"Oh my goodness. Look at the time. I am so sorry, guys but I have a hair appointment. I really must dash."
We all got up and thanked her and headed to the door right behind her. I had written my phone numbers out on one of my cards for her and handed it over as we filed out. She thanked me and sped off.
We got out to the vehicles and Danny I noticed made sure he got in mine. LOL. Rico was steamy I am sure.
Got home in good order, and just as we were walking into the house, Feelie's cell rang. I pretty much knew who that would be and I was right.
"Hello, brother," we heard her say and kept on going.
LOL. The last thing I felt we needed was Antonio showing up. Later she told me he just wanted an update, asked if she thought he should come up, and she told him he was far more needed at home.
HAH. Good going, Feelie. Have to admit in a weak moment that I missed him a BIT, but she was right. With so many of us gone he WAS needed at home overseeing everything at Frankie's and Riverfront Commons, etc.
We got Danny settled in upstairs, and I suspected he was not that happy to not be in MY room, but since it is OUR room and the OUR being Rico and me, that wasn't about to happen. He IS a certified hottie to be sure, BUT...I is taken and for life. So, so much for that.
"Billy and Rose got busy preparing dinner with Feelie's help (she is getting to be a real whiz in the kitchen, believe it or not) while the rest of us went our various ways to do God knows what. Quiet, with everyone mulling the days events I thought.
Dinner was the first chance we had had to do a thorough venting of our thoughts and impressions relative to our sojourn with Anna. It was quite the lively discussion. Danny mostly sat and listened to us, and we just kind of ignored him. Plenty of time for him to be the dessert dujour later. LOL.
The bottom line is we ALL agreed that there was far more to this that we needed to know than previously thought and we decided we would get to the bottom of all of it, Andy or no Andy. We if you will remember are NO slouches when it comes to sleuthy and investigatey and solvey. We hot stuff...oh yes we is. HOWEVER, at the moment we were more than a little clueless and that is NOT even remotely anywhere near where we like to be. EVER.
All of a sudden, Danny piped up.
"I can maybe help a bit with this, if you want me to that is."
Kip: "Go FOR IT HOTSTUFF," and I swear Danny blushed. Teddy of course couldn't let that go past, and laughed out loud. Zeke shut him up by kissing him largely. Hah. I looked over at Brenda and she just sat smiling. Miracle of miracles. Hah.
For a very long moment, he just sat there...almost as if frozen in time. I assumed this was a very difficult moment for Mister Perfect and I would prove to be right.
"The Woods brothers and I were friends," Pause..."close friends. Nothing more."
Pause.
"Rick and I were...pause, more. A lot more," and the lone tear I had seen earlier re-emerged. He just sat for a long minute again, looking down and barely breathing.
"Rick was everything to me."
He slumped a bit in his chair.
"Everything was so good with him. We were inseparable for a couple years. Then," and he just stopped again.
He sat and sat and the air grew heavy with anticipation and I don't know what.
"Then, he told me we had to break it off. I pretty much lost it. He had always made me so happy, and I needed to stop this or at least know why...so I pressed him. Finally he told me that he had gotten mixed up in a situation that he didn't want me involved in."
KIP: "Which was what exactly, Danny?"
"I only wish I knew. Hard as I tried he would never tell me and slowly but surely he just drifted away. I haven't heard from him in weeks, but finally an old friend from here called me and told me Rick was here and that he was dead. I knew I had to come back. I had to know what happened to him." He stopped again, and then as the tears started to slowly roll down his cheeks...
"I loved him so much but then he just wasn't there anymore," he gulped as oh so quietly he just dissolved before us.
It was so painful to watch, and the first to get to him was Rose, then Ofelia.
"I JUST HAVE TO KNOW," he sobbed.
My heart went A.W.O.L.
CHAPTER XIX: WE HAD TO KNOW
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