Renzo (The Ciprianos of Kellington) (6 page)

“That is amazing, so
whatever happened to her collection she wouldn’t let you touch?”

“Oh, she gave it all to
me in her will since she knew I was the only one in the family that would
appreciate her things and not sell them. She had so
much,
I had to spread them around my place. I couldn’t keep them in one spot. In her
house, she had a separate room that she kept everything in.” Taking a sip of
wine, she told him, “So what about you? Why did you get into being a restaurateur?”
She watched him sit back against his chair with drink in hand in deep thought.

“I think it was my
parents, especially my mom, who really made me want to own a restaurant. I
wanted a restaurant where when people ate my food it would take them right back
to Sicily, which is where my family is from. My mom was all for it, but my
brothers thought I was crazy. They said it would be stereotypical for an
Italian to open up an Italian restaurant. Well, I told them all that we shall
see whose laughing last when my place did well. I had to do plenty of research
about pricing of kitchen equipment, tables for the dining area, supplies, food,
wait staff, chefs…you name it. I did plenty of research on it. Plus I had a
friend of mine who owned a restaurant in New York and he showed me where he got
most of the things for his establishment. It took about two years to finally
get everything together to what I have right now. I named it after my mom, of
course, since she is such a big influence in my life. I remembered when I used
to find her cooking in the kitchen…she always had me tasting her food. She
never let my brothers do that. But, she always let me be her taste tester. I’m
surprised I didn’t balloon out, but of course that was what track and football
was for.”

“You were on the track
team?”

“Oh yeah, I did the one-hundred
meter dash, four-hundred meter relay, and I also did javelin and shot put too.”

No wonder he was so
muscular, she thought. “Do you still run?”

“Oh yeah, I run just
about every morning real early before I get ready for work. If I didn’t, I’d
probably look like my cousin Lou…let’s just say he enjoys his food a bit more
than the average person.”

Jaslyn smirked. “I have
at least five cousins named Lou and one of them you can call Lucille.”

He laughed out loud at
her comment and they both continued laughing even after they had finished
eating. “Why don’t I show you some of the furniture since we have some time
before they bring over the dessert?” Jaslyn said as she started to get up from
her chair.

“Wait, I’ll help you
with that.” He got up to help her from her seat. She thought it was so sweet of
him to be so courteous.

“I do want to show you
this one piece that even though I haven’t been able to sell
it,
it’s by far my favorite.” They both walked toward a door, which led down to the
basement. This was where Jaslyn had a guy come in to fix up some of the items
that needed restoration before going on the sales floor. “Well, here it is.”
She pointed to the huge wall unit that covered the entire wall.

“Wow,” Renzo said
looking over what was before him.

“I know right? Isn’t it
gorgeous? I had another antique friend of mine from Nantucket about eight
months ago go under. He told me I had first pick before the rest of his
inventory went to auction. He had a lot of really huge pieces of furniture for
mansions. Most of what he had I honestly couldn’t take, but there were some
smaller pieces I was able to get…some desks, lamps, and a couple of tables. Then
I came across this magnificent beauty here…” She ran her fingers along one of
the cabinet doors that had carvings of flowers. “I fell in love with it immediately.”

“It is a beautiful
piece, but it’s so big. How were you able to get it down here?”

“Well, it comes in
eight pieces. I had four men help out, plus we have a huge garage door.” She
pointed to the garage door that was closed off and locked.

“And you’ve been trying
to sell it for how long?”

“Well, I’m not going to
sell it now. I tried selling it, but no one seems to want it. So I said one of
these days whenever I get myself a big enough home, I’ll bring it to my home
and have it in that one room I said I would put Great Aunt Annie’s collection
in. Honestly this thing will hold all of her things and then some.” Jaslyn
said, still running her fingers along the edge.

“You’ll get it one day.
Is this mahogany?”

“Yes, it is. Why don’t
we head on back upstairs now?” They made their way toward the steps that would
lead them back up to the shop.

“If you didn’t go into
antiquing, what do you think you would be doing?”

Locking the door behind
her, they walked single-file to get through the small aisle of tables and
chairs. “I’d probably be a classic pianist.”

“Really, you’re that
good, huh?” Renzo replied.

“Well, I’m not
Beethoven or Mozart, but I am pretty good on the piano.”

“Do you have a piano
here? I would love to hear you play.”

“Actually, no, we
haven’t had a piano here for a while.”

“Wait a minute. I know
where there is one, come with me.” Grabbing her by the hand, they both walked
past the front counter where Delia was at the register. “We will be right back,
Delia,” Renzo said as he opened the door.

* * * *

He had to admit he
wanted to get her out of the shop even though they were supposed to stay inside.
Renzo decided to take her over to the Yancey’s Music Shop, which was about five
blocks down. He glanced over at her bewildered look only to smile as they
stopped in front of Yancey’s. “Oh no, Renzo we can’t,” They walked inside and
heard Yancey say, “Why hello, Mr. Cipriano, how may I help you today?”

“Hello, Yancey, this is
Ms. Whitman and she would like to look at your pianos.”

“
Ahh
, you’re the young lady who sells antiques. Please come with me,
I have a showroom over here for you with something you might like.” They walked
over to an open area where he had a grand showroom of pianos of different
types. From a baby grand to a ballroom grand, even some studio and professional
upright pianos.

“You have an amazing
array here, Mr. Yancey, I don’t know which one to look at first,” Jaslyn said.

“I brought her here,
Yancey, because she says she can play and since she doesn’t have one in her
shop, I came here so she could play for me.”

“Well, choose whatever
one you’d like to play, my dear, I’ll be up front.” He walked away leaving the
two of them alone again.

