“Right. Well, call us after you give her the ring.”
“I will.” He embraced his mother before he returned to the car.
By the time he and Colton arrived at the house, the staples in his stomach were causing him a fair amount of pain so he popped two Tylenol in his mouth.
“Do you and Asher want dinner?” he asked. “I’ll be making something for Kara. I can make extra.”
“We’re fine. We need to talk to our New York team and review some security footage. So we’ll order some food on our own.”
“If you’re sure…”
Angelo’s feet were dragging as he got to the door.
I pushed myself too hard today.
He realized recovering from being stabbed and having surgery was not an overnight process. Nothing could have prepared him for how exhausted he was going to be. Of course, his doctor had tried to tell him, but he hadn’t understood what she’d meant until now.
The moment he opened the door, he noticed the lights were dimmed except for the dining room table which had to place settings out and two lit candles.
“Kara?” His tone was full of uncertainty.
“Oh! You’re home!” Kara suddenly rushed down the stairs, almost falling against him as she reached the bottom. She wore blue jeans and a dark blue knit sweater that made her eyes an even darker blue, a northern sea kind of blue. The sight stopped his heart for a moment. And he had to admit, he’d missed her like hell while he’d been at the restaurant for the afternoon.
“Sit.” She smiled at him as she gently pushed him toward the table. He eased down into a chair at one of the two place settings.
“I should cook dinner—” he halted as he realized delicious smells were coming from the kitchen,his kitchen. He’d been too tired to even notice the aroma of food, something henevermissed.
“I already did.” Kara called out as she opened the bottom oven door. He stared at her cute, heart-shaped ass as she retrieved whatever she had cooked from where it had been kept warm in the oven.
“You cooked?” Something in his chest squeezed to the point of pain, but it was the good kind of pain.
“Yep. It’s just fettuccine and a homemade Alfredo sauce, but I followed your nonna’s recipes. At least I think they were your nonna’s. I found some old photocopied recipes in a binder.”
For a second he simply stared at her, his heart filled with a deep sense of awe and wonder. The night he chose to retrieve his grandmother’s ring was the night she’d discovered his grandmother’s recipes and cooked for him. His throat was suddenly tight as he tried to master his emotions.
Thankfully Kara turned away to prepare two plates and when Angelo tried to stand up to help her she shot him an adorably bossy look which made him sit right back down.
“You cooked my nonna’s fettuccine?” He hadn’t made that recipe in years.
She bit her lip as she placed a plate in front of them. There was a small caprese salad, pasta, and Texas toast turned into garlic bread.
“I wanted it to taste as good as she made it. I made the noodles like you taught me, only I cut them for fettuccine. There were couple of great YouTube videos that showed me how to get it right.”
She put her own plate down and shifted restlessly as he picked up his fork to test the food. He carefully wound severalsauce coated noodles around his fork and then put them into his mouth.
Vivid flavors exploded on his tongue and sudden memories of his golden summers spent in Nonna’s kitchen, learning to cook, flashed across his mind like a stunning movie. He made a a soft sound the back of his throat as emotion hit him like a train. God, how he missed his grandmother. Tasting this was like feeling her presence in his kitchen.
“Oh God, it’s awful isn’t it?” The hopeful look on her face wilted, and her fork dropped to her plate.
He reached over and slowly took her fork, winding some noodles around it.
“Taste it.” He commanded as he held it up for her.
She opened her mouth and let him feed her. Then her eyes widened.
“Kara…” his voice was soft, a little rough with emotion. “You gave me such a gift tonight. I…” he suddenly swallowed around the lump in his throat. “It’s been a long time since anyone’s cooked for me like this…” He was glad her chair was close to his, because he was able to lean over and brush his lips against her cheek.
“You really like it?” Her eyes were so wide and worried that he wanted to kiss away her concern.
