Chapter 9: Soup's On



The heavenly aroma of fresh sauce and Italian cheeses wafted from the dining room. Everyone followed their noses to the spread laid out in the other room. A long buffet table was set up along one side of the room, and it was piled high with food. Richie looked at Julianna, shocked. “You eat like this all the time? How are you all not huge!?”

Julianna laughed. “We only do this once a month. Besides, we work hard, and we play harder,” she said with a wink. “That’s our secret. C’mon, let’s get something to eat before my brothers take it all.”

The path to the food led them past Julianna’s grandmother. Richie bent down to ask her if he could make her a plate. Julianna’s heart squeezed at the considerate gesture. Francesca reached up to pat the side of Richie’s face. She was nodding and talking to him. Richie said something in rapid Italian that Julianna didn’t catch, but it had her grandmother laughing out loud; something their family hadn’t heard from her in quite some time. Brushing away a stray tear, Julianna preceded Richie to the buffet. He began filling two plates, one for himself, and one for her grandmother.

“Richie, Nonna will never eat that much!” she admonished.

Richie laughed. “I told her I would make her a plate, and whatever she didn’t want to eat, she could sneak to me. I told her I wanted to make sure I’d be able to have seconds; everything smells so good, I didn’t think there’d be anything left later.”

“Smooth, Sambora,” she said with a smile. “Very smooth.”

They sat at Francesca’s table, with Richie in the place of honor at her right. Tucking into a fantastic meal, he regaled them with some of the tamer stories from the band’s tours. The talk at the table eventually turned to Julianna’s show, and the progress they were making. Julianna smiled enthusiastically. “It’s going really well. Sam and Lila are just perfect, and we’re nearly ready to start working on the finale.” She slid a look at Richie. “Richie has seen some of the choreography, and likes it so far.” Richie laughed.

“Now that you mention it, Julianna,” Richie said, “we did have some business to discuss.” He turned to Francesca. “May we be excused?”

She laughed. “Go – go talk your business. Then you both will sing for me.”

“Nonna –” Julianna started to object, but Richie stopped her.

“We’d be delighted. Right, Julianna?” he prompted.

She sighed, resigned. “Right. Let’s go get our business out of the way, and we can sing before dessert.” She led them into the function room. When she was certain they weren’t being followed, she turned to Richie. “I don’t expect you to entertain my family, you know.”

“I know that. I like your family, and it’s the least I can do for them making me feel so welcome. Now, as we don’t really have any business to discuss, we should decide on what we’re going to sing.”

“What’s your preference? I can sing just about anything.”

“I’d like to sing one of the songs you’ve chosen for the show – Never Say Goodbye. I always thought that one would make a good duet. Would you sing it with me?” Richie pleaded.

“Of course I will,” Julianna answered.

1 comments:

Queenie said...

What could be better than a good italian meal. Mmmm, makes me hungry! LOL

Can't wait for the after dinner song, it's one of my favorites!