Page 33 of Karma Kitty Christmas
But as Luca and Jimmy Bob, his best worker and best friend, moved Allegra’s furniture into the bottom bedroom—which had been empty of all but a guest bed and an end table—Jimmy Bob’s comments about the house stirred up all the possibilities.
“So, he just invited your sister to move in?” Jimmy Bob said dubiously, looking around. The day was in the low hundreds, and Jimmy Bob’s shaved head gleamed with sweat. Luca would remind the guy to put his hat on when they went outside, but right now he was probably enjoying the air conditioning.
“And he’s not here now?”
“He’s a teacher!” Luca protested. “And today is graduation. He couldn’t get out of it, but I got the key—it’s fine.”
“Are you sure he’s not, uhm, after your sister’s virtue?” Jimmy Bob wrinkled his nose, and Luca resisted the urge to smack his bald pate. Yeah, the guy was a good worker—and a genuinely good guy who gave his time and building skills to charity and had started no fewer than three grassroots lawn-care guys into their own businesses by letting them borrow his oldestmower—but he wasn’t particularly educated, and he wasn’t particularly socially conscious.
“Jimmy, he’s as gay as I am,” Luca said, shaking his head. “Probably gayer, if that’s a thing. His husband died, they have this giant house, he’s all alone, and he and my sister get along. Since I don’t hate either of them, I think this is a win.”
Jimmy Bob glanced at him. “Are you sure you and him aren’t…?” He waggled his eyebrows. “I understand widows and widowers can be pretty hot stuff.”
Luca’s eyes were going to dry out. “I’d remember if we were having sex, Jimmy Bob. He’s cute. You don’t want to forget that.”
Jimmy Bob cackled. “Yeah, yeah. But you can—” He waggled his brows again, the gesture particularly noticeable on his shaved head because his entire scalp wrinkled. “—even without thepoketa-poketa, you know what I mean?”
Lucaforcedhimself to blink. “Sadly, yes, Idoknow what that means,” he said and decided if Jimmy Bob wasn’t going to drive him bugnuts, he should come clean. “And we’ve had some nice moments—nopoketa-poketanecessary.”
“So?”
“So what?” But Luca knew. For a guy who could pick up girls at a bar with a lazy-eyed glance and a “Hey, darlin’, it’s looking slow tonight, do you wanna?” Jimmy Bob could be surprisingly perceptive.
“So why aren’t you and Mr. Widower a thing yet?”
“Do you want some ice water?” Luca asked. They’d pretty much moved their last item—a vanity and a bench, as well as a couple of dressers Allegra had finished herself because her useless ex-boyfriend couldn’t be assed to help her—and Allegra and Luca would bring in her bedding and clothes when he dropped her off that evening.
His apartment was already breathing a little easier, and he’d moved his computer desk and weight set back into his guest room with a sigh of relief.
“Am I allowed in the kitchen? This place is pretty choice.”
“Yeah, sure,” Luca said. “Just—and I mean this—don’t touch the good teacups, because his late husband gave them as a gift, and if I ever break one, I have to kill myself. It’s in the rules.”
Jimmy Bob looked properly terrified, which was good. It meant he took Luca seriously and let Luca grab the serviceable sturdy glass tumblers from the cupboard that carriedallof Isaac’s everyday glasses and plateware so nothing delicate was at risk.
“Well this is pretty fancy for me,” Jimmy Bob said, taking a swig of simple ice water. “And I’m grateful.”
“Oh….” At that moment, Luca saw the note on the fridge in Isaac’s legible but not meticulous handwriting. “Oh!” He opened the fridge and pulled out a plate with three sandwiches on it, each one cut in half, the whole thing covered with a layer of plastic to keep it fresh. “Oh my God.”
He set the plate on the island and then reached into the fridge again and came out with a small plasticware bowl filled with fruit salad. Then he closed the fridge and grabbed the small bag of potato chips on top of the bread drawer.
“Is all this for us?” Jimmy Bob asked, eyes bulging.
“Well, one of these sandwiches—the one with the extra tomatoes, I bet—we need to take to Allegra,” Luca said, taking the plastic wrap and using it on the one sandwich. He grabbed a fork from the drawer that he figured he and Jimmy Bob could pass back and forth and put it in the fruit salad, and for a few moments, they settled down to a working man’s feast ofamazingDagwoods, cut peaches, grapes, yogurt, and chips. When they came up for air, Luca put the lid back on the fruitsalad and started to load the dishwasher and wipe the counters while Jimmy Bob formulated a thought.
“That was amazing.”
“I know it,” Luca said with a sigh.
“This guy left you afeastin the fridge, an extra sandwich for your sister, and leftovers.”
“He asked nicely that we return the plasticware,” Luca said, his lips twitching. It was sweet.
“And you’ve only hadmoments? What—and I ask this nicely, with all the respect in the world—the fuck, sincerely, are you waiting for?”
Luca gave him a smile evenheknew was a little dreamy. “This guy’s a keeper,” he said simply. “You don’t one-and-done a guy like this. His last relationship—it wasn’t so great. And it ended when the guydied, so, you know….”
“Ouch,” Jimmy Bob said. “It didn’t really end.”
