The next day and a half were a whirlwind of preparations. It was a lucky thing that Keira had arrived early, because the extra set of hands came in handy for decorating the church activity hall while the others cooked.
Soon it was Saturday morning, and the gathering of family and friends for the baptism of Elisabetta Maria D’Agostino went off without a hitch. Elisabetta was a squirmy bundle prior to the service, and Anthony was certain that she would prove to be a handful during the actual ceremony.
However, in her white silk gown and booties, she was the picture of calm.
As her godmother, I had chosen a dress reminiscent of Audrey Hepburn in my own favorite shade of green, and wore crisp white gloves as a complement to the throwback look. Anthony and Celia bought me a small calla lily to wear in my hair rather than a corsage.
Ma and Nonna, however, sported huge calla lily corsages on their respective navy and coral suits, and Nonna had broken out a beautiful vintage hat that I secretly made plans to sneak away with after the day ended.
Keira, of course, looked as if she’d stepped from the pages of Vogue, dressed in a tailored black linen suit with a lemon yellow blouse.
My father could scarcely hold back a huge grin, but nearly broke into tears as his eldest son’s firstborn was baptized by his other son, the priest. After the ceremony, many pictures were taken, and we finally made it to the church hall only when Nonna reminded us that people needed to eat!
The Ladies Guild performed luncheon serving duties of all the food that our two families had prepared. I felt a shiver of fear as I walked into the hall, remembering my own recent catering experience. This day was different for a number of reasons—not least of which was that I didn’t have to worry about coming up with a substitution for a failed entrée.
Then I remembered one other reason this day of celebration was different. Natalie’s wedding reception had ended first on a high note with the promise of new love, then had come crashing down with my misunderstanding of Cam and his intentions. I stopped for a moment when I thought of this, but before I had the opportunity to go into a full slump, I was pressed into duty greeting relatives and friends, going from table to table making sure everyone was having a good time.
Before I knew it, the party was over. By early afternoon, the last guests had gone, taking along plates of food, cookies, and cake as is the custom at an Italian gathering.
Damian and I were seated side by side, with my head on his shoulder, when Nonna came up and tapped me on the knee. She had a bright polka-dot apron on over her fancy suit.
“Allora, e tempo di pulire (It’s time to clean up),” she said briskly.
“Nonna,” I groaned, “give me five minutes—cinque minuti.”
She shook her head. “Non abbiamo cinque minuti. (We don’t have five minutes.) Presto! Presto!”
“E Damiano? (And Damian?)” I pointed to my brother.
She tsk’d. “Il prete non pulisce. (The priest doesn’t clean.) He needs-a go his own church.”
Damian grinned. “Wow! If I only knew I had those privileges when I was younger, I would have told Nonna I was becoming a priest a long time ago.”
“Who are you kidding? You ALWAYS had those privileges!”
“Actually, I do need to get out of here.” He turned to me and took both my hands in his. “Before I go, how are you doing?”
I stood up and pulled him up as well.
“No time for THAT discussion. Nonna is returning with a broom. Get out while the getting is good.” I hugged him. “Take me to the airport tomorrow afternoon? We can talk then?”
“It’s a deal. I’m going, Nonna, I’m going.” He scooted.
But my mother intervened for me as well.
“Mama, abbiamo assunti I pulitori (we’ve hired cleaners), see?” She pointed to several young boys who had come in wielding cleaning supplies. “They’ll clean for us.”
“You pay?”
My mother nodded.
“Che peccato! (What a sin!) We can do!”
With the skill of many years of handling my nonna, my mother extracted the broom from her hand and led her away.
I sank back into the chair and was joined by Keira.
“Fantastic party,” she said, munching a cookie and handing me one.
“I hope Nonna sees us eating cookies. You know she thinks we’re too thin.”
“She thinks everyone is too thin.”
“She’s bad for the diet industry.”
“Yep. Hey, listen. Change of plans, I need to fly out this evening.”
“But why?”
“It’s a thing.” She waved her hand. “But a friend e-mailed me an invite to the opening of a new restaurant over in Highlands tomorrow night. Do you want to come with me? Will you be home in time?”
