A few minutes later they saw Mitch's car make its way up the hill. Going around the house, they went to meet him in front. They got their first look at Mitch's fiancé as he got out of the car. He was tall and very good-looking with dark hair and hazel eyes. Rob realized they had seen him in town yesterday with a little blond girl.
Mitch made introductions. "This is Julian Brenner and his little brother Danny. This is his assistant Rob Gerric. This is my fiancé, Enrico Del Rio."
"He's Mrs. Del Rio's grandson," Julian told Rob as they both shook hands with him.
"Nice to meet you, Enrico," Rob said.
"Rico is fine," he said then he squinted at Julian. "Thanks for letting us get married up here. But I can't believe the guy who owns the orchard looks like you. I was picturing you all wrong. Look at him, Mitch. He's not a silver fox or a pudgy middle-aged beardo. He's a hot, young beardo."
"I've already seen him," Mitch said evenly and gave his fiancé a wry grin.
If Mitch was serious and dedicated like Julian, Rico was like nobody else. He just met them and he was already shooting his mouth off at will.
"This whole time, I figured Dracula lived here, but it's just you guys," he said, pointing at the house.
"Dracula?" Danny said though Rob didn't know if he knew who that was.
Not wanting to scare him, Rico corrected himself. "I meant Count Chocula."
Danny knew who that was and he nodded. "He doesn't live here, just me, Julian and Rob," Danny whispered to set Rico straight, and he laughed.
Julian looked surprised that Danny was so talkative. Maybe he was responding to Rico's maturity level.
"Speaking of, we're going out for breakfast," Rob said. He took the coffee cup from Julian and then he addressed Danny. "Let's go put away these cups and get your yellow hat and my jacket while these guys discuss business. Is that OK?" He looked at both Danny and Julian for their OK. Julian left it up to his little brother, who looked up at Rob and gave him his free hand.
By the time, the two of them were ready to go, Julian had come in to get his own jacket. Together, the three of them headed out to his car while Mitch and Rico got to work inside.
"I gave Mitch a key to the house so he can do his work even when we're out," Julian said.
"Mitch seems like a serious guy, but what about his fiancé. Talk about opposites," Rob said while Julian buckled up Danny.
"After meeting his grandmother, you expected Rico to be the shy, retiring type?" Julian asked.
"Good point," Rob said.
Once again he was sitting in the back with Danny, but the little guy wasn't too nervous. Still Danny was relieved when the car ride was over and they got out on Main Street, a block from the cafe. As they walked up the street, they spotted a group of three kids and two good-looking guys. One guy was blond and more muscular. The other had sandy hair and a trim physique. The kids were all a little older than Danny and kind of noisy. The noisy group was clustered on the sidewalk ahead of them. As Julian, Rob and Danny approached, one of the kids pointed their way.
"Him!" a little blond girl exclaimed. "It's the boy with the yellow hat, the one I saw." She was the same kid who had been with Rico and waved at Danny the day before.
"I saw his hat too when he got out of that car," the little blond boy said.
"I saw him before before," the little girl told him.
"Don't fight. You'll scare him," a sandy haired boy told the two younger kids, but Danny didn't seem scared of the loud bunch.
Looking up at the two guys, the blond boy demanded, "Uncle Wyatt, we have to talk to that kid over there."
The blond guy, whose name must have been Wyatt, eyed the kids. "You have important kid business with him?" The kids all chorused a yes. "OK. Let's go."
The other guy with him balked, but the kids were already running over.
"See, it's him. The boy with the yellow hat," the little girl said, proud of her discovery as the kids clustered in front of Danny.
Danny looked up at Julian but didn't seem to be scared. It was more like he was looking for permission to talk to these kids.
"Do you live here?" the older boy asked Danny, who didn't answer.
Julian answered for him. "Yes, he does. We live up on the hill."
