Gorilla Beach (33 page)

“Check out the geezers,” said Maria out of the side of her mouth.

Gia looked up. Two middle-aged men were walking toward the entrance. “They're not geezers. They're my family! Daddy!” Running toward the two men, Gia jumped into the shorter one's arms. “What are you doing here?”

“Ooof,” said Joe Spumanti, catching her on the fly. He gave his daughter a brief squeeze, then let her down to her heels.

She turned to give her uncle Charlie, Bella's dad, a hug, too—an ambivalent Safety Sidehug. He was her uncle, but he'd been a terrible husband and father this year. He said tersely, “Hello, Gia. Is Bella here?”

“She's behind the bar.” Gia wasn't sure how Bella would feel about seeing her dad. They hadn't spoken since he left Brooklyn. Uncle Charlie excused himself and went to find his daughter.

Gia introduced Joe to Maria. She burped, then cupped her hand over her mouth. “Oh, crap. I'm gonna hurl.” She ran around the side of the building toward the Dumpster in the alley.

Joe said, “Friend of yours?”

“She's my cougar role model,” said Gia. “I can't believe you're here!”

Joe picked up the clicker that Maria had dropped. He handed it to Gia, who took over Maria's perch. “Is she okay?” he asked.

“Too much ice cream and pickles.”

“She's kind of old to be pregnant.”

Gia's brown eyes snapped open. “What did you say?”

“Nauseous, food cravings. Thick around the middle. Is she crying a lot, too? Rhonda went through all that when she was pregnant last year. And your mother, too, from what I remember.”

Gia reeled from the revelation. Maria, preggers? Did Maria even know? Even more mind-blowing, Joe Spumanti, Gia's estranged dad, had been the one to figure it out. Surreal.

“What are you doing in Seaside?” asked Gia. “How did you know where to find me?”

“Charlie got a text to come for the opening night of your club. So, this is it?”

“You like?” Bella sent her dad a text? She never said anything about that.

“It's cool.”

“Yeah.”

The awkwardness and tension from Christmas hadn't gone away. Predivorce, Gia had been a total daddy's girl. But since then, they had nothing to say to each other. Joe was a man of few words. After the split, from Gia's perspective, it was as if he didn't speak at all. His silence was contagious. Joe was probably the only person in the world Gia hesitated to speak her mind to.

She could sit there, feeling angry, hurt, and disappointed, or
she could tell him how she really felt. Fredo was downright inspiring when he stood up to his mom. That Bella had reached out to Charlie gave Gia courage, too.

“Dad, I'm glad you're here.” She clicked as a few newcomers went into the club. “Remember when I came to see you and Rhonda and the baby at Christmas?”

“Of course,” he said, arms crossed over his chest like a bouncer. He was still handsome, for an old guy.

“Are you sure? 'Cause I felt kind of invisible the whole time. You totally ignored me. I tried to talk to you, and you'd just walk away.”

“The baby cried,” he said, obviously uncomfortable. He shifted on his feet as if he were about to escape.

“I got the feeling just being in the same room with me made you nervous. You used the baby as an excuse to get away from me. Before the divorce, we were inseparable. You took me with you everywhere. Now you can't wait to get away from me.”

“Gia, please.”

“It's my club! I'll bitch if I want to!”

“I guess I deserve to get yelled at,” said Joe.

“I don't want to yell. I just want you to love me again.”

He frowned, and Gia flashed back to the night her parents told her they were splitting up. Mom cried and begged Gia to understand. Dad sat on the couch, arms crossed like now, sulking in angry silence.

“Fine, ignore me again,” she said. “As friggin' usual.”

“You know I love you. You're sizing this up wrong.”

“I'm telling you how I feel, and you say I'm wrong. Just forget it. Thanks for coming to Venus. Have a great time.”

It was his cue to leave, but he didn't. “Gia, I know I've let you down. I never meant to, I swear. This is hard for me to explain. You just … you look so much like your mother. Right after the
split, it was painful to be around you. I kept thinking about how we used to be as a family. I turned to stone inside. Then you and your mom moved, and I met Rhonda. I let my new life take over. But I felt lousy about us, Gia. The guilt was always there. And that only made it harder to fix things. I just didn't know where to start.”

