Bosom Bodies (Mina's Adventures) Read online

  “Mina, shush.” He hugged her in spite of her struggling. “I know what’s going through your mind. I’m on your side, but don’t take my word for it. Ask DeFiore. Let me explain about the merciful death remark. No, I’m not being cruel. The people who had Ginger were about to do terrible things to her, God granted her a sudden death. In my book that’s a merciful death from the highest source.”

  “You believe in God?” She was stunned.

  He shrugged. “It doesn’t matter what I believe, we all pick and choose our beliefs according to our needs. Let’s go in, please. Today is the last day I have the use of the car, maybe we could shop for your Christmas tree.” While talking, he steered her toward the living room and locked the patio door behind him.

  “If you knew about Ginger’s diamonds, how come you never mentioned them? You acted like you were clueless.”

  “Mina, I didn’t want to influence your thinking. Had I mentioned diamonds your mind would be trying to picture where Ginger would hide jewelry. These aren’t those kind of diamonds. They may not even sparkle at this stage. They may not be cut. I don’t know. Stop tormenting yourself. Who knows? If Ginger suspected foul play, she could have used your name just to muddle the trail.”

  Mina stood there in his white shirt, her heart and soul fighting with her brain. Why must life be so hurtful? She needed to put on some real clothes, and she needed to make wiser decisions.

  “About the Christmas tree?” Diego asked.

  Christmas tree shopping would get them out in public, better than staying there, and she would not be coming back to his condo either. “Sounds like a great idea. I’m going to my place to get dressed.”

  He nodded, smiled, and she knew he hadn’t bought her cheerfulness for a nanosecond.

  Chapter 17

  The place shone glossier than a magazine cover. Maybe the night rain played a role in all that brightness or maybe the Christmas ornaments did. Everywhere Mina looked, she found trees, decorated or not. Plants, potted, silk or dried. A place like Roger’s Gardens was a pleasure to visit any time of the year, but the Holidays were to this earthy paradise what anniversaries were to marriages.

  It wasn’t Mina’s first visit to the upscale nursery. Her mother liked to stroll under the ready-to-plant, multi-gallon trees and listen to the gurgling of the do-it-yourself, garden fountains.

  Such a long time ago.

  Christmas in October was one of this dreamland’s popular promotions, and indeed every year the place would be fully decorated and stocked at the beginning of October. It was now a week before Christmas, and seventy-five percent of the leftover holiday merchandise was on sale. That was the good part. The bad part? Very little remained to choose from.

  Diego walked around the live Christmas trees section, touching the branches, feeling the pine needles between his fingers.

  “What are you doing that for?” Mina asked.

  “Trying to figure out the degree of dryness. How tall a tree do you have in mind?”

  “I dunno…this is the first tree I’ve ever purchased. My very first Christmas tree. I’m so excited.”

  She grabbed his arm with both hands and tapped her feet in an impromptu dance. She could hardly contain herself and felt like a kid. Her joy reflected in Diego’s smiling eyes.

  “Shush,” he said, “we are attracting attention.” But she could tell he was catching her festive mood. “Are you doing the presepio?” he asked.

  Presepio? She hadn’t heard that word in years. Diego had to be Italian.

  “No, I don’t have anything, not even the Nativity. Tell me the truth. Are you Italian?”

  He stepped closer, tilted his head and stared at her. Then he lifted his hand to her face, the tip of the index and the thumb nearly touching, “This much.” He smiled.

  “I knew it, I knew it,” she chanted.

  “Good. Now forget about it. Let’s pick a tree before they are all gone.”

  “Diego, you are such a serious man. Cheer up. It’s almost Christmas. Do you have family in Italy? What part of Italy are you from?”

  “Mina, I meant it. Forget about it. And no, no family, and I don’t want to talk about Italy. Focus. Christmas tree.”

  “This is so much fun. Let’s see if I can figure out where I put the Christmas decorations when we packed up the house.” Brian did the packing. She remembered and felt a pang in her stomach.

