He laughed and we continued driving. Reaching the mansion, I stopped in front, getting out to take my bags.
"You go say hi to your father. I'll park the car," Jake said. “And don't worry about the bags, either. You may want to do stuff on your own now, but remember, you're still part of the Bertoli family. There are people to do that sort of stuff around here. Your bags be in your room when you're done talking with the Don."
I nodded and went inside, unconsciously checking my pants and shirt to make sure I looked okay. While Father would understand that I'd flown wearing track pants and a t-shirt, that didn't excuse if I'd shown up looking like a bum. Inside, I saw one of the maids, a nice girl named Jessie who'd been with the house for years. "Jessie?"
"Master Bertoli, welcome home," she said, smiling shyly. Jessie was a few years older than me and had gotten married while I was in college. Still, we'd had a few nights back when we were both single that still left pleasant memories and warmed cold nights. Tiny, trim, and with a bobbed haircut that gave her sort of a pixie vibe, she'd always been a great maid, and she'd let me rock her world once or twice. "How was your flight?"
"Good, but you know I don't like that Master stuff. Just Tomasso."
Jessie blushed a little but shook her head. "I can't, sir. At least, not using your first name while working. I suppose you are looking for Mr. Bertoli?"
"Yes, do you know where he is?"
She pointed out toward the back. "I believe he's by the pool. He's on a bit of a fitness kick recently, if you can believe it."
I shook my head. "Really? What caused that?"
She leaned in close, whispering into my ear. "He tried on his tuxedo for Miss Bertoli's wedding to Daniel. Let's just say it didn't fit too well. Since then, he's been on a fitness kick. He wants to make sure things look good for the ceremony."
I chuckled and shook my head. If my father had any weakness in terms of his thinking or actions, it was Adriana. Then again, since I agreed with his sparing of Daniel, I couldn't argue it too much. "Thanks, Jessie. I'll let you get your work done.”
I left and found my father in the family pool. It was three lanes, and while not competition depth, it had let my brother, Angelo, do pretty well for a short, stocky Italian on the high school swim team. Of course, I suspect he joined the swim team only because he got to spend a lot of time around girls in swimsuits.
Father, on the other hand, looked nothing at all like a swimmer or an athlete of any kind. As he went north of fifty years old, his paunch had spread, and his already somewhat weak jawline had receded more and more into his neck. Still, discounting Carlo Bertoli, even if you were his son, was a fool's errand. It was difficult, though, as he had for some reason insisted on wearing Speedos as he did his laps.
Seeing me when he turned, he waved at me and stopped, touching down on the bottom of the pool. Walking his way back from the other end, he pulled his goggles off his head and wiped his face. "Tomasso! It's good to have you home, Son! I didn't expect you in for another two hours. What happened?"
"I was able to catch an earlier connection coming out of Denver," I explained, walking closer to the pool. "It's good to see you, Dad."
He got out of the pool and grabbed a robe off the deck chair he'd been using. Tying the belt, he came and hugged me, the two of us clapping each other on the back. "Oh, my boy, it's good to see you too. Ouch,” he said. “Watch it, you're going to hurt an old man's back!"
I laughed and pounded him once more, then stepped back. "You're not old. You're still in the prime of your life."
He chuckled and shook his head. "When a man starts giving away those he feels are his children, then the prime of his life is over. But I plan on hanging on to what's left as much as I can. Come, let's sit."
I took the other seat, and Dad tapped a control on the table. "Can you bring some beer for me and Tomasso? No, wait—make it two sparkling waters."
He clicked off the intercom and shrugged. "I don't want to look like a fool at Adriana's wedding."
"You won't, I promise. I'm glad to be back in time for that as well."
"So, now that you're back, Tommy, what do you plan to do? To be honest, when you left to go to school four years ago, I wasn't sure I'd see you back other than on holidays."
"Actually, if you don't mind, Tomasso now," I said somberly. "I came back because I think it's time for me to set some ideas I had as a boy aside and become a man."