“Gloves, remember?”
“Oh yeah. Sorry, Daddy.”
“It’s okay, baby girl.” God, I loved when she called me that. One day, she would just call me Dad—and I dreaded that moment. When she wasn’t a kid anymore but a teenager or an adult or a middle-aged woman ... and we would never have this again.
She took her time getting the gloves on, because, again, I didn’t help her. Then she reached into the bowl, grabbed a handful, and tossed it into the pot, where it immediately melted on the hot food.
“Perfect.” I turned off the burner and set the pan on the counter to cool for a minute.
“All right, let’s do it.” I stepped away from the counter, and she hopped off the step stool.
I wrapped the pot handle with the cloth slipcover, then handed it to her. “You got it?”
“Yeah, I got it.”
Aurelia walked toward us from the main dining area in her black T-shirt with the restaurant name on the front, Osteria di Cristina, her hair in a high ponytail that showed off her elegant neck. “Constantine, are you sure she should be handling that?”
“She’s got it.”
“She could get burned—”
“She’s got it. Show your mother, baby girl.”
“I got it, Ma.” She carried the hot pan to the right table, using both of her little hands, and put it on the colorful trivet bearing our restaurant logo in front of the correct person who’d ordered it. “Here you go,” she said sweetly.
The couple sitting there clearly thought she was the cutest thing ever. “Thank you so much,” the woman said.
“You’re welcome,” Julia said in the same sweet voice. Then she walked back to us, her dark hair in the same high ponytail as her mother’s. “See? I did it.”
Aurelia’s eyes squinted with affection, and she gave Julia a pat on the shoulder. “Good job, honey.”
Julia hopped onto the step stool, then reached for the basket of bread that had just been prepped by one of the other cooks. She carried that over to the couple’s table too, except they hadn’t ordered it and it should have gone to someone else, but that was just fine. Looked like they got some free bread.
“I admit she’s a natural,” Aurelia said.
“It’s in her blood.”
“She’s also got the blood of emperors too.”
I grinned. “And if she wants to do that someday, she’ll be ready for it.”
“God, let’s not even joke about that.”
“Con.”
I looked into the dining room and saw none other than Rocco entering the restaurant, a tall behemoth in the little place, his eyes lit up in joyous affection at the sight of me. “You didn’t tell me you were coming into town.”
He came to me with arms wide, and we embraced outside the kitchen. We exchanged hugs and pats on the back before we broke apart. “Rome’s been quiet, so I thought I’d take a little holiday.”
“And you had to pick Taormina, of all places?” I teased.
He shrugged. “Just looking for a free meal, I guess.”
I chuckled. “I’ve got you covered, brother.”
Julia came over after she delivered the bread. “Uncle Rocco!”
“There’s my little princess.” He scooped her up with a single arm, then hoisted her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
