Serena's Choice - Coastal Romance Series (13 page)

The humid July days inched
forward. One morning while Serena and Nonna were at the breakfast
table drinking coffee, Nonna said, “Serena, I’ve got something to
ask you and I want you to try to have an open mind.”

“
What is it, Nonna,” she
said. She couldn’t imagine what her grandmother wanted to say. Was
it about Rossetti’s? Probably. Serena had not been giving the diner
the attention it deserved lately. Her mind had been filled with
thoughts of Steven.

“
You know Mark is leaving,
right?”

“
Yes. Sandy told me the other
night. I’ve got to find someone to replace him.”

“
Well, I’ve got someone, if
you approve,” Nonna said.

“
Who?”

“
Jeff.”

Serena choked down the coffee
that was in her mouth. “Jeff? He lives in Atlanta. He’s a
lawyer!”

“
I know that. But he doesn’t
want to be a lawyer anymore. He’s already given them his notice.”
Serena vaguely remembered Jeff talking about his dissatisfaction with
his law firm.

“
Why would he want to be a
bartender? We need someone with experience.”

“
He’s got experience. He told
me he was a bartender through college and law school. He’s got
experience.”

Serena thought about it. There
was no real reason why Jeff couldn’t work at Rossetti’s. She was
in love with Steven and Jeff wasn’t any kind of threat to that.
Plus, Jeff had been so kind to her when her mother died. And he’s
been so nice to Nonna all this time. Why not let Jeff come and be a
bartender, if that’s what he thought he needed to do while he
figured his life out?

“
He said he wouldn’t do it if
you don’t want him to,” Nonna said.

“
So you’ve already discussed
it with him?”

“
Yes. He told me he was leaving
his law firm anyway and didn’t know what he was going to be doing.
So I discussed it with him. I asked him if he would consider it. I’d
like him to come here.”

Nonna looked at her with
expectation. Serena could see how much her grandmother wanted Jeff to
come to Rossetti’s. Not to mention, Nonna owned Rossetti’s and
could do what she wanted! Serena always had to keep that in mind. She
didn’t want another incident with Nonna.

“
Okay, Nonna,” she finally
said. “I’m good with it. I hope he likes it as much as he thinks
he will. It’s not an easy job.”

“
Well, of course he already
knows that, cara. He’s done it before.”

“
Of course,” Serena said.
“He’s done it before. When will he get here?”

“
Next week. I want to go and
call him right now.”

Nonna left the table and took her
cell phone up the stairs to her bedroom. Serena sat at the kitchen
table sipping her coffee and wondering how she was going to explain
Jeff at Rossetti’s to Steven. She didn’t feel she had any choice
in the matter. Nonna wanted it, and Serena could not deny her
grandmother. Things were beginning to feel complicated again. But why
should they? She wasn’t involved with Jeff anymore. She was in love
with Steven and nothing could change that.

“
Thanks, cara,” Nonna said as
she opened the door to leave for Rossetti’s a few minutes later.
“This means a lot to me.”

“
It’s okay, Nonna. I like
Jeff too. He is a friend, after all.”

After Nonna left, Serena wondered
where Jeff would be staying. Surely not with them. Surely Nonna
wouldn’t have offered Jeff a place to stay. She didn’t want to
sit around worrying about that all day, so she called Nonna.

“
Where is Jeff going to be
staying?” she asked when Nonna answered.

“
Don’t worry,” Nonna said.
“He said he’s going to find a place to stay. I was sort of
thinking he could stay on the second floor of Rossetti’s. We aren’t
doing anything with it. Maybe he could fix it up or something. Give
him free rent if he fixes it up.”

That actually didn’t sound like
a bad idea to Serena. It might be good to have someone living on the
property, especially if he was willing to put in some work.

“
Let’s talk about that,
Nonna,” she said. “I think there might be some possibilities
there.” She had wanted to fix the upper floor up. Visions of
private parties danced through her head. This could be a good thing.

