Caterina

by Patricia Paris

  Caterina frowned. “He dropped it on me and told me to chew it over. No prelude. No wine, no flowers. The man was about as romantic as the whole salmon I’ve got on ice in the refrigerator to go with tomorrow’s dinner.”

  Lucia laughed. “I’m dying for the details. El and Marcella will want them too. It’s almost noon. Why don’t I see if they can join us for some lunch? We’ll order a pizza to keep it simple, open a bottle of wine, and raise a glass to you and Liam.”

  “He didn’t propose, Luch. He just said he loved me.”

  “I know.” Lucia wrapped an arm around Cat’s shoulder, gave her a squeeze. “Are you happy about that? That he told you he loves you?”

  At the core of everything, Liam loved her. Did it matter that she was wearing a chef’s apron and holding a sudoku to mince parsley, instead of sitting in a candlelit restaurant wearing a scrimp of red velvet he wouldn’t have been able to take his eyes off, her fingers flirting with the stem of a champagne flute?

  And there was no doubt in her mind she loved him right back. A smile twitched in her heart, filled it up. Crept over her lips.

  Caterina looked at her sister and nodded. “Yes. I’m happy.”

  “Okay, then a little sisterly celebration is definitely in order. We don’t get to do it often enough, and what better reason than one of us finding our true love?”

  Lucia was a romantic, like Eliana, even if El’s romances never lasted beyond the first bloom. Caterina could easily envision sharing a life with Liam and Riley. Truthfully, she realized, she wanted it more than anything, even Serendipity, which had been the only thing she’d wanted for herself for too long.

  As she’d told Lucia, though, Liam had only said he loved her. He hadn’t proposed. He hadn’t said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

  She’d chew on that. And chew. And chew. And chew, until she got tired of chewing on it and gave him something to chew on.

  “If you want to order the pizza,” Lucia said from beside her, “I’ll round up our sisters.”

  “Okay,” Cat said. She headed back to the kitchen where she’d left her phone. She’d order the pizza, then she needed to put the hazelnut torte for tomorrow night’s dinner into the oven.

  “There’s no spectacle on earth more appealing than

  that of a beautiful woman in the act of

  cooking dinner for someone she loves.”

  Thomas Wolfe

  Liam unbuckled Riley’s car seat and lifted her out of his truck. A dark, navy-blue Jeep pulled into the parking lot beside them. The driver opened the door and got out.

  “Hey, how’s it going?” Damien asked, locking the Jeep with a key fob and coming around to the back side, where Liam stood with Riley.

  “Can’t complain,” Liam said. “Do you remember my daughter Riley?”

  “I do.” Damien smiled broadly at her, his eyes crinkling around the corners. “And how are you, Riley? I see you’ve gotten even prettier than the night we met.”

  She giggled. “I’m just fine, thank you.” She spared a quick look at Liam as if wanting him to take note she’d used her manners. “Are you having dinner with us? Miss Caterina is making a special one, and we got to come. I can’t wait. She knows how to do magic with food and stuff.”

  Damien chuckled. “I am having dinner with you. Miss Eliana invited me, but she didn’t tell me it would involve magic. You don’t think we need to worry about turning into frogs if we eat the food, do you?”

  “No.” Riley’s mouth wiggled. “Miss Caterina only does good magic with food, to make it more delicious. I got to make cookies with her. She showed me how.”

  “She showed you how to do magic?”

  Riley’s smile broadened. “Kinda. And I showed her how to strut like Peter Peacock.”

  “That’s a story I’d like to hear. Maybe you can tell me about it at dinner.”

  “Sure.”

  Damien glanced at Liam. “Should we head inside? I’ve got a feeling this is going to prove to be an interesting evening.”

  “It always is when you get all four Bonavera sisters together,” he agreed.

  Liam expected the evening to prove interesting for other reasons as well. He hadn’t spoken to Caterina since showing her his hand yesterday, but he hadn’t been able to think of much else since. He thought she loved him too. He never would have risked her deciding to end things with him if he didn’t. He hoped she’d had enough time to get comfortable with the fact they were in it, and should consider taking the next step. For him that meant marriage, or a permanent commitment.

