Best In Show (Mina's Adventures Book 6)

by Maria Grazia Swan

  He chuckled. “I didn’t ask her. Here’s what’s happening. The grand opening of the new bar and grill is scheduled for Labor Day, the real Labor Day.”

  Real Labor day?

  “It will also be my first of many American things, like cooking American food, no, not cooking, barbecuing. I have problems pronouncing the word, let alone doing it. So I would like to come to your house and practice.”

  “You want to come here to practice cooking? Absolutely, Millie and I would be delighted to play the role of testers and judges. When would you like to do that, and what do you need?” This was a very exciting proposal, one that Mina could not pass up.

  “You’re not paying attention, not cooking—barbecuing. Does that old thing in your back yard work? You call it a built-in barbecue, but I’ve never seen you do any barbecuing. Ma come odio sta’parola.”

  Mina laughed and turned to Millie. “He hates the word barbecuing. It’s hard to pronounce. He’s right. Don’t worry about the barbecue. I’ll get someone to come and check it out.”

  “When?”

  “When? I don’t know. I’ll call around. What’s the hurry?”

  “The hurry is tomorrow.”

  “The hurry is—that doesn’t make sense.”

  “Tomorrow is Monday. It will be our Labor Day.”

  “It…? But I—” Mina rolled her eyes and turned to look at Millie who was now slapping her knee and openly snickering. “Why tomorrow?”

  “I just told you, Italian version of Labor Day. I’ll be there at two PM. I will bring all I need in the SUV we leased for Kalinda. You make sure the built-in barbecue is working.”

  He hung up before Mina had a chance to tell him her Italian version of what she thought of his urgent idea and dictator commands.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The end of summer couldn’t be ignored. It showed up in the most obvious places, but observant eyes couldn’t miss the subtle signs, too. It was just one more reason to celebrate the Italian version of Labor Day in style. To Americans, Labor Day was the last hurrah, a long weekend to spend with friends and families while eating your way through mounds of foods, barbecued foods.

  Not only was Mina not a good cook, she was totally clueless when it came to a barbecue. Oh, she loved to eat ribs and burgers and all the other food cooked on a grill. So when Gino muscled his idea on her, she decided, eventually, to go with the flow.

  Millie helped her sweep and rake to make her ample backyard welcoming, and she even hired someone in a hurry to make sure the original built-in barbecue that had come with the house was actually working. She also volunteered to provide beverages, alcoholic and not.

  Before Mina knew it, the list of guests had grown, and they began to assign out chores. There was a list of food the guests would bring, like a pot luck, except Gino insisted on cooking the meat. It would be his very first American barbecue, and he acted as if the results of his cooking were a matter of life or death. Kalinda, Millie, Margo, De Fiore, Gino, and of course Mina were invited for the taste-testing.

  Millie was in her glory. She started early in the morning. After sweeping the outside deck, she set up folding chairs and a big table she found in the garage. De Fiore dropped Kalinda off early, then he went to work. Because she couldn’t go up and down the two steps between the house and the yard Millie improvised a ramp.

  Where those two women got all that energy was a big mystery to Mina, who spent her morning drinking coffee and filling a large plastic crate with ice to keep the canned drinks cold. She walked around in her short nightie, Houdini following her everywhere, and Aria right behind the calico. They were quite a sight.

  Mina wasn’t sure Kalinda could cook, but she certainly was handy with knives. She chopped and sliced according to Millie’s instructions. It crossed Mina’s mind that perhaps Kalinda’s skill with knives wasn’t a new talent—perhaps it was her weapon of choice?

  Stop it, Mina.

  By one o’clock the women decided it would be okay to stop for lunch. Mina was tired just watching them. The lunch was a simple fruit salad with some unusual round toasts Kalinda had had delivered from a family-owned bakery in Carlsbad. The woman knew more about Southern California than Mina did.

  After a long inner debate, Mina had decided against inviting Linda and Roger because they would have been the only outsiders, and that would have hampered her other guests’ fun camaraderie. De Fiore would fit right in. He was well aware of Gino’s, Kalinda’s, and Diego’s backgrounds, and when he'd been told about Millie’s career in her younger years at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, his only comment was: “FBI? I should have known.”

