Serial: Down the River – Chapter Sixty-One

I’m finally revisiting the characters from The River City Chronicles nine years after their original timeline. I’ll be running the series weekly here on my blog, and then will release it in book form at the end of the run. Hope you enjoy catching up with all your faves and all their new secrets!

Today, both Ben and Carmelina want to get married at the same time in the same place. How’s that going to work?

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Chapter Sixty-One
An Unconventional Idea

Carmelina’s news spread like wildfire among her circle of friends. Of course, part of that was the fact that she was spreading it herself—by email, Messenger, social media, phone, and even the occasional Discord or Snapchat conversation.

But there was one couple in particular she wanted to tell in person.

She opened the front door to Ragazzi and stepped inside, and was surprised to find Ben already standing there, day-off casual in jeans and a white t-shirt, looking around the empty place. It was technically open, but there was no one to be seen. The dining room was filled with the aroma of Italian cooking, a heady mix of sausage, onions, basil, oregano, tomatoes, and a dozen other flavor profiles that defied definition. She grinned. “Hey there. How are you doing?”

He grinned. “Fantastic. Such amazing news.”

She nodded in agreement. “Yes, it is. It’s an amazing thing, to get married again.”

His grin widened, almost reaching his ears. “Never thought it would happen.”

Carmelina snorted. “Hey, I’m not that old.”

Ben frowned. “That’s not what I meant.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, eyebrows raised in a mirror image of one another.

Carmelina broke first. “What are you talking about?”

“I’m getting married!” His smile returned, and he hugged himself as if he was trying to reassure himself that it was true. “Lorelei proposed… or I did… it was all a bit confusing. But we’re going to get married!”

She refrained from saying anything about how short their courtship had been. It didn’t seem diplomatic. “That’s fantastic. I’m so happy for both of you.” She threw her arms around him. After Ella, he deserved to be happy.

“And what were you talking about?”

She let him go and held up her hand, displaying her ring. “Daniele and I are getting married too. He asked me to marry him, on a beautiful grassy hillside overlooking Rome at night, under a million stars. It was so romantic.” She still felt the thrill of it all.

“Oh, that’s amazing. I’m so thrilled for you too!” It was his turn to hug her.

“Thank you. I was nervous about it at first, but then I was like ‘What the hell!’” She looked around. Every table was covered with a white tablecloth and set with napkins, silverware, and glasses. Still, though, there was no one to help them. “I was hoping the boys would let me hold the wedding here. Just a small affair, a few friends—”

“When?” Ben’s fists clenched his shirttails.

She blinked. “This weekend. Saturday. Why?”

Ben looked crestfallen. “That’s when I wanted to have our wedding.”

Before she could reply, the kitchen door flew open and Matteo appeared. “Buon giorno, amici! Auguri! Did you come in for an early lunch?” He gestured around the place. “You can have any seat you want.”

Ben and Carmelina looked at each other, and then at him. “We need to talk.”

Matteo looked at Carmelina and then Ben, and shrugged. He called out over his shoulder, “Diego, watch the front of house. I have to take care of something.” He turned back to them and gestured with a tilt of his head at the door to the training kitchen. “Come on. We’ll figure this out, whatever it is. It’s been an interesting day.”

Matteo felt like he was watching one of those old-timey gun fights in the spaghetti westerns he adored so much. Carolina and Ben sat across from each other at the main demonstration table in the teaching kitchen, glaring at each other like Billy the Kid vs. Pat Garrett. Or in this case, maybe Patricia Garrett. All that was missing was a broken down piano, a cheap glass chandelier, and a pair of those batwing doors all old western saloons seemed to have. “Okay, what’s all this? What’s going on between you two?”

They both spoke at once.

“Daniele asked me to marry him, and I wanted to do it here this weekend. On Saturday.”

“I want to get married to Lorelei this weekend. On Saturday. Here at Ragazzi.”

They returned to glaring at each other.

Matteo laughed. “Well, first of all, congratulations to both of you. I would ask if there was a reason for the rush, but…” It was extremely unlikely that either one of these “shotgun” weddings involved a pregnancy.

“I don’t see why you can’t wait.” Carmelina sounded frustrated. “Daniele and I have been together for almost ten years, waiting for this very moment. Doesn’t that count for something?”

Ben snorted. “You’ve had plenty of time then. What’s another week’s wait?” Ben jutted out his chin in defiance. “Are you saying that because Lorelei and I just met, we should have to wait? That our love is less important than yours?”

Carmelina shrugged. “Well… Yeah. Something like that. Why the rush?”

Ben sighed. He looked down at his hands, clasped in his lap, and back up at her. His eyes were wet. “Because my mother is dying.”

Matteo shook his head. Poor guy. “I think he’s got you there.”

“Holy shit.” She put her hand over her mouth. “I mean, I’m so sorry, Ben. I thought you and your mother weren’t close?”

“Thank you.” Ben unclasped his hands, absently caressing the fingers of his right hand with his left. “We weren’t. But she came back into my life recently and… she has terminal cancer.”

“Well, that beats whatever claim I’ve got.” She leaned back and crossed her arms, looking flummoxed.

Matteo put a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “I’m so sorry to hear that.” He remembered when he’d lost his own parents. The pain of that loss still stuck with him, only a little softened by the passage of time. “But I’m afraid neither of you is getting married in the restaurant this weekend. We’re fully booked. We can’t afford to cancel reservations, not with the economy in such a rough place. Especially on such short notice.”

It was Ben’s turn to slump back into his chair. “I guess I can try to find a different venue…”

Matteo held up a finger, forestalling the rest of Ben’s response. “I do have a proposal for you both. We had to cancel our usual Sunday class here in the kitchen because attendance was so low—summer vacations and all. Since you both have mostly the same friends, what if we were to do them both here… together?” He gestured around the room.

