by Jo Leigh
Tony’s slight frown made Luca realize how much he’d just told his brother about his relationship with April.
“We’re calling it an open-ended sublet,” Tony said, lowering his voice. “I made sure Francis knows we’re helping a friend out. If April asks anything, he’s supposed to tell her that a tenant named Robert DeLaria is working in Rome indefinitely but he didn’t want to let the place go.” He took a sip. “Something just occurred to me. You want me to have some of the furniture from the warehouse put in? You know...since it’s supposed to be a sublet.”
Luca sighed, glad one of them was thinking straight. “You’re right, we should. Thanks.”
“I doubt there’s much to choose from so it won’t be anything special. Just a bed, a table, couch, those kinds of things. It’ll have to wait until Monday.”
“I owe you.”
“Damn right. Tell you what... Finish your internship and we’ll call it even.”
Luca’s gut tightened.
Tony grinned. “Now tell me more about April.”
16
APRIL HADN’T PICTURED Catherine being so pretty. Blonde, with dark blue eyes, she was tall and held herself with an air of confidence April admired. It helped that she seemed extremely grateful for the company and the assistance. “Your sauce smells amazing,” April said.
“Thanks. Would you mind giving it a taste? If you’ve ever had his mother’s food, you’d understand why I’m so nervous about mine.”
April had eaten the leftovers Luca had brought home and they had been really good. But she decided not to mention anything that might reveal her and Luca’s living arrangements.
Catherine got out a spoon as they went to the big six-burner stove. After taking another good whiff of the sauce when the cover came off the pot, April felt sure Catherine was in the ballpark. “Oh,” she said, letting the flavor bloom in her mouth. “It’s so, so good.”
“But...?” Catherine’s look was pleading.
“You have nothing to worry about. Seriously, it’s excellent.”
Catherine sighed with relief and smiled at April. “So, you’re from St. Louis, right?”
April nodded. “New York has been quite an adjustment. But Luca’s been great. Other than Tony, I haven’t met any of the Paladinos before. Did you get along with them right away?”
“Um, not really,” Catherine said, checking the stuffed porchetta in the oven. “I’m not Italian, for one thing, but they really are good people. They’ve got their ways, but I’m sure if Luca thinks you’re special, which he obviously does, then they will, too.”
April thought about what Luca had said just before Tony opened the door. It should’ve helped her relax, not had the opposite effect. That his parents would think she was a woman who would be good for Luca wasn’t at all the same as her being someone Luca would choose for himself. Not that it had any bearing on today or this dinner.
“There’s no chance I’m going to relax, but thanks for the pep talk. Meeting parents is always terrifying, no matter what the circumstances.”
Catherine lifted her water glass. “Amen to that,” she said and was cut off by the doorbell. “Hell, we should’ve been drinking wine all this time.”
They both laughed. Then lucky Catherine got to stay in the kitchen to keep tabs on dinner, while April took a deep breath and went in search of Luca. Just as Tony opened the front door she and Luca found each other.
He took her hand and kept her by his side. Why she should be so nervous to meet his family made no sense. Her only goal was to help him get his mother and grandmother to stop setting him up. Which meant she should try to relax, listen carefully and follow Luca’s lead. And remember not to launch into one of her nervous run-on sentences without taking a breath. She tended not to censor her thoughts.
Luca’s mother reminded April of her aunt Celia. Mrs. Paladino was at least five seven and wore her salt-and-pepper hair in a twist. She even had an oversize purse like Aunt Celia, who kept everything in it from Band-Aids to washcloths. Mrs. Paladino smiled politely at April, although her smile didn’t reach her eyes. It was understandable. April was a stranger. It meant a lot that his mom was trying.
His father, on the other hand, grinned broadly as he offered her his hand. “April, yes?” he said. “No wonder Luca likes you. You’re very pretty.”
“Thank you, Mr. Paladino.”
“I’m Joe. If you must, Joseph. That beautiful woman is my wife, Theresa. And here is my mother-in-law.”
“It’s lovely to meet you,” the elder Mrs. Paladino said, grasping the tips of April’s fingers in a perfunctory handshake.
“Call her Nonna,” Joe said, although April had her doubts. Better not to call her by name at all.
“Is everyone here?” Theresa asked.
“Dom should be here any minute,” Tony said. “Come into the living room. I’ll pour drinks. Pop, you want iced tea?”
“No. I want Prosecco.”
“Iced tea, coming up. Mom?”
“I’ll also have the tea. And get Nonna her club soda.”
April followed Luca’s lead and sat next to him on the beautiful tan couch. “April,” Theresa said as the drinks were doled out. “Luca tells us you’re starting your own business.”
“I will be, yes. It’s a concierge service, one that will rely mostly on college students who’ve been carefully vetted to do everything from babysitting to food shopping to making personal deliveries.”
Theresa nodded. Joe smiled. Luca squeezed her hand.
“That sounds very modern,” Joe said. “Something for the Upper East Side.”