“You had to bring me
here, didn’t you? It’s like me being in a candy store and I don’t know which
one I want. I always pass by this music shop, but I hadn’t ever come in,
because if I did I’d want to buy a piano.”

“Why not get yourself
an electronic keyboard instead?”

“Oh no, it’s nothing
compared to putting your feet on the pedals and feeling it go right through
your body. You can’t get that from an electronic keyboard.” They walked over
toward the baby grand. She carefully ran her fingers along the brand new white
and black keys. “A Steinway Model S, what a beaut.” She sat down in front of it
looking back him to ask, “What would you like for me to play?”

“I just want to hear
you play something so whatever you want to play is fine with me.” He smiled as
he watched her flex her fingers a bit and nod. That is when she started to play
Beethoven’s
Für
Elise. Immediately, Renzo was taken
aback by how beautifully she played. He stood there watching her, how focused
she looked while her fingers gracefully touched along the keys. All he could do
was listen and watch her even though she never did look up at him. When she
finally did stop, he started in with the applause. “
Encore, meravigliosa
. You were right about being so good.”

She giggled a bit and
he swore he saw her blush, which he thought made her even cuter. “Why thanks, I
told you I was good. Do you play?”

“No…well that’s not all
true. I do know one song.” He admitted with a smirk. He watched her scoot over,
patting the spot on the bench next to her. Sitting down he told her, “Don’t
laugh when I play.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Well because of the
song I’m going to play. It’s more like something a kid would learn the first
time they play.”

“You didn’t laugh at me
when I played, so I don’t plan on laughing at you. Go on and play. I want to
hear.” He laid his fingers along the keys, trying to remember the right ones.
Then he began to play the only song he knew to play on the piano…Chopsticks. It
had been years since he played and it showed when he hit the wrong key and had
to restart playing. From the corner of his eye he saw how fidgety she had
become. Her hand rubbing the back of her neck, a smirk curled her lip. He knew
she was about to laugh and he wanted to hear her laugh, even if it was at his
inexperienced hands. Soon her hands quickly covered his, with a bit of laughter
in her voice she said, “All right, stop now.”

It seemed like she had
to catch her breath after she spoke. She seemed almost about to blow up from
holding it all in. “Listen, that was good, but we can make it better. Put your
fingers on these keys here and I want you to take your time and do it slow.”
She gently placed her warm hands on top of his as she guided them onto the
right keys. He looked at her for a moment while continuing to concentrate on
what she was saying. But it
’
s kind of hard when you have someone as
beautiful as Jaslyn sitting next to you. “Now let’s start off slow shall we.”
She moved his fingers as they played the familiar melody and after two more
tries with her assistance, she slowly took her hands off his. Now he was
playing the melody on his own. “You’re doing great, keep it up. I’m going to
accompany you now.” Renzo listened to her play a melody that complimented his
song perfectly. It was like they were meant to be together even though they
were just playing a song.

They continued playing
the song though to the very end in which they could hear Yancey clapping behind
them. “That was amazing! I swear you two would make a great team.”

Looking over at Jaslyn,
Renzo saw her blush slightly at Yancey’s statement while she looked down at her
fumbling fingers. “You know he’s right.” When she looked at him with those
dazzling eyes of her, Renzo literally felt like he melted right there. He
wanted to kiss her there in front of Yancey, but he had to be a gentleman with
her. “I think we better head back to have dessert. The guys should already have
it waiting for us.” They both got up thanking Yancey,
then
made their way back to the shop. “Why didn’t you keep up with your piano? You
could have been a great concert pianist.”

“Well, I could have
been, but honestly that wasn’t the life for me. Having to practice over and
over again, going to different towns, cities, and countries. I would have
probably burned out from being exhausted. Besides, antiquing is something that is
perfect for me. I’m my own boss and I call the shots.” He soon felt her arm
hoop around his, which was a welcoming surprise to him.
She is starting to feel comfortable with me
. He smiled even more,
for it made him feel good. When they did make it to the shop, he graciously
opened the door for her as she walked in.

“Where have you guys
been?” Delia asked.

“We went to Yancey’s.
Renzo wanted to hear me play.”

“Doesn’t she play
lovely, Ren.”

“Indeed she does, she
even taught me a bit. Mom has a piano, maybe one day you can play for her.”

“Oh that would be nice,
I’d like that,” Jaslyn told him.

“They brought your
dessert and it’s over on the table.”

Both of them walked
toward the back where they had eaten before, but Renzo realized that instead of
the large table where they had eaten lunch, it was a smaller table, something a
bit more intimate for the couple. “Shall we sit?” He motioned her toward the
table, he pulled out her chair and she sat down. He sat down next to her. In
front of them was a smaller dome in the middle of the table. “Are you ready?”

She nodded with a smile
as he took off the dome to reveal a small plate of Tiramisu. “I’ve been waiting
for this Tiramisu all day” He took both spoons, handing her one as he let her
take the first spoonful. When he took his spoonful he waited for her to eat
hers as she opened her mouth to eat. Immediately, he heard a low moan hum from
her lips. The sound vibrated off the spoon, which she slowly removed from her
mouth, leaving a beautiful smile. “I swear I could eat this forever, if I
didn’t think it would put more poundage on my hips and thighs.”

Renzo could only
imagine how her hips and thighs looked underneath her clothes. But he had to
steady himself, Lord knows he didn’t want to go overboard and make a fool of
himself. Plus everything was going fine between them now, why screw things up?
“I’ll make sure to let Mom know that you enjoy her recipe.” He began to eat
some of the dessert. “I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me
sometime. Maybe we can go out of town to some place different.”