  By four o’clock Gino had the ribs sizzling on the grill.

  Margo wanted to take a look at her old digs, and when she came back with Millie, who had given her the tour, they brought Zeus with them. Party time.

  Detective De Fiore wasn’t expected until around five.

  If only Diego could be there.

  “I’m considering putting an offer on that small ranch house down the road,” Kalinda said out of the blue. “But I still need to get back to Maui, probably in a few days. I have to testify and all that jazz.”

  “Good for you,” was Millie’s comment about the house.

  Gino sipped his beer, another American routine he was learning to enjoy. “Are you going to hire a new assistant?”

  “Don’t know. The house is one level throughout. I would have most of the interior gutted to serve my needs, so I could reach things and navigate without bumping into walls and cabinets. In two weeks I’m getting delivery of the specially designed car. Once I’m back from Maui, I should be able to get around on my own thanks to Dan’s suggestions. And I’m also getting a service dog. Plus I’ll have Mina and Millie as neighbors if I move down here, and,” she paused, laughed a wicked laugh, then added, “brownie points with our soon to be anointed new boss.”

  “What happened to the boss, you know…her boyfriend?” Margo pointed at Mina.

  “That’s who I mean. He isn’t officially the boss for two more weeks. Then all his disappearing and reappearing acts will come to a halt. He’s going to hate his desk job, but he’ll be happy to know I’m close enough to Mina to look out for her.”

  “Look out for me? Desk job?” Mina was very interested in all the news. “Like in a regular office? Where? In L.A?”

  All heads turned to look at her.

  “He didn’t tell you?” Kalinda sounded surprised.

  “Maybe he did.” Mina thought about Diego’s cryptic note, the one she’d found in her old car.

  “Hey, Gino, we need to do something to celebrate his promotion. Any ideas?”

  “Kalinda, you’re going to get us into trouble. Have you forgotten how close we came to getting our butts kicked with the matching game?” He walked over and high-fived Kalinda. They both laughed out loud.

  “Hey, how about you share the joke with us,” Millie said.

  “Oh, it happened two years ago, right after the accident. I was trying to keep my business going on the Internet, and Gino was helping me, but we needed to try it out before I went public with it. Diego was more broody than ever, volunteering for the most dangerous assignments and being totally despondent and, if you ask me, stupid.”

  All eyes were on Mina again, as if she had everything to do with that. Well, two years ago she had tried to run over him with her car.

  “So we came up with this plan and got his secretary to go along.”

  “Diego has a secretary?” Mina asked.

  “Yes, relax girl. She’s no competition,” Kalinda added. “Anyway, we set up this website for singles, and we made a profile for Diego, without his knowing. I posted a photo of him on his Harley, all clad in black leather, with the helmet on so we wouldn’t give away his identity, and the headline was I-Spy. That was Gino’s personal touch.” More snickering.

  Mina was speechless, but Margo and Millie seemed to eat up the whole story.

  “Within hours he was getting all ki
nd of messages from women around the world. I had control over the messages and would release only the most outrageous ones to his secretary who would pass them on to his cellphone, saying they were business calls. At first he was slightly annoyed, then he was really annoyed, thinking he was getting someone else’s calls. Hey, Gino, remember the message from the aging movie star offering him a weekend on her private island? Then one surprised even me, and trust me, in this line of business I’ve seen plenty of kooky offers.”

  Kalinda stopped and rolled her wheelchair over to the makeshift bar that Mina had set up. She refilled her glass with some sparkling wine before resuming her story. “And then he got really pissed and called in the cavalry to get to the bottom of it. His secretary gave us fair warning, and we quickly pulled the plug. If he found out we were behind the caper, he never let us know. The man has no sense of humor. But at least he stopped moping, so our mission was accomplished,” she declared.

  Just then De Fiore appeared at the patio door. Mina had left the front door unlocked, afraid she wouldn’t hear the doorbell from the backyard. The spontaneous chorus of cheerful hellos was drowned by a loud noise overhead.

  A small plane circled high in the sky.

  “How annoying,” Margo said.

  De Fiore headed for the impromptu bar and unveiled two bottles of wine he had brought as a contribution to the feast.

