Chapter 10 - THE FAMILY THAT HAD TO BEGIN AGAIN
“Three weeks?”
Luca stared at the payment schedule.
Marco nodded.
“The contractor needs another forty thousand dollars to continue the required safety upgrades. The remaining balance can be paid in stages.”
Anna reached for the paper.
“Then we have three weeks to find forty thousand dollars.”
Vanessa was gone.
She'd left her engagement ring on the table before walking out.
Nobody had stopped her.
But the consequences of her decisions were still sitting in front of us.
Luca looked toward the kitchen.
“Are the employees aware?”
“Some know the renovation is delayed,” Marco answered.
“Then we'll tell everyone the truth tomorrow.”
Anna turned toward her brother.
“And we'll make the decision together.”
He nodded.
“Together.”
It seemed like such a simple agreement.
But after ten months of silence, the word carried more meaning than either of them could say.
I offered to take Teresa's casserole dish into the kitchen.
Luca shook his head.
“Leave it here a little longer.”
He touched the chipped handle.
“I spent years telling Mom to buy a new one.”
Anna smiled sadly.
“She said the old one worked perfectly well.”
“Dad offered to replace it for Christmas.”
“She told him to buy groceries instead.”
Luca laughed softly.
Then his expression changed.
“I wish I'd listened more.”
Anna took his hand.
“We both do.”
That night, I stayed after the guests left.
Not because anyone ordered me to.
Because I couldn't bear the thought of that room feeling lonely again.
Marco was stacking chairs.
Luca was reviewing the payment schedule.
Anna sat at the table, turning her mother's rosary between her fingers.
I brought them coffee.
“Rachel,” Luca said, “you don't have to stay.”
“I know, sir.”
He smiled faintly.
“Thank you.”
I hesitated.
“May I ask something?”
“Of course.”
“If the renovation is delayed, does the restaurant have to close completely?”
Marco shook his head.
“Not immediately. The downstairs kitchen and dining areas can continue operating under the current approvals. But the upstairs room will need its safety work completed before the next inspection deadline.”
I looked around.
“So maybe we shouldn't try to save everything at once.”
Luca frowned.
“What do you mean?”
“Your mother didn't care about fancy decorations. Could the work focus on safety first, and leave the expensive cosmetic changes until later?”
Marco looked at the proposal.
“That would reduce the overall cost.”
Anna nodded.
“Mom would've hated spending money on new wallpaper while the roof still needed fixing.”
Luca smiled.
“She would've said nobody comes here to eat the wallpaper.”
For a moment, everyone laughed.
Then Marco sat down.
“We can ask the contractor to separate the essential work from the upgrades.”
Luca nodded.
“Do it.”
Anna looked toward me.
“Rachel, you've managed household budgets for eighteen months. Would you help us review what we're spending on the engagement events?”
I hesitated.
“Those events are canceled.”
“Exactly.”
Luca looked up.
“She's right. There may be expenses we can still recover.”
I felt a strange warmth in my chest.
Not because somebody was praising me.
Because they were actually listening.
The following afternoon, we met in the same dining room.
Marco had a list of renovation costs.
Anna brought the restaurant's older expense records.
And Luca had already spoken with several suppliers.
Some deposits were nonrefundable.
Others could be credited toward future restaurant orders.
The decorative renovation could wait.
The required safety work couldn't.
But by removing unnecessary upgrades, the family could reduce the immediate financial burden considerably.
Still, the contractor needed a substantial payment to keep the crew scheduled.
Luca offered to cover most of it from his personal savings.
Anna shook her head.
“You've already been carrying too much.”
“Anna, I can handle it.”
“That's what you always say.”
He looked at her.
She smiled gently.
“I'm not saying don't help. I'm saying you don't have to be the only person helping.”
He sat back.
For a moment, I saw how difficult it was for him to accept that.
Then he nodded.
“All right. What do you suggest?”
Anna explained that she'd inherited their mother's ownership interest in the restaurant building.
For ten months, she'd avoided discussing it because she thought Luca wanted her gone.
Now she wanted to take responsibility as a partner.
Not merely as his sister.
“I won't let you borrow against the building without discussing it with me,” she said.
Luca raised an eyebrow.
“Already giving orders?”
“Somebody has to.”
He laughed.
And for the first time, their laughter sounded easy.
Later that afternoon, Mrs. Rosa DeLuca, the restaurant's longtime cook, joined us.
She was sixty-eight, with strong hands and a voice that could be heard clear across the kitchen.
“I heard you're bringing Sunday dinner back.”
Luca nodded.
“That's the plan.”
Rosa looked at the green casserole dish.
Her eyes filled.
“Your mother taught me that recipe.”
Anna smiled.
“She taught half of Chicago.”
Rosa touched the handle carefully.
“Did you know she cooked an extra casserole every Sunday?”
Luca frowned.
“For whom?”
“Whoever needed one.”
I remembered the elderly widower Teresa always fed.
Rosa nodded when I mentioned him.
“And the night-shift nurses. And the family whose house burned down.”
Luca looked at Anna.
“She never told me.”
“She didn't want credit,” Anna answered.
Rosa smiled.
“She just wanted people fed.”
Luca stared at the dining room.
Then he made a decision.
“When we reopen Sunday supper, I want one table available every week for people who need a meal and some company.”
Marco looked concerned.
“We'll have to account for the cost.”
“We will,” Luca said. “Properly.”
Anna nodded.
“Mom would've loved that.”
Rosa wiped her eyes.
Then she looked toward the kitchen.
“There's one problem.”
Luca frowned.
“What?”
“The old oven needs repairs before it can handle a full Sunday service. I've been keeping it going with smaller batches.”
Marco closed his eyes.
“Another expense.”
Rosa nodded.
“And the contractor won't hold the renovation crew indefinitely.”
Luca looked down at the payment schedule.
May you like
Then Marco added quietly:
“If we can't secure the first payment by Friday, the contractor will release our slot. We won't reopen this room before the inspection deadline.”
