Chapter 25
Ella sat in the small office with Enzo, discussing her plans, a budget, and a timeframe.
“I think we can both agree that it’s bad timing. Our busy season is days away, and we can’t close our doors for an extended period of time. The winter will be better, plus we’ll have the summer income to be able to afford your rates,” Enzo said with a smirk.
“I gave you the family discount,” she countered. Disappointment settled in her stomach. She had been so gung-ho to get started, declare herself a real interior designer and business woman, bury herself in work so she wouldn’t have to think about Lucas. She would have to wait now and find another way to get Lucas off her mind. “I agree the timing isn’t good.”
“But,” Enzo said, capturing her full attention.
“That sounds like a good ‘but,’ but it could be a bad ‘but.’”
He laughed. “Since it’s the busy season and I’ll be spending most of my time here, I thought you could get started on my place.”
Ella’s eyes widened, and her mouth lifted in pure excitement. “Really? I don’t have to wait to the fall?” Colors, furniture, and accessories started to appear in her head, shifting in different places to form the perfect space.
“No, the timing would have been off then, too,” Enzo said. “You can get started next week when our hours get extended.”
“But won’t you need me here?”
“Grandpa and I discussed it, and we decided it’s not fair for you to be stuck here working.”
“I’m not stuck,” she said.
“Ella, when you came home, it was supposed to be temporary. You weren’t supposed to stay here for six years and take care of all of us. We’re adults, and I’m your older brother. I should’ve looked out for you better, but the truth is, I was happy to have you home.”
“I was happy to be home.”
Enzo sat with her words for a moment before sitting up in his chair. “We’re going to hire more people. I actually have an interview in a few minutes. So I’m really happy to tell you that you’re fired.”
“What?” Ella exclaimed. “You can’t fire me.”
“I can, and I just did. You’re meant for bigger things, baby sis. Leave the lobster rolls to me and Grandpa, okay?”
She was stunned into silence. When she’d walked through the front door earlier, this was the last thing she’d expected. She was ready to start her shift as soon as they were done here.
“I don’t know what to say,” she admitted.
“Don’t say anything, just be happy.”
“I am.” At least she wanted to be, but the spot in her heart that Lucas snaked into still hurt. “I’m trying to be.”
“I’m sorry about Lucas,” Enzo said. “About that whole mess. Your personal life is none of our business, no matter what the guy’s last name is.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that, but he’s already gone back to California so…” She shrugged.
“Excuse me, Mr. Moretti your interview is here,” Kelsey, one of their employees and a local high school senior said.
“Thank you, Kelsey, and don’t call me Mr. Moretti. That’s my grandfather.”
“Sorry Mr. Mor… I mean Enzo.”
“I’ll be right out,” he said.
Ella laughed. “Mr. Moretti?”
“I swear the younger these kids get, the older I feel. But not old enough to be called that.”
“You’re not that old, Enz.”
“Thanks.”
“But you’ll always be older than me,” she said and stuck her tongue out.
He pointed toward the door. “Get out of my office.”
“Before you fire me? You already did that.”
“Don’t make me take it all back.”
Ella jumped up from her chair. “Sorry.” She went to walk out when she stopped at the doorway and looked over at her oldest brother. “I just want you to know that I don’t regret any of it. The past six years managed to bring us all closer, if that were even possible, and nothing in the world could make me not appreciate that.”
Enzo went to speak when loud voices echoed in the small space from outside.
He dropped his hand on the desk. “What the hell is that?”
“Sounds like Grandpa and Joe going at it again.”
“Maybe we should just let them kill each other and get it over with,” Enzo said.
“You have an interview,” Ella said as Enzo rounded his desk. “Let me handle this.”
“You sure? They really sound like they’re going at it.”
“It’s nothing I can’t handle,” she said.
“Call if you need reinforcements.”
“You got it.”
Ella hurried through the restaurant and out the main door to the boardwalk. Joe stood in the doorway of Joe’s Lobster House, arms pressed against each side of the door. Her grandfather stood in front of him, trying to force his way inside. What the hell was going on?
The feuds usually came to a point in the middle of the boardwalk, neither refusing to cross sides.
“Let me in, jackass,” Vinny said.
“Over my dead body!” Joe stood his ground, refusing to move. “Get back to your side of the boardwalk!”
A small crowd had started to form, and Ella pushed her way through the people, some familiar, some she’d never seen before.
“I’ll get back to my side as soon as you let me in!” Vinny yelled, his accent getting thicker with every word.
“Why in the hell would I ever let you in my restaurant?”
“Because I’m about to save your ass.”
Huh? More curious than before Ella forced her way to the front.
“Save me?” Joe scoffed. “I wouldn’t let you save me if I was drowning in the ocean and you were the only one with a lifeboat.”
Vinny started cursing in Italian words Ella would never dare repeat.
“Grandpa!” she exclaimed as she jumped in between the two bickering old man. “What is going on here?”
Vinny pointed to Joe. “This buffone won’t let me through the door.”
“Would you let him through our doors?” Ella asked.
“Of course not!”
“Then why are you over here?”
“I have a meeting.”
“A meeting?”
“Yes… that I’m late to now because of this stronzo.”
“Who are you meeting here?” she asked, so confused by the entire situation.
“That would be me.”
Her heart stopped—literally slammed against her chest and came to a screeching halt. She looked up, meeting familiar eyes that were just as blue as her memory recalled them.
