by Chloe Blake
“He what?”
“He said you couldn’t stop talking about her when you visited last. I must say, she’s not your usual type. She’s a woman.”
“Of course she’s a woman—”
“I mean she’s not a woman-child like Ava. This one has all the curves in the right places, huh? Like your mother.” She winked and elbowed him, then turned back to cutting the lasagna.
Toni knew Dani’s curves intimately, but he would never tell his mother that. Not because he was embarrassed. On the contrary, his mother was a modern woman, but he just wasn’t sure Dani would feel comfortable and he was doing his best to keep his hands and his eyes to himself.
“I can’t believe you just said that.”
“I saw you looking at her body outside by the car. You like her.”
They both turned when movement came from the doorway.
Dani put her palms up. “Um... I’m so sorry. Sophia spilled Toni’s wine on the table. I’ll just grab this cloth.”
Dani avoided their gazes and quickly snagged the white cloth from the counter before leaving.
Toni sighed hard. “I can’t believe this.”
Toni stared at the doorway where Dani had appeared and disappeared.
“Grazie, Mamma.”
“You’re overreacting. She likes you too.”
“Mamma, stop! Wait, why do you think that?”
His mother chuckled and picked up one of the lasagnas.
“A mother knows. Now bring the other plate. You need to eat something. You’re too skinny.”
Toni pinched the bridge of his nose and then dropped his hand when he heard a low snicker from the doorway. His mother was gone, but Dani stood laughing behind her fist.
“I’ve been sent to get you.”
“How much did you hear?”
“If we are talking about the part where you were checking me out, then all of it.”
“I wasn’t—” he held up air quotes “—checking you out.”
“I saw you, but it’s okay. They are spectacular...”
“Oh, I remember how spectacular they are.” Her blush urged him on. “But if making sure that you had a handle on the bags is checking you out, then fine. I did it.”
“The bags weren’t on my breasts, they were on my shoulder. You just did it again.”
“Did what?”
“Looked at my breasts.”
“Well, you’re talking about them.”
“Yes, we are talking.” She circled her hand over her face. “And my eyes are up here. Ground rule number one...”
“Maybe you should take your own advice?”
“Excuse me?”
“You’ve been checking me out too.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“The other night. You couldn’t keep your eyes out of my shirt.”
“Um, maybe you should learn how to button it.”
“Well, that shouldn’t matter. My eyes—” he circled his face as she did “—are up here.”
“You’ve lost it.” Exasperated but smiling at the turnabout, she moved toward the lasagna.
Toni quickly picked it up and moved around her. He turned back when he reached the doorway.
“Uh, uh, uh, eyes up here.” He smirked when her hands flew to her hips. She was looking. The thought made him smile.
Toni set the second lasagna on the table just as Dani entered, half smiling and shaking her head. They both took their seats.
“What, Mamma?” Toni said to his mother’s cheerful expression. Her eyes darted between them.
“I’m going to get the champagne. Love is in the air!” Her arms rose toward the heavens.
“No!” Dani and Toni shouted.
“Mamma, no more wine for you.”
“Mrs. Lorenzetti, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your son and I aren’t in love. I’m only here to help Marcello and your family and then I’m going back home to...well... I’m not sure, but back to America. There’s no love affair. Not even close.”
His mother leaned in.
“It’s because he’s too thin isn’t it?”
“Ma!”
“Toni, you lost weight during your divorce and never put it back on.” His mother scooped the lasagna onto his plate. “Eat this right now.”
“It’s because of all the women he dates,” Sophia said with a mouthful of lasagna.
Toni looked at his daughter. “Stay out of this. And get that phone off of the table.”
“Dio, I hope you aren’t doing that Timber, Toni.”
Sophia tossed a prosciutto strip to the dog. “Tinder, Nonna.”
Toni served Dani a large helping of lasagna and Caprese salad. “Ignore them. I do.”
Dani laughed, then took a bite of her lasagna. The sound she made was one of pure pleasure. “Wow, this tastes even better than it smells.” His mother beamed and served her another helping even though she was barely through the first.
Toni couldn’t take his eyes off Dani as she closed her eyes and took another bite, slowly licking the fork clean. “Magnifico.”
“Is there someone special in your life, Dani?”
Toni saw Dani tense. “No, not right now. But I’m not looking, either. I think it’s time to reevaluate my priorities.”
“Amen to that,” Toni said under his breath.
“Maybe that’s best, then love can overtake you when you least expect it.” Her eyes darted between him and Dani.
His mother was as subtle as an elephant in a parade.
“I’ve always told Toni that what he likes is not what he needs. If he’d have listened, then you wouldn’t have...well you know.”
“Divorced,” Sophia said with a mouth full of food.
Toni raised his eyebrows at the only good thing that came out of his marriage. “Enough.”
His gaze shifted to Dani. She gave him a teasing smile and he was surprised at his body’s urge to lean over and kiss her. He shoved his mouth full of food instead, grimacing when his mother continued giving advice.
“Danica, you need a man who can challenge you. It’s more sexually exciting.”
