Senior Year Box Set

She looked at me askance, like I was from another planet. I could understand how her world was all about favors, and you held on to them. I’d watched the Godfather series of movies; they were among the DVDs that Rita had given me. I imagined that was how this all worked. Movies never fudged on stuff like that, I guessed with tongue firmly in my cheek.

“Forget what I said. If a favor’s due at the end of this, Umberto will be on the hook,” Pia decided.

“Maybe I should cash in my favor so Tony doesn’t get the wrong idea about Kendra and me,” I suggested.

“Believe me when I say that if Kendra wants to do something, Tony’s the last one to object,” Pia said and instantly realized she was talking out of school.

“Really,” I prodded to get some dirt.

Pia gave me a dirty look.

“Because of that little comment, maybe I’ll invite Princess Erika to dinner as well. I’ll make sure you’re seated between the two of them,” Pia threatened.

“Here I had hoped that you would sit next to me,” I said with all of my acting ability.

Pia was Tony’s older sister and a classic Italian beauty like Kendra. I guessed Pia to be in her early twenties, and I loved her take-charge attitude and confidence. While Kendra appealed to me, there was something about Pia that intrigued me.

Pia looked me square in the eye, as though her will could bore into me to measure my actual interest. I didn’t flinch as I let a little smile touch my lips. I counted it as a win when Pia blushed.

“Get that thought right out of your head,” she finally said.

It wasn’t my head that was the problem. Well, not the big head, anyway. Now I’d planted the seed. We would see whether it bore fruit.

I did think it a little rude when she had her driver pull over and kicked me out of the car. And I was slightly miffed when she waved my phone at me as she pulled away. It looked like I would have to see her again to get it back. I wasn’t quite sure who’d won that round.

◊◊◊

Tony and Nancy had a condo that overlooked Riverside Park, close to Columbia University where they both went to school. Theirs was the penthouse unit with a private rooftop area. The building itself was vintage early 1900s with marble floors and fantastic plasterwork with intricate designs on the high ceilings. The elevator was so small as to be almost claustrophobic. It made me a little nervous when it lurched as it began to go up.

As dated as the building was, their condo was exactly the opposite. It had obviously been gutted and completely redone. I wished Cindy was with me to get decorating ideas. Tony’s people had made their place gorgeous.

Tony’s place was huge by New York standards. It was a five-bedroom and five-and-a-half-bath unit. Nancy introduced me to Maria, their housekeeper, childcare provider, and cook who lived in … get this … the servant’s quarters. I realized I didn’t have room to talk, but it just sounded ostentatious. I would have to start referring to the apartments over the garage at my Malibu house as the ‘servants’ quarters.’ Then again, my grandmother would just love that description when she moved into one of them—not! I might have to rethink that idea.

I hadn’t realized that Kendra lived with Tony and Nancy. Pia also had a room she used part-time. The girls sent me to the kitchen where I found Tony watching Maria make dinner.

“Pia told me you were cooking,” I said by way of greeting.

“When Maria heard you were coming, she ordered me to sit and watch. I’m allowed to poison my family, but not important guests,” he explained and offered me a glass of red wine.

“You need any help?” I asked Maria.

She looked doubtful.

“Believe it or not, I actually know my way around a kitchen,” I assured her. “I cook for my family and own a couple of restaurants.”

“I thought we would have bruschetta for an appetizer. Why don’t you see what you can do with that?”

“Wow. I’ve never seen Maria let anyone just walk in and cook in her kitchen,” Tony said.

“Why don’t you make yourself useful and cut me slices of Italian bread?” I asked Tony.

I had a good time with Tony and Maria as we made dinner. Tony was floored when I got her sauce recipe. He made it sound like it was some sort of state secret that I’d talked her out of. When she figured out I knew what I was doing in the kitchen, she let me and Tony finish dinner. While we did that, she drank wine and told us stories about Tony growing up.

She’d worked for his grandfather for years before agreeing to take over Tony’s household. It was clear she cared for him like a surrogate son.

◊◊◊

When we had almost finished making dinner, Tony’s son came to find his dad. The little guy was also named Tony, and they’d decided to call him Junior.

“Aunt Kendra said Mister David’s princess is here. Why she call Miss Erika a princess?” he asked.

I was impressed by how polite Junior was. I guessed him to be probably the same age as Kyle and Mac.

“She’s from an ancient kingdom,” Tony told his son as he scooped him up.

“Like the stories you tell me?”

“Just like those.”

“Aunt Pia said she hungry.”