“Lesson learned,” she mouthed.
Rafe squeezed her hand. “Damn impressive, sweetheart. Intimate and engaging. And that bar. Christ.”
“Tesoro mio,” Vesta scolded.
“Sorry. It’s just…” He swept his gaze over the entire dining room. “Everything’s perfect. Those wineglasses and the tablecloths. The walls. The flowers.” His gaze flashed back to Jenna. “Calla lilies, right?”
Jenna smiled. “Right.”
“They belong there. Everything just…belongs, Jen.”
She swiped at a wayward tear and said, “I’m glad you like it.”
“It’s more than that. This is outstanding. I don’t know how you come up with this shi—stuff, but you are sheer genius. This place is so…”
“You?”
He grinned. “Yeah. Very Sampogna.” He kissed her softly, eliciting a round of whistles and cheers from his ginormous family. Then he released her and said, “Let’s see what the grandparents think.” He sought them out, taking Jenna with him.
To Rafael, whom Rafe had been named after, he asked, “What do you think, Nonno?”
Both Rafael and his wife, Mary Catherine, gazed at Rafe and Jenna with appreciation in their eyes.
Rafael said, “Your parents were always so proud of you, Rafe.” His gaze shifted to Je
nna. “And had they known you, they would have loved you as we do.”
A fresh batch of tears leaked from her eyes. Uncharacteristically, it was Jenna who hugged Rafe’s grandparents. Then she clasped Mary Catherine’s small hands and said, “I know it could have turned out differently for you, and I would have been so very sorry, but I am eternally grateful you had a sixth son.” She kissed Rafe’s grandmother’s cheeks, then did the same to Rafael’s.
The dining room was emotionally charged and sniffles rose above the impassioned aria wafting on the spicily scented air.
Rafe kissed Jenna on the temple and said, “Thank you so much—for everything.”
“My pleasure.”
He said to his family, “Hey, I thought this was supposed to be a party.”
Noise erupted all around them and Jenna brushed away her tears. Though most of the servers were related to Rafe, They’d agreed to work the party so they could get more experience with a large crowd before the reopening. The kitchen staff had food coming out in record time, thanks to the new POS system.
Jenna and Rafe made the rounds together, greeting all of his family. Rafe kept his hand at the small of her back, and with it there, Jenna felt less overwhelmed by the affection of his relatives. Knowing he was by her side, close to her, calmed her.
Laughter filled the dining room, along with toasts and animated conversation. Jenna noted a few intimate moments as well, and smiled when Geoff murmured something in Mags’ ear that made her blush prettily.
It was a flawless evening, she decided when Rafe returned her to her hotel suite and they crawled under the covers together. She was exhausted, and curled next him, her head on his chest.
In the dark, Rafe whispered, “You’ve done something amazing for me. And my family. I didn’t think I could love you any more than I did, Jen, but I do.”
She squeezed her eyes shut, though tears seeped from the corners. For the first time in Jenna’s adult life, the desire to walk away did not register.
But she knew in her heart, it was an inevitability she couldn’t escape…
Chapter Twelve
The reopening of Sampogna’s was a smash. The restaurant was filled with regulars, new customers, tourists, food critics, web reviewers and other media types. They had the staff hopping all night, and the muscles in Jenna’s cheeks quivered from so much smiling. But she loved every minute, especially when Rafe came out of the kitchen from time to time to personally greet his patrons.
Pride swelled within her. His new menu went over extraordinarily well, and she’d already been privy to some of the fabulous reviews that would be written about Sampogna’s. All and all, she could not have asked for a more successful evening.
When she and Tad were summoned into the kitchen after the restaurant closed at midnight, however, Jenna’s evening was topped.