important announcement
to make.
On Friday nights the restaurant employees attended to the customers so Mama and Papa Petrocelli could enjoy quality family
time with their sizable brood. Tony looked around the table at the people waiting to hear whatever he had to say.
Papa was sitting at the opposite end of the table in the place of authority—Mama in her usual seat to his right. Papa was
still handsome, silver sprinkled throughout his dark hair, his bushy eyebrows, and his thick mustache. Mama was still beautiful,
no gray showing in her thick, ink black hair. But her body was round and full now, thanks to bringing six children into the
world. Also thanks to the rich Italian dishes she not only loved to cook but loved to eat—the same dishes that had made the
family restaurant so popular.
His five sisters were there, all of them young and pretty. They were seated down both sides of the long table with their husbands,
all of whom Tony liked. His nieces and nephews, eight of them ranging in ages from three to ten, were running freely around
their grandparents' restaurant. No one seemed concerned that the kids might be terrorizing customers who had been brave enough
to come to Mama Gina's on a family Friday night.
In other words, everything was normal—chaos as usual.
With the exception that one very important family member was missing.
His grandmother lived in New Jersey with her oldest son, his uncle Vinny. Nonna's absence was the main reason Tony had decided
to make his announcement about meeting Kate Anderson to the family tonight. Whether he believed in his grandmother's ability
to predict the future or not, he would never do anything to insult her or hurt her feelings.
“Well?” Papa boomed from the head of the table. “Were you pounding on your wineglass because you wanted more Chianti? Or do
you have something important you wanted to say?”
Everyone laughed.
Tony took a deep breath and forced himself to say, “Today I met the blonde with green eyes in Central Park. She was even standing
beside an oil painting of the Madonna and Child.”
No one said a word.
Then everyone started talking at once.
His mother even had her hands clasped over her full-figured bosom, her eyes cast upward to the ceiling as she said a prayer
of thanks.
Shit.
Tony banged against his glass again.
When everyone settled back down, he said, “Don't get so excited. I'm afraid meeting the blonde is as far as Nonna's prediction
goes.”
A stream of questions came at him from every direction, again all at once.
“Yes,” Tony said, answering his sister Theresa who was sitting closest to him. “Like a complete fool, I did stop and talk
to her. I even told her all about Nonna's prediction. And it took her less than two seconds to inform me that she's already
engaged and her wedding is only two months away.”
“What?” His mother's expression was wide-eyed with concern. “But your destiny with this woman is written in the stars, Anthony!
Did you not explain this to her?”
Tony groaned inwardly. “Mama. What was there to explain?
I
told her about Nonna's prediction.
She
told me I had the wrong blonde. There was nothing more to say.”
“Nothing more to say?” Mama's usually smiling face was now screwed up in a worried frown—not a good sign. “Don't be ridiculous,
Anthony. You must go see her again and tell her to postpone her wedding. Make her understand
you
are the man she was meant to marry.”
Tony was dumbfounded.
When two of his sisters actually nodded in agreement, Tony threw his hands up in the air.
“Oh, come on, Mama. I thought
you
would be pleased that this woman is already engaged. If I remember right, you cried for days after my sixteenth birthday.
I thought it had always been your dream that your only son would marry a nice
Italian
girl. Not some green-eyed blonde.”
His mother waved away his comment. “That was then. This is now. Times have changed, and so
to make.
On Friday nights the restaurant employees attended to the customers so Mama and Papa Petrocelli could enjoy quality family
time with their sizable brood. Tony looked around the table at the people waiting to hear whatever he had to say.
Papa was sitting at the opposite end of the table in the place of authority—Mama in her usual seat to his right. Papa was
still handsome, silver sprinkled throughout his dark hair, his bushy eyebrows, and his thick mustache. Mama was still beautiful,
no gray showing in her thick, ink black hair. But her body was round and full now, thanks to bringing six children into the
world. Also thanks to the rich Italian dishes she not only loved to cook but loved to eat—the same dishes that had made the
family restaurant so popular.
His five sisters were there, all of them young and pretty. They were seated down both sides of the long table with their husbands,
all of whom Tony liked. His nieces and nephews, eight of them ranging in ages from three to ten, were running freely around
their grandparents' restaurant. No one seemed concerned that the kids might be terrorizing customers who had been brave enough
to come to Mama Gina's on a family Friday night.
In other words, everything was normal—chaos as usual.
With the exception that one very important family member was missing.
His grandmother lived in New Jersey with her oldest son, his uncle Vinny. Nonna's absence was the main reason Tony had decided
to make his announcement about meeting Kate Anderson to the family tonight. Whether he believed in his grandmother's ability
to predict the future or not, he would never do anything to insult her or hurt her feelings.
“Well?” Papa boomed from the head of the table. “Were you pounding on your wineglass because you wanted more Chianti? Or do
you have something important you wanted to say?”
Everyone laughed.
Tony took a deep breath and forced himself to say, “Today I met the blonde with green eyes in Central Park. She was even standing
beside an oil painting of the Madonna and Child.”
No one said a word.
Then everyone started talking at once.
His mother even had her hands clasped over her full-figured bosom, her eyes cast upward to the ceiling as she said a prayer
of thanks.
Shit.
Tony banged against his glass again.
When everyone settled back down, he said, “Don't get so excited. I'm afraid meeting the blonde is as far as Nonna's prediction
goes.”
A stream of questions came at him from every direction, again all at once.
“Yes,” Tony said, answering his sister Theresa who was sitting closest to him. “Like a complete fool, I did stop and talk
to her. I even told her all about Nonna's prediction. And it took her less than two seconds to inform me that she's already
engaged and her wedding is only two months away.”
“What?” His mother's expression was wide-eyed with concern. “But your destiny with this woman is written in the stars, Anthony!
Did you not explain this to her?”
Tony groaned inwardly. “Mama. What was there to explain?
I
told her about Nonna's prediction.
She
told me I had the wrong blonde. There was nothing more to say.”
“Nothing more to say?” Mama's usually smiling face was now screwed up in a worried frown—not a good sign. “Don't be ridiculous,
Anthony. You must go see her again and tell her to postpone her wedding. Make her understand
you
are the man she was meant to marry.”
Tony was dumbfounded.
When two of his sisters actually nodded in agreement, Tony threw his hands up in the air.
“Oh, come on, Mama. I thought
you
would be pleased that this woman is already engaged. If I remember right, you cried for days after my sixteenth birthday.
I thought it had always been your dream that your only son would marry a nice
Italian
girl. Not some green-eyed blonde.”
His mother waved away his comment. “That was then. This is now. Times have changed, and so
Similar Books
Thin Air
Rachel Caine
Kasey Michaels
Indiscreet
Draw the Dark
Ilsa J. Bick
Pants on Fire
Casia Schreyer
A New World: Dissension
John O'Brien
Heather's Gift
Lora Leigh
Preacher
William W. Johnstone
The Love Letter
Erica Matthews
Say You Want Me
Corinne Michaels
The Story Of The Stone
Barry Hughart