Casa Parisi (30 page)

"I'm on it. Is bacon, scrambled eggs and toast okay with you?"

"That sounds delicious."

Lucia put the coffee pot on and fed Angel and when everything was prepared, they carried their food and mugs of coffee out onto the deck, taking Angel with them. Without talking they consumed every morsel and set the empty dishes aside.

"This is the best breakfast I've ever eaten," Juliet said, finishing the last of her coffee and setting her cup next to the dishes. "I've never been more relaxed. In fact, I feel so light it's like I'm floating on air."

"You've made me very happy." Lucia put her coffee mug on the deck, took Juliet's hand in hers and brought it to her mouth for a kiss.

"I'm happy too." Juliet kissed Lucia on the mouth.

"We have to tell Luke that we worked things out," Lucia said after the kiss.

"We'll tell him as soon as we see him."

"How much do you want him to know?" Lucia asked.

Juliet seemed to consider the question before she answered it. "Everything, when we both feel it's right, but for now why don't we tell him we're on good terms until we have a chance to get used to this, to us."

"Whatever you're comfortable with is okay with me." Lucia still wanted Juliet with an intensity she couldn't believe. They'd made love all evening, most of the night and half the morning and she still wasn't satisfied. The passion, the yearning, the feelings she thought she'd never have again had been returned to her in all their glory.

"What are you thinking about?" Juliet asked.

"I wish we could stay here all day and make love."

"You still want to make love?"

"I never wanted to stop."

"We'll have lots of time together, Lucia."

Lucia clamped her eyes shut against the stab of pain she felt as her world came to a standstill. She couldn't breathe. "Don't say that. You can never say that."

"I'm sorry." Juliet hugged Lucia's shoulders. "You of all people know we can never count on tomorrow, but I'm not afraid of what the future has in store. Every day we have will be a precious gift, far less than I desire and far more than I deserve."

Lucia opened her eyes and met Juliet's. In their blue depths she glimpsed a promise of hope, a promise of a new tomorrow. "You are such a sweetheart. You make me want to get up each morning and see what the day has to offer."

"That's what I want us to do."

"That's all I've ever wanted." Lucia asked a very important question. "Will you have dinner with me tonight?"

"I'd love to as long as I can go home first and check on Sabrina Star. She's probably beside herself because I didn't come home last night."

"And starving, the poor little thing. She'll think you've abandoned her."

"I'm sure she will. She's so neglected," Juliet said.

"I could pick you up around six-thirty, and we could go to the Moosewood, as long as you don't mind eating there again."

"I don't mind. I loved it," Juliet said.

"This time we won't be fighting when I take you home." Lucia saw questions on Juliet's face. "You've got something on your mind."

"I wanted to ask you to spend the night with me, but I didn't know if I should. Is it too soon or too much?"

"I could do that." Lucia was pleased Juliet wanted to be with her again and that she had taken the initiative. "That was hard for you to ask, wasn't it?"

"I was afraid you'd say no."

"I'm saying yes. I want to be with you," Lucia said. "I should warn you, though. I'm going to be busy for the next few days and we won't see much of each other. Luke and I have to meet with our printer tomorrow during the day and in the evening we have an appointment in Ithaca with our lawyer."

"That's not a problem. I've got plenty of work to catch up on."

"That's not all. Thursday I'm going to Rochester in the morning on business and that same evening I have a dinner meeting with a potential distributor. I don't know if I'll stay overnight or come back. It depends on how long the meeting lasts."

"I don't care as long as you come back to me."

"As long as you're here waiting for me, I'll be back," Lucia said. "The wine festival is this weekend, so that means I have to cover the winery on Friday while Luke gets the booth set up. On Friday evening, I promised I'd watch the kids while Luke and Natalie go to the Friday evening banquet for the winery owners."

"What about later on Friday night?" Juliet asked. "I could come up."

"The kids are staying overnight. They love to stay at the cottage and besides, by the time Luke and Natalie could get here to pick them up it would be very late. I'm sorry it's going to be such a bad week."

