Page 2 of Two Hearts' Christmas Homecoming

Harry seemed to be really happy living here with the Giordanos. He looked almost…normal, Lex had to admit. And if Harry trusted them, then Lex couldn’t think of any reason he shouldn’t either.

Mrs. Giordano seemed to be a lot younger than Mr. Giordano. She was looking each one of them over, appearing concerned.

But not in a bad way.

“I’m glad that Caleb and Amy seem to be hitting it off. It’s probably better if Caleb isn’t involved in our conversation anyway,” Mr. Giordano said, approaching Lex and holding out his hand. “Nice to meet you, Lex. I’m Izzy’s father, Gabe Giordano.”

He was looking at Lex oddly but didn’t say why.

Lex shook his hand, feeling slightly puzzled. Mr. Giordano was kind of acting like he knew him from somewhere. “Nice to meet you too, sir.”

“I’ve put in a call to my friend Jake Loughlin, who’s taken on several cases of human trafficking in the past, including Harry and Amy’s,” Mr. Giordano said. “He’ll be here this afternoon after he makes some calls.”

“Would any of you like something else to drink? We’ll probably eat lunch in about an hour or two,” Mrs. Giordano said.

Izzy smiled. “I’ll bet Caleb would love more orange juice.”

“I’ll save the rest of the jug just for him and he can have it tomorrow,” Mrs. Giordano said, smiling at Caleb where he sat with Amy across the room. “He might get an upset stomach from the acid if he’s had more than a glass or two and isn’t used to drinking it.”

Zane grimaced as they stood in the sectioned off family room, where Izzy had covered the couch. “He’s definitely not used to drinking orange juice.”

“How about some bottled water?” Harry asked, walking to the small refrigerator located in the opposite corner of the room near the door.

“Sounds good,” Zane answered as Lex nodded his agreement.

As Zane and Lex finally sat on the couch, Harry and Izzy made their way to the game table and took a seat so Mrs. and Mr. Giordano could sit in the club chairs across from the boys.

Mr. Giordano picked up the notepad he had in front of him. “We’ll save all the questions about your, uh…confinement for later, when Jake gets here. Let’s talk about some of your more basic needs and how we’ll move forward with your living situation. I’m sure my wife will correct me if she doesn’t agree with anything I have on my list.”

Mrs. Giordano grinned.

“Okay. The three of you are going to have to be seen right away by a doctor. In fact, Jake was going to phone one of our more trusted physicians who takes cases from the home for kids with disabilities here in town. Everything will be kept confidential, and I promise that you can trust Dr. Donnelly and his wife, who’s also his nurse. In fact, Harry knows them pretty well.”

Lex was leery as he and Zane turned to Harry.

“Dr. Donnelly’s a really good guy,” Harry reassured them. “He won’t make you feel uncomfortable at all. He’s not going to hide anything from you either. I have a feeling that he’s seen just about everything there is to see.”

“He has,” Mr. Giordano admitted. “He served with a medical unit in Afghanistan before he arrived here in Crystal Rock.”

“I imagine he’s going to be here in a few hours, after lunch,” Mrs. Giordano said. “And if you all want to meet with him together, that’s fine. I can understand if you’d feel more comfortable having Harry there with you too.”

Lex and Zane stared into each other’s eyes, looking grim as they nodded their agreement.

“Caleb is probably going to be scared to death,” Lex confessed.

“Let’s see how he gets along with Brian Donnelly’s wife. She’s an RN and pretty good at calming the little ones,” Mrs. Giordano observed.

“As far as your living accommodations, you’ll all need to live here for a while for now,” Mr. Giordano said. “And for your safety, I think that all of you should be here with us under the same roof.”

“They’d probably love that apartment over the garage,” Izzy said.

“I’m thinking that for now, Izzy, Caleb would be more comfortable in the same room as Zane and Lex,” Mr. Giordano replied.

Mr. Giordano turned to Zane as he nodded his agreement.

“And like your dad says, Izzy, it would be for their safety,” Mrs. Giordano observed. “It’s much easier keeping an eye on everyone when we’re all on the same schedule.”

“Jake’s going to upgrade our security,” Mr. Giordano told them. “I was going to have it done before we open the winery full time next year to the public. We’ll just have everything installed as soon as possible.”

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