His question was so unexpected that Justine was unable to say anything for several seconds. “When and where?” she asked, answering his question with one of her own.
“When you have vacation time coming to you, I’d like to take you to Puerto Rico.”
Excitement eddied through her, because she’d never been on a plane or traveled out of the country. Something told her Frank also had a wish list of things he wanted to do because of what he’d gone through after being diagnosed with kidney cancer.
“What about Kenny?”
“What about him, Justine?”
“Do you think it will be okay to leave him here alone?”
“Dammit, woman! The boy’s eighteen and old enough to go to war and make you a grandmother. I can’t believe you’re worrying about leaving him alone. If that’s your only concern, then I can drop him off to stay with Gio. He and Frankie can hang out together for a week.”
“He probably would resent having someone chaperone him while I’m away.”
“You have to learn to trust him, Justine. It would be the same if he were to go away to college.”
Justine knew she had to accept the fact that Kenny was an adult. “Okay.”
“Okay what?”
“I’ll go away with you. I’ve put in for a week’s vacation the last week in July.”
“Give me the exact dates so I can order airline tickets and make a reservation for a hotel.”
“Francis.”
“What is it, Justine?”
She smiled. “Thank you.”
Frank parked along West End Avenue, then turned to look at her, his eyes making love to her face. “I’m the one who should be doing the thanking. You have no idea of how much I need you in my life …”
Justine placed her fingers over his mouth, stopping his words. “Don’t, Francis. You need me and I need you, but for very different reasons. So, let’s enjoy the time we’ve been given.”
“You know that I love you.”
“I can recall you telling me that before.” She knew he was waiting for her to tell him that she also loved him, but her love for Francis D’Allesandro was more of a need to help her learn to trust without prejudice.
“Come upstairs with me,” she said, “so I can change out of this suit.”
Justine waited in Frank’s living room as he changed his clothes. His apartment was the quintessential bachelor pad, with navy-blue leather seating and solid oak end tables. The highly polished parquet floors in a herringbone design were covered with blue and white area rugs with geometric designs. Either he was obsessively neat, or he had someone clean his apartment.
When she got up that morning to prepare to attend her son’s graduation ceremony, she hadn’t anticipated meeting up with Frank. But then, she shouldn’t have been that surprised, because even when she and Frank had stopped seeing each other, it was different with Kenny, who continued to go to East Harlem to work in his cousin’s restaurant. He’d also joined Frank’s extended family for dinners on the first Sunday of the month. Kenny was equally proficient speakingSpanish and Italian. He claimed he conversed in Italian with Frankie and in Spanish with Ray. Kenny had stopped calling Frank “Mr. Dee” and now chose “Uncle Dee,” because it was something Frank had insisted on.
Justine crossed her ankles and stared at her feet in a pair of navy-blue espadrilles, wondering how Kenny would react once she informed him that she was going out of the country for a week with Frank. It would be a first for her, going away with a man and leaving him completely on his own. However, she found Frank’s disclosure that he’d had cancer to be more shocking than his revelation that he loved her. She didn’t understand why Kenny hadn’t told her that Frank was ill, despite his promise to Frank that he would keep his secret. Didn’t he know she cared enough to be with him when he had to go for his chemotherapy? She didn’t want to believe that Frank had been so vain that he hadn’t wanted her to see him bald and emaciated.
Frank came out of the bedroom in a pair of black linen slacks, matching jacket, white linen short-sleeved shirt, and black loafers. He wore a watch with a black alligator band on his left wrist. “Ready whenever you are,” he said, smiling and extending his hand to help her off the sofa.
She returned his smile, her eyes meeting his. There was something about the older, slimmer Francis D’Allesandro she found more attractive than the one she’d first met five years before. In the past, he’d projected a restless energy that made it impossible for her to completely relax around him. That was then, and now there was an air of supreme confidence that indicated he was in total control of himself and the world in which he navigated.
Going on tiptoe, Justine brushed her mouth over his, knowing she’d shocked him. Frank sucked in his breath. “Ready,” she whispered.
“Damn, doll,” he groaned. “You wait until I can’t get it up to start something I can’t finish.”
“Not all relationships are based on sex, Frank.”
He squeezed her hand. “I’ve never been the relationship type of guy, but I know it’s going to be different with you.”
