The smell of pasta cooking in the oven and on the stove made her more queasy than hungry. She downed the wine too quickly and decided she’d better have some of the charcuterie platter to soak it up. The last thing she’d want to do was get drunk today.
“Is there anything I can do to help, Mrs. Giardano?”
“Yes, you can start calling me Mama G like Marc does. We’re family now!”
Tony’s mother seemed so much younger and more vibrant than her own. Carm liked her a lot and did feel like one of the family. What would Marc and Angelina think about her joining the Giardano family? She glanced across the room to find them wrapped up in an intimate conversation as if no one else existed. That was probably a good thing, because they might be more observant than Tony’s brothers, and Mama G was too busy preparing dinner. They wanted to wait until the right time to share their news.
The noise level in the room made it difficult for Carm to follow the individual conversations—and there seemed to be several going on at one time. She wasn’t used to such a boisterous family. Her own was so much more sedate and formal, especially on special occasions and holidays. Tony’s family gatherings were something she could definitely get used to.
Mama G took the lasagna from the oven and turned everything off, including what looked like the same primavera dish Tony had made for her the night she’d stayed over. He must have gotten the recipe from his mama.
“You’ve prepared a feast,” Carm said as Tony opened another bottle of Italian wine. “And this wine is delicious.”
“I’m sure there won’t be any leftovers with this crowd,” Mama G said. “Be sure you get your fill on the first pass of dishes.”
“Thanks. I will. How can I help?” she asked again.
“You are not to lift a finger. You’re my guest.” The older woman paused to take stock of the various dishes laid out on the counter. “Actually, I think we’ll be ready to go into the dining room in about 10 minutes. Tony, take your coats into my bedroom with the others.”
Tony took her hand, and they walked down a hallway to the open bedroom in the back of the house. “Which room was yours growing up?” she asked after they passed several closed doors.
“I shared that room with Matt.” He pointed to a door they’d just passed halfway down the hallway.
“Can we take a peek?” She wondered if any of his childhood still lingered.
“Sure.” He placed their coats on the bed, and Carm laid her purse next to them. She took his hand, and he led her to the room where he’d grown up. When he opened the door, she felt as if she were looking at a time capsule.
“It looks like the nineties all over again.”
Tony laughed. “Yeah, Mama thinks that if she leaves it undisturbed maybe we’ll move back in someday.”
There were two twin beds on opposite walls from each other that looked as if they might once have been a stacked bunk bed. Simple comforters covered each bed, one orange and one green, reminding her of the Italian flag.
“Which was yours?”
He pointed to the orange one. A fire color. Of course. In addition to one closet and a chest of drawers, there also were two desks and chairs in the room, each covered with trophies and sports paraphernalia. She immediately guessed which belonged to each boy. The one with all the horse memorabilia had to be Matt’s. He still owned horses from what Tony had told her. So she zeroed in on the other desk.
“You sure earned a lot of trophies on the swim team.”
“Yep. We made it to state one year but didn’t win.”
“You had to be very good to go to state at all.”
He shrugged. “It was a team effort. But I’m grateful now more than ever to Coach for teaching me how to swim faster than anyone at my school. I can pass along some of what he taught to the other squad members.”
She picked up a photograph of four swimmers in their trunks and swim caps. Tony stood at least half a foot taller than the others and with his well-developed chest and muscular arms, he definitely was the hottest one on the team.
“I’ll bet all the girls chased you back then.”
“I probably did more chasing than they did, and I didn’t always catch them, either.”
She laughed. “I’m sure you captured the hearts of your fair share.” Again he shrugged noncommittally.
As she checked out more of what was on the desk, warm arms wrapped around her waist, and the smell of Tony’s aftershave made her libido kick in.
“Any fantasies of making out in your fiancé’s childhood bedroom, dolcezza?” he asked as he nuzzled her neck.
“Not with your mama in the—”
“Whoa! Sorry to intrude!” They broke apart as if caught with their hands in the cookie jar, and her face grew flushed as they both turned to find Matteo standing in the doorway. He looked from one to the other, then grinned broadly.
“Never any privacy in here,” Tony grumbled.
“Hey, this was my room too.” Matteo looked from one to the other, settling on Tony. “Is there something you two have to tell us?”
“Yeah, but later,” Tony said. “Don’t you say a word in the meantime, Matt, and spoil it for us.”
His brother held up his hands with palms facing out in the universal hands-off gesture. “Far be it from me to blow your surprise. But Mama sent me to find you two. Dinner’s ready.” His grin broadened as he glanced from one to the other. “Somehow I don’t think she’s going to be upset to hear one of her confirmed bachelors is dating someone as nice as Carmella, though.”
Matteo’s words of acceptance meant a lot to Carmella, but it sounded as though he didn’t suspect how serious this relationship was.
