“Sandro didn’t want me to miss out on the holiday gathering, but I think it’s more about him wanting us to tell your family the big news.”
Carm’s heart pounded. Sandro had taken the engagement announcement well, once he’d gotten over the initial shock, but how would Tony’s family take it?
“Deep breath,” he said. She did as he’d instructed, and it helped somewhat. “We’ll figure out the best time for you to put the ring back on.” They’d agreed to conceal the ring in her pocket until just before they made their announcement. With so many people present, they didn’t want anyone to notice and spoil their announcement.
Tony helped her out of her coat and removed his own, draping them over his arm for the time being. Carm swallowed hard as a ton of bricks settled into the pit of her stomach. Here we go.
When they walked into the kitchen, Mrs. Giardano, Paul, Marc, Angelina, Franco, and Matteo sat or stood around the island enjoying some wine. Everyone greeted the two of them as if it was the most natural thing in the world to see them together.
“I’m so glad you could join us today, Carmella. Franco, pour her a glass of wine.”
“White or red?” Franco asked her.
“White, please.”
“Me too,” Tony said.
“You can pour your own.” After Franco poured her a glass, emptying the bottle, he handed the spent bottle to Tony with a grin. Brothers. The banter helped ease some of her anxiety, though.
“Tony, take another bottle out of the fridge and open it for us, please,” his mama said.
Tony draped their coats over a chair and crossed the room to give his mother a kiss on the cheek on his way to the fridge.
Perhaps wine would help settle her nerves. “Thanks, Franco.” Carm picked up her glass and took a drink.
The smell of pasta cooking in the oven and on the stove made her more queasy than hungry. She downed the wine too quickly and decided she’d better have some of the charcuterie platter to soak it up. The last thing she’d want to do was get drunk today.
“Is there anything I can do to help, Mrs. Giardano?”
“Yes, you can start calling me Mama G like Marc does. We’re family now!”
Tony’s mother seemed so much younger and more vibrant than her own. Carm liked her a lot and did feel like one of the family. What would Marc and Angelina think about her joining the Giardano family? She glanced across the room to find them wrapped up in an intimate conversation as if no one else existed. That was probably a good thing, because they might be more observant than Tony’s brothers, and Mama G was too busy preparing dinner. They wanted to wait until the right time to share their news.
The noise level in the room made it difficult for Carm to follow the individual conversations—and there seemed to be several going on at one time. She wasn’t used to such a boisterous family. Her own was so much more sedate and formal, especially on special occasions and holidays. Tony’s family gatherings were something she could definitely get used to.
Mama G took the lasagna from the oven and turned everything off, including what looked like the same primavera dish Tony had made for her the night she’d stayed over. He must have gotten the recipe from his mama.
“You’ve prepared a feast,” Carm said as Tony opened another bottle of Italian wine. “And this wine is delicious.”
“I’m sure there won’t be any leftovers with this crowd,” Mama G said. “Be sure you get your fill on the first pass of dishes.”
“Thanks. I will. How can I help?” she asked again.
“You are not to lift a finger. You’re my guest.” The older woman paused to take stock of the various dishes laid out on the counter. “Actually, I think we’ll be ready to go into the dining room in about 10 minutes. Tony, take your coats into my bedroom with the others.”
Tony took her hand, and they walked down a hallway to the open bedroom in the back of the house. “Which room was yours growing up?” she asked after they passed several closed doors.
“I shared that room with Matt.” He pointed to a door they’d just passed halfway down the hallway.
“Can we take a peek?” She wondered if any of his childhood still lingered.
“Sure.” He placed their coats on the bed, and Carm laid her purse next to them. She took his hand, and he led her to the room where he’d grown up. When he opened the door, she felt as if she were looking at a time capsule.
“It looks like the nineties all over again.”
Tony laughed. “Yeah, Mama thinks that if she leaves it undisturbed maybe we’ll move back in someday.”