  The plane kept circling and suddenly the mood changed. Mina could feel it like a cold burst of air slipping through an open window in the middle of an Italian winter. Kalinda and Gino exchanged glances. He stepped away from the grill and moved toward Margo. Always the knight in shining armor.

  Almost as if answering the move, the plane begin to climb higher leaving a cloudy trail behind. It was a trail of letters: N I C K. By the letter K all eyes were on the plane, and there were a few oohs, and aahs when a heart shape appeared after N I C K.

  Mina felt Gino’s sideways glance on her. She stood up from her comfy chair, trembling. M I N A followed the heart and as the plane climbed away all eyes were on her, yet again.

  “Mina?’ There was outrage in Margo’s voice when she asked, “Who is Nick?”

  Gino’s roaring laugh broke the spell. “That devil. I bet he’s flying the plane himself. He’s supposed to be in Anchorage. Who told him about our barbecue?”

  “Who is Nick?” a female chorus asked, minus Mina.

  “A few years ago, while Diego was waiting for his surgery he came to Vicenza and worked the bar for me,” Gino said. “He used the name Nick. All was cool until this crazy blonde who had a crush on him showed up, dragging Mina along. I forgot what she wanted Mina to do, but before they made it through the door, Mina got into a squabble with a young GI, and that got our attention. Diego recognized Mina from the hidden cameras we had installed everywhere. This was no ordinary bar. Anyway, Nick/Diego grabbed his jacket and flew out the back door. Eventually Mina found out, and the name Nick became an inside joke between them. Is that close enough Mina?”

  She nodded, her eyes on the sky where the message composed of manmade clouds was slowly disappearing. “No sense of humor, huh?” she said to no one in particular.

  “Ah, my meat!” Gino rushed to spray water on the flames.

  Houdini, who had behaved like a model cat up to that point, took off toward the open patio door like his tail was on fire.

  What if De Fiore hadn’t closed the front door properly?!

  Mina rushed after the calico calling, “Houdini, Houdini, wait!”

  She only made it to the living room, where Diego, holding the cat, waited for her.

  * * * * * * * * * * *

  Other books in the Mina’s Adventure Series

  LOVE THY SISTER

  is the first book of the Mina’s Adventures series:

  In Love Thy Sister Italian-born Mina Calvi lives in a mansion in idyllic Orange County, California with her protective older sister, Paola. Unemployed again and aimless, Mina can’t seem to find her niche in her adopted country, but confusion and restlessness soon become the least of her problems. Someone is stealing from the software business owned by Paola and her husband, losses so great the business is sinking like the Titanic. And the strange death of a company employee turns out to be murder. Then, while, facing a loss so terrible she can’t bear it, Mina discovers an old family secret that turns her world upside down. There’s some solace in the arms of her blue-eyed lover, amateur sleuth Brian Starr, but danger still stalks her at every turn, edging closer and closer as Mina tries to untangle the web of lies, adultery and treachery, and put her life back together.

  BOSOM BODIES

  is the second book of the Mina’s Adventures series:

  Italian-born Mina Calvi has a way of finding trouble, but when she offers to help a friend by moonlighting at Bosom Bodies restaurant, it’s trouble that finds her. The body of the restaurant manager is discovered on the beach, a hit and run victim, and Mina’s VW Bug is impounded as the vehicle used in the crime. Stunned beyond belief, Mina is suddenly up to her ears in assault, betrayal, smuggling and murder. Now the police are watching her. The mob is targeting her. And who comes riding to her rescue on a metal steed—none other than the cook at Bosom Bodies, the mysterious Diego. Is he more than a bad cook and a good lover? Is he protecting her, or setting her up? Scared, clueless and on her own, Mina struggles to reclaim her life and stay two steps ahead of the those stalking her, but it’s a treacherous path and she’s losing ground fast.

