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“Ridiculously well. Luckily, I’m on my feet all day or all the pastries I’ve consumed would have gone straight to my backside.”
“Nah, you’ve got good genes. Look at your mama,” her dad said.
“That’s true. How lucky did I get to be born to a young Sophia Loren?” Tali asked.
Teresa tsked. “Oh, now you’ve gone a little overboard.”
They talked for a few more minutes until her mom had to go get dressed for church. Her dad cleared his throat, and for a second, the line went silent.
“Your cousin came by this week. She was in the city to get her dress fitted and stopped by to see her old aunt and uncle.”
Tali smiled. “Nina’s a good girl.”
“You know what she told me?”
Tali’s eyes flicked to mine. “I can guess.”
“Natalia, why didn’t you tell me Jude was on tour with you?”
Shit, I hadn’t even thought of her parents finding out about us. Or me, I guess, since I didn’t even know if we were an “us.” I should have known, though. Her parents were the most important people to her, and her family was closer than any I knew. I doubted they kept too many secrets.
She rubbed her forehead, letting her chin drop to her chest. “I don’t know. I didn’t want to upset you and Mom.”
“Is there something going on we should be upset about? Is he harassing you?”
“No.” Her eyes lifted to mine again. “No, he’s not. He’s been very professional and respectful.”
“He’s doing sound?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s actually extremely impressive.” She went on to tell her dad exactly what I did. My mouth tugged into a smile when she got some of the terms mixed up, but hearing the pride she had in telling him about my job set off an ache so deep in my chest, I had to sit up straight and take a few deep breaths.
“Good for Jude. Sounds like he’s doing well for himself. And is he…?”
“Clean?” she supplied.
“Yes. How is he doing?”
She nodded, and her eyes shined a bit. “Really well, Dad. You know what a tough go he had, but he pulled himself out of it.”
He went silent again for a full ten seconds before he spoke. “Good. I knew a guy in the seventies. Got hooked on heroin. That was before the whole ‘this is your brain on drugs’ campaign you grew up with. Everyone dabbled, but he went further. Couldn’t get off it. He tried again and again, but it never stuck. He faded away, lost his job, his friends, and eventually his life. I lost a lot of sleep thinking Jude would turn out like Mark.”
I didn’t think I should have been here for this conversation. Tali should have been able to speak freely to her dad, and if she wanted to talk shit…well, she was welcome to it. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, but as soon as I stood, Tali did too. She shook her head and pushed me back a step.
“Dad, I feel weird continuing this conversation without telling you Jude is actually in the room. I know you’ll probably want to talk to me when he’s not here, and that’s fine, we’ll do that. But he’s here, and I don’t particularly want him to leave.”
He let out a gruff chuckle. “I had a feeling. You were unusually reserved in the way you were talking about him. Usually your language is a bit more...colorful.”
She huffed. “Name the last time I spoke about him at all, let alone in a colorful manner.”
“A good five years, I suppose. That was when you went to that concert, right?”
“Right. But I don’t recall my language being colorful. It was mildly perturbed at best.”
I chuckled, probably louder than I should have, so I covered my mouth to muffle it. Tali flipped me off with a grin.
“And I suppose I’m on speaker?” he asked.
She held out the phone to me, so I leaned in. “Hello, Mr. DiPietro.”