Highlands was an up-and-coming area of Denver that was home to new little shops and trendy restaurants. “Well, I get back to the airport at around seven. Is that too late?”
“No. You know how these things go. It will be going till midnight. I’ll pick you up.”
I looked at her suspiciously.
“Something sounds fishy about this.”
She pursed her lips. “Look. I’m doing a favor for a friend and attending an opening. I DO have other friends, you know.”
“Fine, fine, I’ll go. Sheesh.”
“All right then.” She stood up with purpose. “I’ll say my good-byes and head to the airport.”
“Keira, thanks for coming and the whole Brady thing and, well, you know …”
She waved me off.
“Hey, we’ve been through thick and thin since the first day of college. No need to stop now, sister.”
“Too true. Let me walk you out.”
Keira was off to the airport.
Damian was off to his own parish.
Anthony and Celia were off to their own home to get Elisabetta to bed after all the excitement.
I was sitting on the porch with Nonna and Ma. The only sound was the screech of the swing as I moved lazily back and forth.
“Can you sit still, Alexandria?” asked my mother, as she had thousands of times in my lifetime.
Actually, no.
“Where’s Pop?”
“He’s down with the seedlings.”
My father had built a seedling room in the basement of our house, kitted out with long rows of tables, grow lights, and a watering system. It served as a place for preparing plants for the nursery as well as a quiet sanctuary for him. We all knew not to bother Pop when he was with the seedlings. He claimed that they needed the proper atmosphere to grow. In reality, we knew he needed the quiet to escape from the hustle and bustle of daily life. I was usually the only one he let down there with him.
I loved being beside him as he nurtured the plantlets. I felt the extreme calm of the room, the dark broken only by the eerie otherworldly light. Pop would hum tunes under his breath. While he publicly claimed that he had no idea where Damian got his musical talent, Pop was definitely the source of my brother’s melodious voice.
I descended the stairs with as much calm as I could muster.
“Is that you, bella mia?”
“Do you want to be alone, Daddy?” I said quietly.
“No, come join me. It’s been a long time since the two of us have been down here alone together. Gum?”
He tapped his front shirt pocket. I reached in for a stick of Juicy Fruit, pulled up a small well-worn stool beside him, opened my gum, and started to chew thoughtfully. I began folding the wrapper over and over in my hand.
“What’s on your mind, Alexandria?” he asked as he moved from seedling to seedling, holding one after another to the light, clipping a tiny brown leaf here, spritzing another there.
“Nothing, Daddy.”
“Are you sure? You haven’t called me Daddy since sixth grade.”
I kept folding my gum wrapper.
“Do you remember in third grade when I collected gum wrappers and folded them all in a giant chain?”
He nodded. “I do. I remember that you said that Rae O’Malley said she was going to make one ten feet long and you said you were going to make one twenty feet long.”
“I did it, too.”
“You sure did.”
“I used to do lots of things I said I would.”
“What do you mean ‘used to’”?
“Oh, Daddy, nothing has turned out the way I thought it would.” I started to sob quietly.
He put his seedling and tools down, wiped his hands on a nearby towel, sat and put his fists on his knees—a movement I had seen him make so many times in my childhood when he prepared for a serious conversation.
“Come on, tell me exactly what’s going on.”
“I lost my job again.” There it was out. He could reprimand me now.
“Are you sure you lost it?”
What? That was mighty calm.
“What do you mean am I sure I lost it? Another company bought us, and there are all sorts of changes. People are being let go.”
“Yes, but did you get let go? Maybe you got, oh, transferred?”
I stared at him.
“You know! How do you know? Did Keira say something?” How else could he know?
“Calm down, calm down. Don’t upset the babies,” he gestured to the plants. “Do you think your old man doesn’t follow the high-technology world business news? Especially since you are part of it?”
He reached into his pocket for his handkerchief and gave it to me.
“But how?”
He tilted his head to the side and smiled.
