Chapter 84

They strolled through the entrance to Richie’s home hand-in-hand, and he was filled with barely contained excitement when he asked, “So what do you think?”

The entry way was an extension of the Spanish-style exterior, with a multitude of earth tones lending their warmth to the floor tiling and textured walls.   Arched doorways sat on opposing sides of the spacious area, and a wide staircase was positioned at the far end.  She looked up to find that the second floor overlooked the entryway, surrounded by intricately fashioned wrought-iron railing adorned replicated leaves.  A burnished gold chandelier hung above her head.

“It’s beautiful,” she murmured distractedly.  Despite the opulence of the chandelier and some of the accent pieces, it had a comfortably homey feel.  When the term ‘mansion’ was thrown around, you could almost feel yourself going cold and stiff in anticipation of the stuffiness – even Jon’s house left her feeling out of place with its French provincial furnishings.   In contrast, Richie’s home was as earthy and real as the man himself.

“Come on, I’ll show you around,” he offered, trailing her behind him to the right, through the maze of rooms.  He took her on a whirlwind trip through the first floor indicating each room’s designation as they wandered through:  game room, family room, studio, gym, utility room, garage, pool, dining room and kitchen.

It was in the kitchen that she was introduced to Carmen.

“Carmen, my sexy senorita!  I’m back to give you a reason to curse under your breath,” Richie greeted the petite Hispanic woman seated at the kitchen bar, who was busy making a list.  He wound a long arm around her shoulders, giving them a squeeze and dropping a quick kiss on her cheek.

“Aren’t I lucky?” she responded drily, with only a trace of accent, tucking her hair behind her ears.  The graying locks were in direct contrast with the youthfulness of her face and the obvious sparkle in her eyes.  Birkenstock sandals sat on the floor beneath her bare feet, and she wore jeans paired with a flouncy peasant blouse.  “I’m not sure how I’ve survived all these weeks without you.”

Allegra wasn’t familiar with protocol for household employees, having only Jon’s house as a point of reference, but his staff dressed more formally while they were on duty.  She was fairly certain that they’d never dare to speak to Jon like Carmen had just spoken to Richie, but he didn’t seem fazed in the least. 

“You pine away in a corner while I’m out of the house, and you know it.” 

Carmen pretended to gasp, placing her hand on her chest.  “How did you know?  It’s those horrible security cameras, isn’t it?  They give away my every secret.”  She pinned him with a distrustful look and lowered her voice.  “While you were watching, did you happen to discover the secret of how to put your dishes in the sink?”

His cackle echoed through the kitchen, and a cocky grin lit up his face.  “Job security, baby.”

“Oh, please!  We both know I have more job security than that, Messy Mookie.  Now introduce me to your lady friend.”    She diverted her attention to Allegra, affording her the same careful inspection she’d been on the receiving end of only moments before.   

Richie seized Allegra by the hand and brought her to his side, beaming proudly.  “Carmen, this beautiful woman is the love of my life, Allegra Castanelli.”

“For the moment anyway,” Allegra amended under his scowl of disapproval, extending her hand to the other woman with a smile. 

Carmen regarded her with interest, and grasped her hand warmly.  “I see you’re not impressed with his celebrity status.  You and I are going to be good friends.”

“Does that make me different than the rest?”

“Excuse us Carmen.  I want to show Allegra the upstairs,” Richie jumped in before anything else could be said.  Leading her to the back staircase, he pulled her behind until they stood on the second story landing.  He studied her with barely withheld displeasure, but, with a shake of his head, refrained from commenting on the scene in the kitchen.

“Ava’s room and the four guest rooms are down that hallway,” he gestured vaguely to the right before moving on with the tour and approaching the large teak door standing at their left.  Reaching for the handle, he announced, “And this is our room.”  He pushed the door wide so that she could take in the huge king-sized bed draped with a luxurious brown duvet that just matched his eyes.  It reminded her a little of the brown bedroom in Jon’s guesthouse.  Sadly, THAT was what she considered their room.

“Your room.”

“Technically, yes.  But while you’re here, it’s our room.”  He steered her to the center of the floor, coming to a halt beside the bed.  Strong arms prepared to encircle her waist at the same time she took a step backward. 

“Not as long as your daughter’s in the house, it isn’t.  I don’t think that’s a good example to set for an adolescent girl.” 

“We’re not having sex, we’re just sleeping,” Richie contended, falling to the bed with a huff.

“I’m painfully aware of that, but come on, Richie, think about it.  Do you want HER to think it’s okay to ‘sleep’ with a man she’s not married to?”

“If she loves him and envisions a future with him, I don’t see a problem.”

“Ava may be a mature young lady, but do you really believe she’s read to make that level of distinction?” 

“Baby, our sleeping arrangements aren’t going to register as a blip on her teen radar.  Trust me.”

“And why is that?”  Her nose wrinkled while she scanned the big bed with distaste.  “Because it’s already happened so many times in this bed?  With other women?  Because if that’s the case, then it’s all the more reason for me to stand my ground.”

Latching on to her hand, he commanded her attention with a sharp, but gentle tug.  “Okay, do you want to tell me what’s going on with you today?  I’ve never known you to consciously pick a fight with me, but right now it seems like you’re hell-bent on it.”

Allegra’s eyes widened with surprise and confusion.  It was quite possibly the last thing she’d expected him to say.  “What?”

