AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I guess we can leave the teenager asleep. Pancakes or toast?” He dances around the kitchen as if he cooks here every day. But he never has.
“Pancakes, thank you.”
Massi brings over two plates and sits across from me. It’s amazing and weird at the same time. I’ve wished for a normal moment alone with him for weeks. And now it’s here and I’m unprepared. I take a bite and smile at him. He wolfs down his eggs, watching me through his eyelashes.
We’re like two people dancing on thin ice. If we don’t speak, we may survive the cracks without plunging into the freezing lake. Our relationship died with words. Harsh words that were spoken, and honest thoughts that remained unsaid.
Those thoughts linger heavily above us as we pretend-enjoy our breakfast.
I straighten the mail on the table, just to relieve the awkwardness with something. A wrinkled paper catches my attention. I flip it to find a list. A list of schools. High schools in New York.
Massi puts his fork down and I take that as an admission of guilt. He’s familiar with this piece of paper.
“What is this?” I ask, pushing away the breakfast.
He shakes his head in that way that says don’t-make-it-a-big-deal, which only encourages me to make it an even bigger deal.
“My mother called a few schools to see if they would admit Seb. If he—”
“So the Cassinettis are now deciding the future of my son.”
“If he wanted to transfer.” Massi reins his tone into patient submission. Barely. “And it’sourson.”
“This is a shitty move to undermine me.” I wiggle the paper in front of him and then ball it and throw it across the room.
How could they do this without involving me? How am I supposed to stay here and feel like a nuisance? Someone they tolerate because they have to. The feeling of isolation I’ve been fighting for the past few weeks grows, robbing me of any hope.
“I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, she went behind my back and I don’t approve of her meddling.”
I bite my lip. “What did Seb say?”
“He’ll stay where you are.”
“Good.” I cross my arms over my chest and turn to face the garden. It would have been such a pretty morning.
“So you’re selling the house.”
“I can’t have two households.” I look at him and see sadness in his eyes. I’m upset about the stupid list of schools, about what it represents. The idea of my future as someone standing on the sideline as my family thrives.
Massi nods and swallows, focused on circles he’s drawing with his fingers on the table.
“I’ve been thinking about it and I can move to LA.”
My mind misfires. What the fuck?
“But what about Casa Cassi?”
“I can open a new place out there.”
“You’d give up your restaurant?” I’m having a stroke. Or maybe I took too many pills last night, and they’re still skewing my perception of the world.
“Of course.” He says it so matter-of-factly, as if it has never even been a point to consider.
I stare at him, unable to react or assess what’s going on.
“I wouldn’t be giving it up,” he continues. “It’s a well-established business now. Ideally I’d talk Lena into taking over, but if not I’ll find someone else. And I can still host special weeks here. I like the challenge of opening a new concept somewhere else.”
He has an entire plan figured out.
