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“Do you think a series or a one-time event would be better?”

She thought for a et it on the calendar, why don’t we try a one-tioes well, we could h season”

“Good idea” We looked both ways and crossed a side street “Where should we do the first one? Abelard or Cloverleigh Farms?”

She shrugged “Either place would work It’s too bad our new restaurant won’t be open for another couple months That would be the perfect space—inti view of the vineyard”

“What’s the holdup?”

“You name it Materials, labor, contractor delays Even my dad has lost his temper a couple tiinally it was supposed to open in October Now they’re saying it ht not be ready until after the holidays, and the chef my dad wanted couldn’t wait He took a job somewhere else”

“That stinks”

“They’re interviewing chefs again, but they’re not finding anyone who’s right”

“I could ask my sister Felicity if she’s interested,” I said Felicity, who lived in Chicago, had gone to culinary school and was now a food scientist

“Do it My parents keepGianni Lupo and I would rather eat dirt than ith him”

I laughed Growing up around here, the Lupo brothers were legendary There were three of them, and they were all loud, reckless, and rowdy, constantly in trouble at school for breaking rules or getting in fights—often with each other—and one of the fro they’d done to show off They weren’t mean, except to each other and other boys just like the pranks at school, they loved teasing girls

Ellie had grown up with the Lupo brothers because theirto say about thee Not that I entirely blamed her—he’d always torrown fros and scabby elbows into gorgeous, brawny teenagers with unfair bone structure, thick tousled hair, and irrepressible grins

Then there was the infaht of the Cherry Festival ere seventeen, which involved a dunk tank, several pies in the face, and a highly controversial game of Seven Minutes in Heaven

“I still haven’t forgiven hi”

“Coh school Maybe he’s matured by now”

She gave ed hair at twenty feet “Guys like Gianni Lupo don’t et older, they can just keep dating younger girls who don’t know better”

“I thought he was in California Wasn’t he doing so show his dad was on?”