“Yes, that’s definitely one of my target markets. But my research tells me that lots of people could use qualified temporary assistants. After spending twelve hours at work, it’s nice to be able to have someone dependable to go to the market for you, or pick up the dog from the groomers.”
Joe nodded. “Very clever.” He turned to his wife. “That means you don’t have to pay to keep someone full-time. Smart.”
“Theresa,” Catherine said, coming in from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron. “It’s wonderful to see you.” She kissed Theresa’s cheeks like a true European. “I’m so sorry I wasn’t able to greet you at the door. I was tending the stove.”
“It’s all right, Catherine.” Theresa looked her over, but her smile was genuine. “I can smell your sauce from here.”
April expected a compliment, but none came. No wonder Catherine was worried.
“I know it won’t be as good as yours, but I hope you enjoy it. Would you all like appetizers in here, or at the dining room table?”
Tony stood. “Why don’t we all move to the dining room.”
“May I help you serve?” April asked Catherine.
“That would be wonderful, thank you.”
It was great to return to safer territory. The dinner would be several courses, from the aperitivo to the digestivo, very traditional. April had only read about meals like this.
By the time they’d set out the appetizers, Dom had arrived, and April wasn’t at all surprised to find he was devilishly handsome. Cut from the same cloth as his older brothers, who took after their father’s side of the family. The smile he gave her was smooth, as was his handshake, and she could only imagine how much havoc he caused in the neighborhood.
He went over to Nonna next, and the way he teased her, sniffing her neck while she swatted at him, made April smile.
“Nonna, you’re wearing new perfume. Do you have a date later?” Dom asked, still chasing the side of her neck. “I’d better meet him first, make sure he’s a nice man.”
“I’m not. Smettila, pazzo. Stop it, you crazy.”
He kissed her loudly on the cheek. “I can’t help it. You get more beautiful every day.”
She scowled as her wrinkled cheeks got pink. But the moment Dom turned around, she smiled like a girl.
April liked him. He’d keep some lucky woman on her toes, that was for sure, but there was a natural warmth about him that all the Paladino brothers shared.
She took her place next to Luca, directly across from his mother. Of course, everything tasted delicious, and she was careful to compliment each dish but not too lavishly. By the time they reached the secondo, the meat and side dish course, April had relaxed, mostly because of how she’d been included in the easy conversations by almost everyone. The notable exception was Nonna, but April didn’t take it personally. She was just grateful that Theresa hadn’t given her the third degree.
But as she swallowed another bite of delicious zucchini fritter, the talk quieted, and she suddenly felt on edge, especially when Theresa looked at her expectantly.
Putting down her fork, April said, “I got a chance to look at some of Luca’s custom furniture. You must all be so proud. I had no idea he was so talented. And, oh, gosh, the drawing for the new staircase that he designed for his apartment took my breath away. I couldn’t help wondering if he’d worked on your living room, Catherine.”
Shit. She’d obviously said something wrong. Everyone at the table was staring at her. Tony’s fork had stalled halfway to his mouth.
After several uncomfortable seconds, Tony said, “Catherine had a designer, but she has remarkably good taste. Most everything you see is Catherine’s doing.”
April held back a whimper. She shouldn’t have brought up Luca’s custom work. He’d told her no one had seen the workshop. Stupid! And now she’d insulted Catherine, who’d been so nice to her.
She didn’t look offended, though, and she gave April a reassuring smile.
Dominic coughed. She was pretty sure he was covering up a laugh.
“I’ve seen his work. It’s not bad,” Tony said with a teasing grin. “Seriously, the armoire you made for Eleanor Baker blew me away.”
“Wait a minute.” Catherine stared from Tony to Luca. “Why haven’t I seen any of your pieces?”
Luca just smiled, but April could tell he wasn’t pleased. He wasn’t looking at her at all.
Until he did.
“I should have mentioned that we don’t really talk about work at the dinner table. No big deal, though.”
The WTF look Dom gave him told her that was a blatant lie.
Luca turned to his parents. “I don’t think I mentioned to you that April has family in Positano. On her mother’s side.”
Had her mention of his custom woodwork been so out of line that he’d changed the conversation to that? She’d screwed up, and after all Luca had done for her. Even though she felt sick, it was all she could do not to guzzle the rest of her wine.
“It’s beautiful in Positano,” Catherine said. “Have you been?”
April smiled, determined to send her the biggest bouquet of thank-you flowers she could afford. “No, I’ve never been to Italy. My mother is second-generation Italian. She keeps in touch with our family there, so I’d love to go someday.”
“What kind of furniture?” Joe asked, clearly puzzled and staring at Luca. “If you have time for a hobby, you should be starting your internship.”
“Hey, Pop,” Dom said, “you want more wine?” He stopped in midreach for the bottle. “Sorry, I meant to say iced tea.”
Joe went off on how the doctors were trying to kill him. Everybody knew wine was healthy. The Paladinos in Naples all drank wine and half of them were older than Joe.
April glanced at Dom, who gave her a tiny wink. She was going to be bankrupt from all the flowers she was going to have to send.
“Tell April about the family, Pop,” Tony said, and April breathed again.
