Page 15 of Finally Mine
Gloria laughed, and it loosened her chest, allowing her to draw a free breath. “Definitely nesting.”
“Harp seems good for him,” Aldo predicted. “Maybe he’s finally going to see that happily ever after.”
“Let’s hope there’s one for all of us,” Gloria said wistfully.
“Sweetheart, I can guarantee it,” Aldo told her. He wasn’t smiling, but the look in those warm brown eyes tickled her belly. This wasn’t fear she was feeling. This was something entirely different.
8
“So, you’re nesting now that you finally found a woman to tolerate you?” Aldo demanded, eyeing the apple pie that Gloria was cutting into neat slices.
Luke rolled his eyes and muttered “smartass” under his breath.
“Gloria, I think we’re witnessing a real-life bromance,” Harper said in a stage whisper across the picnic table. Night had fallen, casting the backyard into shadow. But to Gloria, the darkness felt like comfort, delivering with it a quiet kind of intimacy between them. There were no monsters lurking here.
Aldo shared the bench with her, and even though they weren’t touching, she was very aware of his heat, his presence.
Luke and Harper’s joined hands rested in Harper’s lap. Gloria felt a twinge of envy at the way they looked at each other. So much passed between them. Not the least of which was longing, and she imagined the night would be an early one for their little party.
Would she ever find a relationship like the one across the table? Did she even believe in love?
“How’s work going?” Aldo asked Luke. “You know, since you hired that horrible office manager.”
Harper feigned a gasp of dismay and threw a piece of hamburger bun at him. Luke had hired Harper to manage the office of his contractor business.
“Work is going exceedingly well, and I hear the new office manager is a dream come true. A real hero,” she insisted.
Gloria admired how relaxed and natural they all were, bickering back and forth. Meanwhile, she was tying herself up in knots about whether or not she should serve the pie. Was it her responsibility to offer it up since she brought it?Nerves. She was being ridiculous. It was a damn pie. Not a bomb to diffuse.
“Anyone want a piece of pie?” she piped up.
“Yes!” came the unanimous response.
She served while Aldo shared a story about work. He was a structural engineer in a small firm in town. Gloria wasn’t quite sure what a structural engineer did and made a note to look it up now that she had unlimited internet access.So much to catch up on. So many things missed out on.
Pie plated, Harper grandly suggested they adjourn to the firepit.
“Indubitably,” Aldo agreed, pretending to adjust his invisible monocle. He carried his plate and Gloria’s over to the fire.Was he doing it on purpose, being attentive? Was this interest or just being kind?Her mind was a whirl. Flirting, relationships, Gloria was so far removed from healthy social interactions that she couldn’t tell if he was only being polite with his attentiveness.
“Oh my God,” Harper moaned next to Gloria. “Heaven just exploded in my mouth. Will you teach me to make pie?”
“Yes, please, Gloria. Teach Harper to make pie,” Luke insisted.
“I’d die a happy man if you would make me a pie a week,” Aldo sighed from across the cozy fire. There was that skitter of nerves again. Gloria wondered if she’d ever have a social interaction that didn’t scare her out of her skin or turn her into an overanalyzing fool.
After pie came marshmallows, and Gloria basked in the praise at her perfectly toasted delicacies. Her father had taught her on a camping trip the summer before he left. At least she had that small piece of him.
“Hey, lover boy,” Aldo called to Luke, holding his bottle aloft. “If you’re done staring dreamily at your girl, I’m empty, and it’s your turn to play host.”
Gloria had watched Aldo throughout the night. He’d stuck with water until after dinner. This would be his second beer. Aldo Moretta didn’t seem like the kind of man to overindulge in anything.
“Sure. No problem.” Luke rose from his chair and reached for Aldo’s empty. He tipped his friend’s chair sideways and dumped Aldo onto the ground.
Gloria winced, waiting for his reaction, waiting for the quick rush of anger, the escalating retaliation.
But Aldo sat on the grass and laughed.
“Ladies, can I get you anything?” Luke offered.
