All In (Firsts and Forever 2)

Dante looked at me, and I nodded. So he said, “Sure Nana, that’s a great idea.”

“Tell Christopher Robin to come over this weekend. I want him to help me transform that space. He’s got that, you know. Artistic eye.”

“Yes ma’am,” I said.

“Charlie, I’m going to need your guest list ASAP. We need to get invitations out in a hurry.”

“I’m only going to have about five friends there,” I told her. I tried to imagine my father attending my wedding. I’d invite him, but kind of doubted that was something he’d be able to handle. “I can probably just tell them when and where to show up.”

“Nonsense! Whoever heard of a wedding without formal invitations? We aren’t hobos, for Christ’s sake.”

I held back a laugh and agreed to get her my guest list right away.

Chapter Twenty-Two

We pulled up in front of a big white building in the Marina district right about the time Nana got off the phone with us, and I exclaimed, “Is this your new restaurant?”

“It will be. Come and take a look inside.” As he unlocked the big glass door, he said, “You have to use your imagination once we get in here. I had all the walls torn back to the studs and the entire building earthquake-reinforced with a new steel skeleton. The construction crew is still in the process of putting it all back together.”

The main body of the restaurant was spacious, with high ceilings and lots of natural light coming through tall leaded glass windows. The building dated from the 1920s, and Dante explained that he wanted to recreate a speakeasy feel. He showed me where the dining room would go, and the position of the bar, and said, “I’ve asked Christopher to paint a mural for me all along that wall over there. He’s intimidated by the project, but I think he’ll agree to do it.”

When he took me back to where the kitchen would be he really became animated, talking about equipment and how it should all be laid out and this, that, and the other thing. And I grinned and said, “Forget architecture. You should go to culinary school, become chef-owner of this place.”

“I don’t know about that. But I am looking forward to putting the menu together. I know I want to serve Nana’s pasta with marinara. And since pizza’s your favorite food, I’m planning to put in a brick pizza oven.”

“So, you’re going Italian. That’ll be good. What’s the restaurant going to be called, anyway?”

“It won’t be strictly Italian, I want an eclectic menu. And as for the name, I’ll show you,” he said, leading me to the back of the building. “I hired a local metal artist to make the sign that’ll go over the front door. I was shocked that she got it done already.” He pulled back the flaps of a flat cardboard box that was maybe six feet long and three feet high. Inside was a bronze rectangle with the name of the restaurant spelled out in elegant raised script. It said Charlie Connolly.

“You’re kidding,” I said with a big smile. “You named it after me? And gave it both my first and last name?”

“I didn’t want to be presumptuous and name it Charlie’s. I don’t know if you’re going to want to have anything to do with this place. So this way, it’s named in honor of you, and you can take it or leave it. But if you’re interested, I really hope you’ll help me run it. I’m sick of you working for your ex-boyfriend. I’m planning to be really hands-on with this restaurant, and I hope you’ll work at my side.”

“I’d love to. And I’m honored that you gave it my name.”

He kissed me and said, “I have more to show you.” He took my hand and led me to a back staircase, and when we got to the second floor, he said, “There are two apartment units on this level. I want to give one to Christopher in exchange for painting the mural. I’m still thinking about how to offer that to him without making it sound in any way, shape or form like charity.”

Dante led me up one more flight of stairs and said, “This is what I really wanted to show you.” The third floor of the building was wide open and sunny, with banks of windows and high ceilings and exposed brick walls.

“I want to remodel this into a loft apartment. I’d like this to be our home, Charlie. What do you think? Try to envision it with hardwood floors, a stainless steel kitchen, a big open living area….”

It was empty except for a few pieces of construction equipment, some lumber, a couple piles of palettes. But it was so easy to imagine a beautiful apartment in this big, sunny space. I took him in my arms and said, “I can totally see it. This place is absolutely wonderful.”