  Surprisingly, the thought of spending the rest of his life with her didn’t even make him flinch. In fact, he’d never felt surer about wanting something in his life. He felt none of the angst, or opposed the idea in any way, as he had when Sylvie had tried to pressure him into marriage before he’d found out she was pregnant with his child.

  His only concern was whether, although Caterina seemed to enjoy spending time with Riley, she would be willing to take on the role of mother, as well as wife. He told himself she would and hoped he was right, because if he wasn’t, he’d have to walk away from the only woman he’d ever truly been in love with.

  When they entered the house a couple of minutes later, they heard laughter coming from the solarium, and headed in that direction. A large circular table had been placed near the kitchen entrance, already set for dinner. In what he’d come to recognize as characteristic for the Bonaveras, gathering around food was something they celebrated, whether they were hosting an event, like the holiday open house, or getting together with family and a few close friends, as they were tonight.

  A white tablecloth served as the landscape on which real china, not like the paper plates he and Riley usually ate off at home, and crystal glasses reflected the flickering light of a half dozen fat, white candles of varying heights that had been arranged into a simple but elegant centerpiece. A couple of bottles of red wine stood next to a silver ice bucket that nestled a bottle of white.

  Caterina’s sisters, Antonio, and an older man, who Liam guessed was Antonio’s grandfather, were all gathered around the table, laughing at something their elder guest was saying.

  “Oh, look who’s here,” Eliana said, spotting the three of them. She waved them over. “Come join the party!”

  Lucia, the quintessential hostess, got up quickly and welcomed them with hugs. “Help yourselves to a glass of wine, gentlemen,” she said with a gracious smile, before leaning down toward his daughter.

  “Riley, we’re all so glad you could come. We made a pitcher of ice-cold lemonade just for you. Would you like a glass?”

  “Yes, please,” Riley said. She looked around the table. “Is Miss Caterina here yet?”

  “She’s in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on dinner,” Lucia explained. “She should be done soon, and I know she’s looking forward to seeing you and your dad.” She looked up at Liam and smiled, a hint of amusement dancing in her eyes when she did.

  After Antonio introduced them all to Vincenzo, Liam glanced toward the kitchen door. He’d assumed when he hadn’t seen Caterina, that’s where she was. He considered excusing himself for a couple of minutes to go in and say hello, face her privately first, to gauge her mood where he was concerned. See if he could figure out how she felt about his declaration.

  “Maybe I’ll go in and see if Caterina needs any help,” he said.

  “I wouldn’t,” Marcella warned. “Not when she’s putting the final touches on things. She’ll let us know when she wants help bringing out the plates, but going in there now would be like standing in front of a trigger-happy firing squad. Not pretty.”

  “Are you saying all those things one hears about temperamental chefs are true?” Liam asked, remembering how she’d pitched his egg whites simply because they’d had a minuscule drop of yolk in them.

  “Oh, they’re true,” Eliana confirmed, “and none is more of a perfectionist, or tyrant in the kitchen, than our dear sister.�
��

  “Miss Caterina!” Riley exclaimed, her face lighting up as she looked across the room.

  Everyone’s gaze shifted to the kitchen doorway, where Cat stood with a smirk pinching her mouth, making it clear she’d overheard their comments.

  Riley ran to greet her, and the smirk turned upward, lifting into a warm smile. Cat leaned down, gave his daughter a hug, and Liam’s heart flipped over.

  “Hi, sweetheart.” Cat held Riley at arm’s length. “I see you’re wearing your favorite color.”

  Riley pulled the purple knit sweater she had on away from her waist and looked down. “It gots a unicorn on it,” she said. “Uncle Shawn and Aunt Becca gived it to me.”

  “It’s super awesome. I wonder if it comes in my size?”

  “I’ll ask Aunt Becca. Then we could match.”

