Be My Valentino by Sandra D. Bricker

Author:Sandra D. Bricker
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Abingdon Press
Published: 2015-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

14

It was a lovely ceremony,” Jessie said as she embraced Steph. “I was really moved.”

“As were Paddy and I,” Margaret Callahan chimed in as she joined them.

“Marg,” Steph exclaimed, and the women hugged like the old friends they were. “I’m so glad you made it.”

Jessie repeated the name in her head. Marg. She didn’t think she’d ever heard that variation on Margaret. Not in real life, anyway. With her short blonde haircut and long, elegant neck, Marg Callahan seemed like perfect casting for the role of Danny’s mother.

“My three favorite women in one spot,” Danny declared as he moved between Jessie and his mother and placed his arms around their shoulders. “Steph Neff, ladies and gentlemen.”

Jessie giggled.

“I told you I’m keeping my name, loser.”

“Ah, but I was hoping you’d change your mind. I can get a lot of mileage out of Steph Neff jokes.”

“Behave yourself,” Marg reprimanded him.

“Yes, listen to your mother,” Steph teased. “Go do what you do best—”

“Class up the joint?”

“—and fetch your mother and your date a little sustenance.”

Danny chuckled. Leaning toward Jessie, he asked, “Join me?”

“Love to.”

“Mom?”

“No, your father is inside putting something together for us.”

“Let’s check it out.” He took Jessie’s hand, and the two of them crossed the threshold into the house.

The living room furniture had been removed and replaced with white leather couches and matching oversized chairs on one side of the massive stone fireplace; on the other side, several food tables with uniformed attendants. A beautiful white, three-tiered wedding cake topped with a crystal monogram and trimmed with sugar versions of the flowers of the day—lavender roses and green hydrangea—occupied a round table as the centerpiece of the room.

Danny took the open spot next to his father at the carving station. “Jessie, have you met the old man?”

They exchanged matching smiles, and Patrick Callahan’s blue eyes sparkled. “Watch who you call old, son.”

“We met outside, yes. The ceremony was beautiful, wasn’t it, Mr. Callahan?”

“It was indeed.” He nodded at the attendant and said, “Well done, please.” Turning to Danny, he added, “You know your mother. If there’s a speck of pink on her prime rib, she won’t eat it.”

“In recent years, my mother has become an epic fail of a vegan,” Danny told her. “She loves animals of all kinds, and she really doesn’t want to eat them. But prime rib is her downfall, so if the life is cooked out of it . . .”

“I get that,” Jessie joked. With a grin to Danny’s father, she added, “I suppose I’m a vegan at heart myself. My grandfather used to go crabbing with nets, and then he’d make a big crab dinner out of the little guys I’d already named and wanted to keep for pets. It became a sort of tradition—everyone else at the table had boiled crab, and I had a big plate of macaroni and cheese. Unfortunately, over the years, I’ve become much less successful at living out my childhood esteem for anything with a face.”

Danny laughed. “A recovering carnivore is what Mom calls it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.