  “Something wrong?” Diego didn’t miss a beat.

  “No, memories. Time to forget and move on. How about that cute tree at the end? It looks silvery. You think it’s too tall?”

  “Too tall for what?”

  “Oh, you know, fit in the car, fit in the room, me reaching the top branches.”

  “It will fit the car and the room, and you can always use a step stool, no?”

  “Oh, you are so clever. When I was little, my grandparents put together a Nativity scene outside our house, in the courtyard, the nativity wasn’t a very complicated one, just the basic, Joseph, Mary, baby Jesus and the animals, but to a child like me it was fabulous and then on Christmas morning, I woke up to find a light sprinkle of real snow over everything. I thought it was magic!”

  “I bet you were one bouncy little girl.” Diego picked up the tree and headed toward the cashier.

  He made sure the stand came with the tree and also picked up a booklet with information on how to keep the needles from drying. The whole car smelled of freshly cut pine. Mina inhaled the scent and closed her eyes, her head resting against the leather seat. From that moment on, every time she smelled pine she would be thinking of Diego. Maybe he felt her emotions. He put his hand on hers and kept there.

  “We always went to midnight mass. The first few years I would fall asleep and my grandparents would carry me home, but as I grew I learned to enjoy it. Often we would leave the church to find a coat of new snow, and then we would gather at friends’ houses for hot cocoa and cookies. Everything made from scratch and, oh, so good. Still makes my mouth water.”

  “Why didn’t you spend Christmas back home?” Diego asked.

  “There is no home back in Italy. Everyone is gone. You know, dead. It’s only me.” She was choking up and had to stop talking. Diego stroked her hand. They drove back to Bayside Condominiums in soothing silence.

  Getting the tree to the condo was the easy part. Where to put it seemed a little more complicated. The place was still a mess. Mina only went there in the morning to get clean clothes so when they came back, it hadn’t improved.

  She thought the tree should be by the patio door so when she lit the twinkling lights she hoped to find packed somewhere, the tree could be seen from far away.

  Diego felt it wasn’t a good or safe idea, sort of like letting the whole world know when you were or weren’t home. They reached a compromise: they would move the side table and put the tree there, between the couch and the patio door. It was away from the patio door so the only way to see the tree from outside was from Diego’s terrace.

  “All this arguing about safety and protection just so you can be the beneficiary of the fabulous sight of this tree once I’m done decorating,” Mina said.

  With the exception of the hand holding on the ride back, their behavior had been friendly. Warm, intense friendship. No mention of the night before. Awkward. What would happen next? Would Diego ask to spend the night? The phone rang in her bedroom. Diego had moved the phone back to his original spot. She motioned him to wait, then ran to answer. Could it be Brian?

  “Oh, hi Margo. How are you? Well, I still don’t have my car…no, I’m getting it, but…” Diego watched her from the bedroom door. “So you need me to answer the phone from nine until early afternoon? How early is early? Give me a minute.” She put her hand over the mouthpiece and spoke to Diego, “How late can I go to get my car?”

  “The place closes at five p.m.,” he said.

  “I guess I could do it if I can get a ride to the office,” Mina said to Margo.

  Diego was gesturing, trying to
let her know he could take her. “Okay Margo, but don’t get to the office too late. I really want to pick up my car. What do you mean who is here? What man? Oh, Margo, that’s all you think about. See you tomorrow.” She hung up, her face felt like she had just been pelted with scorching coal.

  “Did you lie to your friend Margo?” Diego played the innocent.

  “I had to. You don’t know her the way I do. Take my word for it. How are you going to get me to the office? You said today was the last day you had the car.”

  “Have you forgotten the first time I drove you home? On my Harley?”

  She shook her head. With Mina sitting on the bed and Diego leaning against the door, a sense of unspoken anticipation hovered in the room. Would he come over and kiss her?

  “I’ll be by around eight thirty a.m. to pick you up.” He didn’t move.