Toni and Sophia moaned in appalled horror. He glanced at Dani, nervous she was becoming offended by his mother’s candid speech, recalling Ava’s quick embarrassment every time his mother opened her mouth, but Dani laughed aloud, her brows lifted in wonderment.
“Mamma, please. Danica likes strong quiet types, like Martin, the manager at Armani Ristornante.”
His mother blew a breath from her lips. “The man can do nothing without being told. You don’t want that. Listen to an old woman.”
“Can I try some wine?”
Three heads swiveled to Sophia. His mother, seeing it as a right of passage, poured her a little and guided her through the swish, smell and taste. It was a beautiful sight, but one Toni would rather put off for another ten years. His daughter was growing up. Boys, now wine. What was next? Tinder as his mother had brought up? At least the dating talk was over.
“Mamma, has Marcello decided on the surgery?” He needed a distraction from any more thoughts of who was and wasn’t good for him. Because regardless of how much he teased his mother, he was beginning to wonder if what was good for him was sitting right next to him.
Chapter 12
Dani quietly ate as conversation flowed around her. Marcello had opted out of surgery. She made a mental note to call him. Grace had taken over the kitchen at Via Carciofo, reducing their hours to three nights a week until Marcello was well. She’d decided to stay at Toni’s apartment, leaving the two of them alone a few nights during the week.
She and Toni alone? Why did the idea make her nervous?
Grace passed Sophia the last of the Caprese salad.
“So, Dani, Toni tells me you two attended the
same wedding last year.” Dani choked on her wine and tried not to meet Toni’s gaze.
“We did. But I didn’t know of the connection to Marcello then. He never spoke of family.”
“That’s Marcello. Work is his life. Nothing else interferes. It’s a blessing and a curse.”
Toni pushed his plate away and rested his elbows on the table. “I’ve never known him to be unhappy with his life.”
His mother began stacking dirty plates. “Marcello never slowed down. Never kept up his relationships with women. And now he’s in the hospital with no children of his own.”
Dani stabbed at her salad, the words hitting home harder than she’d like.
“Ma, stop.” Toni pulled the dirty plates from his mother’s hands. “Sophia and I will clean up.”
“Okay, but we need room. I’ve made tiramisu.”
The table groaned, too full to even think of another bite. His mother chuckled.
“Fine. You’ll eat it later. Dani, I’m curious what you will think of my tiramisu. My son couldn’t stop talking about the wedding cake you made for Destin.”
“Yeah, Papà even tried to make it once.” Sophia scrunched her face and shook her head.
Really? This was news. Dani looked at him, but he was busy trying to get Sophia to hand over her phone. Dani recalled his intent to eat that icing off her body. She absently touched her chest, as if she could still feel his lips on her skin.
He’d just gotten a divorce then and she remembered Nicole saying that he’d been acting like a man out on parole. In other words, he wasn’t looking for a relationship. But she couldn’t help but feel that he seemed different. Less reckless and more guarded. She wondered just how nasty the divorce had been, and based on what she witnessed the other night, what was really going on between him and his ex.
Toni’s mother finished off the last of the wine. “So, Dani, I hear you worked with Andre Pierre.”
Dani tensed. “Yes, for a while.”
“What’s he like?”
Toni was silent and she wondered if he was thinking about their conversation at the canal. It was a fair question; Andre was famous, after all.
“He’s...charismatic.” Toni’s lips pressed together. Dani wondered if he was thinking of the internet story. “He’s definitely no Marcello. That’s for sure.”
“Well, few are. But I wonder why he would say that? Two Michelin stars is nothing to sneeze at.”
Toni cleared his throat. “No, it isn’t. You must be very proud, Dani.”
Dani nodded half-heartedly, wondering why his compliment felt like a dig.
“And your parents must be so proud of you too. Tell me, what does your family do?”
Dani stopped to think for a moment. Was her mother proud? Toni saw her internal struggle and stepped in.
“Dani’s mother is Francesca Watts.”
Grace gasped with delight. Sophia yelled for her phone back so she could Google.
“Incredibile, you must have had such a wonderful childhood.”
Sophia snatched her phone from her father and her thumbs flew over the screen.
“Wow. She’s beautiful. Hey, there’s Mamma. And—” Sophia’s face changed and she put the phone down.
Toni straightened. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
“Cara mia, hand me the phone.” Sophia did as she was told, then began to stammer. “She said she wasn’t going to see him anymore. I thought you two were trying... I thought...” Sophia’s gaze swept between Toni and Dani before she quit the table. Fast footsteps could be heard climbing a flight of stairs.
Dani stayed very still, unable to see the screen of the phone. After a few scrolls and a long pause Toni blew out a breath and went after Sophia. Grace took the phone and shook her head, then handed it to Dani.
“Oh, I don’t think I should look.”
“You’re going to be a part of this family for a short while, you might as well know everything. In any case, your mother looks wonderful.”
Dani touched the darkened screen and a picture of her mother lounging at Just Cavalli Club with Roberto popped up. Their glasses were held up in a sweet toast between old friends. A few more models sat next to her mother, including a svelte blonde on the end in a lip-lock with an older gentleman. Ava.
