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The hustle of people washing up and trading barbs raised the decibel level significantly, but Jake didn’t mind. Jo didn’t seem to either. She was in her element, helping Daisy dry her hands and directing Frankie to start moving food to the table. Once everyone was seated, grace was shared and the platters were passed.
Most of the time, Jake lived off craft services. It was convenient and fit his schedule. And he hadn’t been joking when he’d said he could basically boil water and make grilled cheese. But craft services had nothing on this spread of sautéed vegetables, creamy pasta, crisp salad, and rich chicken cutlets. Jake loaded his plate and tucked in with gusto.
Frankie sat across from him, and he watched, amused, as she quarantined all the zucchini to one corner of her dish.
“I didn’t poison it. Scout's honor.”
She looked up, and he swore he caught embarrassment in her eyes as she bit her lip.
“Oh, Frankie can’t eat zucchini,” Sofia said before bursting into laughter.
Frankie turned beet red and glared at her sister.
“It sounds like there’s a story here.” Jake deliberately popped some zucchini in his mouth and chuckled at the way Frankie's face scrunched up in disgust.
“When we were kids,” Sofia began, but Frankie cut her off.
“It’s my story. I’ll tell it." Frankie looked him square in the eye. He had to respect that. "When we were kids, Gabe convinced me that the budding zucchini out in the garden were trolls’ toes that would soon sprout into full-grown ogres.”
“How much older was he?” Jake wanted to know more about who the man had been before his death had torn a hole in the tightly woven fabric of this family. It was rare for anyone to talk about who he was before he left for the army.
“I was five. He was nine and old enough to get a kick out of grossing out his little sister. I was always tagging along behind him, and he tried to run me off by teasing me. Eventually, I learned how to take a joke and give as good as I got. But I hadn't gotten there yet. When Enzo came along and took a bite of a baby zucchini fresh from the garden, I ran screaming into the house. Traumatized for life.” Frankie shuddered dramatically while the rest of the family cackled at the memory.
“I should have realized something was up when he offered me a dollar to go eat a vegetable,” Enzo said through his laughter.
“It would have saved you from getting grounded alongside him,” Jo said.
“I always got punished by association.” Enzo stabbed a zucchini with his fork and ate it fiercely. Frankie gagged dramatically.
“So you still can’t eat zucchini?” Jake asked.
“I’ve tried, but every time the texture makes me think of nasty toes, and I just can’t.”
At this point the whole table was in hysterics over the faces Frankie was making, her embarrassment shifting to bravado as she hammed it up. Jake couldn’t help but join in. She played her role as the family jester well.
In a clear attempt to wrangle her unruly brood back to civility, Jo cleared her throat. “So, Jake, tell me how things are going at the vineyard. Dom has been remarkably vague about it.”
Frankie and Dom froze. They had terrible poker faces. Jake knew Dom still intended the vineyard reveal to be a surprise for Jo, despite his own objections to that plan. He needed to tread lightly. “Well, we are through demo and starting in on the kitchen and tasting rooms."
“Oh, it's moving quickly, then. How on earth did Dom get involved in this project?”
“Dom saw the property and thought it would make a great renovation special, and the client wants it for a retirement investment,” Jake hedged. Technically it was all true, but he couldn't help feeling a little bad about being evasive with the woman who was feeding him.
"It just seems a little odd that we purchased the property instead of the client." Jo wasn't going to let this go.
Dom jumped into the gap. “The client needed a bit more time to get his finances in order."
"But what compelled you to tackle a winery? You've never done commercial spaces."
"Remember that wine tasting tour you dragged me to with your group? I figured I could make it look better than that place,” Dom bragged.
Jo's mouth tightened and she set down her fork.
Sometimes Jake wished he could shake the older man for the way he talked to his wife, but it wasn’t his place.
“Don’t go poking at my group. You know they are the only way I get out of this house anymore. I was just curious about the new show, since it is clearly interesting enough to make you break your word.” Jo jabbed her finger at him.
“Now Jo, don’t start—”