“I understand you being upset with me over my behavior at Heather’s, but you took it to an entirely different level.  Then there was what you said to Carmen, and now the crack about women in my bed.  Since when are you jealous of the ghosts in my past?”

Her immediate first thought was that he was being ridiculous.  She was fully prepared to tell him how stupid that was, but stopped.  Each of the instances he referred to went skimming in rapid succession through her mind, and her anger ebbed.  Recalling them with as much objectivity as she could muster, reluctantly, Allegra admitted the truth in what he was saying.   She was being a pure bitch, and the shame swallowed her whole.  Silently counting up the days in her head, she knew she couldn’t even blame it on PMS.

“I’m sorry if that’s how it seemed.  Despite all the evidence, I have no desire to fight with you, so let me try this again.”  She clasped both of his hands in hers and spoke in a quiet, but direct, manner.  “Richie, I’d be more comfortable staying in the guest room while Ava’s here.  I know I haven’t spent much time with her, but I want to be a positive influence if at all possible, so I’m going to do what’s right instead of what’s tempting.”

His grin was open and endearing.  “When you put it that way, who am I to disagree?”  Twirling her around, his confident hands maneuvered her backside so that it was firmly positioned in his lap.  “Now why didn’t you say that in the first place, instead of looking at my bed like it had a nasty smell?”

She leaned into him with a soft sound of disparaging humor.  “I don’t know, it just happened.”

“Ya know…  You’re acting like a jealous lover.  Are you feeling as though the ghosts of girlfriends past are haunting my house?”

She deliberated carefully before denying it with a shake of her head.  “No, I don’t think so.
Why should I be jealous of women whose relationships failed?  I don’t know what’s the matter with me, but I’m sorry.  Maybe it’s just a little insecurity?  I still have a serious lack of expertise with this relationship thing. ”

His arms were draped comfortably around her, hands resting on her thigh as he rocked slightly.  “Sunshine, what you think of as ‘lack of expertise’, I think of as honesty.  Expertise is comparable to manipulation, and I know that’s not you.”

“No, it isn’t,” she agreed.  “But neither is this snarky bitch that I’ve become since we touched down in LA.  Is there something in the air here?”

A knock came on the open door.  “Are you guys finished talking like rational adults yet?  I’m hungry.”  Ava shuffled in and promptly draped herself across the foot of the bed.  It was a comfortable gesture, one she’d evidently performed one multiple occasions. 

“We’ve been rational long enough, that’s for sure,” Allegra said, sliding from Richie’s lap with a smile.  “I’m hungry too.  What do you think?  Should we trust your dad to cook, or do takeout?”

Bright blue eyes darted to her father, grimacing.  “Sorry Dad, but takeout is faster.  Is Chinese okay?”

He stood and tousled her hair with a chuckle.  “Absolutely.  Go get the takeout menu from the kitchen and we’ll see what looks good.”

The evening went along smoothly after that, with the three of them surrounding the kitchen table and passing around a host of white paper cartons.  Talk was geared primarily toward catching up on Ava’s school activities and friends, but when that was accomplished all went quiet.

“You know what might be fun?”  Allegra asked to fill the silence.  “Do you have any board games?  It’s been ages since I did something like that, and I bet you guys don’t do it very often either.”

“God, I couldn’t tell you the last time we played a game.  It sounds like fun, though.”  He turned to Ava. 
 “What do we have, Baby Girl?  Anything?”

“Um, I think there’s Twilight Monopoly, Harry Potter Yahtzee and Trivial Pursuit.  Oh, and Uno.”

Allegra would have enjoyed Trivial Pursuit, but didn’t think it would be a fair game with two adults against a child.  “How about Yahtzee or Uno?”

“Good picks, Sunshine.  My beautiful daughter is a vicious real estate tycoon, and is especially brutal when you buy one of the Jacob properties before she does.”

Their time together sped by in a blur of laughter, fun and teasing.  It melted Allegra’s heart to see that Richie had a side of himself reserved just for Ava.  While he by no means made her feel excluded, he lavished a great deal of attention on his daughter and enjoyed her company – a sentiment which the girl unmistakably returned.  She felt a twinge of sadness that the two didn’t spend more time together.

A short while later, Ava was begging off to go call a friend, leaving the adults to themselves in the kitchen. 

“I can’t tell you when I’ve enjoyed such a relaxing evening at home.  Thank you, Sunshine.”

“Me too.  It’s so much nicer not being a bitch,” she admitted freely.  “And I love how much you love your daughter.  It’s sweet.”

He shrugged as he stood and removed the empty glasses from the table.  “She’s a good kid.  It would be hard not to love her.”  There was a clink of glassware as he set them in the sink, probably still remembering Carmen’s complaint from earlier in the day.  Richie turned to lean against the counter, arms folded across his chest.  “Don’t you think?”

Resting her elbows on the table in front of her, she regarded him with a smile.  “If that’s your way of asking how I feel about Ava, I like her very much.   She’s a pretty awesome young lady, and you’re doing a great job with her.”

“So you like me, and you like my kid?” 

“I do.” 

“Good, because we like you too.”  Richie smirked slightly, before offering his hand.  “Let’s go pick you out a room.  Remember not to get too comfortable, though.  It’s just for tonight.”

“I remember.”  Allegra’s fingers curled around his with an extra squeeze.  “That’s not the only thing that’s going to be just for tonight,” she warned him softly.  “We’re going to be doing more than sleeping in your bed.”