Dani’s heart tightened, knowing what Sophia was feeling. How many times had Dani scoured the internet for her father, only to find him in pose after pose with girlfriend after girlfriend.
Dani let the phone go dark. “It’s normal for her to want her parents to get back together.”
Grace began to clear the table. “She’s getting older, watching everything. I’m afraid that Ava’s behavior is affecting her negatively.”
Dani gathered the rest of the empty plates and followed Grace into the kitchen. Grace filled the sink with soapy water and let the lasagna pans soak. Grace patted the counter.
“Just sit them here, cara.”
“I’m happy to wash them.”
“No, we can do that in a little while. I want to walk you around the garden before it gets dark. Marcello hasn’t finished the menu and I thought you’d want to see what ingredients we have for you to work with.”
“I’d love that.”
Grace led them through the mudroom and outside across the back patio toward one of the largest greenhouses Dani had ever seen. Several plotted gardens marked the way. Squash, eggplant, snap peas, to name a few. Toni’s mother planted and cared for them all herself, only using the most organic resources to keep them healthy.
Sophia’s raised, muffled voice came through the air.
Grace stopped, the look on her face one of anguish. “He tries so hard with her.”
“He’s a good father. Better than mine had been at his age.”
Grace took a turn into some of the taller vegetation, caressing the leaves as she went.
“I hope I didn’t embarrass you when I insinuated you and Toni should date.”
“No. I understand. You’re concerned about him.”
“His relationship with Ava fell apart so fast. I knew they were wrong for each other, but my Toni had always been in love with love. I don’t think he ever truly saw Ava for who she really was. They were young and codependent for a long time, never leaving each other alone. Always going out. Always partying.”
“Sounds like an addiction.”
“Exactly. Love was a drug to them. Then Sophia came along.” Grace’s eyes gleamed. “The tiniest precious little being. And of course that’s what opened his eyes.”
“A baby sobered them up, so to speak?”
Grace nodded. “They were fine for a little while, but once Sophia was weaned things began to get strained. Ava was ready to go back to work, which was natural. But she also wanted to start partying again. Toni didn’t.”
“I’m surprised. Usually people slow down a bit.”
“She hadn’t changed. But Toni had. He hasn’t once taken his role as a father lightly. She, on the other hand...oh look, buds have begun to sprout. Watch your step.”
Dani stepped over the threshold into the greenhouse, her thoughts on Toni when towers of green vegetation rose in front of her.
“Wow. These are tomatoes?”
“And some herbs. All geothermal.” Blooming pots lined the walls.
“How is that possible?”
“Marcello replicated techniques used in Iceland. They produce tomatoes year-round. Now so do we.”
“Oh my God, they look amazing. I’d love to taste them.”
“You just did. My tomato sauce comes from these tomatoes.”
“Your family has built a masterpiece here.”
Grace smiled. “And you are going to be a part of it.”
Dani’s heart almost stopped. Just a ghost chef. Ten years in the making. A large i
nvestment for the family. The pressure began to feel enormous. How did she get here? She was supposed to be focusing on what she wanted from her life, not filling in for someone else’s life. Been there, done that.
“Are you all right?” Dani felt Grace’s hand on her shoulder. “You look pale.”
“Maybe I had too much wine.”
“I bet you’re exhausted. Let’s go inside.”
Toni met them in the hallway. He had his hand on one of the bags when they walked in. Following his talk with Sophia, the smile he mustered was half-hearted.
“So, Dani, what did you think of our project?”
“It’s amazing.” Grace continued into another room and Dani touched Toni’s shoulder. “Is she all right?”
“She’ll be fine.”
Grace appeared with a torn, handwritten book. “Marcello’s menu, so to speak. You know he prefers to surprise his guests with a dish, but he always has a list of entrées prepared in case someone is uncomfortable with that concept. Oh, I just realized it’s in Italian.”
“That’s fine. I should be able to stumble through it.”
Grace turned to her son. “Toni, you can show her the kitchen tomorrow. How is Sophia?”
“Better, Mamma. Texting. Googling. Who knows.”
“Ugh! Those phones. I’m going to clean up and make us all some tea.”
“Let me help, Grace.” Dani stepped forward but the spry woman stopped her.
“I won’t have it. You’ll be busy enough tomorrow. Toni will show you your room. Rest a little. You’re still a bit pale.”
Toni led Dani into a spacious room, propped her spinner against the wall, and plopped her carryall on the bed.
“Welcome to my old room.”
Dani’s gaze slid across the walls, which were riddled with ’90s-style posters of athletes, soccer plaques, medals and a few magazine tears of models.
“Wow. I feel like I’m in 1995.”
He chuckled and pulled open the curtains, exposing a gorgeous view of the garden and the small patch of vineyard further beyond.
“My mother refuses to change it. Sophia stays here when we don’t have company.” He gestured toward the full-size floor mirror with stickers all around the edge. “The awards on the desk are hers. Up until a year ago, Sophia played calcio, er, soccer, for a top club.”