“Ally-Cat, the purchase of Media Resolutions by Castle Electronics was big news. And part of the story was the move of the marketing department—the whole marketing department—to corporate headquarters.”
I stared at him, stunned.
“Just because we live back here in the ‘sticks’ doesn’t mean we don’t get a business channel or that I don’t follow business news.”
“No, Daddy, it’s not that. It’s just that I figured you followed what the boys did and that what I did, well … you know … I’m the girl …”
He pulled me on his lap.
“Alexandria, you are my shining star. Sure, Antonio and Damiano are stars as well, but in different ways. YOU are the one who said, ‘I’m going to go out there in the unknown world’—kind of like when your grandmother and grandfather got on the boat and came to this country. Look how hard you worked for scholarships to Notre Dame. Then after that, you said, ‘I’m going to see what is out there in the rest of the big world’ and you did it!”
By now, I was sobbing heavily. “But what if I made a mistake?”
“What mistake? You’ve been very successful. Just because these two companies have made changes, that’s no reflection on you.”
“No, Daddy, what if I made a mistake in the CHOICE I made to begin with?”
“What?” He gently pushed my shoulders away. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“I mean”—and I took a deep breath to tell him what I barely could even tell myself—“what if I went to all that trouble to get my marketing degree, and I wasted that scholarship and wasted all the extra money that you and Ma gave me throughout my college years?”
“Hmm.”
I knew it! He was mad! NOW the lecture would come.
I jumped up from his lap and started chewing my nails.
“Stop biting your nails. I can tell you pay for a manicure and you shouldn’t ruin it, although why you girls need to pay so much is beyond me—”
“Daddy! Did you hear what I just told you?”
“Yes, Alexandria, I did. You said that you might want to change from doing marketing. But you haven’t told me what you DO want to do yet.”
“You don’t think I wasted my scholarship? And you don’t think you wasted any money that you and Ma gave me for four years?”
He pointed to the plants again. “Shh. Alex, please … the seedlings. Sit down.”
I sat and stared at him.
“Honey, here’s the way I look at it. You worked very hard all through high school to earn scholarships to a very prestigious university, and while you were at that university you worked very hard to earn money to pay your way, and you graduated at the top of your class. Along the way, your mother and I gave you some money, sure, but it was YOU who paid the majority of your way. Whatever we gave you was not very much. Now, you have been working very hard for how many years, five? You have money in the bank, right? You don’t have unnecessary debt? Well, I’m pretty sure that you know how to manage money.
“Now you think you might want to change what you do to earn that money. Unless you tell me you want to be a hootchy-kootchy dancer or something, I think you are smart enough to make a good decision, and all the education you have had can only help you. So until you tell me what you think you want to do, I can’t give you my opinion. What do you want to do?”
“I want to be a hootchy-kootchy dancer,” I deadpanned.
“Fine, just don’t do it in this town because some of the men from our church might see you.” He didn’t miss a beat.
“Seriously, you would be okay with me changing my career?” I couldn’t delay with jokes for too long.
“What do you want to do?”
I twisted my hands together. “I think … I think I could be a chef.”
“Okay. What do you need to do for that?”
“That’s it? No lecture?”
He tilted his well-worn cap further back and began. “When you were three, you were standing on the kitchen chair, making meatballs with your Nonna. When you were twelve, you made hoagies as a fund-raiser for the cheerleaders. Whenever we talk to you out in Denver, you are always having your friends over and cooking for them. Didn’t you just cater a wedding a couple of weeks ago? And didn’t you learn how to cook Middle Eastern, Indian, all kinds of foods for all your boyfriends?”
“Well, yes, but—hey, how did you know that last part?”
“Bella, Damian told us. He also told us that this possible career change was something the two of you talked about. You think you’re telling me something brand new. Honeybunch, you already ARE a chef. You just need a restaurant. If I had the money, I’d open one for you today.”
I hugged him tightly and started to cry harder.
“Pop, you are the best!”
“Oh it’s ‘Pop’ again? And why are you crying now? We’ve fixed this, no?”
I nodded and stood up.
