Chapter 39

 

Mitch had spent all day surrounded by the boisterous group of people he knew best in Peach Tree plus Wyatt's friends. That was nice and a new experience for Mitch, but he would have been fine just to spend the day with Enrico and Sammy. Sammy had a great time with the other kids though, and now they were all getting ready to watch the fireworks display together.

As the fireworks were about to start, Sammy was in his arms and Enrico leaned his head on his shoulder. All the kids were being held up for a better view. Anticipation filled the night air as a crackle signaled the start of the fireworks show followed by a boom and then the sounds of awe from the kids as sparks cascaded down.

Over and over colors burst across the sky above Peach Tree Hill. Riley declared each one the best one until the next flash of colored light dazzled his eyes. As he laughed at the little boy's unbridled enthusiasm, Enrico leaned in to kiss Mitch. Nuzzling close, Enrico told him, "That kid is right. These are the most beautiful fireworks I've ever seen."

Turning to look at him, Mitch saw that he wasn't looking at the sky. Enrico was gazing at him.

"I mean the fireworks in your eyes," Enrico said into his ear and leaned against him again.

Another burst of color joined the stars, and Mitch looked from Enrico to Sammy, and he was filled with an indescribable warmth that started deep inside his heart. Her eyes bright with the colors raining down from above, Sammy smiled at him then hugged his neck and smiled up at the sky.

 

From there it was off to another party as everyone promised to see each other soon at Wyatt and Sam's. Mitch wished he could just go somewhere to be alone with Enrico. But since the party was only a week before their wedding, Enrico said that it couldn't be missed.

They arrived at the party just as Mrs. Del Rio was helping Sam set up some food. Sammy ran off to play with the kids and the dogs, and Enrico and Mitch went to say hi to Sam.

"Check it out. This stuff is Grandma's contribution to the party." Enrico pointed to the glass bowl and his grandmother identified it as ambrosia fruit salad. "Is that the one with marshmallows in it?"

"It is, and isn't it beautiful?" she said proudly.

"And this is your famous potato casserole from frozen hash browns. Come on, Grandma, for God's sake, you own a café," Enrico told her and pretended to disapprove.

"Oh hush up. I make good food. And if you're good, I might let you have some," she told him then went off in a mock huff.

"It's really tasty," Sam said after he spooned some on a plate and tried it.

"I know. All her terrible food is really good," Enrico said grudgingly and kept his voice low so his grandmother wouldn't overhear.

"So why do you call it terrible?" Sam scolded him.

"To keep her on her toes," Enrico said and threw an arm over his shoulders. "Need me to do anything to help out?"

"I want to move a few things so everyone will have room to sit for dinner," Sam said and the two of them went off to shift furniture.

Mitch went to say hi to Wyatt and found him with his friends Stan and Yu. Seeing Mitch hanging back, Wyatt waved him over. "Welcome to the party. I need reinforcements," he said. "These guys are ragging on me."

"No, man. Come on. We're happy for you, but this is your last party as a free man, man," Stan said.

"This is our last party as an engaged couple, you mean," Wyatt corrected him.

"I get a few more drinks in me, and I might just turn it into a bachelor party," Yu threatened.

"Don't you dare. And don't say anything weird to Sam," Wyatt said and looked from one of them to the other.

"What are you talking about?" Stan said.

"If your big mouth upsets Sam..." Wyatt started to warn him.

"I'll keep my pie hole plugged with pie," Stan promised but he chugged the rest of his beer instead.

"You," Wyatt said and pointed a finger at Enrico just as he came to join them. "As Sam's best man, it's your job to keep him from talking to these two for more than two minutes. Make that thirty seconds. I have to go take care of food."

"Want some help?" Mitch offered.

"I do, but I have a tradition to uphold so I'll do it solo," Wyatt said. "I'm doing bacon wrapped pork roast. It's ready, I just need to stick it in the oven."

"God help you if you ruin it," Stan called after him as Mitch disappeared into the kitchen.

"Wyatt is crazy," Enrico said, but he was watching over Sam anyway. As for Wyatt, he seemed to be joking, but Mitch could tell he was really protective of Sam.

"Is Sam really that nervous?" Mitch wondered as he and Enrico got a moment alone.

"I told you he gets panic attacks. So close to the wedding..." Enrico didn't finish just shrugged, like anything might happen.

