Blog Tour incl Exclusive Excerpt: J. Scott Coatsworth – Down the River
QSFer J. Scott Coatsworth has a new queer contemporary magical realism book out, River City book 2: Down the River.
Nine years have passed since a group of strangers first met at a magical little restaurant in East Sacramento called Ragazzi. They have all been touched by its subtle magic, and have become a family.
With the tragic death of one of them, the ripples spread through the entire group, exposing secrets and revealing truths that many of them would rather not face.
Dave and Marcos are battling their own demons. Matteo seeks an embezzler at Ragazzi, while Diego struggles to hold on to his son, Gio. Carmelina fears Daniele won’t take no for an answer. And both Ben and Sam are dealing with tragic losses that have turned their lives upside down. Into the mix come a few new characters—Ainsley, a Sac State student studying to be a doctor; a mysterious strange who is stalking someone in the group; and a few new love interests who may have agendas of their own.
It’s 2024, and the cast of River City is back. What secrets will be revealed before the last page turns?
ABOUT THE SERIES:
The River City series is a heady blend of secrets, friendships, a little bit of magic, and a bunch of Italian cooking that will warm your heart.
Warnings: Death of several characters.
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Chapter Four
Papà and Babbo
Diego Bellei laid out his ingredients with care on the wide white marble countertop. Italian flour from Corti Brothers in a large white ceramic cannister covered in lemons—always better than that bleached powder Americans used. A blue ceramic chalice of water. A pinch-bowl full of salt. A bottle of Kirkland olive oil, which even the Italians here in Sacramento rated the best locally available. A cannister of sugar. And a metal container of beer yeast.
The marble was cold to the touch, and the whole place felt… empty, despite Gio banging around, prepping the other workstations around the wide room for the class he’d be teaching in half an hour.
The Raven Tavern next door to Ragazzi had gone out of business during the pandemic, and Matteo had worked out a deal with the bank to buy it on a short sale. It had taken almost eighteen months to gut the place and set it up as a proper training kitchen, but he could now teach ten pairs of students at once, each with their own countertop, sink, and oven.
Gio dropped a stainless-steel bowl on one of the counters, creating a racket.
“You’re a menacer.”
“It’s menace, Papà, and if you can find someone else to help you out for free, be my guest.” He flashed his trademark Bellei grin, white teeth almost glowing.
“Porco cane, I hate when you call me that.” He grinned in spite of himself. In nine years, his English had improved greatly, but Gio now spoke it like he’d been born to it. It wasn’t fair. And truth be told, he loved being the young man’s father. Just not having to be reminded about it. It made him feel old.
Gio finished setting up the last station. They’d have a full house tonight.
So why do I feel so empty?
He knew why. Carmelina. She’d taken the last of her things to her new kitchen at Pane e Tulipani, and the clutter was gone. He should be grateful. How many times had he complained about her leaving his kitchen a mess after her early-morning endeavors? There was always flour scattered about and a couple dirty dishes left forgotten in the sink. But she’d been a part of his life here for so long. If felt… strange now that she was gone. Like a lost limb.
“Have you given any more thought to my proposal?” Gio pulled up a chair and propped his head on his hands, his dirty-blond hair a messy mop on his head.
Diego frowned. “It’s… a lot to considering.” In truth, he’d been too preoccupied with other things, including the other thing, and he hadn’t had much time to give thought to his son’s idea.
“C’mon, Papà. This place is great. Everyone loves it. What you and Babbo have done to bring Italian food, culture, and the language to this city is nothing short of miraculous. Why not share it? If you franchised, you could help do the same in a bunch of other places.” He fidgeted, as if stuffed so full of the promise of the thing that it was itching to get out of him.
Ah, the energy of the young. Even a pandemic hadn’t dulled Gio’s lust for life, for something new. “I’ll talk it over with Babbo.” And why does Matteo get to be babbo?
“Thanks, Papone.” Gio grinned and looked around the room. “Full class tonight?”
“Alla grande.” He leaned back against the stainless-steel counter that ran along the back wall and looked at Giovani, really looked at him. His unexpected son had grown into a strong, confident, intelligent man, full of plans for his own life. And theirs, apparently. “Sono molto orgolioso di te, Giovanni.”
His son blushed. “Proud of you too, pop. Gotta run. Babbo needs me in the restaurant.”
“Go. Thanks for the help.” Diego busied himself with the handouts, making sure each station was ready to go for his new class.
“Figurati!”
So there was little Italian in him yet. Diego grinned. Not such a bad life we’ve built here. He hoped it would stay that way.
#
Matteo was checking inventory in the kitchen, enjoying the pause between the lunch and dinner crowd. Ragazzi was closed between three and five to give them time to prepare for the next meal.
It had been an unusually busy day so far, with four large groups coming in, coworkers from local businesses. It was good to have them, but sometimes these big parties strained their small waitstaff.
It had become increasingly difficult to find good workers as inflation had taken a toll on their bottom line. They had raised their pay several times over the last few years as the new minimum wage laws took effect, and thankfully their operation was doing well enough to afford it. But he shuddered to think of the damage those market forces were inflicting on some of his friendly competitors.
The door between the restaurant and the new training kitchen next door swung open, and Gio practically bounded into the room.
“Papà’s got it all in hand over there. What do we need to do here?”
Matteo hid a grin. Gio had grown into a fine young man, following in his father’s footsteps. “The front of house is prepped. Everything ready in the kitchen?”
Gio took a minute before answering, biting his lip, clearly considering the question. “I think so. We had some extra mussels from last weekend that were about to go bad, so I’m doing a special ravioli. Natasha’s coming in a little early to help me prep them. Oh, and we have some extra apples, so I made some torta sbriciolata.”
Matteo’s mouth watered. The crumbly apple cake was one of his favorites, and Gio knew it. The young man had taken to being a chef as if he were born to it. And maybe he was—Gio was Diego’s son, after all. “That sounds perfectly.”
“Perfect, Babbo. Perfectly is an adverb.” Gio winked at him. His stepson had long since surpassed his own near-mastery of the English language. Gio’s children, if he had any, would be American to the core.
The thought both thrilled and saddened him. “Sounds like you have it well in hand. I’m going to count down the drawer. You got everything out here?” He was proud of his mastery of that most American of words, got.
“Yep. I’ll call you if I need you.” He started pulling out the ingredients for the ravioli.
Matteo removed the cash drawer and retreated to his office.
Thirty minutes later, he was staring at the pile of cash, perplexed.
Most people paid by credit card these days—swipe, insert, tap, or Apple Pay and the like—but Ragazzi still took in a fair amount of those old green bills. And for the third time in a week, the count was off.
Once was a mistake. Twice a coincidence. But three times?
We have ourselves a thief.
Scott lives with his husband Mark in a yellow bungalow in Sacramento. He was indoctrinated into fantasy and sci fi by his mother at the tender age of nine. He devoured her library, but as he grew up, he wondered where all the people like him were.
He decided that if there weren’t queer characters in his favorite genres, he would remake them to his own ends.
A Rainbow Award winning author, he runs Queer Sci Fi, QueeRomance Ink, Liminal Fiction and Other Worlds Ink with Mark, sites that celebrate fiction reflecting queer reality, and was the committee chair for the Indie Authors Committee at the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) for almost three years.
Author Website: https://www.jscottcoatsworth.com
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