He picked up another seedling and the spritzer. My father was not one for drawn-out discussions. “Well, then. It’s settled. You go upstairs and fix that makeup. Although, why I ever allowed you to start wearing it is beyond me.”
I grinned and kissed the top of his head.
I had managed to evade Brady for the past two days, but I knew I had to talk to him. I called him when I came upstairs and asked him to drop by the house.
He pulled up to the house on his motorcycle, and as I sat on the swing, watching him unbuckle his helmet and stroll up the front walk, my heart caught again. Brady Doyle was indeed easy on the eyes, but I knew that I had outgrown him long ago.
He took the front porch steps two at a time and sat on the railing.
“Hey, half-pint!”
“Hey, Brady!”
“Sorry I missed the party this morning, but one of the other guys got sick and I had to take his shift.”
“No problem. Your parents let us know. Anthony and Celia totally understood.”
“So. Are you busy this evening? Want to take a ride on the bike?” He pointed with his thumb.
“That sounds really good, but no. I’m going to stick around here, since I have to take off tomorrow.”
He tilted his head quizzically.
“I thought you were going to stick around for a while.”
I shook my head and smiled. “No. I think some wires got crossed somewhere. I was only here for the weekend.”
“Cool. Are you coming back soon?”
“Well. That’s the thing. I might have indicated to you that I might be coming home for a while, but … my life really is out in Denver now.”
He just kept nodding. “Sure, sure, I hear you. To tell you the truth, Alexandria, none of us ever thought you were ever going to stick around here.”
“Well, it’s not that I don’t like anyone or anything here or anything …” I started, but faltered.
“I get it, Alex. Look, we had a couple of laughs the other night. Maybe if you come back in, we can again.”
He hopped up. “You know where to find me!”
And he was down the stairs, on his bike, and down the street to take a ride and probably end up at Pete’s. He really led an uncomplicated life.
Ma came out on the porch and sat on the swing with me.
“Was that Brady Doyle?”
“Yes.”
“He always was the best of that whole bunch.”
“Ma, did you tell Mrs. Doyle I was moving back home?”
“No, Alex. I just mentioned you were coming in early for the weekend. Why?”
“Nothing, really. She apparently told him you said I was moving back home and that the two of you wanted us to get together.”
“What!” she laughed. “Honey, don’t get me wrong. If you wanted to move back, well, we’d all love it, but we know you’re a city girl! You’d be miserable here now that you’ve been living in the city. Mary Doyle is just wishing she could have you as a daughter-in-law, considering the pieces of work her other boys have brought home.”
I laughed, remembering Melissa and her treatment of Brian Doyle the other night.
“So, Ma, it doesn’t bother you that I didn’t stay close?”
“I won’t lie and say that it was easy in the beginning, but I saw how you blossomed when you got to be somewhere where you weren’t in the shadow of Anthony and Damian.”
“I never thought of it that way, but I guess that’s part of it.” I loved my brothers dearly, but until I moved away, I never thought of myself as anyone other than Anthony and Damian’s little sister.
“Besides, when you open your chain of restaurants, you’ll be flying all across the country anyway.” She nudged me.
Hmm. Word travels fast.
“I see Pop has already broken the news.”
“Of course, honey. The secret to a good marriage is that there are no secrets. Find a man who you can share everything with, and that’s half the battle.”
There are no nondisclosure agreements in marriage, eh Cameron Grayson?
Wait. That wasn’t fair. He had to keep that “secret” for the sake of his job. And as soon as he could discuss it, wasn’t I the first one he tried to talk to about it? Come to think of it, he proved how honorable he could be by maintaining that stupid nondisclosure agreement.
Wow, how interesting that a few days could give me a little perspective.
“Ma, what do you think? With the right training, do you think I could run a restaurant kitchen?”
“I think you can do anything you want to, Alexandria. But, yes, you are a gifted cook and are naturally organized. You would be an excellent chef.”
She hugged me, and I started to cry.
Nonna walked out onto the porch at that moment.
“Why you cry? E un giorno felice! (It’s a happy day!)”
“Sto andado essere un cuoco! (I’m going to be a chef!)”