"We'll manage. I'll help you at the winery on Friday and we'll be working together on Saturday at the festival. That will have to do although it will be hard to keep my hands to myself."

"You'll be too busy to think about sex," Lucia said.

"Don't be so sure. I'll want you pretty bad by then."

"I'll be in the same condition if that's any consolation," Lucia said. "I thought about having you stay overnight on Friday, but how would we explain our relationship to the kids? They don't miss a thing. You could come for the evening, but I think that would be even harder on both of us because I'd never want to let you go home."

"And I'd never want to go home," Juliet said. "No, you're right. We're not ready to tell the kids and I'm way past the point where I can hide my feelings for you."

"So am I." Juliet frowned. "Three days without you isn't going to be easy." "We'll make up for it later." Lucia got to her feet and held out her

hand to help Juliet up. "Come on. We'd better get going." "You're the boss," Juliet said.

EARLY SATURDAY MORNING, Juliet drove up to the winery to meet the Parisis. Luke was driving them to the wine festival and they'd planned to leave as soon as she got there. Lucia had spent Tuesday night at Juliet's apartment and during the busy week that ensued, they saw little of each other, only a few minutes here and there. Juliet had plenty to do, but keeping busy did little to ease her need to be with Lucia. Missing someone was new for Juliet and it surprised her how much she missed Lucia.

She saw Luke and Lucia waiting for her outside as she parked her car. She waved to them, got out and walked toward them.

"It's a great day, isn't it?" Luke remarked in the way of a greeting.

"Couldn't be better," Juliet said. Her eyes were on Lucia.

"It's getting better by the minute." Lucia winked at her.

"I have to agree with that." Naturally, Luke was referring to the weather, but Juliet knew Lucia's statement had another meaning. Her implicit message, the look of desire in her eyes, the smile lighting her face ignited a spark in Juliet that burned so hot she almost couldn't stand it. It was going to be a long day.

Luke smiled broadly. "You two look disgustingly happy. It's contagious."

"I hope you like the idea of us being together," Juliet said. Lucia had told Luke about them being lovers yesterday morning, with Juliet's permission.

"Like it? I love it," Luke replied. "Not that you should care what I think."

Lucia addressed that statement. "If you disapproved, it might not keep us apart, but I know I speak for Juliet when I say we wouldn't want that."

"I'll tell you what I really think, straight from the heart." Luke put one arm around Lucia and the other around Juliet. He turned to Lucia. "Seeing you happy again means a lot to me." He turned to Juliet. "And I love you like a sister." He cleared his throat and let them go. "That's enough of that. We need to get you to the festival so you'll have time to prepare for the assault of the wine-lovers. They're a wild crowd, although God knows our livelihood depends upon them."

Luke climbed into his truck and Lucia and Juliet slid in next to him. Lucia put her hand on Juliet's and whispered in her ear. "All I've thought about all week was how I'd be spending today with you."

Juliet longed to tell Lucia how much she had missed her, but she only nodded. She glanced at Lucia's profile as they drove down the driveway. If only she had a window into Lucia's mind and could read her thoughts. Had Lucia missed her?

Being away from Lucia had caused doubts to infiltrate Juliet's peace of mind. How long would this sexual affair last? What did it really mean to Lucia? The attraction was strong and thus far Lucia had not given her cause to distrust her sincerity. What she did question was how long Lucia would want her. She was in love with Lucia and there was nothing she could do to change that, but she knew she had no right to assume that Lucia was in love with her or ever would be.

Juliet wasn't a stranger without a name or someone without a personal connection to Lucia. Those facts, although indisputable, offered her very little in the way of assurances. How could she be sure she wasn't another lover Lucia took on to ease her suffering? How could she be sure Lucia's desire would last another week or even another day?

Luke drove west toward Seneca Lake through the town of Interlaken where he lived with his family. The flat terrain between the lakes was dotted with dairy farms and herds of beef cattle. Through the half-opened window, Juliet saw endless fields of golden wheat swaying at the whim of the shifting winds. The sweet air was suffused with the summer fragrances of fertile soil, newly mown grasses and sun-warmed evergreens. Closing her eyes for a moment, she was only conscious of how content she felt simply being alive and sitting next to Lucia.