Carmelina looked around the room, then over at Ben. “That… could work.” She leaned forward, hands resting on her knees. “If you don’t mind?”

Ben’s fsce brightened. “Mind? I would love to be at your wedding. But only if you want to be at mine, too.”

Carmelina’s eyes were alight with excitement. “That would be great. We can have it here, and we could… what if we made it a cooking class? Like old times? Get the whole gang back together.” A shadow crossed her face. “Except Brad and Ella.”

Ben nodded enthusiastically. “They’ll be here, at least in our hearts.” He put a hand on hers. “We could make a cake. A wedding cake! We’ve never done one of those in class.”

Carmelina was clearly warming to the idea. “I like it. I didn’t want a big stuffy affair, just something intimate with our friends.”

“Me too. Lorelei and I have both been married before, and we decided we didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

Carmelina pounded the countertop. “Then it’s settled. We’ll start planning things immediately.”

Matteo stared at them in bewilderment. They’d gone from Billy and Pat to Bonnie and Clyde in record time. “I don’t know about the cake. I’ll have to ask Diego—”

The door that led to the restaurant opened and Marissa popped her head in. “Hey Matteo, Diego needs you in the front of house. We have a few guests.…” She trailed off when she saw Carolina sitting there. “Oh, hi, Grandma.”

Carmelina winced at the nickname. “Marissa, what are you doing here? Do you have the day off or something?”

“Not exactly…” She flushed bright red.

Matteo sensed the energy in the room. Words were about to be spoken. He stood up and gestured toward the door. “Ben, why don’t you come with me? We can go over some of the details after I get our guests settled? It looks like Marissa and Carmelina have something they need to talk about.”

Ben took one look at the expression on Carmelina’s face and bolted. “Good idea. I don’t want to get in the middle of this.”

They scurried out and left the two alone together.

Carmelina pointed at the stool next to her. “Take a seat.”

Marissa shuddered. She did as she was told. She’d known the time for this conversation would come, but she hadn’t expected it to be quite this soon. Surely Carmelina would understand…

Her grandmother crossed her arms. “Now talk.”

Marissa was scared of her nonna. Well, not scared, exactly. But Carmelina di Rosa was a formidable woman, and you didn’t cross her lightly. “I’m leaving Buckman-Oldham-Rocklin-Eccles. I hate it there.”

Carmelina pursed her lips, as if choosing her next words very carefully. “It’s a good job. Jobs are hard to come by right now.”

“I know, I know. But it kills me a little bit every day when I go into that awful, gray place. Ainsley says—”

Carmelina raised an eyebrow. “Ah, so this is Ainsley’s idea?”

“No, it’s not her idea. It was my idea.” She huffed. “And you shouldn’t be talking. After all, you risked everything you have to open your new dessert shop with Daniele.”

Carmelina frowned. “That’s different.”

“Why?” She surprised herself by finding the strength to stand up to Carmelina.

They stared at one another for a good thirty seconds, neither willing to yield.

At last, Carmelina broke contact. “Because I worry about you. You’re far too young and inexperienced—”

“You do?” Something inside Marissa softened at the admission.

Her nonna nodded. “Every day.” Carmelina wiped the corners of her eyes. “You’re trying to make your way in the world, and I know it’s not easy for your generation. You got a raw deal, with inflation and the outrageous cost of housing and climate change and… and I won’t always be around to help you.”

That took the wind out of Marissa’s sails, but she couldn’t back down. This was too important. “You once told me that when we’re young is the time to take risks. To try new things. Before we get so set in our ways that we lose out on what we might have had.”

“I said that?” Carmelina blinked, but the sides of her lips twitched up in the start of a smile. “I sound like an idiot.”

Marissa laughed. “You sounded like someone who loves her granddaughter very much.” She reached out to take Carmelina’s hands in hers. “Do I have this all figured out? Absolutely not. Is there a chance I might fail? Hell yeah. But I’d rather fail at a job I love than succeed in a job I hate. For the first time since I was seventeen, I feel excited about waking up tomorrow to see where the day might lead. Isn’t that worth something?”

Carmelina squeezed her hands. “Of course it is. It’s just… are you sure?”

This time, when their eyes met, an understanding passed between them. Marissa felt a shiver down her back and goosebumps on her arms. “Yes, nonna, I am.”

Carmelina was quiet for a long time, considering her granddaughter. At last she nodded, as if she had come to a decision. “In that case, I think you need to follow your heart. We’ll work out the details together, if you want.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

She threw her arms around her nonna. “Thank you, Carmelina. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t. And I want you by my side when Daniele and I get married this weekend.”

Marissa let go and stared at her as comprehension dawned. “What? You two are getting married?”

Carmelina held up the ring. “Right here. This Sunday.”

“That’s amazing!” She embraced Carmelina, this time holding on until her nonna gently disengaged herself.

A sly smile crossed her grandmother’s face. “One more thing.”

Marissa sat back, eyes widening in alarm. “What’s this? What’s happening? You’re not changing you mind, are you? Because you just said—”

“Calm down, dear. No, I’m not changing my mind.” She reached into her bag and pulled out something wrapped in paper. “I brought something back from Italy for us to share.”

Marissa took the package and unwrapped it carefully. It was an old hand-written recipe book. “What… what is this?”

“It’s from your great-great grandmother. It has all of our old family recipes. And I want you to help me try each and every one.”

Marissa looked at it in wonder. “Really?”

“Really. Unless you have a problem spending time with your nonna?”

“Not at all.” She set the book down on the counter and hugged Carmelina a third time. “Love you, Nonna.”

“You too, my little bambolina. I love you too.”

The pages of the book sparkled green for just a moment, unnoticed by either of them, and went dark.