Joe picked up the torch and proceeded to tell her the history of the Paladino family in Naples, while April did her best to continue to eat. Her stomach felt like lead, and all she wanted was to go back in time so she could keep her mouth shut.
Dinner went on, and everyone acted as though she hadn’t been an idiot. Luca hadn’t taken her hand again. But it could have been because he was using both his knife and fork.
This was supposed to have been a job. One she approached like any other. God knew she’d made the best of stressful situations before, but this was something different, even though it shouldn’t have been.
She was glad to hear Theresa compliment Catherine on the meal. And no wonder. The dinner had been extraordinary. Everything about the evening, with one notable exception, had been perfect.
Everyone was very nice when it was time to leave. Even Theresa. Although she did ask about April’s last name, and her eyebrows went up when she heard her father was a second-generation Dubliner. But honestly, what did it matter? April wasn’t going to be joining their family. In fact, she had the feeling Luca would soon be telling his parents that they’d broken up.
Finally, she and Luca were alone together again. “I’m sorry about earlier,” she said.
“What? About the furniture?” He waved down a cab. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I tend to get carried away. I should have thought—”
“Hey. It’s okay.”
“Yeah, well, at least it stopped your mother from booking the church, huh?”
He smiled. Kind of. It was crooked, and the way he looked at her made her realize she had no idea what he was thinking. Probably nothing good.
Thankfully, her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. She slipped it out just as the taxi pulled up, and there, big as life, was the one name she’d figured she’d never see again. Wes.
It took her a moment to catch her breath. She’d stopped leaving him voice mails a week ago and had pretty much ruled out the possibility of ever hearing from him again. Even her curiosity had dwindled. But if he wanted to return her money, even if only a portion of it, she was more than ready to listen. Just not at this moment. All she really cared about was making things right with Luca, so she slid the phone back in her pocket.
Luca put his hand on the cab door, but he didn’t open it. “If you’d like to be alone to take that call, I don’t mind walking home.”
“No. It’s fine. We can both take the taxi. I need to figure out what I’m going to say to him. All I want to do right now is scream at him for twenty minutes about what an asshole he is.”
* * *
IF ANYONE WAS capable of screaming for twenty minutes, it was April. And Luca couldn’t imagine anyone deserving it more than Wes. That first night she’d given it to Wes with both barrels, positively shaking with her anger. But as she sat looking out the window, her hands folded loosely in her lap, he wondered why she was so calm. Maybe it wasn’t the first time he’d called. But if it wasn’t, why wouldn’t she have mentioned it to him?
He wasn’t sure what to do. He wanted to ask what was going on, but she’d clearly decided not to say anything to him. It was her choice, of course, but it was strange. He felt as if he’d been a part of the whole Wes ordeal, although if he was honest, he had just been a bystander. Nothing about his relationship with April granted him rights to her private life. But he also knew she was smarting over the conversation at dinner. He didn’t want to think he’d mishandled the situation, but he’d caused her to feel embarrassed. No excuse for that.
Then there was his dad’s crack about not having time for a hobby. Thank God Dom had steered the conversation to another topic. Sometimes the kid surprised the hell out of him. The topic wasn’t dead, though. Luca knew better than to believe that.
For once, the traffic wasn’t too bad, but the awkward silence in the back of the cab made the trip feel longer. What Luca hated most was the damper the evening had put on his big surprise.
After paying the driver, Luca held open the cab door for April and scrambled for something to
say. It wasn’t until they got in the elevator that he gave up trying to be clever and just went for honesty. “Thank you,” he said. “You were terrific tonight. I, on the other hand, didn’t handle things well. I apologize.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m the one who screwed up.”
“No,” he said, touching her arm. “You had no reason to think the topic was off-limits. It shouldn’t have been. That’s my own bullshit. I don’t particularly like discussing my—” he snorted “—hobby.”
“You heard Tony, he was impressed... Surely once the rest of your family sees how talented you are—”
“Look,” he said, “my family expects me to get my architect license, and they have a right to expect it, not just because it’s good for the business but because they think that’s what I want. But just between you and me, I’m not sure I do.”
April stared at him without saying a word, but questions flared in her eyes.
“It’s not that I hate it, I’m just more interested in carpentry and working with my hands. But I don’t want them to know that. So please don’t say anything. You’re the only person I’ve told. I never planned on telling anyone.”
The elevator was taking forever. He would have to call the repairman to come check on it before the tenants complained.
“Of course I won’t say a word. But frankly, I’m surprised you trust me at all.”
Luca smiled. “That’s the main reason I told you. I don’t want you to feel bad about what happened or think it was your fault. My family’s reaction had nothing to do with you. It was all me. You were great. From the minute we walked into the house.”
“I’m really glad you told me, but honestly, they don’t know what a skilled craftsman you are? You have a real gift, Luca.”
The elevator stopped, and Luca wasn’t sure why they were still talking about this. He wanted to put the whole subject to bed. And then put April to bed with him.
Once they’d entered the apartment, the way she looked up at him told him they hadn’t finished the conversation.
