A Little Holiday Temptation

“Put Her Majesty on, please.”

When Drusilla got on the phone he could hear her clearing her throat. “Where are you that you can’t come see about your poor old grandmother?”

“Who would that be?” Erik asked, “Because you are apparently as young and spry as ever! I’m told you don’t think you need to use your cane anymore. Is that right?”

“It makes me look old and decrepit.”

“You’re too vain. What would you prefer? To look your age, or break a hip, or worse?” he asked, being careful not to raise his voice.

“I’d rather look good,” was Drusilla’s petulant reply. “What does it matter if I go out with a broken hip or not? The Grim Reaper has my number. I should have the right to choose how I live the rest of my life. After more than eighty years, I’ve earned it!”

Erik sighed. She had a point. Eighty-two years on earth should allow her certain privileges. He’d have to guilt her into behaving herself.

“Yes, you’ve earned the right to flip off the Grim Reaper if you want to. But, while you’re tempting fate, what about the rest of us who would like to have you around a bit longer? What about Dad and Belana? What about those great-grandchildren you’re always urging Belana and me to have? And hurry up about it, too? Shouldn’t they get the honor of having you as a cantankerous great-grandma? What do you say to that?”

“You should’ve been a lawyer,” Drusilla groused. She laughed. “Okay, I’ll use the damn cane from now on.”

“Language!” Erik heard his dad admonish his grandmother before bursting into laughter himself. His dad must have taken the phone from his grandmother. “Okay, son, whatever you said seems to have worked. She looks dutifully repentant, for now.”

Erik couldn’t help laughing. Both he and his father knew it was only a matter of time before Drusilla found another outlet for her indefatigable spirit to get her into trouble.

“By the way, Dad, Ana and I are dating,” Eric said after he’d gotten his laughter under control.

With his usual aplomb, John said without missing a beat, “Haven’t you always been dating?”

“Technically, we were just friends.”

“Seriously?” said John. “For two years you and Ana have been platonic friends?” He sounded so disbelieving that Erik started laughing again.

“Yes, seriously,” he assured his father.

“I know you said you were just friends, but I never imagined that two young, healthy people like you and Ana were actually keeping your hands to yourselves. Son, I was just happy you had someone like Ana in your life. Mother, will you stop that!”

Drusilla said hastily, “It’s about damn time!” Then she was gone.

John, sounding exasperated, said, “That’s wonderful news. Now I’ve got to go, your grandmother’s has had too much excitement for one day.”

Erik hung up the phone and listened to the remaining messages on the machine. None were pressing, so he wandered into this bedroom and began changing his clothes. He felt restless and a long jog would go a long way in relaxing him and focusing his mind. His father’s reaction to the news of him and Ana dating made him wonder if the rest of his family believed the two of them had been more than friends all the time.

Wasn’t it possible for a man and a woman to be just friends? Surely he’d proven they could. Then again, even if his behavior had been above reproach, his thoughts definitely hadn’t been. Not being able to express his feelings for Ana in a sexual way had made him very resourceful. Running helped, as did staying extremely busy. Now that they’d admitted their feelings for each other, and sex was sure to follow, he hoped he’d be able to make love to Ana without scaring the poor girl by howling like a beast or something else equally embarrassing. He was only a man.

Running clothes and shoes on, he grabbed the apartment key he kept in the foyer table on the way out the door. I hope Ana isn’t overanalyzing everything like I am, he thought as he closed the door behind him.

Chapter 4

“I’m freaking out!” Ana cried, trying to control the panic in her voice. Her sister, Sophia, in Milan was half asleep. She usually slept in on Sunday and it was still quite early in her part of the world.

Ana was lying in bed with her back against the headboard and her long legs stretched out. Sophia was under the covers with her husband, Matteo, who was snugly pressed against her backside, gently snoring. It would take more than the shrill ringing of a phone to wake him.

Sophia yawned before replying, “Yes, I do detect a little freaking out on your part,” she said. “But that’s to be expected since you’ve let a guy as hot as Erik slip through your fingers for as long as you have. I was beginning to doubt your sanity.”

That comment made Ana smile. Leave it to her practical sister to point out the obvious. “It’s not like I’m jumping into bed with every man who shows interest,” she said in her defense. “You know how inexperienced I am.”

“I know your only experience was a negative one and you’re not going to fully appreciate how truly bad it was until you have a good encounter with a man who knows what he’s doing in bed. Then, what Jack Russo did to you will feel like a slight glitch in your very satisfying love life. Oh, sorry, we aren’t supposed to be saying his name. Jack Russo, Jack Russo, Jack Russo. By saying his name you take some of the power out of it. You know the only reason he dropped you was because he had that actress waiting in the wings and she had more money and clout than you. I hate it when bastards like that just run over a woman’s feelings. You know, if I had been anywhere in the vicinity he would be missing his most vital organ right now.”

Ana giggled. “Matteo must be sleeping very hard not to react to that comment.”

Sophia giggled, too. “Yeah, he’s out. Your nephew had both of us up late last night.”

“Oh, I’m sorry for interrupting your much needed rest. What was wrong with my nephew?”

“Teething,” said Sophia. “Breast-feeding is becoming dangerous.”

Ana sighed sympathetically. “Thinking of switching him to a bottle?”

“I’m going to have to,” said Sophia. “Besides, according to his doctor he’s gotten all the good nutrients from breast milk that he needs at six months.”

Remembering the conversation about firstborns not accepting new sisters and brothers, Ana said, “How is Renata handling being a big sister?”

“She loves him, calls him her baby,” said Sophia. She yawned again.

“Look, I’d better let you go,” said Ana. “I just wanted to hear a calm voice.”

“And you called me?” joked Sophia. “Mom is the only one with a calm voice in this family.”

“Don’t mention our conversation to them, okay? I’ll tell them when the time’s right.”

“You are coming home for Christmas?” asked Sophia.

Ana always went home for Christmas, which was celebrated with all the trimmings by the Corellis.

“I don’t know yet,” Ana said truthfully. “With these new developments in my life I might want to go somewhere romantic with my man.” The thought excited her. “I’ll have to let you know.”