Later, Serena went to Rossetti’s
for the dinner shift. Afterward, she stayed behind, sitting at the
bar waiting on Steven. He came in around ten, as he usually did, and
sat down on a barstool next to her. Sandy brought him a draft.

After talking for a few minutes,
Serena told Steven about Jeff. She told him that Nonna really wanted
him to come and that really it was fine. Rossetti’s needed an
experienced bartender.

Steven didn’t look pleased at
the news.

“
Didn’t you say you dated
him?” he asked.

“
Yes, but I said that it was
occasional and not serious.”

Steven drank a long draw of his
draft and set the mug on the bar. He looked at Serena.

“
I don’t really have a say in
this. It’s not my business. If you and Nonna think it’s workable,
who am I to say it’s not? I know you need to replace Mark.”

As if on cue, Mark walked over
then to take Steven’s mug and replace it with a fresh draft. Serena
looked at Steven and he laughed. Joe was playing the piano and
singing a Frank Sinatra classic, “Strangers in the Night.” She
and Steven danced for a while, then left the restaurant for Steven’s
house. It had become a comfortable routine for Serena.

Chapter
Nine

Jeff arrived the next week and
moved into the top floor of Rossetti’s. Serena went up there with
him to show him all of the rooms. It was dusty in the unused space,
but there was a bed in one of the bedrooms and a working bathroom.
The long-ago elegance of the house was evident in the moldings on the
baseboard and at the edge of the ceiling, which was about ten feet
high. The floors were wide-plank hardwood that probably would need to
be refinished if they ever decided to use the space for the
restaurant. Serena had bought new bed sheets and pillows and a nice
comforter for the bed. She had dusted and waxed the furniture in the
bedroom and cleaned the bathroom, where she added new towels.

“
I’m afraid I was only able
to get this one room into some sort of livable shape,” she told
Jeff. “I figured this is where you would spend most of your time.”

“
This is good,” Jeff said.
“Better than I expected. Thanks for letting me stay up here. I know
it’s not exactly free. I’ll do a good job on the renovations.”

“
I’m sure you will,” Serena
said, turning away from the bathroom marble counter to look at Jeff.

And then he surprised her. “Are
you happy, Serena?” he asked.

Serena didn’t want Jeff asking
her questions like that, about her personal life. She needed their
relationship to be strictly business.

“
Yes, I’m happy,” she said
decisively, hoping that would be the end of it.

“
Good,” Jeff said. Serena
started toward the bedroom door. “I’ll be down at the bar
tonight,” Jeff said. “Will you be there?”

“
I’ll be there,” she said.
“Steven will probably come in, too. He usually does.”

“
Okay,” Jeff said. “I look
forward to seeing you later. Thanks for everything.”

“
You’re welcome,” she said
walking through the door and into the wide hallway. “See you
later.”

Things at Rossetti’s had
settled into the new Rossetti’s with its new entrées and Facebook
and website. After all of that, Serena had not pushed for anything
further. She knew she needed to. She had an entrée that she wanted
to add, pasta prima vera, but she had not done that. She had been
distracted and engrossed with Steven. But that night, Serena thought
about the future of Rossetti’s, considering the next steps.

Jeff came down from upstairs,
which led into the main dining hall, around eight. Serena was still
in the kitchen overseeing the cooks and making sure everything was
running smoothly. Jeff went behind the bar with Sandy.

Around ten, when the dining part
of the day was over and the food was put up, Serena went around to
the bar and sat down. Jeff came over and asked her what she wanted to
drink. It was so weird to see him there, behind the bar.

“
I’ll have a sidecar,” she
said, testing Jeff’s knowledge.

“
Coming right up,” he said,
turning to the wall of liquor and pulling down a bottle of cognac and
orange liqueur. He cut a lemon and added the liquor and lemon juice
to a shaker with ice. He shook the shaker for a moment, then strained
the mixture into a martini glass. He put a slice of lemon on the edge
of the glass and set the drink down on the bar in front of Serena.
She took a sip.

