Page 28 of Hello Goodbye Amore

ANTONELLO’S MOTHER seemed to scan Chase and Ricky like her eyes were radar. Antonello was about to interrupt her when she snapped back to her usual cool aloofness. “I see.” He wasn’t sure what had put her off.

“Chase is the representative from Smithson,” he said gently and then switched to Italian. “He is a business associate, and the contract he’s working on is important to us. Remember?” He glared at her, wanting to snap at her about remembering her manners, but her lips turned upward.

“Of course. You’re here for a few months. Are you enjoying our beautiful city?” she asked Chase in English. After a second or two, he nodded.

“Yes. I am. We are having a nice experience here.”

Antonello noticed that Isabella was nowhere around, and even her boys were quiet and had moved near a corner of the restaurant, ready to disappear at any moment. Kids and dogs had good instincts, because his mother was formidable. He often wondered if she would make a good Disney villain.

“It was good to meet you,” she said to Chase before turning slowly, almost like she was walking a runway, and then she glided off to the right, all eyes on her until she disappeared.

Chase held Ricky, his eyes huge.

“Daddy,” Ricky said, squirming slightly before hurrying over to the other boys. In a few seconds, the game resumed, and their laughter dispelled some of the cloud still lingering from Antonello’s mother’s visit.

“What was that about?” Isabella asked quietly in Italian as she refilled wineglasses.

Antonello answered that he had no idea. He was still puzzling why his mother would decide to take this route to one of her civic meetings.

Part of him wanted to think that she wanted to see him, but his mother was more interested in Chase and Ricky, which intrigued and worried him.

Had he managed to give himself away and let his feelings for Chase show somehow?

He had no idea how, but his mother had a better spy network than her distant Medici ancestors. Antonello never knew what to expect.

Isabella called to the boys that they had ten minutes and then returned inside. “What the heck? And I thought my mother could be frightening.”

Antonello wished he had some insight. “That’s just her.

” He shrugged, trying to let his own concerns wash off his back.

His mother could suspect anything she liked, but he and Chase had done nothing wrong, and being seen together in public was not a crime and didn’t mean anything.

Still, the thought of his mother knowing how he felt about Chase didn’t fill him with the dread he had always thought it would.

In fact, maybe her knowing the truth would be a relief.

“Though you never know sometimes,” he added to himself.

Chase still seemed pale as he reached for his wineglass and downed half of it. “What if…?” He stopped himself.

Antonello shrugged. “If she knows, then I’ll have to deal with it. But I’m going to be honest and tell her.”

Chase seemed lost for a second, and then he nodded. “You think she figured things out about you?” he asked softly.

“We’ve been spending a lot of time together, and I stayed over in your rooms. Sometimes I never know what pieces of information she’s going to gather. But if that’s true….”

“How do you feel about it?” Chase asked quickly.

“I guess I’m okay with it. The truth had to come out one way or another, and all this hiding is wearing me out.”

“Thank goodness,” Isabella said as she placed a bowl of pasta on the table.

Antonello snapped his gaze up to her, and she rolled her eyes. “You knew?” he asked, switching to Italian because it was easier.

“Of course. I always watched the way you were good to women, but you never really showed any real interest. But as soon as Chase came to town, you watched him like a tiger, ready to jump to his defense at any moment. I think it’s nice.

You deserve to have someone in your life who excites you.

Remember, you are Italian, and passion runs in our blood.

Don’t deny it. And you shouldn’t let your mother and father keep you from pursuing it. ”

Antonello glanced at Chase, who watched the boys.

“See, I see you.”

He swallowed a gulp of wine. “Did I treat women badly? Did I ever mistreat you?”

Isabella rolled her eyes. “You broke the heart of every woman who set her sights on you, but… meh… you never encouraged any of us either.”

Then it hit what she was telling him. “ You ?” he asked. He loved Isabella like the sister he never had.

