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Cara’s mouth dropped open in a most unbecoming way, which pleased Lili much more than it should have. Ah, the little things.
“Shut. Up. What about all that malarkey in the hotel?”
“He was just kidding around. We never did anything.”
Her sister pursed her lips like a prim schoolteacher, contemplating this revelation. “Did you try to be funny? Guys don’t like girls who are too funny.”
“Oh, he found my seduction attempts to be the height of hilarity.”
Cara had a multitude of rules for dating—don’t make stupid jokes, never pay for a meal or finish said meal, and don’t put out for anyone who makes less than five hundred K a year— which probably accounted for the fact that her love life was about as successful as Lili’s.
Her sister huffed out a disapproving gust of air and eyed Lili’s hair like it was the culprit. “The girls are going to the salon to get all gussied up before the show. Maybe you should go. Gina wants to get vajazzled.”
A mouthful of coffee trickled into Lili’s lungs, and she spluttered to recover. “You’d better not let her. She’ll need to show everybody and your cameraman will have to gouge his poor eyes out.”
“Oh, nothing throws Jerry. But, I won’t have time to babysit them with all the prep I have to do. The production crew is already downstairs, I’ve got the menus to finish, and I have a million other things to sort out.”
“I can take care of the girls. Just tell me what else you need.” Lili’s stomach growled and her mind replied, leftovers. Veal parm for breakfast might not be acceptable in other cultures, but it was more than acceptable in the DeLucas’. “Is Jack at the restaurant yet?” she asked oh-so-casually.
“He went to the meat supplier with Dad. Speaking of Il Duce...”
“What about him?”
Lili could see Cara picking her words carefully. “He seems even more dictatorial than usual, if that’s possible. I don’t know why you put up with it.”
So you don’t have to. “He’s worried about the restaurant.”
“Is it really so bad?”
“It’s not good. I mean, the show should help and all the current drama is good for reservations but that can’t last.”
“Could we borrow money?”
Lili smiled at the cozy use of “we.” Nice to know Cara wanted to include herself in the family’s crisis. At least, this one.
“No go. We re-mortgaged the house three years ago but we’re still losing hand over fist. That’s not the solution, anyway. We need to make changes, redesign the menu, appeal to a more diverse customer base.” Lili stood and wrenched open the fridge door. A solitary fat-free yogurt cut a lonely figure on the bottom shelf. “Dad’s clinging to a way of doing business that died out with Betamax. Cooking for the same few customers who show up like clockwork once a month. He thinks if we change anything, we’ll lose them.”
“Well, business was never his forte, Lili. Food’s his religion. When we were growing up, it sometimes felt like he was chef, first, father, second.”
Startled, Lili turned back to her sister. That was a curious way to put it together. “Food’s important to him. Like any chef.”
Cara shrugged. “Remember when Dad was worried about something, we used to wake up to find the kitchen full of meals he’d worked on all night. Lasagna and chicken Cacciatore as far as the eye could see. You know how he is, cooking is his touchstone, the kitchen is his cathedral…Hey, I need to write that shit down. That’s going to sound great in publicity for Jack’s new show.” She extracted her phone from a slouchy red hobo and started tapping.
Lili had completely forgotten about Tony’s all-nighters when he was upset. That cooking allowed him some measure of power over a life that had spun out of control when Mom became ill made a strange kind of sense. She’d always thought she could read him, but Cara’s keen insight surprised her. Didn’t sit so well, either.
“And he’s worried about Mom,” Lili continued, getting back to familiar territory. “Her check-up is next week.” Three months cancer free if everything went well. Cara probably had a gift basket ready for distribution.
“About Mom.” Cara’s voice wavered as she placed her phone down on the table. “I know I suck.”
Oh hell. Lili squeezed her sister’s shoulder, immediately feeling guilty about the snide thoughts twisting her brain. She never used to be this bitter. Envious that Cara had got away, but not bitter.
“Cara, it’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. When Mom first got sick, it was tough, but when she started the treatments, it near killed me. I know I haven’t been there for you, but I just can’t handle seeing her like that. All skin and bone. No hair. It’s incredibly selfish, but... I don’t know how to explain it.” Cara’s voice hitched high in her throat.
Hearing Cara describing her reaction slammed Lili’s heart to the back of her rib cage. It also felt like she wasn’t getting the whole story. “Why didn’t you talk to me about it?”
“I don’t know. Every time we spoke on the phone, I could feel this judgment coming off you in waves. Or maybe it was my terrible phone service. Freaking AT&T.” She laughed, but it got snagged on a sniffle. “And I didn’t know what to say when you were doing all the work.”
