All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(83)
A bunch of cars crowded the driveway at my grandmother’s house, as was often the case. There were also three huge men with dark suits standing around the front perimeter. “Don’t worry,” Vincent said when he saw me looking at them. “They’re with us.”
Jessie let me in since I didn’t have my keys, and grabbed me in a hug. “Holy shit, Nico, I was starting to wonder if I’d ever see you again,” he said. Just then, Nana’s huge, hairy mutt, who inexplicably was named Tom Selleck, ran into the foyer and tried to mount Jessie. My friend reached into his pocket and threw a handful of kibble across the room, which the dog went after enthusiastically. Jessie didn’t miss a beat as he asked me, “Are you okay? How’s Luca?”
I’d asked him to wait in the car with Vincent and Dante for a few minutes. I wasn’t quite sure how Nana had taken the news of who his father was, and if she was already in a bad mood, I didn’t want to set her off. I said, “He’s healing, and I’m fine. How have you been?”
“Worried. I hate to see Nana stressed. She’s definitely finding ways to keep herself entertained, as you’ll see, but she’s not the type of person to sit around the house. Like at all.”
“I can imagine. What about you? You must be getting bored sitting at home with her,” I said.
Jessie grinned at me. “This house is enormous and there are a ton of ways to keep myself entertained. For one thing, I’ve been working on Sharona. I almost have her where she needs to be to race her.”
“Sharona?”
“Chance gave me his Honda Civic, that’s what I call her.”
“Oh right, I knew that. Guess I forgot.”
“Understandable. You’ve had a hell of a lot on your mind.” He was leading me up the wide staircase as we were talking, and said, “My friends have been coming over a lot, too. They’re in an alternative rock band and had been touring around the west coast, but they’re back in town now. They’ve been giving music lessons to Nana and her friends.”
“I remember you mentioning them. Two couples, one gay, one straight, right?”
“Yup. Total recipe for disaster as far as bands go if either couple breaks up. Anyway, they’re upstairs, too. Nana sort of converted the ballroom into a multimedia activity center for herself and her girlfriends after Dante told her she had to stay home. She’s so mad at him.”
“I can imagine.”
When we reached the top floor and he opened the door to the ballroom, I just had to pause and take it all in. Three of Nana’s tiny senior friends were massacring a rock and roll song that I almost recognized on the guitar, bass, and drums, while a couple guys in their twenties, who looked like they’d come through time from the Seattle grunge scene in the 1990s, were cheering them on. “That’s Dev and Holland,” Jessie called over the ruckus, indicating the grunge rockers. “I’m not sure where Val and Little John went.” He looked around the room and pointed to the right as he said, “Oh, there they are. Mr. Mario came by to do Nana’s hair and brought a friend of his who’s a makeup artist. They started doing makeovers.” The very flamboyant hair stylist and his equally colorful friend were demonstrating makeup tips to three more little old ladies and the second pair of rockers. Their reluctant models were two huge, uncomfortable looking men in dark suits and ear pieces, who sat under little plastic capes while the professionals made them up.
“Are the guys getting made up the bodyguards who are supposed to be keeping Nana from kicking Jerry’s ass?” I asked.
“Yeah. They’re nice guys. Dante always makes sure not to send *s.”
“So where’s Nana?”
“I don’t know. She was just here,” Jessie said, looking all around us.
We walked farther into the huge room. It was a beautiful space with a wall of windows and a mural of a snowy birch forest on the walls. A makeshift aerobics/pole dancing studio was set up in one corner, and an art studio with a dozen half-finished canvases took up another quadrant. I noticed with a wince that all the canvases showed a nude, well-endowed male model. I was just glad I didn’t recognize him.
All of a sudden Jessie said, “Oh shit. Not again.”
I turned to look at what he was talking about, and noticed one of the windows was open a few inches. A rope made from bedsheets was tied to the old, disused metal radiator. When I rushed to the window and looked down into the backyard, I saw Nana trying to kick Dante while her boyfriend Ollie tried to turn the hose on him. Fortunately Vincent stepped in and disconnected the hose before Ollie got that far.
A couple minutes later, Dante came upstairs with Nana in a fireman’s carry. She was cussing like a sailor. Ollie trailed behind, looking contrite, and Vincent brought up the rear, attempting to suppress a grin.
As soon as Dante appeared in the room, the pair of bodyguards leapt to their feet. They still wore the little yellow plastic capes, and enough makeup to pass as drag queens. “Really?” Dante said.
The bigger of the two explained, “You told us to humor Mrs. Dombruso and her friends. That’s what we were doing.”
“And meanwhile, my grandmother re-enacts The Great Escape with a bedsheet rope.” He’d put Nana down, and she was glaring at him and fixing her hair. She was dressed in a camouflage jumpsuit and combat boots, and so was Ollie. It seemed like that should have tipped someone off about her plans. “Do you know how dangerous that was, Nana?”