Love is Just a Moment by Taylor Hill Read Free Book Online Page B

did now I felt certain that that was how everybody else remembered him too. (And ok, so maybe he had more excuses than most people to lash out and rebel, but didn’t I as well? And when had I ever acted out or behaved impulsively or let my emotions get the better of me? Never. Somebody in this family had to keep their head on straight—if you could even call it a family at all anymore, which was, in fairness, up for debate…)
    “You girls are looking more radiant than usual, eh? Must be some special guys today, eh, husband material!”
    Gino laughed heartily to himself as he swept up the unused saucers off the table and replaced them with ones that were only marginally newer, his chuckle rumbling up all the way out of his paunchy stomach and causing his faded old apron to quiver with delight.
    “Hardly,” I smiled, “like I said earlier Gino, it’s only Lou and his friend—and really you don’t need to freshen the table, we’ve only been here for a few minutes.”
    “Eh,” Gino shrugged in that old passive Italian way that comes on somewhere far past the fuming and possessive young stallion stage and paradoxically seems like its exact polar opposite in manhood. “You two make even the newest dining-ware appear shabby in comparison. Are you sure these boys aren’t something special to you, no? Looking so beautiful the two of you…”
    Lisa’s eyes shone with enjoyment as she smiled up at him, lips painted with a dark purple gloss to set off the streak in her dyed-blonde hair. “Gino, you old cad,” she grinned, “I bet you were one to watch back in the day…”
    Gino threw up his arms in a quasi-self-deprecating shrug that seemed to say: well… I’ll never tell.
    “Hey, seriously,” I said, “it’s just a casual coffee is all. Why don’t you go upstairs and take it easy. Have you eaten lunch yet? If anybody comes in I can serve them.”
    “And distract you from more important things? Not at all Sandra. My Café, my rules. Sit!”
    Gino could be commanding when he wanted to be. I bet Lisa wasn’t wrong when she guessed at his rakish younger days. Before I could protest Gino was off on the rounds, singing to himself in old Italian as he wiped the already-spotless tablecloths of the other tables around us. Lisa shot me a wide-eyed excited look like she’d really gotten a kick out of the old coot’s playful teasing. Gino was great. He was like the father who hadn’t failed me.
     
     
    They were typically and irritatingly late—to be expected from Lou and his arrogant attitude to life—although I have to admit that when I looked up to see my brother at the door I was surprised by how much he’d changed since the last time I’d seen him, which had only been about a month or so previous. First of all there was the hair, now shaven right to the skin and causing his caramel-colored flesh to end in a shiny perfectly-rounded dome at the top of his head. Then there was the goatee and the ear-ring. Wow, he actually looked ok—not that I’d be letting him know that I thought so, of course—Lou didn’t need any fresh excuses to further inflate his new-found ego.
    But still, he was my brother and I loved him so I couldn’t help but smile when I heard the bell ring and glanced up to see the jerk pushing open the clear-glass door to enter. What I guessed to be an equally-involuntary grin spread out over his face as he let out an arrogant shout.
    “Oh! Two beautiful women! What have we done to deserve it?”
    Lisa jumped up to run to my brother, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek and instead of cringing at the sight of them, my eyes focused on the shape of the guy behind them as he came into view.
    Yes, he was kind of exactly like I would have expected and yet somehow he wasn’t at all—not even in the least bit—and if you want me to explain what I mean by that then you’re out of luck, because I wouldn’t have been able to tell you then and I certainly wouldn’t attempt it now.
    But I can tell