“
This is delicious,” she
said. “Really good.”

“
Thanks. I’ll bet you didn’t
think I knew what a sidecar is,” he said, smiling at her.

“
You’re right. I didn’t.
I’m impressed.”

The door opened and Steven walked
in. He walked over to the bar and sat down next to Serena. He nodded
at Jeff, who was still standing there.

“
I’ll have a draft,” he
said.

“
Coming right up,” Jeff said,
moving away to get a chilled mug from the ice drawer and pulling the
tap on the draft. He set it down in front of Steven, then moved away
to the other end of the bar. It was a Saturday night and the regular
crowd was starting to come in. Angela, a tall bar waitress that had
been there for a few months, waited the tables taking drink orders.
The band started to play. It was a typical Saturday night, Serena’s
favorite night because she would be going home with Steven.

Out of the corner of her eye,
Serena saw that Steven was keeping his eye on Jeff. Out of the other
corner of her eye, she saw that Angela was spending time at the end
of the bar, talking to Jeff between drink orders. Angela had finished
her master’s degree in literature recently. She didn’t know what
she was going to do with that degree when she finished and was
thinking of getting a Ph.D., but she wanted to work for a while.
Angela was tall and gorgeous, with long straight blond hair and blue
eyes. She made good money on tips.

After a couple of drinks, Serena
and Steven left Rossetti’s and went to Steven’s house. The night
was warm from the day’s sun. It was a low tide and the waves lapped
at the shore, more distant than at a high tide.

“
Let’s take a walk on the
beach,” Steven said when they were inside and Serena had put her
overnight bag on the bed. “It’s a nice night.”

She removed her sandals and
together they walked down the stairs and onto the beach. The moon
reflected off of the water. They walked in the water at the edge, the
waves moving over and over their feet rhythmically. Sand ran through
Serena’s toes as the water went back out to sea, returning again
and again. Steven held her hand and they walked a long way down
before turning back.

When they did get back and got
into bed, Steven said, “I’ve got to go to Tampa in a couple of
days. Corporate stuff. This annual meeting thing they do. I’ll be
gone for a few days.”

“
Oh,” she said. “I’ll
miss you.”

“
I’ll miss you too,” he
said. He kissed her, then made love to her with a ferocity that was
new. It was exciting, but in the back of her mind, Serena wondered
what had brought it on. Steven seemed almost desperate.

Chapter
Ten

By the end of his first week at
Rossetti’s, Jeff was a hit. He not only made the ordered drinks, he
made them with a flourish. He made a show out of mixing drinks and
shaking cocktails. He put the shaker behind his back; he threw it in
the air and caught it before opening the top and pouring the icy
liquid into glasses. Young women had started hanging out at the bar
to watch him. They laughed and giggled when he caught the drink. They
couldn’t keep their eyes off of him. Serena had to admit it. Jeff
looked sexy behind the bar making drinks. He could have his pick of
these young women, but he seemed to have eyes only for Angela. She
waited patiently at the end of the bar while he made drinks, an
amused smile playing around her lips.

Since Steven was out of town,
Serena stayed at the bar until closing time. She was watching Jeff,
and she was just as fascinated as the women who hung around the bar.
Every now and then, Jeff would look her way and give her a wink or a
laugh. She laughed back. She couldn’t help herself. She wondered
what Steven would think about that.

But he wasn’t there, and Serena
allowed herself to do what she wanted. It felt good.

At the end of the evening, Serena
noticed that Angela would sit down at the bar and Jeff would bring
her a drink. That was acceptable for the staff, once Rossetti’s was
closed. She watched Jeff lean his arms on the bar as he talked to
Angela, who laughed regularly at whatever Jeff was saying to her.
Serena could leave whenever she chose, but she stayed until the bar
was completely closed, to see what Jeff was doing.