When Luke reached the road on the eastern side of Seneca Lake he drove south to the town of Watkins Glen which anchored the southern end of the lake. The Watkins Glen race track was situated a few miles outside of the town and once he reached it he proceeded through the main gates and around to the vendor's entrance at the back of the tent area.

"Here we are ladies," Luke said, pulling up to the gate. "Call me when you're ready to leave and I'll pick you up in this very same spot."

"Thanks for the ride," Juliet said as she opened the door and got out of the truck. Lucia slid across the seat and hopped out behind her.

"Don't work too hard," Luke yelled before he drove away.

"This gets bigger every year," Lucia said, walking through the gate. Every summer in July, the race track hosted one of the largest wine festivals on the east coast. For one weekend, the smells of wine and food replaced the smell of burning rubber, wine spills replaced oil spills, and the sounds of live bands replaced the sound of roaring engines. Wineries from all over New York State gathered to sell their products while vendors sold gourmet foods, locally made products, arts and crafts.

Lucia and Juliet went to the Casa Parisi booth where they found Dennis preparing for the arrival of the festival goers. He waved when he saw them.

"You look ready for action," Lucia said. "How long have you been here?"

Dennis checked his watch. "A couple of hours. I woke up early and I remembered how busy it was last year, so I thought I'd better get over here."

"What can we do?" Juliet asked.

"There's nothing for you to do. Just let me show you where everything is and what we have in the booth and we'll be ready to roll."

"Is Kim here yet?" Lucia asked.

"She's been here for an hour. She went to get some iced tea. We're already sweating and it's not even that hot out yet. I put some bottles of water on ice for all of us, but she said she needed the caffeine."

Kim returned a few minutes later and by the time the gates and ticket booths opened at nine, they were braced for action. For the first few hours, people arrived at the booth in a steady, albeit manageable, stream. But as noon approached the tent was bursting at the seams with a raucous throng of thirsty wine aficionados.

Around one-thirty, Dennis and Kim suggested Lucia and Juliet take a lunch break. Kim didn't feel hungry and Dennis said his girlfriend was bringing him something later in the afternoon.

Before they went to the food tents, Lucia pulled Juliet to the rear of the booth. It was noisy so she had to put her mouth right up to Juliet's ear. "I can't believe this is the first time we've had a chance to talk. I missed you so much I could hardly stand it. I hate that we have to be here all day."

"It can't be helped. I'm happy to be with you no matter where or when." Juliet was standing so close to Lucia she could feel the sexual tension between them.

Lucia must have felt the same. "I'm dying to touch you. I hope you can stay with me tonight because that's what I want."

Juliet rubbed Lucia's upper arm. "That makes two of us." Even if this affair did turn out to be short-lived, Juliet had made up her mind that she would take advantage of every minute Lucia gave her, even if it meant her heart would be broken in the end.

"I can't wait to taste you," Lucia whispered.

Juliet felt her knees grow weak. "Don't say that here."

"When we're alone, I'm going to say whatever I want."

"And do whatever you want?"

"And do whatever I want. I should have asked you to spend the night when we talked on the phone yesterday. I guess I'm out of practice when it comes to romance."

"I could have asked you," Juliet said. "I'm not used to being in a relationship at all, certainly not one that's equal. I'll get better at it as we go along."

"I'm not complaining," Lucia said.

"I have a confession to make. I brought an overnight bag just in case."

"You did, huh?" Lucia's smile was like a caress.

"Was it too presumptuous of me?"

"No. Presume all you want."

"I wish I could kiss you senseless right now," Juliet said. "And you know where I want my hands. The thought of it--" Lucia laughed softly. "We've both got it bad, haven't we?"

"YOU TWO LOOK cozy," Carolyn yelled into the booth. Streams of sweat trickled freely down her forehead and the sides of her face. Mother Nature had provided record heat and cloudless skies for the occasion. By mid-afternoon the sun's maximum potency had been trapped inside the poorly ventilated tents, the mass of people crammed inside only adding to the problem.