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“God, Ma. This is delicious.”
“Thank you, sweetheart. I wanted to do something a little special for your father’s announcement.” She raised her glass with a secret smile for her husband of forty years.
So thatwasit. Dad was finally going to join Ma in retirement. Ma had been office manager since Frankie had started kindergarten. After Gabe’s death, she hadn’t had the heart to keep the business going. Losing Gabe had brought her mortality into fine focus, and she wasn’t going to waste another minute. She was determined to enjoy her retirement, preferably with Dad by her side. At least that’s what Sofia had gathered from snippets of overheard conversations and not-so-whispered arguments.
Unfortunately, her mother’s abrupt retirement had caused the bulk of her duties to fall into Sofia’s lap. She could wish it wasn’t so, but she certainly didn’t begrudge her mother the time off. Losing her oldest child had shaken her badly. Sofia hoped she’d never see the day that something else shook Josephine Valenti to her core. Her father might bluster and bark, but everyone knew who ran this family. When the bedrock shook, no one was safe from the aftershocks.
About a year after Gabe’s death, her mom had begun to work on her dad. Domenico Valenti was not an easy man to persuade, and these two years had passed with little change. Though Ma couldn’t stop talking about all the travel she wanted to do, Dad had been no closer to letting go of the reins. Apparently, Jo had made some progress on that front.
“So, Ma, made any travel plans lately?” Sofia teased.
“You know I won’t go anywhere without your father. But I was talking to Elena the other day.” She switched her gaze to Seth as she spoke of his mother. “She was filling me in on all the details of their time in Italy. She was quite taken with all the vineyards. It sounds beautiful in the springtime. We’ll see.”
Dad cleared his throat, immediately drawing the attention of everyone at the table. He was a man used to being listened to and obeyed.
“I’m officially calling this family meeting to order.”
The only sound breaking the silence was the occasional scrape of fork against plate.
“You all know that Jo and I have been talking about retiring for the last few years.” Sofia looked down the table at Ma and saw the wide, warm smile that she reserved for her husband alone. Sofia was happy for her mother, but she couldn’t help but think that this would mean even more duties would fall to her. Maybe if she positioned herself right though, she could convince him to leave her in charge. If she were running the show, she could hire more office staff, freeing herself up to return to her first love, interior design. As the oldest now, it only made sense for her to take the reins. Of course, Frankie and Enzo would still have a share of the company, but if she was the CEO, so to speak, she could turn it in the direction she’d been dreaming of. A kernel of hope warmed in her chest.
“I’m not convinced that the business is in a strong enough position for me to walk away. People come to us because of the reputation Tony and I spent our lives building. If we just leave, I worry that the work will drop off.”
“But Dad, the Valley is booming!” This outburst from an impatient Frankie was cut off with a firm slice of Dad’s hand.
“I also can’t see a clear successor to take over running the business. So I’ve decided to kill all the birds with one stone. We’re doing a TV show.”
Forks halted halfway to their intended mouths. Wine glasses clunked back down to the table, un-sipped. Judging by the complete shock around the table, Dad had kept this secret well. The open bottles of Ma’s favorite wine were beginning to make sense.
“What do you mean a TV show?” Her mother’s smile was gone, and her voice had gone shrill, a tone usually reserved for broken vases and calls from the principal.
“A producer approached me a few weeks ago.”
“A few WEEKS? You’ve been thinking about this for weeks and didn’t see fit to discuss it with me? Does Tony know?”
Her father knew the futility of responding to this line of questioning from his wife. There was no good answer, so he simply continued talking as if the question had never been asked. “You know that HomeTV network? Well, they heard about our price guarantee, and saw some of our work at that director’s house in Los Altos. They want to do a show about us. The concept is that we are a family business, helping families move into properties that they can afford in Silicon Valley. Because everything is so damn expensive, we are going to work on a tight budget and timeline to make these houses livable again. We’re calling it Million-Dollar Starter Home. The couple buys the house. We do basic renovations, kitchen and bath, that sort of thing, on time and under budget with a blind reveal at the end.”
“Why do we need a show?” Frankie piped up defensively. “What’s wrong with the way we do things now? You know I want to run the business.”
Really?This was the first Sofia was hearing of it.
“You’re too young. You need more experience, and the pressure of the show will give you that, while bringing new clients in the door based on your reputations, not mine.”
“So I’m basically out of this?” Lorenzo, Enzo for short, was their landscaping genius. He didn’t seem too upset about this at all. He’d never been one to search out the spotlight. He’d never voiced an interest in running the larger business either, no matter how many times Dom had hinted.
“Not true. They want to feature easy curb appeal fixes.”
“Damn it.” Enzo’s face fell.
“Where does that leave me?” Sofia was almost afraid to ask.
“Well, I’ll need you to read through the contracts and make sure—”
“No, Dad. On the show.”
“Well…” His pause said it all. He didn’t have an answer she was going to like.
She pushed down the disappointment and anger and fought for her place. She could tend to her wounds later. “I want the design piece. I want to consult with the clients and create beautiful homes.”