There were two twin beds on opposite walls from each other that looked as if they might once have been a stacked bunk bed. Simple comforters covered each bed, one orange and one green, reminding her of the Italian flag.
“Which was yours?”
He pointed to the orange one. A fire color. Of course. In addition to one closet and a chest of drawers, there also were two desks and chairs in the room, each covered with trophies and sports paraphernalia. She immediately guessed which belonged to each boy. The one with all the horse memorabilia had to be Matt’s. He still owned horses from what Tony had told her. So she zeroed in on the other desk.
“You sure earned a lot of trophies on the swim team.”
“Yep. We made it to state one year but didn’t win.”
“You had to be very good to go to state at all.”
He shrugged. “It was a team effort. But I’m grateful now more than ever to Coach for teaching me how to swim faster than anyone at my school. I can pass along some of what he taught to the other squad members.”
She picked up a photograph of four swimmers in their trunks and swim caps. Tony stood at least half a foot taller than the others and with his well-developed chest and muscular arms, he definitely was the hottest one on the team.
“I’ll bet all the girls chased you back then.”
“I probably did more chasing than they did, and I didn’t always catch them, either.”
She laughed. “I’m sure you captured the hearts of your fair share.” Again he shrugged noncommittally.
As she checked out more of what was on the desk, warm arms wrapped around her waist, and the smell of Tony’s aftershave made her libido kick in.
“Any fantasies of making out in your fiancé’s childhood bedroom, dolcezza?” he asked as he nuzzled her neck.
“Not with your mama in the—”
“Whoa! Sorry to intrude!” They broke apart as if caught with their hands in the cookie jar, and her face grew flushed as they both turned to find Matteo standing in the doorway. He looked from one to the other, then grinned broadly.
“Never any privacy in here,” Tony grumbled.
“Hey, this was my room too.” Matteo looked from one to the other, settling on Tony. “Is there something you two have to tell us?”
“Yeah, but later,” Tony said. “Don’t you say a word in the meantime, Matt, and spoil it for us.”
His brother held up his hands with palms facing out in the universal hands-off gesture. “Far be it from me to blow your surprise. But Mama sent me to find you two. Dinner’s ready.” His grin broadened as he glanced from one to the other. “Somehow I don’t think she’s going to be upset to hear one of her confirmed bachelors is dating someone as nice as Carmella, though.”
Matteo’s words of acceptance meant a lot to Carmella, but it sounded as though he didn’t suspect how serious this relationship was. He was in for a surprise too.
When they entered the dining room, everyone was seated. There were three empty chairs, but only two empty ones were side by side and one of those had a half-filled wine glass at it indicating it had already been claimed. She and Tony would have to sit apart from each other, which disappointed her.
“Sit here, Carmella. I just laid my wine glass down next to Franco when I went to look for you two.” Whether that was the truth, or he simply wanted to let her sit beside Tony, either way, she appreciated it.
; “Thanks, Matteo,” she said.
“No problem.” Matteo pulled out the seat for her but before he could push it in for her, Tony nudged him away.
“I’ll do that.”
Carm smiled at the brothers and their gentlemanly ways; their mama had done an excellent job raising them. She settled into her seat and said hi to Franco on her right side.
Tony sat on her other side. His knee brushed against hers, reassuring her that she wasn’t in this alone. After Mama said grace, everyone ate their antipasti amidst a flurry of catching up on family life, but Carm had trouble swallowing past the lump in her throat.
When Mama G got up to go to the sideboard in order to bring the next course to the table, Tony leaned in and whispered, “If you don’t start eating more, I’m going to feed you in front of everyone.”
She stared back at him and silently conveyed the message, You wouldn’t dare, but the glare in his eyes told her he very much would. So she poked her fork into a kalamata olive and popped it into her mouth, chewing it slowly and deliberately.
Carm took a few more bites from the selection of foods on her plate to appease him and reached for her glass of wine to wash it down.
