Chapter 12: Troubled

Richie drove in a fog back to the main house. Although he’d known Julianna for only a day, he could feel her wiggling her way into his heart. He wasn’t sure if it was all her, or a combination of the events of the past several months. He needed to talk to Jon. Jon always was a good sounding board for Richie’s personal shit – and he was always brutally honest. Jon would help him sort through it.

Richie’s friends were scattered around the great room when he entered. Dave was at the piano again. Tico was reading, and Jon was watching some movie on the plasma. Richie dropped onto the couch, next to Jon. After gazing sightlessly at the movie for a few minutes, he said, “Man, I need to talk to you.”

Jon looked over at him. “Shit, Rich, you don’t look like a man who just took a gorgeous woman out to dinner. What happened?”

Richie sighed. “When I got there, she was coming out of her house, all dressed up, with some other guy.” He raised his hand when it looked like Jon was going to interrupt. “Turned out, the guy was her brother, but damn, for a minute there, I was pissed off and actually jealous.” He shook his head and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’ve known her for what, half a day?” He turned to face his friend. “I need help here, brother. I met her family, her fucking family, and I had a great time.” He told Jon about meeting Julianna’s grandmother and parents, about being accepted into their gathering without question or hesitation, and about feeling as if he belonged with these people.

Tico and Dave, seeing the other two men deep in conversation, ambled over. “Hey man,” Tico said, “What’s so serious over here?”

Jon broke it down for them. “Richie thinks he is falling for Julianna. He met her family tonight and thoroughly enjoyed himself. They liked him, too, and he doesn’t know what to do.”

Dave started to make some smart-ass remark, but stopped when he saw the stricken look on his friend’s face. “Oh man,” he said softly. “You really are screwed.”

“Tell me about it,” Richie said. ”What do I do here?”

Dave offered his advice. “This is too close on the heels of the Heather thing. Take a step back. OK, you like her and her family. OK, she and her family appear to like you. That’s good. I don’t know anyone who can’t use more friends, right? What you don’t need right now, is more salt in your wounds, man. It's too soon. You need to heal.”

Tico agreed. “Stay away from her tomorrow. Throw yourself into work. Hell, throw yourself into the lake for all I care, but stay away, and see how you feel."

Jon said, "If you still think there’s something there, we’ll go down and meet her, make sure she checks out. If it’s right, it’ll still be right tomorrow. If it’s just a passing thing, well, then you can deal with that, too.”

Richie reluctantly nodded his head. “You’re right, Jon, but then again, you usually are. Thanks. All of you; thanks.”

Jon grinned. “No problem. Now, tell us all about her family.”

Richie told them about Julianna’s brothers, her parents, and her Nonna. He smiled when he told them about posing for pictures with Julianna’s young nieces and cousins. They laughed at the story about taking Francesca home after dinner. Richie’s smile was wistful when recalling the fun he had playing with Julianna and her brothers, and his eyes darkened with passion when he told them of singing a duet with her. Jon’s sharp gaze missed none of these emotions in his friend’s face.

“Rich, my man, I hate to say it, but I think Davey-boy here is right. You’re screwed. You’ve already let this woman into your heart. Shit.” He slapped his thighs and stood up. “Our advice still stands, though. Leave it for tomorrow. Give it 24 hours. If you still feel,” he rolled his hands, “whatever, here, well, we’ll go meet her. If she doesn’t run in fear,” he grinned wickedly, “ then do what feels right. You shouldn’t deny your heart.”