Page 74 of XOXO, Valentina

My gaze slid back toward the kitchen. “Maybe.”

Joey laughed and pulled me closer to his side. The warmth of his body comforted me and eased some of my anxiety about meeting his mother.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “My mom is much nicer than my sister. Rosa loves to give me a hard time.”

I had a big enough family to understand.

“How many brothers and sisters do you have?”

“There are four of us.”

“And everyone lives here except you?” I glanced around the cozy restaurant. “Do they all work here, or just Rosa?”

“Most of my family works here in some way or another,” he said. “My father does the books, and my other siblings fill in when needed. My younger sister has her hands full with her own family, so she only comes in during the busy season.”

I glanced around the packed restaurant. A line of people waited for tables, and every table was full. There was a cozy feeling in the restaurant, as if everyone knew each other.

“This isn’t the busy season?” I asked.

Joey shook his head. “You should see it in January. The wait for a table is hours.”

He leaned closer to me, sharing a secret. “I know where the back door is, though. I can always get a table.”

Mateo was back with the bottle of expensive wine and some crusty bread with sweet cream butter. He poured a taste for Joey and winked at me. “He doesn’t know shit about wine,” he said in a conspiratorial whisper.

Joey made a show of swirling and sniffing the wine before shrugging and offering the glass to me for a taste. It was delicious. Full-bodied with hints of cinnamon and tart blackberry. “Perfect.”

Mateo filled two glasses. “Are you sticking around for a while, Fernando?”

“No. Just a quick visit.”

“Have you seen Victor? Or Alejandro?”

“No,” Joey said, sipping his wine. “I’ll see plenty of them this summer.”

All this talk of summer plans made me think of how much I would miss Joey while he was in Costa Rica.

Mateo darted a glance in the direction of the kitchen and said something in Spanish with a grin before hurrying off. Joey slipped his arm around me and brushed a kiss against my temple just as a woman approached the table. One glance at her and I knew she was Joey’s mother.

She was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. My stomach clenched as she scrutinized me.

Joey slid out of the booth and kissed his mother on both cheeks. “This is Gabriella,” he said.

She extended a slim hand to me. “I’m Angela.”

I shook her hand as Joey sat beside me again. “Joey has wonderful things to say about your cooking,” I said.

She arched a brow. “Fernandoisn’t so bad at cooking himself. It runs in the family.” She glanced around the restaurant proudly. “My grandparents opened this restaurant when they came over from Italy. My grandmother was also Angela.”

I followed her gaze around the bustling restaurant. It had the homey feeling of a third-generation family business.

“I can’t wait to try the food,” I said.

“You won’t be disappointed. We make the best lasagna outside of Italy.” She turned to grin at Joey. “Your father is on the line tonight,” she said.

“Oh no, I was going to order the snapper.”

“He’s gotten much better.” Angela’s smile reminded me very much of her son’s. “Fernando’s father is an accountant,” she said. “He only fills in with the cooking when we are short-staffed.” She turned toward Joey. “You should go say hi to him. It might bolster his mood. He is biting everyone’s heads off.”

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