It was the most words in a row he'd spoken to her in five years. Although it pissed her off to hear how unfairly he'd treated her, Gia understood the impulse to ignore a problem, hoping it'd go away. How many times had she done the same thing? She could see how he'd dug the hole deeper with each passing year, until it started to cave in around them.

“I'm not Mom,” she said. “She wanted the divorce. Not me.”

“I know that. I'm not saying I reacted rationally. Being an idiot has nothing to do with logic. I really wanted to explain myself to you at Christmas, but the baby kept … okay, the baby was an excuse. It's easier to change a diaper than open a vein.”

“So what now?” asked Gia, feeling the tension fade.

He shrugged. “We could dance. Like we used to.”

When Gia was a little girl, Joe would put on his Springsteen records and they'd dance for hours in the living room. She'd take flying leaps off the couch into his arms, and he'd spin her around until they fell on the floor dizzy and snort-laughing.

At that moment, Maria reappeared, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Better now. Sort of.”

“Here's the clicker. I'll be inside dancing,” said Gia, taking Joe's hand. “About twenty people came in while you were puking. Oh, yeah. You've got a garlic knot in the brick oven.”

“Huh?”

“You've got a mini-Stanley growing in your uterus.”

Maria's expression was priceless. Her hand went to her Lycra-encased belly. “I think I'm gonna throw up again.”

Gia and Joe didn't wait to watch that Technicolor event. They went inside, hand in hand, and hit the dance floor. As soon as they started moving, Gia was transported back in time to when she was her dad's everything. They were the only two people on the crowded dance floor, just like they'd been in the living room.

Bella pinch-bartended. There
were just so many people! Tanner and Jim couldn't handle the action, so she and Will helped pour. She made countless vodka tonics, seven and sevens, Bacardi and Diet Cokes. Tanner had premixed a vat of triple sec and lime juice for margaritas. All she had to do was add tequila and ice. You'd think bartending would be easy. Pour booze into a plastic cup. But when five people came at her at once, screaming their orders and pushing $10 bills at her, it was hard! When a prissy guidette screamed, “I said
gin,
sweetie,” after Bella had poured vodka, she felt totally flustered.

Clearly, she had no future in bartending.

At her side, Will was a controlled explosion of energy, mixing, making change. With his hands busy, he was downright chatty. Same thing with a Sharpie in his hand. If there were a way to draw portraits and bartend at the same time, Will would be in heaven.

It was a huge turn-on for Bella to watch him in action. He'd changed his look to fit in, too, with a new fade haircut to Bella's specs. Reluctantly Will submitted to a light Mystic tan. With darker skin, his blue eyes were mesmerizing. She'd gaze into his eyes and could almost see her future. Tonight, he wore jeans, a spiked leather belt, and a wifebeater with a button-down, black,
short-sleeved shirt on top. When Bella suggested he buy a pair of Pumas, he drew the line.

“I am not wearing white sneakers. Absolutely no way.”

“But motorcycle boots?” she asked. “Really? They're so butch.”

“Since I actually ride a bike, I need them. You are not taking my boots. You can have my hair, my skin, my clothes, my art, my life. You already have my heart. You can have every part of me, but you are not taking my boots.”

“Hello? Are you listening to me?” A guido snapped his fingers in front of Bella's face, bringing her back to present.

“Don't be an asshole or I'll spit in your drink,” she said. “What'll you have?”

She poured and mixed until her fingers pruned. Will suggested she take a break. But Bella was not leaving his side, not with all these girls clamoring for his attention. Word got out that he was also the mural artist, and every girl here wanted him to do her portrait.

In the fresh press for drinks, Bella barely looked at the customers' faces. Someone tried to grab her hand when she passed him a drink. She looked up, ready to tear the guy's face off.

“Daddy?” It was Charlie. He looked awful, as if he'd aged twenty years since she'd seen him last.

“Bella,” he said, and—shockingly—started crying.

