Page 54 of If You Like It, I Love It

Enzo moved in six months ago, and he keeps saying he’ll invite his family over, but his little sister is graduating from high school in less than a month, and if we want his mom to let us host her graduation party, I know she needs to see the house first.

Eva Torres loves to host family gatherings, but she never lets herself sit down and enjoy the celebration. She flits around nonstop, refilling drinks and clearing plates, cleaning the kitchen in micro-shifts, and I don’t think that’s fair to her. Enzo says I don’t understand that she wants it that way.

Maybe I don’t understand, but I’m going to offer, anyway. Mia is the baby of the family, and if we can lighten Eva’s load for this last graduation party, I want us to do that.

She arrives right on time, and she brings a gift.

“Enzo said you liked yellow flowers. These have a little pink on them, too, but they’re mostly yellow.”

“They’re beautiful. I love them. Thank you. Please come in.”

We walk into the kitchen, and she gasps. “Enzo created this?”

“He did. It’s my dream kitchen, but it’s a kitchen made for cooking in.” I pause and try to choose my words carefully. “A kitchen made for hosting people. And we’d really love to host Mia’s graduation party.”

“Are you sure?”

Okay, this is a good sign. No pushback. She seems receptive to the idea. “Positive. We have all this space, and it would great to fill it with family.”

“I could cook in here?”

I hadn’t intended for her to have to cook, but the way her eyes light up, I realize Enzo is right. She likes to do the work of hosting. Maybe she’ll let me help?

“Yes, of course. I’d love to help, but you could have the run of the kitchen.”

She peers through the window over the sink. “Oh, you have so much room outside, too.”

“We do. Plenty of room for everyone to spread out.”

“Okay. Yes. I think we should have the party here.”

“Perfect! That makes me so happy.”

“Me, too. Sit down. I’ll make you something to eat.”

Before I can say a word, she’s opening cabinets and drawers, making subtle noises of disapproval and shaking her head as she goes.

“Why are your pans over here? No, no, no. This is wrong. They should be right next to the stove.” She begins stacking all the pans on the counter.

She’s going to rearrange my kitchen?

Enzo comes home in the middle of her efforts. He shakes his head at me.

I shake my head back at him before he can say anything, and mouth, “It’s fine.”

“I’m going to take a shower.” He kisses his mom on top of her head on his way.

Mia comes through the front door with Sabrina, who’s here to drop off my Sugar Lips order that she was kind enough to pick up for me.

“Wow,” Mia says as they walk past the living room. “Your house is really nice. And this kitchen looks like it belongs in a magazine.”

Her mom stops emptying my bakeware drawer and beams at her. “Enzo did this.”

“No, he may have ordered a bunch of guys around while they put it all together, but he didn’t design it.” Mia nods at me. “She did. My brother does not have this much good taste.”

“He doesn’t actually order people around,” I say. “He’s pretty easy going.”

“Enzo? He’s the bossiest person on the planet. He’s been bossing me around my whole life.”