“My dad and Lucy think they can handle it. Or, I should say, they’re dying to handle it.”
She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Tony, are you insane? We have to feed a crowd the size of a small wedding. I know your family loves to cook but we need professionals. I’m in PR. I know all about what it takes to carry off big events like this. And I can tell you—”
“I know that, Had, but…but well, when I told my dad and Lucy what happened, they were all over it.” He paused. “Even Nick rallied.”
“Hey! I heard that.” Nick came up from checking the smoker. “So I’m not a born chef like everyone else around here. But I work hard.” In true Cammareri fashion, he flexed his biceps.
“Hardly work you mean,” Cam shot back, chuckling.
“Guys!” Hadley said, wanting them to focus. Because…two hundred people. Tomorrow.
“So we’ve got a few things prepared,” Cam said. “You know my dad was a cook in the army, right? He knows how to feed a crowd. And Lucy has the catering experience.”
“And I’ve got the brawn.” Nick did more flexing.
Cam immediately fake-punched him in his rock-hard abdomen while Hadley tried to take calming breaths. Is this what brothers did?
“Even if your family can do this,” she said, “your dad’s kitchen is tiny. It would be…impossible.”
“Lucy’s catering boss told us we can use her kitchen, and even some of her staff if we can pay them.”
Well, they’d thought things out, that was for sure.
“You can be the judge of the food,” Cam continued. “If it doesn’t pass your muster, we go to Plan B, okay?”
She met his gaze. It occurred to her that he didn’t look stressed. He looked…excited. Yes, that was it. “You want this, don’t you?”
He walked her back to the door. “I loved learning how to make homemade pasta with my dad. He knows what he’s doing. Just…just come see, okay?”
He looked…different. Yes, that was it. Like he was on a mission. Like he was having fun. Unlike Hadley, who was imagining a huge crowd of hungry, angry people wanting to drive to the next town for burgers. “Okay. Fine. Impress me.”
“I thought you’d never say that.” He put a hand on her back to guide her into the house and dropped his voice. “I’ll take that as a challenge in more ways than one.”
* * *
Cam carefully placed a couple of cappellacci di zucca onto a plate and spooned some pan sauce over them as his dad hovered right behind him making sure he did it right. It was an old family recipe from northern Italy, and Cam wanted to give it the respect it was due. Lucy and his dad had done all the prep work, but they’d taught him how to run the pasta through the laminator and cut it, then stuff it with pumpkin filling and form it into little hats.
Everyone gathered around the old oak table with forks in hand. Even Bernie, locked and loaded in her high chair and ready for some pureed pumpkin, seemed to sense the solemn air.
Cam’s eyes were on Hadley, waiting expectantly for her to lift the fork to her mouth. It wasn’t that he didn’t know if the pasta was good. He’d watched his dad make it just as he had a thousand times before, going through the painstaking steps of mixing flour, water, and oil, rolling and cutting the dough and filling it with cheeses, frying pancetta, and drizzling a butter sauce over the still-warm pasta.
But this time he found himself holding his breath. He wanted her to be pleased. No, thrilled. He wanted to share the family heritage. He wanted to feed her.
He was proud of his family and their food traditions. Proud of his dad, and how his face had lit up about this challenge. Lucy’s too.
“Are you ready?” he asked as he placed more cappellaccis on a plate.
“Very nice,” Angelo said from behind his shoulder.
Lucy brought over orange-and-yellow frothy drinks and passed them around.
“Is that what I think it is?” Hadley asked. They’d asked Lars to create a special drink for the benefit. Something appropriate for the tropical theme and symbolic of Seashell Harbor. Lucy had taken the assignment and run with it.
Lucy smiled. “This will help take the edge off from dealing with my brother.”
Nick broke out laughing.
“I should’ve said both my brothers,” Lucy said, frowning.
“It’s really pretty,” Hadley said, examining the fancy drink. “What’s in it?”
“Take a sip,” Lucy said proudly.
Cam was ecstatic to see his sister so excited.
“I call it a Tequila Sunset,” Lucy said. “The party is right on the boardwalk, so everyone will be watching the real sunset.”
Cam passed out the food as everyone exclaimed over the drinks. When the meal was finally served, Hadley lifted her fork to her mouth but noticed no one else was taking a bite. “Why aren’t you all eating?”
“Because you’re the guest of honor,” Cam said pointedly. “It matters what you think here.”
Hadley shook her head and laughed. Then she speared a cappellacci with her fork and—Cam had to give her credit—ate it with everyone watching.
“Wow,” she said, chewing slowly. “It’s…incredible. It melts in my mouth. Are there more?”
“There are a lot more,” Angelo said. “It’s a traditional family recipe. We’d be proud to serve it.”
“I’d be proud to have you serve it,” she said, holding up her plate. “Now, may I please have more?”
That’s what Cam was waiting for. He blew out a pent-up breath.
“You can sit down now,” Angelo said to him. “She likes it.”
“There’s nothing like family and food,” Cam said, finally sitting down to dish out some for himself. If only his investors would allow him to serve food like this in his restaurants. But a homemade, fresh recipe like this would be too complicated and time-consuming for a chain.
“I think you were born to serve food like this,” Hadley said. “Cooking food and being with people is your calling.” She speared another bite on her fork. “Hey, you should open a restaurant.”
She was half joking, but her words made him choke up. He did love food—this food. His family’s traditional recipes. Without thinking, he reached over and placed his hand on top of hers on the table.
She sucked in a breath. The only other sound in the room was the baby babbling as she dropped peas on the floor. Everyone else’s eyeballs were focused on what he’d just done.
Which was to show everyone exactly how he felt about Hadley. He’d done it without thinking.
Was she okay about that? Was he? A glance across the table showed her to be carefully watching his next move. He couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“Hey, what’s that about?” Nick finally asked.
“Nothing, Nick,” Cam said as he removed his hand. “It’s nothing.” He weighed his options. She might be upset with him if he spilled their secret. But if he stayed silent, she might think he didn’t care enough to tell his family about them. Which was worse?
“But I saw—” Nick seemed to be thinking about it. “Well, that certainly explains that stupid expression you’ve been wearing on your face all day.”