“I thought they were all outstanding, Mr. Aaron. Are you going to spend more time here?”
“Yeah, I am,” I said. I felt at peace with my decision.
“That’s good to hear. You always seem so content here. It was nice meeting you, Mr. Barallo. Have a nice evening, you two. Don’t do anything kinky here. This place is sacred.”
I threw my head back and laughed. “I’ll take that under-advisement Jose. Have a good night.”
He returned, handing me a velvet bag with a wine bottle inside. “Good night.” I heard him as he walked out the door and locked it behind him.
“So, did youlike that last blend? It’s going to be a restaurant exclusive,” I looked at River.
“Oh yes, I think it was better than the reserve.”
I called River’s dad. We had exchanged numbers at dinner. “Hi, Mr. Barallo. Can you get your brother?” I said suddenly, ridiculously nervous seeing them both on screen.
River looked at me, confused, while I talked to his dad on FaceTime. “You will get the whole story Sunday, but I own Sun Harvest Winery.” I was sure they said no fucking way and made some other animated statements in Italian. I decided to keep going forward, knowing they were doing dinner prep. “I made a special blend of wine. There will be five hundred bottles of it. I thought I would put these labels on the bottle. I pulled the sample out of the bag. On the label, it said Delizioso Exclusive Sun Harvest Special Blend. I want to offer you this wine for your restaurant.”
They gave me blank stares, and I wondered if this was good or bad. Even River was gaping at me. Had I done something wrong? I thought it was terrific, but I may have offended them somehow.
“We don’t have to,” I said, a frog in my throat.
“No. No. We would be honored. I think we are all just in shock. Nobody has ever been so kind to us. Your wines are wonderful. They are the only red we serve here, and we have your white and blush, too.” River’s uncle said very sincerely. It felt like their silence had nothing to do with my offer.
“Aaron, are you sure this is what you want to do? You could do so much more with that wine. We are just a family restaurant.” His father asked me. I had to stop myself from laughing at them—just a family restaurant, probably one of the top ten Italian restaurants in the country. “This is a tremendous gift that we would love to accept if you are sure this is something you want to do.”
“I have given it a lot of thought, as you can tell. I even had labels printed. It will be bottled next week, and I can bring it all to you, or we can store it here and bring you cases as you need it.”
River still just stood there looking at me.” I’ll bring some of the last reserve and a couple of bottles of this new exclusive wine on Sunday. I will let you get back to work.”
“Thank you so much,” they both said, “we will talk more Sunday.” They hung up.
“River?” He turned his head a little, and I watched tears slip down his cheeks. I wasn’t sure why he was upset, but I knew I hated it. I always made him cry. I stood up and wrapped my arms around his shoulders, getting him as close to me as possible.
I kissed the side of his head and rubbed his back. “Please don’t cry, I’ll fix it, just don’t cry.” I’ve realized that Rivers’ emotions are just below the surface. You could tell if he was hurt, angry, passionate, or happy. I liked that he shared all those emotions. I have been fortunate not to have anything negative directed at me. I felt a dull ache as I could feel his body shake.
I whispered into his neck. “Please, River. Just tell me how to make you feel better.”
His breathing started to even out, and I could only hear sniffles. I was thankful for that, at least. He took my hand and walked me over to the chair, where he sat down and had me sit on his lap.
He kissed me, his lips warm and soft. There was no urgency. He took his time, his tongue darting around mine. It was a kiss that could go on forever. Everything in me was alerted. I knew I was in love with this man. I was afraid to tell him. What if he thought it was too soon and he ran? I couldn’t lose him, so I needed to wait a little longer.
He pulled back and just looked at me. “You are amazing, you know that?”
“I don’t think so, and I just like doing nice things for good people.”
“Let me tell you a story, which should explain the emotions you just saw from myself, Papa, and Uncle Tony.” He leaned back, taking a deep breath. “In Italy, a father had a very effeminate son. The people in town would whisper behind their backs and make little digs. At 13, that son came out, and people in the town only worsened. These were people he had known his entire life, friends of his father and grandfather, but that didn’t make a difference. Their hatred towards them and their child escalated. They had a restaurant there for one hundred years. My father had fed these people, yet they were cruel to his gay son.
Papa decided that his son didn’t need these kinds of people and that America was more open-minded. His siblings were not going to let him leave alone. They sold their restaurant, gathered their families, and immigrated together. Once they arrived, they started from nothing, opening Delizioso in an underdeveloped neighborhood.”
He took another deep breath. “You know how that has changed over the last twenty-five years, and I think you own most of the buildings on that block. It turned out great in the end. I was able to be with whomever I wanted to be with. The problem was I wasn’t finding a special someone. My whole family was certain I would never even date someone.” He sighed.
“I think I am starting to understand.”
“You are changing everything. What you are doing as a nice gesture for my family is confirming that leaving Italy all those years ago because of me was the right decision.” He gave me another soft kiss.
“They are happy about the wine?” I was mostly curious about how that related.
“I think they are thrilled about the wine. Though we are a big family, you must realize we are too involved in each other’s lives. Theyare more excited that I have someone willing to do something nice for my family. They worried about my happiness and came to America to find that.”
