Chapter 4 - Seventeen People She Planned to Replace
Luca took the paper from Rosa.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
Then he unfolded it.
I watched his eyes move slowly down the page.
“Effective Monday, your employment with Moretti Family Restaurant will be terminated due to a change in management.”
He stopped reading.
At the bottom was the name of the new operating company.
Bellini Hospitality.
“Vanessa?”
She approached him cautiously.
“Those weren't supposed to go out until everything was confirmed.”
“Who confirmed anything?”
“The new company needs to bring in its own staff.”
“So Rosa loses her job?”
“Luca, please don't make this personal.”
Rosa flinched.
I had never heard anyone tell her that her work wasn't personal.
She'd spent thirty-four years making sure people ate.
When Luca's father died, she'd prepared meals for the family without accepting payment.
When my own mother had surgery, Rosa had quietly packed enough food for three days and sent it home with me.
And now someone had written her name on a termination notice.
Luca held up the paper.
“This is personal.”
Vanessa looked exhausted.
“Seventeen employees. I know. But the other company can operate more efficiently.”
“Have you spoken to them?”
“To whom?”
“The seventeen people you're firing.”
She looked away.
“That's why I prepared the notices.”
Rosa stepped forward.
“Mr. Moretti, can I say something?”
“Always.”
Her hands were trembling.
“I know this place needs work.”
Luca listened.
“The refrigerator in the back doesn't hold its temperature properly. The kitchen ceiling leaks when the rain comes hard. Two weeks ago, I had to throw away seventy dollars' worth of vegetables.”
Vanessa glanced at Luca.
“See?”
But Rosa continued.
“I also know we had one hundred and sixteen customers last Sunday. Twenty-three of them were people your father used to feed.”
Luca's face changed.
“I didn't realize there were that many.”
“Because you haven't been here on Sundays lately.”
It wasn't an accusation.
That made it hurt more.
Rosa lowered her voice.
“I don't blame you. You've got a lot on your shoulders. But we still need you to know what's happening here.”
Luca looked at the floor.
“You're right.”
Vanessa folded her arms.
“So we're supposed to ignore the bills because everyone has good memories?”
“No,” Rosa answered.
“We're supposed to look at all the numbers before we put people out of work.”
I saw Caroline raise her head.
“What numbers?”
Rosa reached into her apron pocket.
“Anthony was helping me look through the repair estimates.”
Vanessa's expression hardened.
“He had no authority to negotiate on Luca's behalf.”
“He wasn't,” Rosa said.
“He was asking questions.”
Luca turned toward her.
“What did he find?”
“That the repairs didn't all have to happen at once.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“That's not what the original contractor recommended.”
“Anthony got another opinion.”
“From someone who didn't understand the building.”
Rosa drew a long breath.
“Mrs. Bellini, I've been cooking under that roof since before you finished elementary school. I know which problems need fixing now.”
The room went quiet.
Luca looked toward me.
“Megan, would you bring Rosa a chair?”
I pulled one away from the table.
Rosa sat reluctantly.
Then Luca placed the termination notices in front of her.
“These will not be distributed.”
Vanessa protested.
“Luca, you can't promise jobs we might not be able to pay for.”
He looked at her.
“I'm promising that nobody gets dismissed behind my back while we're still examining our options.”
It wasn't the same as promising the restaurant would survive.
I respected him more for understanding the difference.
Caroline glanced toward the clock.
It was almost ten.
Anthony had been in surgery for hours.
She checked her phone again.
No new update.
I brought her water.
She caught my wrist gently.
“Thank you, Megan.”
“You don't have to thank me.”
“Yes,” she whispered. “I do.”
Vanessa watched us.
Then she turned toward Luca.
“Do you understand what happens if we don't accept my father's offer? We may not have enough money to finish the repairs before winter.”
Luca looked at her.
“Then we'll have an honest conversation about that.”
“With everyone?”
“With everyone whose lives you're changing.”
She looked toward Rosa.
“You think they'll understand when they have to take reduced hours?”
Rosa answered before Luca could.
“Ask us.”
Vanessa fell silent.
It was such a simple answer.
I wondered why nobody had thought of it sooner.
Teresa rose slowly.
“I'd rather eat sandwiches in a smaller restaurant than sit in a beautiful room where nobody remembers my husband's name.”
Luca helped her sit again.
Then Rosa turned toward Caroline.
“Mrs. Marino, does Anthony still have the brown wool coat he wore yesterday?”
Caroline frowned.
“Yes. The hospital gave it back to me with his belongings.”
“Did you bring it?”
Caroline glanced at the handbag beside her chair.
“I did. I couldn't bear leaving it in the car.”
She pulled out a folded brown coat.
There was a dark stain along one cuff.
Rosa closed her eyes for a moment.
“Anthony asked me to keep a receipt for him. I gave it back yesterday.”
Luca stepped closer.
“What receipt?”
“The deposit for the emergency roof repair.”
Vanessa went still.
Caroline looked confused.
“What deposit?”
Rosa's eyes filled.
“Anthony paid it himself.”
Caroline stared at her.
May you like
Then she whispered the words that changed everything.
“With what money? He promised me he wasn't going to touch our savings again.”