“Lucas?” she asked, her voice a mere whisper. What the hell was he doing back? Why was her grandfather meeting with him?
She had so many questions, but she couldn’t manage to get her brain and her mouth on the same page. Instead she stared at him, lost in the depths of blue, wanting to hate him but unable to. Not when those eyes looked deep into her soul when they made love, when the man behind them shared his black jelly beans with her and knew exactly how she took her coffee. Not when she was still hopelessly in love with the jerk.
“I thought you went back to California,” she managed to say.
“I did.” Lucas patted Joe’s arm, encouraging him to drop his stance in front of the door. Joe was hesitant but finally stepped aside to let Lucas pass. He stopped in front of Ella, and she fought the urge to slap him again for all the pain he’d caused her and then pull him tight so she could feel his warmth against her.
“I don’t get it,” Ella said.
“That makes two of us,” Joe said. “Care to explain what the hell is going on?”
“I would, but I think Vinny could explain better. If you would’ve let him through the door, this all would’ve been discussed by now.”
“What the hell is my grandson talking about?” Joe asked, narrowing his gaze on Vinny.
“You’re a bad businessman,” Vinny started, and Joe grunted, swatting his hand at him. “What? You are!” Vinny said. “How else could you have managed to practically go bankrupt?”
“I’ve had enough,” Joe said. “I’m not going to stand here why he insults me.”
“It’s not an insult. Like my granddaughter, you lead with your heart. It’s admirable, okay? But you can’t save the world and not expect to go under. That’s always been your problem, wanting to take care of everyone else’s problems and ignoring your own.”
Joe crossed his arms over his chest and looked away, but continued to stand there while Vinny spoke.
“We were once partners, Joe.”
“What?” Ella exclaimed. “Partners?” Her whole life she thought her grandfather and Joe hated each other because they both claimed to have the best lobster roll. She never realized it went much deeper than that.
“Until he screwed me over,” Vinny said.
“I didn’t screw you over.”
“You walked out on me three months before we opened and bought the place across the boardwalk.” Vinny’s voice rose. “And opened the same damn restaurant. How is that not screwing me over?”
Ella couldn’t believe what she was hearing. How did she not know any of this? It all made sense now.
“We didn’t agree on anything. We each had our own vision of what we wanted and neither of us wanted to settle. It would have been a damn disaster if I stuck around. I had a wife and kid to worry about back then so I did what was right for my family.” Emotion crossed Joe’s eyes, his fists tightening at his side.
“By spending your life savings?” Vinny asked.
“You did it. Why couldn’t I?”
“That’s not the point,” Vinny said.
“Then what’s the damn point? I don’t have all day.”
Vinny reached into his pocket and held out what looked like a check.
Ella looked to Lucas as if he could fill her in. He gave her a reassuring smile and nodded back to the old men.
“What the hell is that?” Joe asked.
Vinny rolled his eyes. “What the hell does it look like?”
“I don’t want your damn money.”
“Think of it as money owed,” Vinny said.
“What does that mean?”
“It’s the money you would have made if you would have opened your doors the day you were supposed to forty-five years ago.”
A storm brewed in Joe’s eyes, turning from blue to black. “I knew it! You messed with my permits.”
Vinny shrugged. “You screwed me over so I screwed you over. And now”—Vinny forced the check at Joe—“we’re even.”
“You almost had me go out of business before I even opened.”
“That never would have happened,” Vinny said. “I just paid them to give you a hard time not to shut your doors.”
“You son of a bitch!”
Lucas stepped in between the two men this time and looked at Joe. “Grandpa, this check will save the restaurant. Vinny’s trying to make amends for the past. I think it’s time you two end this.”
Ella had been trying to get their grandfathers to end this war for as long as she could remember. She had no idea the complexity of the situation, yet Lucas was here for a week and somehow managed to bring the two men together to air out their dirty laundry.
“What strings are there?” Joe asked.
“No, strings.” The edge to Vinny’s tone was gone, replaced with nothing but honesty. “Truth is… I’m successful because of you. We’ve created a legacy in this town, and people come from all over to compare our rolls, take pictures outside, holding them up proudly. Vinny’s Lobster Shack wouldn’t be what it is today without Joe’s Lobster House. One can’t exist without the other. So if you don’t take the damn money, I’m going to shove it so far up your—”
“Okay, Grandpa!” Ella said, jumping in this time. “You were doing well.”
“Fine,” Joe said.
“Now you two shake on it,” Lucas insisted.
Both Vinny and Joe looked at each other like the other had an incurable disease that would attack them and kill them on the spot. “Gentleman,” Lucas said. “Seal the deal and end this.”
They stepped toward each other, both refusing to be the first to lift their hand.
“Now,” Lucas said.
Each taking a deep breath, they lifted their hands at once and shook on it. The crowd around them erupted into cheers.
“This doesn’t mean I like you,” Vinny said.
“Good,” Joe said. “I still can’t stand you either.”
“As long as we have that clear.”
“Crystal.”
A few people managed to take pictures before they dropped hands and started walking back to their side of the boardwalk. “Hey,” Vinny called across the crowd, and Joe turned to look at him. “If you want, you can come to my place for poker night. I’ll lift your ban.”
Joe smiled, and Ella felt like the world just witnessed one of its biggest victories. “Dominick still cheat?”
“You know he does.”
Joe laughed. “I’ll be there. But remember…”
“Yeah, yeah. I hate you, too.”