As they hung out together and listened to Lara and Noreen argue about mixing drinks, Enrico pointed to his grandmother. Wearing a serious expression and carrying her phone, she had just come in from the front porch.

As they went over, Enrico asked, "Where did you disappear to?"

"I've had an update from the sheriff's. Opal at the reception desk told me the latest about that so called Mr. West. His name is Monty Baker, an ex con. A while back this Monty was involved in a robbery. A security guard died and Monty got sent to prison. That I should have known. That suit was decades old and the pasty, unhealthy look on him." Shaking her head, Mrs. Del Rio sighed. She still blamed herself for what happened, but Mitch didn't see how she could have done more than she did.

"What was his connection to Harry Dunbar?" Enrico asked.

"Monty robbed an armored truck when it made a stop at a fancy department store where Harry Dunbar worked," Mrs. Del Rio said and let them draw their own conclusions.

"An inside job?" Enrico said.

"Remember that letter Harry left apologizing for something he did?" Mrs. Del Rio said. "He must have felt responsible for that security guard's death."

Mitch filled in the blanks. "If Harry Dunbar ended up with the money from the robbery, he might have stashed it somewhere. When Monty got out, he wanted his share. The numbers inside the nest egg are for the money."

"Did they connect this Monty with Harry Dunbar getting killed?" Enrico wanted to know. "It seems like a weird coincidence that he was shot just when this guy was on the hunt for this egg."

"They haven't gotten that far. But I remember hearing that the robber who killed Harry was hurt in the scuffle with him. Left blood on the scene," Mrs. Del Rio said. "You know how that will end."

Mitch thought back and he did remember that Monty was protective of his side. If Mitch had known, he could have taken advantage of that.

Enrico had other regrets though. "I can't believe that egg caused so much trouble just because I gave it to Sammy."

"It wasn't your fault," Mitch told him. "But I'm glad they caught him so fast. I think that will help put Sammy's mind at ease."

"I hope so. Sam looks like he's ready to set the table. I'm going to go make myself useful," Enrico said and he went off.

"That poor, sweet girl," Mrs. Del Rio said as she looked at Sammy and the other kids playing together.

"She has been doing pretty well," Mitch reassured her. "And thank you for having us stay over at your place."

"Of course. That big house wasn't meant just for me," she said. "At one time I thought my Enrico and I might come and live there after he retired. I mean my other Enrico, my late husband. The quiet life would have suited him."

"Doesn't seem all that quiet to me," Mitch said.

"True. We've had even too much excitement, you could say. I think my Enrico would have been happy living in Peach Tree. After he died on me, I came back here to give myself a way to keep going." Mrs. Del Rio had such a sad look on her face.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Mitch told her.

"I'm just grateful that I found him. I had my share of fun times, but so many of the guys I went with didn't consider me the kind of girl you marry. We were even on that score. After all the men I've known, I thought I was never gonna find one worth marrying." She took a breath and Mitch saw a light fill her eyes as she said, "Then my Enrico came along. The sweetest man in the world and a dentist of all things. A dentist and a washed up showgirl. That's a love story for the ages. Then he goes and breaks my heart and dies on me. We did have so many good years, but I'm still never gonna forgive him."

"Was he like your grandson?" Mitch wondered and looked toward Enrico.

Mrs. Del Rio dismissed that idea right off the bat. "No. This Enrico is just like me, a live wire, itching for something more, never willing to settle. That's why he could never be a dentist. His heart wasn't in it."

To Mitch what she said sounded pretty discouraging. Did it mean that what he had with Enrico right now was all he was ever going to have? Maybe Enrico was going to disappear from his life and think back on him only as some guy who wasn't exciting enough, didn't quite measure up? His heart was sinking at the thought.

Noticing that Mitch grimaced, Mrs. Del Rio slapped him on the back. "Buck up. If young Enrico settles on you, there's no doubt he found what he was looking for."

"A handyman with a kid?" Mitch said doubtfully.

"And what a handyman and what a kid," she told him with a wink. "I had my heart stolen by an unassuming dentist. But you're a hot commodity in your own way, young man."

That's when Enrico came back to join them. "What's going on here?" he asked. Maybe he noticed the odd mood.

"Your grandmother was flattering me," Mitch told him.

