs.”
“One Adam and Eve on a raft; wreck ’em coming up, but that’s only if you want bacon with them.”
Jess looked at him and shook her head. “Where do you come up with this stuff?”
“It’s diner lingo. You really need to get out more. Actually, I learned it for a role a couple of years ago. I was playing a short order cook.”
Jess laughed, “So what you’re telling me is, you hung out in a diner for a week listening to what the waitresses and cooks said.”
Jess knew that some actors used ‘the method’, a family of techniques used by actors to create in themselves the thoughts and emotions of their characters, so they could develop lifelike performances. Gabe’s way of accomplishing this was to immerse himself in the life of the character. He didn’t take it to the extremes that some actors did though. Some actors immersed themselves so much that they became the character on and off the set.
The garage door opened and Pauli walked into the kitchen. Gabe went through his omelet routine.
Gabe had five skillets on the stove as he cooked omelets in three, bacon in the fourth and ham in the fifth.
“I have a bacon, cheese, mushroom, and ham ready to go. Jess I think that’s yours.” He said as he slid it from the pan onto a plate.
“I have two scrambled with bacon and toast and two over easy with ham. Those are Lane and Nana Evie.” He called as he moved the eggs onto plates and handed them into Jamie’s waiting hands.
He cracked eggs and started the omelets for Joey, Pauli and Jamie next as he repeated the orders back to them to be sure he had everything right. The Keurig was working overtime as Jess made coffee for everyone.
Soon everyone was at the dining table with plates of omelets or eggs, with platters of bacon, ham, and pancakes in the middle of the table. Everyone held hands, and Ben quickly offered the standard Catholic blessing so everyone could dig in before their food got cold.
During breakfast, Lane took a head count of people going to serve Thanksgiving luncheon with her. As Ben suspected, Evie, Pauli, and Joey were going to stay home.
Ben had stuffed the turkeys last night and would get them into the oven as soon as breakfast was finished. They would leave the house around 10:45 and should return no later than one o’clock, which would give him an hour to get the rest of the meal completed and ready for a two o’clock dinner. Having grown up in the restaurant business had made all of the Bellini brothers good cooks, so Joey and Pauli could keep an eye on things until he got back from serving luncheon.
