with wonderful aromas wafting from the kitchen. The foyer was spacious, with a black and white marble floor and a sweeping stairway that gracefully curved its way up to the bedrooms above. To her left, Alessa could see a room furnished in oak, with well-stocked bookshelves covering an entire wall. She felt inadequate and out of place. About to head to the kitchen, they met Remo’s mother coming through the doorway.
“Remo,” she said cheerfully, “how are you, son? I’ve missed you so much.”
Mother and son hugged before she turned to look at Alessa and Lucy.
Alessa extended her hand. “Hi, I’m Alessa, and this is Lucy.”
Remo’s mother was tall and thin. She had blond hair and green eyes that glittered like emeralds.
She shook Alessa’s hand. “I’m Hannah. Nice to meet you, Alessa. Remo has told us a lot about you. We’ve been bugging him for ages to bring you over so we could meet. We were starting to believe you didn’t exist. We thought he had made you up to stop us from asking him when he was going to meet a nice girl and settle down.”
Alessa smiled. “No, I’m real,” she said.
You probably wouldn’t think I was a nice girl, though, Alessa thought.
Hannah immediately turned to Lucy. “Hi, Lucy, we’ve heard a lot about you, too.”
Brimming with pride, the child replied, “Did Remo tell you he painted my room purple? It’s so cool. Alessa and me, we bought all this stuff that matches, and Alessa painted stars on my ceiling, too.”
Hannah was pleasantly surprised by how outgoing the child was. “Come on,” she said, taking her by the hand. “Let’s go to the kitchen to meet Remo’s dad.”
Lucy fell in step with Hannah. Remo put his arm around Alessa and followed them into the kitchen.
“Hi, Dad,” he said.
Remo’s father rose from the table and walked over to them. “Son, how are you?” he asked. “You’re certainly looking well. This must be the woman who’s keeping you in line.” He turned to Alessa with a warm smile.
“I’m Alessa, and this is Lucy,” she said by way of introduction. “We’re so glad to meet you.”
Patrick was smiling at the duo. “I’m Patrick, but I guess you know that already. Nice to meet you, too. Why don’t you come in and make yourselves comfortable? Would you two young ladies like a glass of pink lemonade?”
Alessa and Lucy both accepted the offer. They loved pink lemonade. As Remo and his father fell into conversation, Alessa made her way over to the stove where Hannah was cooking.
“Is there something I can help you with?” she asked.
Remo’s mother accepted the offer willingly. “If you could clean the lettuce for our salad, that would help a bunch,” Hannah said.
Thank God, thought Alessa, something I know how to do. The two women chatted as they worked in the kitchen. The conversation was pleasant and superficial, dwelling on the things people yammer about when they meet for the first time.
During dinner, Hannah said, “So tell me how you two met. We weren’t able to get much out of Remo. He can be closemouthed when he doesn’t like us asking him too many questions.”
Alessa looked at Remo for reassurance. Then she took a deep breath. “Remo was my physical therapist. I broke my femur and arm, and he helped put me back together again.”
Hannah’s jaw dropped open. “Oh my. That’s awful. How did that happen?”
Alessa thought, Shit, shit, shit, then congratulated herself for not saying it out loud. Lucy was staring at her, waiting for what would follow, tense at how uncomfortable the situation was making her.
Alessa’s expression grew solemn. “I was mugged by four men near Penn’s Landing. I tried to fight back, so they got pretty angry with me.”
Hannah leaned in closer to Alessa. “You were mugged and beaten? Is that what you’re saying?”
Remo could see his mother was freaking out. Questions were bubbling on her tongue. It was time to step in.
“Yes, Mom,” he confirmed. “That’s what she’s saying. It was brutal, and Alessa managed to put it behind her. So how about changing the subject?”
Embarrassed by her involuntary outburst, Hannah said hastily, “Of course we can. Now how are you and Lucy related?”
Alessa swallowed hard. “Well, we aren’t related by blood. Lucy was abandoned by her biological parents. We met shortly after they left her and have been together ever since. Now we think of ourselves as sisters.”
Hannah’s eyes widened with alarm. She shot Remo a fiery look. There were a million questions she wanted to ask, but Patrick was giving her that look that screamed, Don’t push it, Hannah. Our son loves them.
Remo took charge of the conversation from that point onward. He talked about his patients and Alessa getting her degree in psychology. Patrick thought Alessa was terrific. She was funny, and he could tell she was warmhearted, too. She only seemed to tense up when Hannah tried to pry into her past. But overall, he thought Alessa and Lucy were delightful. Hannah wasn’t as convinced. She could tell there was a lot they didn’t know about the young woman. She also suspected that her son didn’t want them to find out.
The evening wound down, and Remo hugged his mother goodbye.
“We need to talk, son. I have many unanswered questions,” Hannah whispered in his ear. She looked at him pleadingly as he stared at her.
Remo knew how much his parents loved him. He owed them some details so that at the very least, his mother would stop worrying. He knew, however, that the truth might upset her even more. Remo decided he would talk to his father first and feed him the facts in small doses. Patrick was much more open-minded than his mother regarding what Remo wanted in life.
He hugged his father. “I’ll call you tomorrow, Dad.”
Patrick looked him in the eyes and nodded. “Okay, son. I’m looking forward to your call,” he said, giving Remo a comforting smile.
Lucy hugged Hannah and Patrick goodbye, and Alessa shook their hands.
When they got into the car, Remo looked at Alessa. “Well, what do you think?”
“I think they’re both great,” Alessa told him. “But you know they have a lot of questions about me, especially your mom. This is exactly what I had feared. I didn’t want to cause any trouble between you and your parents.”
“Nah, I think it was fine,” he said, trying to ease her fears. “I’m sure they have some questions. Hell, you’re the first woman I’ve ever brought home. So they would have questions, no matter who you were. There’s nothing to worry about. I can tell they loved you.”
Lucy piped up from the back seat, “I like your dad better than your mom. I think he’s nicer, but your mom sure makes good apple cake. The best I’ve ever had.”
Alessa turned to the child sitting in the back seat and smiled. “And probably the only apple cake you’ve ever had?”
Lucy giggled. “Yeah, that too.”