  ITALIAN SUMMER

  is the third book of the Mina’s Adventures series:

  Italian Summer, Maria Grazia Swan: This is the third book in the series, and our girl is growing up. Once again Italian-born, California import Mina Calvi manages to get herself in more trouble than a virgin at a frat party. This time around she has lots of company, some new faces along with some familiar faces. Looking to find out where she belongs once and for all, Mina travels to Vicenza, Italy and the town of her birth. On arrival, she finds much the same, but also much changed. As usual, there's a mystery at hand which plays out among the gravestones of a sometimes charming, sometimes creepy local cemetery. There’s a chance love will rekindle and a chance it will be snuffed out. The author shows us this lovely area from the authentic viewpoint of someone who knows it and loves it. Swan pits her charming, unpredictable heroine against a manipulative, conscienceless antagonist. Her characters are eccentric and colorful, richly portrayed in clean, succinct prose. The plot is built as lean and taut as a Pilates addict, with many surprises throughout. While third in the series, Italian Summer stands on its own. A quick, entertaining and satisfying read.

  ~By S. J. Smith

  Format:Kindle Edition|Verified Purchase

  ASHES OF AUTUMN

  is the fourth book of the Mina’s Adventures series:

  On the eve of the final sale of her mother’s business, Italian import Mina Calvi faces a crossroads. The road she dreams of foretells a life of rosy bliss in a quaint Laguna Canyon cottage, sipping cappuccino with her lover, Diego. When a chance detour brings her face to face with the love of her life caught in the wrong place, with the wrong crowd, that road to paradise takes a turn onto a rocky trail dotted by death, betrayal and loneliness. Mina’s friends, old and newly found, rally to keep her safe while she navigates through intense drama and self doubt to finally find redemption.

  Ashes of Autumn is possibly the most poignant sequence of Mina and Diego’s intensely obsessive love story.

  A CAT TO DIE FOR

  is the fifth book of the Mina’s Adventures series:

  Mina Calvi's new Furry Friends Foundation is a dream come true for the formerly footloose young woman. Her no-kill shelter rescues and places dogs and cats into new forever homes, and it gives Mina a purpose in life.

  But changes are looming on a perfect Sunday afternoon at the Dana Point Marina where she is minding the adoption booth.

  A Greek heiress, young, petite and beautiful, shows up on the arm of the love of Mina's life, Diego Mor
an. And worse, she wants to adopt Mina's calico cat, Houdini. The spoiled woman will not take no for an answer. Why is she so insistent on getting Houdini when she already owns a look-alike cat?

  When Houdini is cat-napped, the cat-sitter murders, and the ransom demand sent to the heiress, Mina has to keep her wits about her to get her beloved cat home safely, and to keep her heart from getting broken again by Diego, who inexplicably pops up at every turn of the unfolding drama.

  This book was inspired by two extraordinary women dedicated to help improve the life of animals, cats in particular.

  Books in the Lella York Series

  Murder Under the Italian Moon

  is the first book of Maria Grazia Swan’s Lella York Series.

  When Lella York went vacationing in Italy, she never imagined the mess she'd come home to. Upon her return her best friend, Ruby, is missing, Ruby's husband is dead, and suddenly the police have more questions for Lella than answers...especially one sexy veteran detective whose attentions have Lella's hormones dancing a tarantella. But is his interest in Lella genuine, or does he have a more sinister agenda? Lella is determined to find out. But when she takes it upon herself to find the elusive Ruby, Lella's past and present collide, unearthing more secrets than she could have imagined lay buried in her sleepy town. From Florence, Italy to the sunny coast of California, Lella uncovers a web of lies that will change her life forever...if she can get out of it alive.

  Death Under the Venice Moon

  is the second book of Maria Grazia Swan’s Lella York Series.

  When her lover takes off on a cross-country trip with his ex-wife, Lella York packs her bags and her broken heart and flies to Venice, Italy, where her son Kyle is filming a movie. But Lella's romance hiatus is cut short when the papers name her the femme fatale lover of an iconic Italian actor. And things only get worse when the actor disappears without a trace and Lella's suddenly suspected of his murder. Lella and Kyle criss-cross European borders to escape the rabid Italian paparazzi, but her complications grow when Larry Devin, her misguided lover, shows up in the middle of his own crisis. Mystery turns to tragedy, schemes to disaster, and white lies to outright deceit, as Lella finds herself in a race against time to solve the mystery, reclaim her life, and follow her heart under the glimmer of a Venetian moon.