All I Believe (Firsts and Forever, #10)(32)

“I’m planning to visit a local gallery that’s owned by a friend of mine. Would you like to come with me?”

“Sure. After that, there’s something I need to do. You’re welcome to join me, but you might find it dull. Do you cook?” I asked him.

He shook his head. “I’m hopeless. If it wasn’t for restaurants, I’d starve to death.”

“Well, then you probably wouldn’t want to hang out with me while I made dinner for Jessie. You’d be bored to death.”

“No I wouldn’t. I could sit around drinking wine and trying to distract you every three minutes by kissing your neck and nibbling your earlobes. My contribution to the cooking process.” He flashed a big smile and I grinned at him.


“I’m going to text my cousin Fiona and see if I can borrow her kitchen this afternoon.”

We headed for the door as I pulled my phone from my pocket and began to compose a message, and Luca asked, “What culinary marvels will you be creating, and will I be impressed by your mad cooking skills?”

“Tuna casserole, so probably not. I do enjoy cooking, though. Or, I did, back when I had my own kitchen. Now that I live with Nana, hers usually has way too much going on at any given moment, including the filming of her cooking show.”

He asked, “She’s on television?”

“Kind of. She has a low-budget show on cable TV. She really is an excellent cook and owned her own restaurant for years, but for some reason when the camera starts rolling, it all pretty much goes to hell. I think people tune in just to see how many f-bombs she drops and to watch everything spiral wildly out of control.”

“Sounds entertaining.”

“Oh, it is.”

“One question,” Luca said. “Why on earth are you making tuna casserole?”

“Because I want to give Jessie a taste of home. He told me he grew up on it and misses it. He’s estranged from his family, and last night I saw how much he’s hurting. I think he’s a bit homesick too. So, I don’t know, maybe this will help.”

“That’s very sweet of you.”

“Well, Jessie’s a good friend. He’s always doing stuff for me, and I want to return the favor.” My phone buzzed and I looked at the screen. “Fiona says it’s no problem to use her apartment. She suggested calling some of our cousins and having an Americano theme night to go with the ‘tacky casserole’. Her words.” I glanced at Luca and said, “Want to be my date? My family is pretty loud and obnoxious, and there’s every chance the dinner will be inedible, just so you know.”

“Way to dress up the offer,” he teased, “and I’d love to be your date. Sounds fun.”

“You have an interesting definition of fun.”

“You’ll be there, so it’ll be fun. Plus, I’ll get to try tuna casserole. What is that, anyway?”

“You don’t spend much time in the states, do you?”

“I do actually, but as a businessman. That’s not generally on the room service menu.”

“Oh. Yeah, good point,” I said. “I’m pretty sure it’s noodles and canned tuna baked in some kind of sauce. There might be crumbled potato chips on top. I didn’t grow up on it, so this will involve a bit of trial and error. How hard could it be, though?”

I texted Fiona again, giving the impromptu party a thumbs up. When we ran into Nana and Jessie in front of the hotel, waving goodbye as the float pulled away, I said, “We’re making you two dinner at Fi’s apartment tonight. She’s going to invite some of my cousins, too. Can you be there by seven for cocktail hour?”

Nana clapped her hands and said, “Sounds fun! Want me to come early and help you cook?”

“No thanks, Nana. I just want you and Jessie to be our guests and relax. You’re on vacation,” I told her.

“Well, so are you.”

“I know, but I’m going to enjoy this, especially because Luca’s agreed to be my completely unhelpful sous chef.”

He said, “Yup. Total unhelpfulness guaranteed.”

“You boys have fun,” Nana said. “Jessie and I are gonna relax by the pool for a bit, we’ll see you at seven. I want to work on my tan so I look hot for tomorrow night. I hope I remembered to pack my bikini.”

They went into the hotel, and as Luca and I started down the sidewalk he asked me, “Does she really have a bikini?”

“Oh yeah. Just be glad we’re at a family-friendly hotel. It means she won’t be doing any topless sunbathing this time.”

Luca chuckled and said, “I can honestly say I’ve never met anyone like your grandmother.”

“And you never will again. She’s definitely one of a kind.”

He held my hand as we walked north, toward what the locals referred to as Nuova Citta, or ‘New Town’. The fact that it was over two hundred years old said a lot about Viladembursa. “I need to buy a suit,” I said. “There was one in my luggage, but at this point I think the chances of it showing up are pretty slim.”

“Why do you need a suit?”

“Because right now, it looks like you’re walking your child home from school.”

He laughed at that and said, “It does not!”