She wondered when he’d want to make their announcement, but the meal progressed to the dolce without Tony giving any hint that he was ready. How long did he intend to wait? Perhaps he was nervous too.
After they finished their tiramisu, Tony whispered, “Why don’t you put the ring back on.”
Finally! With her hands shaking under the table, she pulled it from her pocket and slid it back onto her finger to await Tony’s signal.
“Smile,” he quietly reminded her. “I don’t want them to think you’re being coerced or anything.”
His joke relaxed her a bit. Tony started to push his chair away from the table to stand when a knife being tapped against a wine glass at the head of the table stopped him. He settled back into his seat as everyone’s attention moved to Paul who rose to his feet and raised his glass in Mama G’s direction.
“To our amazing chef, Angela, for providing us with such a delicious meal in her wonderful home.”
“Salut!” several people shouted, some adding Mama and their own compliments to the woman who had prepared the feast.
Mama G smiled graciously and accepted their praise. Then she looked up at Paul and absolutely glowed. Carm had never seen her look so happy, not even at the gala. When Paul moved to stand behind her chair and help Mama G to her feet, Carm’s stomach dropped. Something was up, and Carm had a feeling it didn’t bode well for Tony and her making their own announcement today.
Mama G stood and Paul wrapped his arm around her as if she might need the support. He gave her a reassuring smile before she turned her attention to everyone else in the room.
“I’m glad most of my family is here because Paul and I have a special announcement to make.” Mama G swallowed hard, her smile quavering a bit.
Carm’s sense of apprehension deepened. If his mother and her guy announced that they were engaged, she and Tony couldn’t steal their thunder on the same day in her own home. She reached for Tony’s hand under the table and squeezed it, but his eyes were glued to his mother.
“As you know, Paul and I have been seeing each other since January.”
Tony’s hand began shaking. Whatever his mother was about to say was going to have a huge impact on him.
“We also aren’t getting any younger. At least I’m not.” She laughed, smiling unapologetically up at Paul, who was five or six years younger than Mama G—which was another bone of contention with Rafe from what she could tell.
“Excuse us in advance for being impetuous, but on Tuesday afternoon, we went to the county clerk’s office, took out a marriage license, and tied the knot in front of Father Bancroft in a private ceremony at the altar. We didn’t want to wait until we could get the entire family together, but knew we’d be seeing all of you today, well, except for Rafe. We told him last night.”
What did she say?
They’d eloped?
Tony grew stiff beside her. What was he thinking?
“Don’t blame Rafe for not alerting you. I swore him to secrecy. We wanted to tell each of you ourselves.”
Marc was the first to extend verbal congratulations to the newlyweds, and Angelina jumped up to go and give her mother a big hug. Everyone else sat there stunned for varying reasons.
Needing to check in on Tony, Carm leaned close to his ear. “We have to wait on our news.” She pulled back and looked at his stunned face. His mouth had dropped open, and he couldn’t take his eyes off his mother and her new husband. She wondered if he even remembered their news in light of this bombshell.
Franco was the first to raise his glass, and as the oldest son present, he gave the traditional Italian blessing. “To Mama and Paul. Cent’anni! Salute! Evviva gli sposi!”
A hundred years! Good health! Long live the bride and groom!
Carm raised Tony’s hand to the tabletop and placed it around his glass, which he slowly raised in a toast. Apparently, he still had no words. Poor Tony. The boys had been responsible for their mother since their papa had been killed. Would they be ready to pass the torch to the new man in her life?
She might have to help Tony adjust to his mama’s new status. But she had no clue when they’d be able to announce their own special news. Now definitely was not the time.
Tony sat in stunned silence until Carm eased his hand around his glass to toast his mama and her new husband. Husband? What the—
“I know this probably came as a shock to all of you.” Understatement of the century. “Once I saw where we were headed, I should have prepared my family for this eventuality.” Mama looked up at Janowski and smiled. “I’ll admit it came as a surprise to me too. I haven’t done anything this spontaneous in a long time.”
