Her eyes shifted from him in a way he thought was self-conscious, and he looked behind him to see his entire family staring dumbly at them. Nothing to do here but the obvious, unfortunately.
“Oh. I should introduce you. Sabina…Auberon”—it was surprisingly difficult to get that last name out—“this is my family. My father, Carlo Sr., my sisters, Carmen and Rosa, and my brothers John and Luca.” Bina shook hands with everyone.
“There’s another brother around somewhere: Joey.” He ruffled Trey’s head, and his son stood and hooked an arm around his leg. “And this is my son, Trey. Trey, this nice lady is Ms. Bina.” He glanced at her to make sure she didn’t mind the way he’d introduced her. By her genuine smile, he assumed she did not.
Bina bent at the waist to get closer to his son. She was wearing a pendant with a rose-colored stone, and it dangled as she leaned. “Hello, Mr. Trey. How are you?”
“I’m fine thank you. You’re pretty.” He reached out and wrapped his little hand around her pendant. “This is pretty, too.”
“Trey, let go, pal.” Carlo put his hand on Trey’s arm and gently pulled him back.
“It’s not a worry, really. Thank you, Mr. Trey. You are a very nice person.” She stood up.
“Yes I am. You’re nice, too. Do you like doughnuts with jimmies? We have doughnuts at Pop-Pop’s for breakfast. And beagles. I don’t like beagles but Daddy said I could have two jimmie doughnuts if I was quiet like a mouse in Mass and I was so now I can have two jimmie doughnuts when we go home but if you like jimmie doughnuts I would give you one.”
She laughed. It was a beautiful sound coming from a beautiful mouth in a beautiful face. So beautiful that for a moment, Carlo hoped she would take Trey up on his offer and come home with them. What the fuck was he thinking? “Trey…”
Bina put her hand up to stop him from saying more. “That is the most wonderful thing anyone’s wanted to do for me in a long time, Mr. Trey. I have an appointment this morning, though, so I’m afraid I’m not able to join you for a doughnut. Maybe some other time?”
“Okay but I don’t know when Mrs. D. will bring doughnuts again. And I don’t live here all the time. Only sometimes.” He looked up at Carlo. “Daddy, how many days do we live here now?”
“Seven more days, pal.” He looked from his son to Bina; her eyes were on him—in the sunlight he saw that they were hazel—and that feeling of something came over him again. He barely caught himself from taking the steps that would close the distance between them. What was going on here?
Trey counted and then held up seven fingers; he had to shove his books under his arm to do so. “This is seven many. That’s a lot. Maybe we’ll have doughnuts again.”
“Please let me know if you do.” She held her hand out to Trey, and he shook it, two sharp shakes. “It was very nice to meet you, Mr. Trey.” She looked over to the still-gaping family. “And all of you, as well. Please have a lovely day. Goodbye.” She walked away, not limping at all. Carlo couldn’t tear his eyes away.
As soon as she was safely away, his father strode to him and grabbed his arm, pulling him away from Trey. “Auberon? This is who you were with last night? Do you know who that woman’s husband is? What the hell are you doing, boy? Diddling another man’s wife? That man’s wife? Are you trying to start a war? I expect this bullshit from Luca or Joey. Not you.”
“I’m not diddling anybody, Pop. I walked her home, and then John picked me up. End of story.” He wrenched his arm free from the vise of his father’s hand.
“I’m not an idiot, boy. And I’m not blind. Maybe it’s been a while since I made ‘em myself, but I know googly-eyes when I see ‘em. If you haven’t done anything stupid yet, good. Don’t. Stay away.”
He turned and stalked off toward the parking lot. “Home,” he said as he passed his children. Everyone fell in line to follow. Carlo took Trey’s hand and trailed after. As he crossed the sidewalk toward the parking lot, he met his Uncle Ben’s eyes.
Uncle Ben had seen it all, too.
~oOo~
Early that afternoon, he and Luca sat on a log on the beach, their wetsuits folded around their waists and their boards leaning against the wood-slat fence behind them. A small, red cooler sat in the sand between them, and they’d each pulled a beer from it.