Eloise didn’t care that I was in the car, listening to everything she said. In fact, it never mattered to her who was around. If she had the chance to belittle Alfie, she took it.
I spoke up to him about it once, but after being told to mind my own business, I didn’t mention it again. After all, if my brother wants to watch his life go up in fucking flames, that’s his choice. I just know he deserves better than that. Better than Eloise.
As we pull into the parking lot of a white-painted concrete building, I have to stifle my laughter as Eloise rants about how Alfie’s dog shat on the brand-new white rug she ordered from Paris.
“Eloise, we’re at the set location,” Alfie says, interrupting her mid-tangent. “I’ll call you later when we’re back at the hotel.” With a sigh, he ends the call.
“You know you don’t have to put up with that,” I say, the big brother instinct to protect winning over. “I know you think you love her or whatever, but that’s not love.”
“How about you spare me the lecture on love and we go show Carina the set,” he says, putting the car in park. Not waiting for an answer, he unbuckles his seatbelt and steps out of the car, greeting Carina with the same bright smile he had at the restaurant a little while ago.
He could have been an actor.
The warehouse space Alfie found has been transformed into an exact replica of Carina’s kitchen. From the measurements she sent me, it’s safe to say the designers took some liberties with expansion. Everything else—from the maple cabinets all the way to the tiling of the floor—looks identical to the photographs she emailed last week.
I step out of the doorway when I hear footsteps behind me and find myself at a loss for words when Carina walks past me and immediately gasps.
“If all goes according to schedule, set production should wrap up by the end of the weekend. We’re still waiting on wardrobe and hair and makeup, but in theory, we’ll be good to start filming in two weeks,” Alfie says, and her reaction earns the first honest smile I’ve seen from my brother all day.
“I should probably put in my two weeks’ notice at the diner then,” Carina says with a chuckle, her body shifting uncomfortably. Her face twists with worry as she looks across the construction going on all around us.
“I get it,” I say, hoping I’m not about to screw up by opening my mouth. “All of this is intimidating. To me and Alfie, too. Your show is the first chance either of us have had at producing. It’s the first show I’ve worked on in five years where I’m stepping away from being behind the camera. But I never work on a project I don’t believe in one hundred percent, and I believe in you. We’re going to make a great show, Carina.”
After calling out to one of the electricians working on the set lighting, Alfie excuses himself. He jogs off to catch up with Todd—the electrician—and Carina and I stand quietly for a moment.
Despite the bangs and buzzes of the power tools all around us, nothing seems louder than the silent stance of Carina Domenico as she looks around the set.
“Is there anything we missed or can add to the set to make it feel more like home?” I ask. Suddenly, my number one priority is making sure she’s comfortable here and that things are set up to her liking.
“That ‘Mangia, Mangia’ sign,” she starts, pointing to the black chalkboard above the stove. “Can I replace it with my own? The one at home is written in Lina’s handwriting. I know it’s silly, but—”
“It’s not silly at all,” I assure her. “And of course you can. If you want, we can set up a time this weekend for you to bring your daughter down here? Let her see the set before we start filming?”
“Lina would love that,” Carina says, her eyes lighting up at the idea. “She has soccer in the morning, but we could come by tomorrow afternoon?”
“It’s a date.”
5
Carina
“Not a date, but you know, a day. A plan.”
Scrambling over his words, Ryan’s face becomes a shade of red I never knew was possible on a human being.
“I know what you meant,” I tell him. “I can email you after we’ve gotten home from the game. Lina’s going to want to shower before coming here.”
“You can text me if it would be easier,” he offers. “I don’t always check my email on the weekends, but I always have my mobile on me.”
We part ways then, and as soon as I’m in the safety of my Jeep, I squeal, allowing any semblance of the composure I was determined to keep in the presence of Ryan and Alfie West to fly out the window. The very window I forgot I had cracked open earlier.
Looking around in a panic, I curse under my breath when I see Ryan West’s eyes directed at me. With slightly raised eyebrows and a lopsided grin, he waves.
“Fuuuuuck,” I curse, waving back. “Siri, call Mom.”
The ringing sound coming through the speakers takes my mind off the fact that I just made a complete fool out of myself in front of my attractive British boss.
“Hi, baby!” my mom says, her voice filling the space around me. “How’d it go today?”
As cliché as it sounds, my mom is one of my best friends. I wouldn’t say that it’s always been that way, but after having my daughter, I found out we had a lot more in common than I thought while I was growing up. She was the first person I told when I got the call from Food Network. There are still only a handful of people that know. I didn’t even want to talk to Lina about it until it was a done deal.
“Well, you can start telling your friends that your daughter has her own show on Food Network.” I smile, picturing her reaction. “We signed the contract and I just went and saw the set location. Ma, it’s amazing. It looks just like my kitchen—but bigger.”
An emotionally filled “Oh, Carina” follows. The slight crack in her voice is a telltale indication that tears are about to start flowing. The water pooling in my own eyes makes it hard to see in front of me, so I pull over into the breakdown lane.
Right on cue, my mother asks if I’m driving.
“I am—well, I was,” I correct myself, chuckling. “I pulled over because someone decided to get all weepy on me.”
“Shush. Why don’t you plan on staying for dinner tonight? We’ll order pizzas from Giorgio’s,” she says. Knowing what’s coming next, I mouth the words as she says, “I’ll call your sister and brothers.”
“Okay,” I agree. “I’ll be there in fifteen. Do you want coffee?”
I can already see how tonight is going to go. My mom will have called my father, my sister, and both of my brothers before I can even get there with our coffees. As a stay-at-home mom, there’s a good chance my sister and niece will beat me to my parents’ house. Since my father, one of my brothers, and two of my uncles all work in the same real estate office, word will travel fast that we’re doing a family dinner tonight.
Unlike any other normal family who wouldn’t think twice about our immediate family getting together on a Friday night, my entire extended family will know about the get together before the pizza is even ordered. My uncles will call my aunts and then my aunts will call my mom to find out why we’re all getting together tonight. My mom will try her damnedest to evade the questions from her sisters-in-law, but the Domenico women aren’t easily swayed.