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Francesca spins around and slams her hand over her chest. “Joey, oh my God, why don’t you give me a heart attack?”
I chuckle and take a seat next to Dad. He hands me the sports section, like he did when I was a kid and just getting into sports. “It’s not like it’s quiet here. You have the radio playing and you’re singing.”
She scowls. “But I wasn’t expecting you to come upstairs for another fifteen minutes.”
“Well, tell that to my stomach because he decided my workout was over and it was time to grab a mid-afternoon snack.”
“This one will be done in five minutes. I just need to get plates and forks and put the dishes in the dishwasher.”
I get off my stool and head to the dishes. “I’ll load the dishwasher.”
“This is just like old times.” She says as she reaches around me to rinse off her hands.
“Speaking of old times, why are you baking coffee cakes at four thirty in the afternoon?”
“Because it’s time to bring back some of our traditions. Even though Mom is dead, for real this time, we are still a family and should act like one.”
I narrow my eyes at her before loading the dishes into the dishwasher. There has to be another reason. Why would she wake up today and feel the urge to bake?
“Are you sure there isn’t another reason?” I ask as I sit back down on the stool next to Dad.
“Like what?” She sets three plates down on the table in our normal spots and lays a fork on each plate.
We stare at each other as we try to gauge who has a bigger secret. Growing up, she always had the bigger secrets, but she would find a way to turn the questioning around to me. I’d end up confessing to something else just to keep Mom and Dad from finding out what I was really hiding.
“Maybe you and Rhett have something to share with the rest of us?”
Dad lays down his section of the newspaper to listen to our conversation.
Francesca rolls her eyes. “Well, Rhett and I do want a family. Everyone knows that.”
Dad looks at Francesca, like he’s about to scold her. “But not until you two are married, right?”
Francesca laughs. “We are getting married this summer. Even if I got pregnant right away, I wouldn’t have a baby before then.”
She glares at me before taking the coffee cake out of the oven and placing it on the stove next to the other one.
“Fran, you know how I feel about having babies out of wedlock.”
She interrupts him. “Daddy, I’m not pregnant, but yeah, let’s discuss having a baby out of wedlock. It’s not like anyone willreally know. Uncle Tony, AJ, and Angelica are the only ones that keep in touch, and they won’t judge me.”
Dad pinches the bridge of his nose. “After all the trouble of you dating the Rossi heir, the last thing I need to worry about is you bringing a child into the middle of this war.”
Francesca leans across the bar and kisses his cheek. “Relax, Daddy. I am not pregnant. Rhett would be here if I were, and as you can see, he’s not.”
Her gaze lingers on me for a second too long before she cuts the coffee cake and brings it over to the table. “Come on and eat before it gets cold.”
I grab a cup of coffee and refill Dad’s cup before joining them at the table.
When the cake is plated, Francesca bounces in her chair like a child.
“So?” she asks as I take a bite.
I nod as the cinnamon flavor explodes in my mouth. “This is really good, Franny. Thanks for baking it.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
Dad glances from me to her and back to me. “What’s going on?”