  She wasn’t going to ask him to stay. Last night she had been the aggressor. If he wanted her as much as she longed for him, he better let her know. Her edginess grew. “I’ll walk you out,” she conceded.

  He didn’t answer, but straightened up and headed toward the living room. Mina followed.

  When he reached the front door, he turned. Mina stopped inches from him.

  “Mina, if you are scared or need anything, I’m next door. Don’t be shy. Call, knock, whatever. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He cupped her face with both hands and kissed her. Everything was so different from the night before, it made her head spin.

  The kiss felt like their first kiss, tender, long and mesmerizing. Boyfriend, girlfriend, high school sweethearts. All the romantic clichés she liked so much floated through Mina’s head. When she finally opened her eyes, he let go of her and left, closing the door softly behind.

  She didn’t believe it. Any minute now he would be back, take her in his arms and carry her into the bedroom. She waited. A long time. At some point she realized he wasn’t coming. In a state of total disbelief she turned off the lights, went into her room and, after getting undressed, she figured out that their bedrooms shared a common wall and their headboards were braced against that wall. She propped the pillow against it, as close to the spot she pictured Diego’s head would be and she fell asleep that way, missing his warmth even in her sleep.

  Chapter 18

  Mina wore her best jeans, dark and snug; her black leather, Italian boots; a creamy colored silk shirt and a short black jacket with fancy metal buttons her mother bought her on their last Christmas together. She also wore bangles, and the ever-present mascara. Yeah, she felt pretty sophisticated and all grown up. Let’s see if Diego is impressed. He had behaved as if their night of passion never happened. Maybe he liked older women with more experience. Or women with large breasts and more curves. Maledizione. Why couldn’t she let it go? It was all she’d been thinking about. Not good.

  When he knocked at her door, she was ready. That alone was a major event. Mina’s clock seemed to run differently than everyone else’s.

  A cheerful hello, a kiss on the check was all her elaborate get up elicited. Away they went. Diego waited on his bike until she opened the door to West Coast Software. He waved and roared off on squealing tires. Double damn.

  Paco’s welcome didn’t help improve her mood. “There you are. You heard the news? We lost the deal.” He said it without stopping to breathe.

  “Wait, wait, what deal? What’s happening? Sheesh, can I get some coffee first?”

  “Sorry, sorry. Yes, let’s have some coffee and talk about it. Adams should call any minute with the official announcement. I just brewed fresh coffee. I thought maybe your friend, the Harley man, would come in.”

  Paco had been watching them?

  They sat in Paco’s office, sipping coffee. “So, what’s this announcement?” she asked.

  Paco sighed. “The investors. They backed out.” He glanced at her as if waiting for her reaction.

  “Oh, that. You had me all worried. I thought you said you didn’t care if the deal went through or not. What made you change your mind?”

  “I didn’t change my mind. But I wanted it to be us turning them down, not the other way around,” he said.

  Mina could certainly understand that. She wanted to be the one ignoring Diego. Not that Diego actually ignored her, he volunteered to drive her to the office, was picking her up to take her to get the Volkswagen. It wasn’t just that she needed more attention; she needed to be wanted. Why must we covet what we can’t have? Who said she couldn’t have him?

  “Mina, hello…” Paco poked her arm. “Are you even listening to me?”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I was wondering when Brian would come back…” A lie.

  “Sure you are.” He smiled with that devilish glint in his eyes. She could never get anything past Paco. The main phone rang, “Oops, time to get to work. Maybe it’s Adams.”

  “West Coast Software, Mina speaking. May I help you?” She hadn’t worked in the office for a long time. It felt good, maybe get her mind off her obsession.

  The day moved slowly. Paco was right. So close to Christmas most of the orders had been placed, shipped and received. Not much happening. Adams called to confirm the negotiations had come to an end. They couldn’t agree on the terms, and he wasn’t about to change anything. The investors had approached West Coast Software, not the other way around.