“Dad, stop. There's no crying in Venus.”

Will came over to her. “Problem?”

“It's my father.” To Charlie, she said, “How did you find me? I told Mom not to let you know where I was.”

Will put his hand out. “Hello, Mr. Rizzoli. I'm Will Lugano. Bella's boyfriend.”

Charlie pulled himself together to shake Will's hand. “You're the kid who sent me the text to come here tonight?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Um,
what
?” asked Bella.

“Can you give us a second?” Will said to Charlie. He pulled her back. “I found his number on your cell phone.”

“Where do you get off interfering in my personal business? You know what he did to my mom. To me.”

“He was an idiot. And you need to forgive him anyway. He must have sent you a hundred texts. I knew you'd never back down, so I sent him the message about the club opening.”

“You have no right.” The crowd was building up at the bar. Dozens of people waved money in their direction. “Wait a friggin' minute,” she yelled at them.

Will put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “You need your family, Bella. Cutting off your dad is like cutting off your legs. Yeah, he did a despicable thing. You don't think he knows that? Jesus, look at him! He's miserable.”

“He deserves to be,” she said, daring to take a peek at Charlie. He really did look awful, haggard and defeated. So freakin' sad. Bella's heart tightened at the sight. Her caretaker instinct kicked in. She wanted to help him. “No! I'm not knee-jerking into taking care of everyone else.”

Will smiled sweetly at her. He really was gorgeous, especially with a tan. “What's wrong with taking care of the people you love?”

“I lose myself.”

“But caring for the people you love is
who you are
. Okay, you might veer toward the extreme. But things come full circle. You help someone else, like you turned my life around. And now, I'm doing it for you. Find a way to forgive, or you'll suffer more than Charlie in the long run.”

“Practice what you preach. You're not about to forgive your parents.”

Will shook his head. “My parents are addicts. They should never have had a child. There are things they did that simply can't
be forgotten. Because of you, though, I'm trying to forgive my parents in my way. I can't have a relationship with them. But I'm not hiding anymore. That's a major step.”

He can forgive, but not forget. Will was asking Bella to do both. “I can't,” she said.

“You can do anything. Go. I'll be fine back here.”

Bella nodded and stepped under the trapdoor of the bar. Charlie was waiting. He immediately wrapped her in his arms. He'd lost so much weight. Her pudgy papa had turned into a lean cuisine.

“I'm so sorry,” he repeated until Bella's defenses shattered, and she found herself hugging him back. “I was so terrified she was going to die, I couldn't stand to be around and watch it happen.”

“I'm not sure I can stand to be around you.”

“I'm dedicating the rest of my life to making it up to you both. I've been talking to your mom. She's letting me move back home, by the graciousness of her heart. I told her I won't come back unless you okay it.”

“Mom's taking you back?”

“She's generously allowing me to sleep in the basement.”

Bella laughed. “On that disgusting old futon down there?”

“I'll sleep on a dirt floor if I have to. With the rats. And the mold. And the oil burner that leaks. She can throw a rind of cheese and a crust of bread down the stairs once a day, and I'll thank God for the blessing.”

“You deserve to suffer.”

“I agree! I want to suffer for what I've done.”

“Where have you been all this time?” Bella asked.

“I traveled around for a while, stayed with cousins in Naples.”

“Italy?”

“Florida. The last two months, I was in Philly with Joe and his family. He's here, too.” Charlie pointed out Uncle Joe and Gia on the dance floor, going crazy, as if they were the only two people
out there. Seeing the two of them having fun together undid the knots in Bella's heart. If Gia and Joe could bridge their divide, then Bella would forgive Charlie, too.

“If Mom says you can come home, I'm okay with it. But I'm serious about making you suffer. For a long, long time.”

“Thank you, Bella,” Charlie said, awash with relief. “I don't deserve you. But I'm the luckiest man on earth to have you for a daughter.”

They joined Gia and Joe on the dance floor. DJ Koko started spinning deadmau5, Gia's favorite. The four of them made a square and she felt connected, grounded, back in the safe place, where nothing could hurt her, called home.