Page 38 of Romancing the Rumrunner
“He is,hmm?” Jessie smiled and Tony glared at her. Which only made Jessie smile wider. She just could not picture this man aproned up and running amuck in a kitchen.
“Ma, I don’t think—”
“Oh hush. Go on now and let me get acquainted with your friend.”
Tony headed to the kitchen, giving Jessie what she assumed was a warning glare as he passed her. Only what he was warning against, she had no idea.
“Now, what is your name, my dear?”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I’m Jessica Harlan. I’m very pleased to meet you.”
“Miss Harlan. And how do you know my Anthony?”
“I um, well…”
Jessie had no idea what this woman might or might not know about her son’s activities. She certainly didn’t want to be the one to spoil any family secrets.
Luckily, Tony piped up from the small kitchen where he was putting the kettle on. “I met Jessie in her butcher shop a few weeks ago.”
“Oh, you’re a butcher? How interesting.”
Jessie smiled politely.
“She’s also just started singing in my club, though that took a little convincing.”
Jessie’s gaze shot to Tony’s, her mouth open in surprise. So, apparently his mother knew everything about her son.
“Ah, so you’re the one?”
“Pardon?”
“Ma,” Tony said in a warning tone.
“Oh, Anthony, why don’t you grab us a few cookies out of that new tin you brought me the other day.” She leaned forward and patted Jessie’s hand. “Anthony always brings me the yummiest treats. He’s such a good boy.”
Good boywasn’t really how Jessie would describe him, but he did seem to be a wonderful son. In fact, watching him putter in his mother’s kitchen, carefully handing her a cup of tea with her favorite cookies, was making Jessie all warm and gooey inside. A feeling she wanted to rip out and strangle before it took hold. She could not afford to see this man as anything other than the information-digging bootlegger that he was. Hard to do when his sweet, white-haired mother was gazing at him adoringly.
“They look delicious,” Jessie said, since his mother seemed to be waiting for her to say something.
Mrs. Solomon nodded. “He serves them at his club. Brings me home the extras,” she said with a smile.
“That’s very kind of him.”
“It’s a definite perk. But then he was always fond of his sweets. Even as a little boy. Couldn’t keep him away from the stuff. He had the cutest chubby cheeks…”
“Ma!”
“Well, you did,” she insisted.
Jessie put her hand over her mouth to hide her laughter. Tony just shook his head, though Jessie didn’t miss the smile he gave his mother before he turned back to the kitchen. Jessie could barely keep anAwwwfrom escaping. It was too sweet for words.
She’d once had someone tell her that you could tell how a man would treat you by how he treated his mother. Good advice—and some she wished she’d taken before she’d gotten involved with Mario Russo, that was for sure. The man had ripped her heart out even before he’d betrayed her to Willie. Maybe if she’d seen him with his mother she’d have had a clue about his true nature before she’d gotten in too deep.
If that advice was sound, though, perhaps Tony Solomon wasn’t so bad after all, no matter who he might be mixed up with. Surely any man who could be so gentle and kind to his mother was decent.
“So.” Mrs. Solomon settled back in her chair with a sigh. “You’re a butcher. That’s a bit unusual for a woman.”
“I suppose,” Jessie said. “My father ran the shop, and when he died I took over.”
