Luca
I felt Whitney stiffen slightly and then relax seconds before her teenagers came bounding down the stairs.
The first was a young lady who was the spitting image of Whitney. With long brown hair and the same soft brown eyes as her mother, she wore a look of surprise when she saw her mom leaning against me, before it turned into a welcoming smile.
Close on her heels was a boy who was taller and a bit gangly, as if he hadn’t quite grown into his limbs yet, with an easy expression on his face.
“Is the food ready?” he asked before his feet had hit the floor.
Whitney chuckled and said, “Almost,” before stepping away and saying, “Luca, meet Stella and Silas, the loves of my life.”
Stella rolled her eyes good-naturedly while Silas muttered, “Why?”
“Stella … Si, this is Luca.”
“How’s it going?” I asked.
“Good. It’s nice to meet you,” Stella replied.
While Silas lifted his chin and said, “’Sup,” before moving to the charcuterie board and grabbing a handful of cheese.
“Jeez, Si, be polite,” Whitney said, her tone slightly horrified.
Stella just shrugged and said, “You get used to it.”
“I’ve been a fourteen-year-old boy, so I get it,” I joked, pleased when she smiled in response.
“I just have to mash the potatoes and sauté the asparagus and dinner will be ready,” Whitney was telling her son as she moved around the island to presumably do just that. “Don’t fill up on that stuff.”
“As if I could ever fill up on some cheese and grapes,” Silas muttered as he picked more food off of the board. “I’m so hungry I might die.”
I chuckled as memories of my brother and I at his age surfaced. I remember we were like bottomless pits and it seemed like we were always looking for our next meal. My ma had said we’d almost made them go bankrupt when we were teenagers.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” I offered.
“You want to choose the wine?” she asked, pointing to the wall, which had a wine rack up top and a wine fridge beneath it. “Stella, can you set the table please? Si, help your sister.”
We all moved to complete our tasks and I was surprised when the kids helped without so much as a grumble. My siblings and I always helped our mom when she asked, but we never did so quietly.
Since I smelled poultry, I opened the wine fridge and looked inside for a nice crisp chardonnay to accompany the meal. When I found what I was looking for, I took it out and moved to place it on the island.
“Corkscrew?” I asked.
Whitney looked up from her mashing and said, “The drawer by the fridge. And there’s a chilled bucket in the freezer in the garage, right through that door.”
I went through the door she’d indicated, on the other side of the stairs and opposite of the door to the back deck. I flicked on the light, marveled at how clean and organized her garage was, and crossed to open the small chest freezer in the back of the garage. Once I had the chilled bucket, I went back inside.
“Shall I put these on the table?” I asked, holding up the bucket and the wine.
“Please. Thank you.”
I went in the direction Stella and Silas had gone when Whit told them to set the table and found my way to the large formal dining room. It was classically decorated with matching walnut furniture, cream-colored walls, and paintings featuring deep, bold colors. There was a buffet, curio cabinet, and matching eight-person dining room table. It was round, which showcased how large the room really was.
Stella and Silas were putting the finishing touches on the table, which was very well done.
“Wow, you guys put together a nice table. My ma would love it. She’s big on a beautifully set table, no matter the occasion. I’m impressed,” I told them as I placed the bucket on an empty doily in the center of the table, close to the flowers. “Does this go here?”
“Yeah, that’s fine,” Stella replied as she finished putting out the last place setting.
“So, uh, do you guys play any sports or anything?” I asked once the wine was in the chiller.
“No, not anymore. I used to play volleyball, but now I have a job, so with that and school I don’t really have time anymore,” Stella answered.
“Oh, where do you work?”
“I’m a hostess at Lazy Dog.”
“Nice, do you like it?”
Stella shrugged and said, “The people I work with are cool, but I can’t wait until I’m old enough to be a server so I can make tips.”
I nodded in understanding and turned to Silas, “What about you?”
“Lacrosse,” he said, his eyes darting back toward the kitchen. “You think the food’s almost done?”
“He’s always thinking about food,” Stella said with a sigh. “Just keep your shirt on, Si, Mom’s working on it. Go take over mashing if you want it to go faster.”
“It’s done,” Whitney called back, and I realized she could hear everything perfectly from the next room. “Come grab a dish and we can get started.”
We went to help and came back carrying dishes heaping with food and settled in to eat.
“I hope family style is okay,” Whitney said from her seat across from me. She looked a little unsure, which was very sweet. I could tell she was putting a lot on this dinner and really wanted everything to go well.
“It’s perfect. That’s how we eat all our meals at home,” I said.
“Do you have kids?” Stella asked, and I realized how she would have misconstrued what I’d said.
“No, I don’t,” I replied as I piled mashed potatoes on my plate and passed the bowl to Si. “What I meant was at my parents’ house. I don’t live with them, but my ma always puts on Sunday dinners, and we go there for holidays, of course. So every Sunday my family meets there, and we enjoy a big meal together … family style.”
“Luca comes from a pretty big family,” Whitney told them.
“Yeah, my older brother and sister are both married. My brother has two boys, and my sister has a new baby girl. We are constantly growing bigger, the quintessential Italian family.”
“Are you from Italy?” Silas asked between bites, and it felt like a win having him ask me a question about myself.
“My family is but I was born here. My parents just took a trip to Italy actually, and I haven’t told you this yet, Whit, but they bought some property there. A house on a working olive grove. It’s going to be our family vacation home. We’re going to all go there and see it for the first time this summer.”
“Wow, a house in Italy? I’ve always wanted to go to Europe,” Stella said with a wistful sigh.
“That’s amazing. I’m sure you’ll have a lovely time,” Whitney added.
“So, does that mean if you and my mom are still going strong, we could be spending our summer in Italy?” Silas asked with a mischievous grin.
“Silas,” Whitney warned, at the same time I said, “Absolutely.”
Twenty-Three
Whitney