Enrico looked at her suspiciously. "Was she hitting on you? Want me to have a word with her?"

"In my day, I turned heads like you wouldn't believe," she told Enrico. "Just consider yourself lucky that you inherited some of my good looks."

"If I throw on some blond hair color too, I'd be the spitting image, right?" Enrico teased her.

"I'm a natural blonde, I'll have you know," his grandmother told him sternly.

"Grandma, you're a natural gray," Enrico told her.

"Such a bad, bad, boy. I don't know where you get it," she said and pinched his side while he tried to dodge her.

"I get it from you, Grandma. Everyone else in the family is as boring as mud," Enrico told her.

"Oh, come on now," she protested then had a second thought and changed her tune. "But you do have a point. I was just telling Mitch here that you're nothing like your grandfather."

"I know. I can still see him blushing while you tell everyone one of your wildly inappropriate, Vegas stories," Enrico said.

"Inappropriate? I don't know what you're on about," she said while pretending to be dismayed.

"I can't tell you how many times Mom and Dad covered my ears while you were telling some wild story," Enrico said.

"You missed out," Mrs. Del Rio told him with a wicked grin. "Now I'm going to go see if someone will pour me a drink."

She went off and Enrico slipped his arm around Mitch's back so he could pull in close to him.

"You two really are the same," Mitch told him. "In a good way."

Enrico only scoffed, but they were both amazing people.

 

To keep busy, Mitch was helping Wyatt clean up after dinner. They were stacking plates from the dining table when Wyatt looked over at the kids, who seemed to be playing a game of cards with the dogs.

After giving them a sniff, the dogs showed minimal interest in the cards they were dealt. The kids were pretty lively though, arguing about who was really winning.

"Look at the kids. They're still wound up from the festival and the fireworks," Wyatt said. "We're letting the boys stay up late. How about Sammy?"

"It's already well past her bedtime, but I don't think she'll wind down any time soon," Mitch said.

"You're still staying at Mrs. Del Rio's, right? Bet you can't wait to get back to your own turf," Wyatt said as he headed into the kitchen.

"You mean back to the Dunbar house," Mitch said, but he corrected him more for his own sake. He would need to say goodbye to that place very soon.

"You like it there, don't you? What happened didn't sour you on the place, did it?" Wyatt asked as he stacked dishes in the sink and started running water over them.

"No. The house is fine. I mean, it's a really good house. I think whoever ends up living there is pretty lucky," Mitch admitted though the thought of anyone else moving in there gave him a sharp pang of sorrow.

"Is that right? Maybe we can arrange something. How would you like to rent the place?" Mrs. Del Rio said as she suddenly came up behind them. Enrico did say she was always sneaking up on people. Maybe he wasn't exaggerating for once.

"I thought you wanted to sell the place," Mitch said.

"It's not like the real estate market out here is jumping," she said. "I'd rather rent the place to you than see it sit empty. As for your work, the old houses around here need plenty of fixing up. I heard from Andy Brighton, the fellow who owns the inn, that he's always looking for a good handyman. And Ashbury isn't that far. I'm sure you can pick up plenty of work there."

"She sounds serious," Wyatt said and smiled at Mitch. "If my vote counts, I'd like it if you guys stuck around. I'm sure Sam and the boys would agree."

"And I know someone else who would too," Mrs. Del Rio hinted.

She meant Enrico, but Mitch had never talked to him about it. He was afraid to.

Her offer was tempting. That house was the kind of home he dreamed of giving Sammy. It came with kittens and everything. And Enrico, if he decided to stay in Peach Tree.

These days he could kiss Enrico and see Sammy look both embarrassed and delighted when she saw them. She would cover her eyes then she would peek between her fingers.

It made Mitch realize that she had never seen him being close to anyone. She was his whole life. He hardly knew how lonely he was, and maybe she was too.

Enrico found so many ways to make Sammy smile. As for Mitch, Enrico made him feel things he never felt, not for anyone. Hell, he didn't know he could feel this kind of sharp, painful need for someone. It started as an attraction that burned and wouldn't be denied, and now it was so much more.

But could this be his life? Would Enrico want that?

Without him, staying here would be at best bittersweet. Mitch would never be able to forget him. Not here, not anywhere.

At the thought, his heart swelled painfully in his chest. He couldn't long for him this much. He couldn't feel this and then let him get away.