I glance up at the ceiling, wanting a nice dinner alone with my girl. But I know Chloe, and she loves to be surrounded by my brothers and sister. It must be an only child thing because every chance she gets, she invites them over.
Me: Meet there at 9:30.
Gracie: Perfect. My last appointment cancelled.
Vito: Solid.
Benito: I’ll go save a table.
Gracie: You’ll eat with us?
Benito: You just spent five minutes beating me up, and you want me to sit down and have a civilized meal?
Gracie: I took years of your brotherly abuse and still talk to you. I think you can take a few text messages with the reality of your choices.
Vito: Babe, you gave as good as you got. I have some scars to prove it.
Gracie: I learned from the best.
Benito: I have to go prep our dinner.
Gracie: Nothing too greasy.
Benito: Picky.
Vito: See you in an hour.
Me: Bye.
Gracie: Later.
Benito: Peace.
* * *
“This is Lexi,”Benito says, walking up the table with his hand against a new women’s back.
“New flavor of the month,” Gracie mutters under her breath into her glass of wine.
I give her a chin lift. “Hey.”
“She’s going to join us tonight,” Benito informs us, pulling over a spare chair from another table.
This is new. He’s never invited anyone to sit with us, not even his close friends.
“Cool,” Vito says, barely looking up because he’s too busy stuffing his face with the fresh baked bread. “The more, the merrier.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Lexi,” Chloe says to her as she slides into the wood chair as elegantly as I’ve seen anyone do it before.
Gracie’s staring at Lexi like she has two heads. “I’m just…this is different.”
“Be nice, Grace,” Vito tells her like she’s a little kid about to make a scene.
“We’re old friends,” Lexi says to the table, but she can’t take her eyes off my brother. “We haven’t seen each other in years.”
Surprisingly, Benito’s staring at Lexi the exact same way. I never remember him talking about her, but by the look on his face, it was more than a fling. “It’s been at least a decade. I can’t believe you wandered in here tonight of all nights and to my restaurant.”
“When I saw the name, I knew it was you. There’s not too many Benito’s in this part of the country.” Lexi places her hand on his arm, and my brother does nothing to pull away. She turns to glance around the table at each of us. “I hope you don’t mind me crashing your family dinner.”