Tony had to admit his mother looked happier than she had been since Papa died. How could he begrudge her some happiness in her life?
They’d already told Rafe, who hadn’t given any of them a heads-up. Thanks a lot, Bro. Tony couldn’t wait to see how Rafe was taking the news, given the rivalry between him and Paul.
“We’re not sure yet, but are thinking about finding ourselves a house in Breckenridge closer to Paul’s station.”
She was leaving the only place he’d ever known as home? And the hits just keep on coming. Rafe still lived here. Maybe he’d want to stay here, even if he had to buy it off Mama. So many changes.
Carm leaned closer and whispered, “You okay?”
Tony finally remembered his fiancée sitting beside him. When they got married, that would be the biggest change of all. Obviously, they couldn’t tell the family about their engagement right now. It wouldn’t be fair to take anything away from Mama and Paul’s big announcement. He turned to Carmella for some guidance, and she nodded as if she knew what he’d been thinking.
Tony stood, squeezing Carm’s shoulder before sliding her chair back and helping her to stand. They went over to hug Mama and shake Paul’s hand to congratulate them. “Thank you for putting the sparkle back in Mama’s eyes. Take good care of her.” He almost added an or else but decided to give the man the benefit of the doubt. He was part of the firefighting family, after all.
“Thank you, Tony. You can trust me to do my best every day to make sure she’s happy and protected.”
There wasn’t much more Tony could ask of him. He obviously already loved her.
Mama gave Tony another hug and whispered, “It means a lot to me to have my sons accept our relationship, A.J.”
Tony stepped aside and Matt and Franco followed giving the newlyweds their congratulatory hugs and handshakes. It would take some getting used to, but Tony vowed to accept Paul—he couldn’t really call him Janowski now—into his family unless the man gave him any reason to regret that. From what he’d seen whenever Paul was with Mama, he’d shown her the utmost respect.
“If you’ll excuse us,” Tony said to no one in partic
ular, “I’d like to show Carmella around town and walk off some of this great meal.”
“Unless you’d like me to help clear the table, Mama G,” Carm offered.
Mama shooed them away. “A walk after such a big meal is perfect. I’ll get these boys to help with the dishes.”
“I’m glad you’re here today, Carmella,” Tony said with a grin. “You’re getting me out of work.”
“I’ll find something for you to do later, A.J.,” Mama promised. And no doubt she would.
Tony took Carm by the hand and led her to the back bedroom where he retrieved their coats.
“A.J.?” Carm asked.
“For Antonio Junior.”
“Ah. I see.”
“When it’s just the two of us, she calls me bambino. I think I prefer A.J.” He grinned and helped her into her coat before wrapping his arms around her and pulling her against his chest. Tony kissed the side of her neck and whispered, “We’ll figure out when’s the right time for our announcement.”
“I know.” She pulled away and turned to face him. “Let’s talk while we walk before another brother finds us in each other’s arms.” He grabbed his coat and put it on.
A cold blast of air hit them as they stepped out of the house, clearing some of the numbness from his mind.
Carm took his hand in hers and squeezed it. “How are you doing? That was quite the bombshell.”
“I’ll say. I had no idea. It’s insane!”
“Well, unexpected, yes. But she certainly looks happy.”
Tony had to admit she was right. They walked in silence for a moment then he pointed out some of the places that had significance in his childhood. A climbing tree. His first best friend’s house.
“How long should we wait before we share our news?” she asked.
“I want to tell them before we leave Mama’s house today.”
“So do I. Maybe when we get back after our walk?”
He nodded. He pointed out a few more places of interest as they walked around the nearly deserted downtown area. “I guess I’m as ready as ever. How about you, Carm?”
TONY: Slow Burn (Raging Fire Book 1) Page 39