  Margo phoned around three p.m. to announce she couldn’t come in after all, something about a flat tire. Mina didn’t believe that for a moment, more like Margo hooked up with whoever came to replace her broken car window and they were having a jolly good time in her condo. All of the morning’s great expectations were dying at the doorsteps of reality.

  She would get her car even if she had to take a taxi there. There—where? She didn’t know the address because Diego was taking her. Maybe she could ask DeFiore. Remembering their last conversation, she decided it wasn’t such a good idea. Diego had never let her down; he would come to pick her up. She needed to be patient.

  The UPS truck drove by and headed for the warehouse. What a boring Monday.

  Finally Paco came back.

  “Paco, why is it so quiet? Nothing is happening? No phones ringing, no vendors, nothing.”

  “We are days from Christmas. We shipped all the orders. We answered all the phone calls. Under normal circumstances we would be functioning on a skeleton crew, we kept the show going for the benefit of the investors. That’s it. Tomorrow we are cutting down and will close until after Christmas when we start getting returns. You can go home if you want. I can take it from here. Go, go.”

  “Go where? I’m waiting for my ride to go pick up my Bug. Diego, the Harley guy, is supposed to take me. He knows his way around.”

  “He knows his way around…?” That devilish smile in Paco’s eyes…he figured it out. “Around what?”

  “Never mind Paco. And, no, it’s not what you think.”

  Diego, all dressed in black, arrived at two minutes to four. Mina’s excite-meter went from zero to one hundred in a nanosecond. She had spent the last fifteen minutes in the bathroom preening her plumes, and she was ready.

  God, he looked so good. “I’m glad you showed up, I have no idea where to go to get my car.”

  “Glad I showed up? What made you think I wouldn’t?” He revved the engine. “Your car is at the police impound yard. Not too far from the courts. Hop on. I don’t want to cut it too close in case we need some paperwork.”

  “DeFiore said…” Mina began.

  “Yes, I understand, but DeFiore is a busy person. In the larger picture, your car is hardly a priority.”

  “Excuse me?” Hands on her hips, she felt like telling him a thing or two about the importance of her Bug.

  Diego laughed, released the handlebar of the Harley, gave her a big hug and a smooch on the tip of her nose, all without stopping the laughs. “You are so cute. Now get on the bike, let’s go.”

  She did get on the back of the motorcycle, but was still mad as hell. The smooch helped a little. Certain
ly he could do better. He put his hand on hers like he did that evening when he gave her the ride home. Only a week ago she loathed it, cherished it now. Diego wasn’t even her type, Brian looked like a movie star compared to Diego. She rested her head against his back and he squeezed her hand.

  “So, this is what a police impound yard looks like,” Mina said.

  The place was like a used car lot, except the markings on the windshields had nothing to do with prices or special offers.

  She had to show ID before they let her through the gate. Diego spoke to the man minding the yard and showed something, she wasn’t sure what. The man nodded and that was it. Diego left the Harley outside by the entrance. He walked in with her. She could hardly contain herself. When she spotted the Volkswagen in a far corner, she took off running. She heard Diego say something but didn’t stop.

  To her surprise, the Bug looked cleaner on the outside than when she last drove it. Maybe before releasing the cars to the legitimate owners the cops washed them? Whatever. She opened the passenger door and noticed the keys in the ignition. Che gioia. Such happiness made her think in Italian.

  By now Diego caught up to her and stood to the side, grinning.

  The easiest way for her to get in was from the passenger side because the car was parked close to the wall. No problem, she slid over the passenger side, leaving the door open, and plopped herself in the driver seat with a satisfied, “Oh, yes.”

  She turned the key and the engine started without delay. She felt like shouting, but controlled her impulse and scrunched down to motion Diego to get in the car. He hesitated at first then rolled his eyes and sat in the passenger seat.

  “This is so cool. Do I need to sign papers or something? Oh, let me take you to dinner. Let’s celebrate. I’m so happy!” She turned and hugged him in a fast, friendly hug.

  “Down girl, down,” he joked. “Let’s get the paperwork signed and leave, then we can talk.” He started to get out of the car.