AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I know you do, Mamma.”
Harper offered me a sympathetic look from across the table.
“Maybe you should try that online dating. That’s what all the young people are doing these days,” Papà said.
“That’s not really my thing.” I preferred to meet someone in person and get to know them. I wish Mamma would focus on one of my brothers, but I was the eldest. In her mind, I was supposed to be the first one to settle down.
“Better you than me,” my brother Matteo said quietly.
I couldn’t help but wonder what my parents would think of me liking Harper. Would they think she wasn’t the right girl for me? Or would they be happy because she’d officially be part of the family?
I needed to know if she felt the same way or if I was wasting my time.
The conversation turned to the restaurant and my plan to hire more waitstaff.
“Harper’s always filled in,” Papà said.
“And I’m happy to continue to do that,” Harper said with a smile.
I shook my head. “Harper wants to spend her free time with Evie. She already has a job working for Gia.”
Papà thought Gia’s business wasn’t a real one, that wedding planning wouldn’t be something that people wanted to pay for. So far, he’d been wrong, but he was too stubborn to see it a different way.
“I don’t mind,” Harper insisted.
In an effort to change the subject, I asked, “When are you going to retire, Papà?”
“When you boys are ready.”
“We’re not boys anymore, and between the three of us, we can handle the business. Maybe when you go to Italy this fall, you should let us run it on our own. No lists of instructions to follow, no phone calls to check up on us.”
“And what will that prove, huh?” Papà asked, his elbows on the table.
“That you trained us well, and we’re more than competent to handle the business in your stead. That you could think about working less and, eventually, retiring entirely. I’m not saying you can’t stop by and talk to the customers, but let us take over more of the business decisions.”
Carlo lowered his voice and said to me, “If he can’t agree to that, he’ll never agree to the expansion.”
Unfortunately, the entire table had fallen silent, and Papà heard him clearly.
“What was this expansion you mentioned?”
Carlo shouldn’t have said anything. I wasn’t ready to tell Papà our plans. “There’s three of us, and we don’t need that many managers.”
“Matteo is the kitchen manager, and Carlo handles orders, supplies, and the books. You manage the dining room. It works.”
I shook my head, frustrated with his logic. “But we don’t need all three of us working so much.”
Papà leaned his elbows on the table. “What are you proposing?”
“Opening a second restaurant. I’d handle finding a location and the necessary renovations.” It was too soon. I didn’t have the numbers ready.
Papà shook his head. “I never saw the business as more than one restaurant. I wanted it to have a family feel. How can we do that with another restaurant?”
“We can keep that same vibe with two. They’ll be in two separate locations, two different towns. I think it’s natural as businesses expand. Let Carlo run the numbers, and I’ll get back to you.”
I had to convince Papà. I had so many ideas to make the business better, but Papà was content doing what we’d always done.
Mamma shot him a look, and he sighed. “I realize I need to hand the business over to you eventually, but it’s hard.”
