Julie and Romeo Get Lucky Read Online Free PDF Page A

when they stepped inside the entry hall, it was plain to see that Dominic was Al’s younger brother. They both had the same heavy salt-and-pepper hair, the same broad shoulders and beefy arms that made them look like they should be unloading crates onto docks. Al had on his regular uniform, black pants and a black shirt and a black cotton zip-up jacket, while Dominic wore khakis and a brown leather aviator’s jacket.
    â€œHi Al,” Sandy said, and the children ran over and threw their arms around him, calling, “Father Al! Father Al.” They loved Al, and more than that, it cracked them up to say his name. They never got over the delicious strangeness of addressing someone who wasn’t their father as Father. They could not say it enough. I thought briefly of my mother stirring in her grave to see her progeny embracing a Catholic priest, but the truth is, I would have hugged Al myself were I not feeling so naked beneath my robe.
    â€œI thought Romeo was the one who was sick,” he said. There was no reference to funny business in his tone; Al was remarkably without guile.
    â€œI thought she was sick, too,” Tony said, excited by the coincidence of jumping to the same conclusion.
    â€œRomeo’s sick?” Sandy asked.
    â€œHe’s hurt his back,” I said.
    Sandy lowered her eyebrows slightly. “Where is he?”
    â€œUpstairs.” I tried very hard to banish any note of sheepishness from my voice, but I wasn’t very successful. We were all more or less standing in a pool of our clothing. I had made a poor choice earlier when I decided to let them lie.
    â€œRomeo! Romeo! Romeo!” Sarah called and bounded past me up the stairs. She took them two at a time, and in a flash she was on the second floor, a gazelle clearing a hillock in a single, graceful leap.
    â€œSarah!” Sandy barked just as the girl was reaching for the bedroom door. Everyone froze. It was a dazzling trick that Sandy could pull off when absolutely necessary. Wisely, she did not overuse it. The Bark was reserved for only the most dire of occasions.
    â€œI was just…” Sarah began.
    â€œDownstairs!” Sandy said.
    Sarah considered putting up an argument, but then thought better of it. She began to slink down, one wrist trailing limply over the banister.
    Al cleared his throat nervously. Sandy had always looked so unassuming, and now he would have to rethink her completely. “This is my brother, Dominic.”
    Poor Dominic. He must have thought we were a flock of loons. “Welcome to the fun house,” I said, and shook his hand.
    â€œPleasure,” he said.
    â€œDominic’s a doctor,” Al said. “You probably know that already.”
    â€œOur mother used to say that having a priest and a doctor in the family meant everybody was covered one way or the other.” Dominic held up a plastic shopping bag from CVS. “I brought a few things by.” It wasn’t exactly a black alligator bag but I’d take it.
    â€œI really appreciate you making a house call,” I said, holding the neck of my bathrobe closed with one hand. “Especially on such short notice. I didn’t think you’d get here so quickly.”
    â€œWe just finished Mass,” Al said. “Saturday night is a good time to call. You got me on the cell.”
    â€œPriests have cell phones now?” I asked. I don’t know why this surprised me. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see a rabbi with a cell phone, at least a reform rabbi, but priests still seemed to have one foot in the middle ages, what with the incense and all.
    â€œDid you say Romeo is sick?” Sandy said. Sandy was like one of those very clever black-and-white dogs that can teach a sheep to ride a bicycle. She was trying to cut the flock in half, herd the adults upstairs and the children into the kitchen. I had a suspicion she wanted to pick up the clothing.
    â€œHe’s this