Alex's Gifts Ch. 09

"Gene! Great to see you, come on in. I wasn't expecting the master himself. The kitchen is yours." Alex said.

"If you want a job done right, you do it yourself," he said with a curt not. "Wow, my boy, I like what you've done to the place," he said as he walked through the door and admired Jenny's work.

Following Gene came his two sons Donnie and Marky, both rotund gentlemen pushing three fifty by Alex's estimation. They carried heavy plastic coolers full of food and after two more trips had unloaded everything into the kitchen. Gene had gone all out, as Alex knew he would. He looked hungrily at full trays of meatballs, lasagna, and ravioli, all of Casey's favorites. Side dishes of pasta and vegetable salads, risotto, and minestrone soup. He watched in awe as Gene masterfully assembled a four-foot long platter of salami, prosciutto, capicola and half a dozen other sliced meats Alex couldn't identify. Piles of cheeses, pates, figs, grapes, olives, nuts, and various spreads were skillfully arrayed. It was a heaping cornucopia of Italian delicacies. All told it was more than enough to feed fifty people, just like he'd asked.

Alex heard his stomach rumble and Gene paused from his work. With deft hands acquired through decades of practicing his art, Gene quickly assembled a sandwich and handed it to him. "Eat, you're too skinny!" he said, never glancing up from his work.

While Marky and Donnie sliced bread, Alex ate and admired Gene's final touches: two dozen cannoli rolled in mini chocolate chips, another of Casey's favorites, and a big cake that Alex assumed was tiramisu with little pink and white candy hearts scattered across its dusty brown top. "Gene, this is simply outstanding. Casey is going to love it. Thank you so, so much." Alex said as Jenny walked in from outside, smelling the delicious food.

"Little Jenny Ricci!" Gene said in delight, pronouncing her last name with an Italian cadence, rolling the R. "I should have guessed this was your handiwork," he said, glancing up at the festive room.

"Uncle Gene!" she exclaimed with gleeful surprise, stepping in for a big hug as the elderly man opened his arms.

When she pulled back Gene held her shoulders, kissed her on both cheeks, and said, "It's great to see you, my beautiful girl!" Jenny walked around the kitchen island, complementing the food. She stopped by Alex who reflexively put an arm around her narrow waist.

"Ahh, now there's a match that would make mama happy," he said, referring to his late wife. "Young love, eh?" he said, with a wink at Alex. "You take care of her boy, she's one of a kind."

Jenny blushed and Alex grinned back and nodded. "We actually just met. But I have a feeling you're right, Gene," he said, turning and smiling at the cute brunette at his side. "You two are related?" he asked her.

"Gene is my grandad's cousin. I've always just called him uncle," Jenny said, smiling fondly at the grey-haired maestro as he hunched back over his masterpiece, garnishing it with grape, parsley, and sage leaves.

Alex took his leave to go to the bathroom while Jenny gave instructions to Marky and Donnie on where to put all of the food to keep it fresh and warm. She turned to Gene and said, "I had no idea you catered. I'm going to give you a call Monday. I know I can send a lot of business your way if this is what you can do." said the party planner.

"Well, we normally only do this sort of thing for very special occasions. Alex and his family are dear to us, they've been coming to the restaurant for almost twenty years now, I've watched the kids grow up. When their father passed so much changed for them. It was heartbreaking, especially the little girls," Gene said, frowning and shaking his head. "But I see Alex becoming a man now, and it makes me proud, what he's doing here," he said, looking around the room. With a shrug and a smile, he added, "He also didn't give me much choice."

"Yes, I know what you mean. He can be very...persuasive," she said with a telling smile. "He told me about his family, and what he does. At first, I couldn't believe him, but now I think I do. He's an easy person to be around."

"He is not the same quiet boy I've known, that's for sure," Gene said, shaking his head slowly in thought. "Well, I'm happy for you two, if it is to be that way. And if you need my help with one of your parties, just let me know. My boys could use the exercise."

"Thanks. Alex and I should be by next week sometime, we'll let you know how the party goes," Jenny said as Gene finished his masterpiece began packing up his remaining supplies.

As the two large lads carried everything outside, Gene kissed Jenny on the cheek again and smiled warmly at her. "Tell the boy I said thanks. Oh, and make sure he sees that," Gene said, pointing at a tall box on the kitchen counter.

"I will, bye Uncle Gene!" she said cheerfully.

Alex came out of the bathroom to see Jenny standing by herself in the kitchen. "Gene says thanks. And he wanted to make sure you looked in that box," Jenny said, motioning towards the counter.

"He really outdid himself, huh?" he said, looking at the spread of food in the kitchen.

"He said you didn't give him much choice," she said, smiling.

"I guess that's true," Alex replied and laughed at the way he behaved in the restaurant the day before. He opened the box to find an assortment of wine; reds, whites, and a few bubbly proseccos. He also noticed several bottles of sweet Italian liqueurs; amaretto, limoncello, and a watermelon flavored bottle he was sure the girls would like. "Uh oh, Gene's trying to get me in trouble," he said, showing the box to Jenny.

"I don't think you're going to need any help with that," Jenny said with a grin and pecked him on the cheek.

"So what's left? We have about an hour and a half. Do you need any help? My list is done," Alex said.

"Sure, come on outside, I have plenty left to do."

The couple spent the next hour setting up tables filled with snacks, drinks, party favors, and little treats. Then they turned their attention to the pool. Jenny's helpers Randy and George brought out several dozen balloon clusters from the garage and tied them around the pool. Several minutes later they marched out two giant blue and white balloon arches that spanned the pool from corner to corner, crossing in the middle. They must be over a hundred and fifty feet long, Alex marveled. "Guys, that is spectacular, you must have spent the past four hours filling all those things."

Randy bit the tip off of an errant balloon and inhaled, "All in a day's work, boss!" he squeaked with a toothy grin.

Alex laughed at the bearded man acting like a child. "Glad to see you enjoy your work, Randy!"

Finishing touches complete with thirty minutes to spare, Randy and George packed up the truck while Jenny cleaned up the last of her provisions and took out the trash. Alex ran upstairs to his office and then printed something from his computer. He scribbled a quick note on and stuffed in an envelope labeled "Jenny". He also grabbed some cash from his safe and returned downstairs just in time to catch her leaving.

"Oh Alex, there you are. We're all done. I'm going to go home and sleep now," she said with an exhausted smile. "I hope you have a wonderful time. Give me a call tomorrow and let me know how it goes."

"I will do that, and I'll be thinking of you. You did an amazing job here, thank you so much. Here's a little something for your helpers," he said, handing her a couple hundred dollars tip. "And this is for you," he said, handing her the envelope and giving her a quick kiss on the lips.

"Thank you. I'll see you later," Jenny said. In the cramped back seat of the box truck, she opened the envelope. It was a picture of an idyllic log cabin with a stream running next to it and towering snow-capped mountains in the background. She read Alex's note, "You + Me next weekend?" and pulled it against her breast and sighed with a mixture of fatigue and infatuation on her pretty face.

"Looks like our girl finally found herself a man," Randy said from the front seat with a huge grin. George ribbed him with an elbow and made a shushing motion with his finger in front of his lips. Jenny could only laugh and smile while the truck pulled away, happier than she'd been in quite a while.