“Yes, at one time. But not anymore. You helped me through when I lost Luca, and I think I….” She turned away for a second.

“It’s better this way now. We are friends, and that’s what we were always meant to be.

” She patted him on the shoulder before going inside and returning with a bowl of salad and a platter of fresh fish that looked amazing.

“You know that if I had ever chosen a woman, it would have been you.” He flashed her his best smile.

She shook her head. “And Italian men are full of bullshit,” she teased before calling the boys, who raced over. They all sat down, with Ricky sitting next to his dad, making yummy noises until he got to the fish.

“What’s the rule?” Chase asked quietly and put a small piece of the fish on his plate. Ricky tasted it and then ate all of it and asked for more.

The tension Antonello’s mother had spread earlier had mostly abated.

But once Ricky was done eating, he climbed onto Chase’s lap, and Chase held his son to him, eating less than he normally would.

Antonello hoped Isabella didn’t notice, but she seemed busy keeping her two boys from giggling and playing at the table.

Once the food was gone and Chase helped by carrying the dishes inside, Antonello said goodbye to Isabella with a kiss on each cheek, thanking her for an amazing meal.

When he got back to the table, Chase asked quietly how he should pay her.

“It doesn’t seem fair that she should feed us like this,” he said softly.

“Isabella and I have an arrangement. I eat here when I want, and she sends me a bill each month… and I pay her more than she bills. So please don’t worry about it.

Just enjoy the food. Besides, it’s nice to see the three boys so happy.

” He decided to leave it at that. Ricky was waning and leaned against Chase when he returned to his seat to finish his wine.

Antonello watched the two of them, jealous in a way that Chase had someone to love and who loved him no matter what.

He sipped his wine, wishing once again that he had made different choices.

Antonello kept telling himself that returning to Florence had been something he had to do, but that wasn’t true.

He had decided to come home and do what his family expected.

It had been his decision, and in doing so, he had walked away from the two best friends he had ever.

Antonello had no idea how different his life might have been if he had made a different choice.

Once dinner was over and they had drained two bottles of wine, Chase and Antonello said good night as the light began to fade.

The boys had played for an hour longer, with Chase watching his son as though a huge bird was going to swoop down and grab him at any moment.

“I need to get Ricky home and ready for bed.” He thanked Isabella for her hospitality, and Ricky said goodbye, waving as Chase took his hand, and they walked down the street toward the Arno.

Antonello finished his wine before thanking Isabella for another amazing meal and then walked back to the family villa. He girded himself for whatever his mother had in store.

HIS MOTHER and father came out of their sitting room as soon as they heard him close the door.

“You need to come in here,” his father said in a measured tone that set his stomach churning. His mother was usually the one who led the sort of talk he was expecting, but his father…. This was worse than he thought.

He entered the room, finding his mother and father sitting rigidly on the sofa. “We need to talk. This is very important,” his mother said. “I believe there is some information that you have neglected to tell us.” She cocked her head slightly to the side.

Antonello nodded. “Yes, there probably is.”

His father leaned forward. “Why didn’t you tell us?” He sounded hurt, which was not the reaction he had expected from his traditional father, especially about this sort of thing.

“Because I didn’t know how to. You and Mother are so traditional. I understand that I have a duty to the family, and I’ve always put that first… but I also deserve to be happy, and it’s time I stopped hiding the person that I am.”

His parents turned to one another and shared one of those silent conversations that came with being together for decades. “What are you talking about?”

Antonello paused, wondering what was going on. “The fact that I’m gay and that I have feelings for another man. That I will never marry a woman, and that no matter how many Mother tries to fix me up with, I will never fall in love with just the right girl.”

There, he had said it. Whatever happened, he was now being honest with his parents, and if they turned their backs on him, then so be it. The family would find themselves in the hands of his cousin Lorenzo, and God help all of them.

His mother blinked as though she couldn’t believe her ears, and his father almost seemed like he had been slapped. “My son is a frocio ?” he said softly.