Jules finishes “…to hold all his calls once a day so he could exercise in his office?”
Fin laughs. “If you know why do you ask?”
“Because I know how much you love to talk about him.
And I like how excited you get when you do.”
“He is the best man I’ll ever meet.” Fin gets her with a kiss then finishes his routine before going to the kitchen.
Jules follows tugging on the Rassi’s shorts as he calls to her, “Pancakes,” with her responding, “Pancakes.”
The coffee is brewing before the butter starts to melt in the pan. Jules whips the batter as the Rassi pours more milk in. The coffee is brewed adding an aromatic splendor to a good morning then they give thanks before they eat making two large stacks disappear one faster than the other’s.
Jules makes her way to the sink to leave her plate returning to the table to finish her glass of milk while watching Fin eat. “Are you going to the farm today?”
Fin looks up from his food to respond, “I was planning on it, would you want to go?”
Jules takes a big gulp of milk before answering; “I would love to,” removing a milk mustache with the side of her hand. “Do I have time to do some stuff here in town before we go?” “Yeah sure.” Fin gets up from the small round table for two, tilting his head back, downing the rest of his milk as he lifts his syrup soaked plate. Jules sticks her leg out to poke him playfully.
When Fin gets to the sink he sets his dishes to the side grabbing the front of the sink to swish the milk around in his mouth. After swallowing the end of breakfast, Finto turns the faucet on. Before cleaning the breakfast dishes, Finto leans under the faucet to get a mouthful of water for a final rinse then gathers what he needs to wash after swallowing. Jules looks at the paper a little longer then goes to Fin’s side to give him a kiss on the cheek before returning to her bedroom to get dressed for the day. The Rassi is soon to follow after the last dish is dried. He puts on yesterday’s clothes then helps Jules make her bed. Fin sits on the edge of the bed while Jules takes her hair out of the towel she had wrapped around her head. Fin asks how long she’ll be before they can leave. She says for only an hour or so, which gives Finto an idea. “I need to run by the bank and the grocery.” Jules does what she needs to dry her hair while Fin watches. When she is almost ready to leave Fin heads to the kitchen because he is still hungry. Jules swings by the kitchen to get a kiss good-bye before she is out of the house. Fin listens to her car drive in the direction she is heading and dashes out the door.
CHAPTER 3
What came to his mind was he knew an hour would give him enough time to go see Charles Haskins. The
Rassi jogs to the jewel shop then walks off his run before going in.
Upon entering he is welcomed by the owner Mr. Haskins. “How are you? Did you run here?”
“I’m fine thanks, how are you? And yes I did.”
Charles Haskins looks back at what he’s doing under a green visor. “Do you not have a car friend?” Charles is making some finishing touches on a piece under the light of a lamp. Finto catches his breath lying flat on his back to rest on the carpet of the shop. Short of breath, Finto responds, “Not today sir.” Once the Rassi is back to himself he makes his way over to the shop owner. “Wow that’s nice.”
The store owner looks up and says, “Why thank you, Finto Negrassi. Your piece deserves the same praise. I’ll show it to you in a moment. Going back to his business at hand. Fin decides to have a look around at the other jewelry.
“Come see Mr. Finto, I want to show you the parts I have chosen for the ring.” Mr. Haskins locates a small bag, and brings it back to the table. Gesturing towards the second chair the Rassi obliges saying “Thank you” then sitting to look at the bags components. Charles Haskins undoes the drawstring, and empties out the bag turning it upside down. Each piece wrapped in its own shred of cloth. Mr. Haskins undoes each one, and spaces them apart as a prelude to the final work of his craft. First surrounding four diamonds, equal in size, around the pearl, then places the silver body of the ring near their design.
The Rassi is overjoyed by his fellow’s work. “Sensational… that’s how I would have pictured it. Do you mind if I take a look?”
Charles postures a hand towards the ring’s features exclaiming, “Please do as you like.”
Finto looks over each piece carefully one at a time smiling with amazement. Finto shakes hands with Mr. Haskins, and explains he must go. This is so he can return to Jules’ in time to cool down before she gets home.
Jules enters the house with her purchases kissing Fin then rushing to the bathroom. Finto puts away what was brought in before Jules returns to the kitchen.
“All ready to go?” She asks.
Finto shortens his reply, “Ready when... ” Jules smiles. “I guess so.”
They leave for the door, and off they go in Jules’ car.
Making their way out of the city toward the farm was always enjoyed. Exiting off the main highway is very relaxing as they turn on the familiar stretch of road that takes them towards the farm. After the next few turns they take the raised drive into large overhanging trees that shade the passengers
until they wind out toward the unusual home they call the farm. Jules pulls up in front of the fair shelter. They get out, and notice dark clouds on the horizon way off in the distance.
“Is it supposed to rain today?” the Rassi asks.
“I don’t know does it look like it’s coming our way?”
They watch the clouds for any movement then lose interest when the Rassi said, “I guess we’ll know if it is.” After they observe the dark clouds Fin digs in his pockets for his keys, the door is unlocked, and they go inside.
Lunch is eaten then Fin goes to check the mail. Since the mailbox is all the way at the end of the drive, Fin usually takes a gas-powered cart he uses for inspecting the section of land he owns. Fin hadn’t been training the past few days, and decides to run to the end of the drive. When he reaches the mailbox he opens it up finding a single envelope that is addressed from the federal court house. This seemed odd to Fin because he hadn’t worked for them for some time. He goes ahead and opens the envelope. When pulling the contents from the envelope he realizes this was not a normal document he is use to receiving. It was a court summons saying he illegally transported a foreign object. When Finto read the name Drexel Sprine he knew why he received a court notice. He just wanted to know how Drexel Sprine found out. Also can what he did be deemed illegal? More importantly he has to figure out a way to keep this from Jules until the ring is finished. Fin reads the last line reading: Please note the contents of this notice are a serious matter, and should not be taken without complete consideration. Fin laughs smiling at the pathetic attempt. He shoves the letter back into the envelope, folds it four times, crams it into his back pocket, and heads back to the house. Jogging swiftly on the road he notices the grass. It was obvious to Fin that weeds were filling the field in front of the house. Still jogging he makes a mental note of the project aiming his direction towards the house. Getting to the front door he takes time to cooldown, and breathe out the run. He enters the house making his destination the kitchen. Jules was picking at grapes she had just washed, and reading the latest issue of a magazine. “Any mail?” she says.
“Nothing important. Would you like to join me for a swim?”
Jules eyes Finto suspiciously then says, “Sure why not. I’m guessing when you change into your suit you’ll get rid of whatever is scrunched in your back pocket, right?” Grabbing one last grape she gets up from the area she was sitting to go get her own suit on leaving Mr. Negrassi speechless. As soon as she is in another room Finto makes his way to his office, and leaves the court notice under key and lock in his desk