Page 36 of Summer on Sunshine Bay

“What’s this?” she asked.

“I took a look at the numbers you sent me last night and expanded on some of your ideas.”

“Thank you,” she said, touched that he’d gone to the trouble. She leaned toward him, catching herself before she planted a grateful kiss on his mouth.

“No problem.” He turned to Lila, who had that suspicious look in her eyes again. “You should take a look at your mother’s plans for the restaurant, sweetheart. They’d benefit from your expertise, and it wouldn’t hurt to have more than one client on your list before you approach other potential clients.”

“Mom and Nonna aren’t as receptive to my ideas as they seem to be to yours, Dad.”

Eva had yet to share James’s suggestions, and her own, with Carmen. After delivering the news about Lila and David and Windemere, she’d been afraid to rock the boat. “We’d love to have your input, darling. And I’d sing your praises in my letter of recommendation.” She frowned. “Do they do that anymore, or do they just share on your social media?”

James smiled. “I know that look, Lila. You already have an idea, don’t you?”

Lila chewed the inside of her bottom lip, nodding. “I do, and I actually think it might be a winner. Mom, do you still sing when you cook?”

“Do fish swim, darling?” Eva asked, and then she smiled and belted out the chorus from “Con te partirò,” a song Andrea Bocelli had made famous, one that she, her mother, and her sister often sang together while cooking, and one Lila was familiar with.

Her daughter grinned. “Oh yeah, this is totally going to work. Prepare to go viral, Mom.”

Eva laughed. “I’ll see you tonight.”

It didn’t escape her notice that unlike Lila, James wasn’t smiling. He’d shoved his hands in his pockets, watching Eva with a pensive expression on his handsome face.

She wondered if he was remembering the day he’d ruined her singing career.

Eva pushed the thought aside. It was in the past, and she’d forgiven him, something she hadn’t thought she’d be able to do. She wondered if she’d ever told him. She wasn’t sure that she had.

Eva called Ruth as soon as she got into the car. She put the phone on the passenger seat and pressed the speaker icon, then launched into the plan for Ruth to win back her best friend as soon as the older woman picked up. It wasn’t Eva’s actual plan; it was just how she sold it to Ruth. By the time Eva had parked in the lot beside La Dolce Vita, she’d convinced her mother’s oldest friend that Carmen wouldn’t poison her food in retaliation for her betrayal and gotten her to agree to a family dinner at La Dolce Vita tonight. Now she just had to convince her mother to go along with the plan.

“Where have you been?” her sister asked as soon as Eva walked into the empty restaurant.

They were typically closed on Sundays and Mondays, but in an effort to compete with Windemere, Eva had decided to open for dinner service both days. As James had shared with her the night before, he disagreed with this decision, and she imagined she’d find a cost analysis to back up his argument in the file folder. But she’d already changed the hours online and on the outdoor sign, and she wanted to give it a chance.

“I told you, I was dropping off the box of albums at the beach house. Why? What’s up?”

“Ana’s mother died, and Bruno doesn’t feel comfortable leaving her alone, so he won’t be coming in. Needless to say, Ma is not happy, and she was already in a mood because you forgot to tell her we were opening tonight.”

“You think Ma could be a little more compassionate. The woman’s mother just died. Of course Bruno would want to comfort her.” Eva walked behind the bar to pour herself a glass of wine. She lifted the bottle, and Gia nodded. “As to me not mentioning we were opening tonight, I had to tell her about Lila and David and Windemere. The least you could’ve done was break the schedule change news.”

“I was working my way up to it, but she took the call from two of the servers. They gave their notice effective immediately and won’t be in tonight. I called everyone else to see if they were available to fill in, but they already had plans. Heather said she’d work the shift but she’d have to bring the twins with her. She can’t get anyone to babysit at short notice.”

James had been concerned they wouldn’t have the staff to fill the extra hours, but Eva had argued that they were overstaffed the rest of the week trying to give everyone the hours they needed and that opening Sunday and Monday would give her the ability to do so.

“So that just leaves you, me, Ma, Sage, and Willow, and I want all of us to have some time with David and his family. Do we have many reservations?”

“Three tables of four at six and four tables of two at seven.”

“Okay, we don’t have a choice. We’ll have to bring Heather in. I don’t want her to work a full shift, though. The twins can’t stay up that late. If she can give us an hour and a half, it’ll give you and Ma some time to spend with the Westfields. And we have an additional table of six at seven.”

“We do?” Her sister frowned, and then she must’ve picked up on something in Eva’s expression because she groaned. “What did you do?”

“I called Ruth. She and her family are coming. Don’t worry,” she said when Gia stared at her with her mouth hanging open. “Ma will understand once—”

“What will I understand?” Carmen asked, taking a seat at the bar.

Eva poured her a glass of wine without asking and slid it toward her, only to pull it back, thinking it might be best to wait until after she’d shared the news about Ruth. “Your best friend, a woman who has stuck by you through thick and thin, is devastated that going along with her daughter-in-law’s wishes to celebrate her birthday at Windemere has cost her your friendship. She’s beside herself, Ma, completely torn up about it.” Okay, so maybe Eva was being a tad dramatic, but she had to get her mother on board.

Carmen reached for the glass of wine.

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