“Allora, quando aprite un trattorria, ti visite ogni serra, ma sta serra, andiamo alla cucina mia e faciamo da mangiare. (When you open your trattoria, I’ll visit every night, but tonight let’s go into my kitchen and cook.)”
My mother and I laughed.
“There you go, Alex, all the training you’ll need!”
“When will we see you around here, Sis?”
Damian was driving me to the airport the next day as promised.
“Not sure.” I looked out the window.
“Well, let us know when the first restaurant opens at least.”
I swung my head back around.
“You know, you people ought to open your own news agency or something. When something happens, boom! It spreads like wildfire.”
Damian grinned broadly.
“Come on now, did you really expect Ma and Pop to keep that to themselves? They had Tonio and me on the phone in a conference call the nanosecond you let Pop know about it!”
“What! Did they say anything bad about this, because I think I should have been included in that little conversation,” I began, sitting up as straight as my seat belt would allow.
“Calm down, Ally-Cat.” Damian ruffled my hair. I instinctively pulled away, and he laughed.
“Look at you,” he said. “You know that’s why Anthony and I started calling you Ally-Cat, right?
Whenever anyone would cross you, you would pull back and give them that look, as if you were going to hiss at them.”
I regally smoothed my fur, um, hair and stared straight ahead.
“Alexandria, the only reason they called the meeting was to let us know that we were to be absolutely supportive of you,” he soothed. “As if we would be anything but!”
“But why did they think they had to protect me? Did they think I was helpless?”
Damian threw his head back. “Alex, admit it. You know you’ve been part of one of those conversations about either me or Tonio.”
Hmm. He was right. Our parents did not play favorites in their well-intentioned meddling. Something suddenly occurred to me.
“Hey, wait. Pop knew about what was going on with my company. Did he tell all of you before I got here, and you all knew about it?”
“No. He actually only found that out on the morning of the party because he knew something was wrong with his baby girl. He scoured the back web pages of business news to see if it was work related, and found out what it was and only confirmed it with Keira right before she left for the airport. Believe me, if you hadn’t told him when you did, he would have gotten it out of you last night somehow.”
“Ah, well. That’s Pop.”
“Yep, that’s Pop. Wouldn’t have it any other way. So are you going to resign from your company?”
“I guess I have to since my group is moving to Phoenix, and I really can’t bear the thought of moving there.”
“And then what?”
“I guess I’ll get another job in Denver while I go to culinary school. It’s kind of scary.”
We drove in silence for a while.
“So,” I began, “what do you and Tonio think?”
“Alex, we think you would be fantastic. And, by the way, everyone also approves of Cam.”
“What!” I looked at him, startled. “Who said anything about Cam?”
“I did. I told them about him and about how the two of you seemed like a good match.”
“Damian, that’s crossing the line. How can you know anything about someone you met for a couple of hours in a pub?”
He gave me a shrewd look.
“I know the looks he gave you and the way he treated you at the table. I know the questions he asked about you. I know the way you talked to me about him. I also know what Keira told me.”
“Keira has a big mouth,” I mumbled.
“Keira has your best interests at heart. She knows you better than anyone outside the family. She’s very astute, and if she thinks you should give this guy a try, I trust her.”
I slumped down in my seat. “Fat lot of good all that does me now. I think I’ve cut off any chance of him even saying hello to me again.”
“How’s that?”
I relayed an abbreviated story of the conference room incident, my face growing red again at the remembrance of how I ran out after he kissed me.
“Alex, all you can do is be who you are. Take the opportunity to pray on this, and if it is supposed to work out, it will. But if you have another chance to get to know Cam, perhaps you need to take it.”
I shrugged. We had reached the airport and were unloading my luggage from his car.
“I think I’ve run out of chances, Damian. But thanks for the counseling, now and for always.”
“It’s my job. Hey! You know, it IS my job!” He attempted to lighten the mood.
After our good-byes, I stood on the curb and waved until his car was out of sight. I turned, straightened my shoulders, and walked into the airport to begin my journey into the next phase of my life.