  Caterina patted her shoulder and then regarded the rest of them. “The temperamental tyrant has finished preparing the meal. I left the strychnine out of the main course, but there’s always the crème fresh I was going to make to top dessert. And now, if any of my ungrateful sisters would like to help me bring the food out to the buffet, our guests might be able to eat.”

  Amidst a slew of teasing remarks and a few assurances of unflagging sisterly love, Lucia, Eliana, and Marcella filed past Cat and into the kitchen. Liam walked over and took Riley’s hand to take her back to the table.

  He angled his eyes to Cat’s, meeting them straight on. He found the answer he wanted in the warmth glowing from the deep, sable depths that regarded him. She glanced away, a soft smile caressing her lips. He wanted to yank her into his arms and cover them with his own. He’d sip the words out from her later, when he could get her alone, but her expression told him what he needed to know. Caterina loved him.

  He licked his lips, bit back a smile, and she laughed lightly, shook her head.

  “Go sit down,” she said, as Marcella walked past them carrying a large platter with a whole, roasted salmon, stuffed with wild rice. “Dinner is about to be served.”

  THERE WERE FEW things Caterina treasured more than feeding the people she loved, unless it was watching them enjoy the food she’d made for them. She looked around the table at the faces of the people gathered together there. Her sisters, each so special to her; Antonio, whom she’d already come to love and think of like a brother; Vincenzo, who’d stolen all their hearts on his first visit earlier that year, and whose past was so entwined with her own grandfather’s, their histories were inseparable—they were all her people, her family.

  She shifted her gaze to Liam, to Riley. She hadn’t thought she had any available love left to divvy out after Mitch. She’d been wrong. She had buckets and buckets of it, all spilling over, that she wanted to drown them in if they’d let her.

  “This ravioli is unbelievable,” Damien, who’d joined them at Eliana’s request, said. “If this is any kind of sampling of the food you’ll be making when you open your restaurant, the place will be so busy, people will need to reserve weeks in advance just to get a table.”

  “Wouldn’t that be lovely,” Caterina said. “And thank you, I’m glad you’re enjoying it.”

  Damien was the wild card at the table. He’d shown up in their lives out of the blue, it seemed, when he was working on a piece to capture holiday celebrations of Loudon County through his photographs. He’d told them the photos would be used in marketing campaigns leading up to the holidays the following year, to attract more tourism, and thus boost the local economy during that critical, make-or-break final quarter of the year.

  He was a bit of an enigma, and Caterina didn’t quite know what to make of him yet, but if it turned out Eliana was falling in love with Damien, well…she and her sisters might need to invite him over for a friendly get-to-know-you-and-your-intentions dinner one night and forget to mention it to Eliana. If El didn’t like it, she’d get over it because in her heart, she’d know they’d done it out of love.

  Vincenzo dabbed the corners of his mouth with his napkin. “I would say you have outdone yourself, Caterina, but I have never eaten anything you’ve prepared that wasn’t delizioso.”

  “You talk nice,” Riley said, looking at Vincenzo.

  “Ah, so you like the way I talk, piccolo?” His eyes warmed as he regarded her.

  Riley nodded. “Umm hmm. I don’t know what all your words mean, but they sound pretty.”

  “You have a fine ear, little one. Maybe one day you would like to learn Italian, then you would be able to understand the words.”

  Riley looked at Liam. “Can you teach me, Daddy?”

  “I don’t know how to speak it, pumpkin, but if you really want to learn, we can pick up a beginner’s book, and I can try to help you.”

  “I can help you too,” Cat offered. “My Italian’s rusty since we don’t get a chance to speak it much anymore, but I’m sure it would come back quickly.”

  “Maybe me and Daddy can come over this weekend, like we did when we made the ice castle, and you could tell me some words then.”

  “We could do that if your dad hasn’t already made other plans,” Cat said, not wanting to put Liam on the spot but delighted with the possibility of spending another day with the two of them if he was open to the idea.

  “I’m sorry, Riley, but we won’t be able to do that. This is your weekend to go to your grandparents, remember?”

  Riley looked down at her plate. “I don’t want to go.”

  “Honey, your grandparents are looking forward to seeing you. They’d be sad if they didn’t get to see you,” Liam said, angling his head to look at her.

