Chapter 4

Against her common sense, Veronica von Köster rode with Gus and Lucy in Lucy’s Lexus into Cheektowaga for dinner at Giardino’s Italian Family Restaurant, a place she has heard of for ages from Paul, but she’s never gone. Good Italian food is not conducive to a trim waistline. “Thank you for getting my reading room done so nicely, Gus.”

“Reading room?” asked Lucy.

“I added a small reading room to her house,” said Gus. “It has five sides and is big enough for what, two rocking chairs?”

“It catches the morning sunlight so beautifully. This morning I had my tea out there and saw the most beautiful cardinal in my tree,” said Veronica.

“Don’t let the twins see that. They want to put a cardinal in a cage.”

It was snowing as they followed Paul off US33 on to Harlem Drive and they turned onto Maryvale drive then into Cedargrove Heights. “Isn’t this Tiorunda Housing?” asked Veronica.

“Yup,” said Gus. “It used to be called that.” He pointed toward a large, gray, slab-sided two-story building. “That’s where John and Paul grew up.”

“That’s kind of gloomy,” said Lucy, seeing the trash around the dumpsters and the bicycles sticking out of snowdrifts.

“It used to be really bad,” and he continued around the park. Many of the buildings were split-level duplexes and decorated with Christmas lights, but the big gloomy two-story gray boxes only had lights in the occasional window. After cruising through the neighborhood, they pulled on to Genesee Street and there was Giardino’s. They pulled into the parking lot and Gus complained that a proper Italian Restaurant should have several black 1968 Cadillacs in the parking lot.

“Hush,” said Lucy. “People will hear you.”

“I’m Italian. What are they going to say? Come on, Veronica.” Gus led them to the entrance and as soon as he entered, they were assailed by Momma Giardino.

“Augusto!” she cried and threw her hands around Gus. “You finally come home.”

“I was here two weeks ago, momma.”

“Not enough for a hardworking man! And who do you have with? So pretty!”

“Momma, this is Veronica von Köster, a neighbor we have been trying to get to come here, and you have met Lucy.”

As Momma Giardino teased Lucy for being too skinny, Veronica smelled the wonderful medley of fragrances wafting from the kitchen ... it smelled like Italy. It’s been a while since she’s been there, but she remembers those smells like it was yesterday. Momma led them to a table in a private room where Andi, Paul, Sandy, and Madeline sat with John, Macy, and Andi’s parents, Harold, and Heather Driscoll. Their waiter Tony pulled chairs out for Veronica and Lucy and the twins swarmed into their grandparent’s laps. Harold and Heather were heading back to Denver after dinner, so the twins were getting as much grandma and grandpa time as they could.

“Such a happy family,” sniffed Momma. “Such love! It’s a shame Pauli and John’s parents weren’t here to see this.” Andi and Paul were taking a moment to study each other’s eyes. Even after everything that happened in the past five weeks, Paul’s breath still catches in his chest when he looks into Andi’s eyes.

As their lips parted, the newlyweds realized everyone was looking at them. “Um, sorry,” mumbled Paul. “Gus? Would you like to do the honors?”

“Why I’d be happy to,” he said and Andi and Veronica folded their hands to say grace, but Gus had turned to Tony and said, “We’ll have the antipasto and wedding soup, lasagna, bring a whole pan, rigatoni with pork ragout, lamb Osso buco, gnocchi ala Romana, your seafood stuffed shells, bowtie carbonara, and your spaghetti.”

“Meatballs or sausage?”

“Bring both. And for dessert we’ll try the...” but Gus was interrupted by the twins chanting.

“Tear Sue, Tear Sue, Tear Sue!”

“Tiramisu,” said Tony, writing it down. “Anything else?”

“The house wine you get from Pordenone, and Welshes for the girls.”

“Wow, that’s quite a load,” said Lucy. “I’m going to be on the treadmill all day tomorrow.”

“Mind if I join you?” said Veronica. She was going to be house and dog sitting for Paul and Andi while the family goes on a cruise. This meal will give her the excuse to try all their exercise equipment.

Soon bowls of the Italian Wedding soup were set out and even the twins liked it. They weren’t wild about it at first. They are primarily chicken noodle connoisseurs. “There are meatballs in your soup,” said Andi.

“Meatballs?!?” they asked as they wrinkled their noses but peering in their bowls, they saw the little meatballs.

“There are leaves in there,” complained Sandy.

“It’s spinach,” said Uncle Gus.

“Spinach makes you strong,” insisted Madeline, so they tried it and when Tony came back with the Antipasto, the twins informed him that the soup wasn’t bad in their opinion and they should sell it to everybody.

“I will be sure to tell the chef that the wedding soup gets the twins’ approval,” said Tony.

“And the sticks,” said Sandy as she dipped the end of her breadstick into her soup bowl.

As the bowls and platters of the main courses were set out, Veronica’s eyes closed in pleasure as she smelled the fragrance of each dish set before them. “Oh, if you only knew the torture of a photo shoot in Italy,” she said. “You could smell the food everywhere, but your agent and the photographer were right there demanding that if you ate, it was water and a rice cake. A tiny rice cake.”

“Oui!” said Macy, “I had a shoot in Napoli and the smells were so dangerous!” Macy escaped life in a fishing village by becoming la femme noire distante (mysterious black woman) for a photographer and parlayed that into a career which paid for her school expenses, which allowed her to become a theologian.

“Naples was the worst,” agreed Veronica. “I could gain five pounds just sniffing the food...”

“We have ANOTHER fashion model with us?” Lucy almost wept, which caused most people to laugh, but Gus and Veronica felt sorry for her.

Other than that, the dinner was a success. The couples laughed as they ate and talked about their plans for the next couple of weeks. Cruising on the warm Caribbean, basking in the warm Florida sunshine. Swimming, fishing, and relaxing on Andi’s Dream. “I’m going to catch a fish THIS BIG!” declared Sandy, holding her hands about six inches apart.

“That’s kind of small, isn’t it?” asked Gus.

“She likes fish sticks,” said Andi, trying to fight back the giggles.

“Waste not want not!” said Madeline, coming to her sister’s aid. “Gamma always says that, right gamma?”

“Right, little one!” said Heather proudly.

Harold Driscoll took picture after picture of his wife Heather as she posed and smiled with all the guests, especially Macy, whom she thought she needed to make up for her earlier remarks. Harold looked truly happy for the first time since Andi met him as a young teen when her mother remarried. She hugged Harold and said, “You and mom look so happy.”