  “No, they won’t,” Riley insisted. “I say horrible things, and then Grandma cries and goes to her room, and Grandpa tells me not to talk about you and Miss Caterina because that’s not nice.”

  Caterina’s mouth dropped, and she shot Liam a quick glance. He stared at Riley. Cat saw the muscle in his cheek twitch, and she could tell he was trying hard not to get angry.

  “What horrible things did you say to your grandmother?” Liam asked, keeping his tone gentle.

  Riley knitted her brow. “She showed me some pictures of my mommy last time, and I telled her I didn’t remember her. Grandma said that was a horrible thing to say.” She looked at Liam. “She told Grandpa it was all your fault and you were an awful father. And I got mad and told them my daddy was not awful.”

  “And then what happened?” Liam asked, seemingly having forgotten everyone else at the table.

  “Then Grandma cried more and went to her room. And we didn’t go get ice cream like they said we would ‘cause—”

  “Because why, sweetheart?” Liam brushed the hair away from Riley’s forehead and then rested his hand on her shoulder. A gentle encouragement.

  “’Cause I don’t remember Mommy.” Riley glanced up at her father, looking apprehensive, as if she thought he might be upset at her for forgetting too. “I’m sorry I forgetted her.”

  Liam pulled her toward him, against his side, and rested his chin on top of her head. “It’s okay, honey. You don’t have to apologize; it’s not your fault. You were too little when your mom went to heaven to be able to remember her.”

  Caterina became aware of the others around the table. Everyone had gone somber. When she looked at Damien, she was struck by his reaction. He stared at Riley, a hand over his mouth. He closed his eyes a moment and shook his head. When he opened them again, the seriousness in his expression made her think Riley’s story weighed heavy on him. Had it stirred unpleasant memories of something from his past?

  Damien glanced her way, and their eyes connected for a moment. He looked away, cleared his throat, and then picked up his wineglass and took a sip. She got the distinct impression something was up with him, and she also got the sense he didn’t want anyone to know. Was it simply a matter of him not being comfortable with his emotions, or was there more to it?

  Liam straightened and looked down at Riley. “You and I can talk more about this when we get home,” he said, glanc
ing around the table a moment as if he’d just remembered he and Riley weren’t alone. “But I want you to know you didn’t do anything wrong, pumpkin. Okay?”

  Riley nodded. “Okay.”

  He winked at her. “Let’s just enjoy our visit right now. You did a great job eating your dinner, so you can have some dessert. I heard that Miss Caterina made something really good.”

  “I did,” Cat said. “Would you like to help me bring it out, Riley?”

  “Yes!” she said. Her eyes lit up, and the troubled mood that had descended upon her when Liam reminded her she was supposed to go to her grandparents that weekend disintegrated, like fog burning off under a high, warming sun.

  Cat stood up and held out her hand. “Then come with me, sweetie. There’s a final step to finish one of the desserts that you can do if you want to.”

  Riley scooted out of her chair and took Cat’s hand. As they passed by Liam, his eyes slid up to meet hers. “Thank you,” he mouthed.

  No, Caterina thought. Thank you, for loving and trusting me enough to share this wonderful child.

  “NOW WE’RE GOING to taste some reds.” Caterina gathered the wineglasses from her group, who were positioned around the tasting bar. The guesthouse was booked for the weekend, and many of the guests had signed up for the four o’clock tasting when they’d checked in. It was a pleasant and convenient way to spend their first evening without having to get back in their cars after they’d already driven for several hours.

  They had all three tasting stations open. A reservation had been made earlier in the week for a group of eight, to celebrate a coworker’s birthday. Eliana had taken them, and unsurprisingly, her station was the most raucous. Caterina and Marcella each had mixed groups, a combination of walk-ins and people staying at the winery.

  Cat took new glasses from under the bar and set one in front of each of her guests.

  “I noticed you put out bigger glasses for the red wine,” a young woman who’d said her name was Deborah, observed. “A lot of restaurants do that too. Is there a reason?”