Anna smiled at him so tenderly that he began to weep again.
“Thank you, Anna,” he said as she took him in her arms. “The Tank would have loved you, and you would have approved of him being my best man.”
“If that was a proposal,” said Anna, who couldn’t help blushing, “my mother would point out that we’ve only known each other for two weeks.”
“Twelve days was enough for my father,” said Alex, as he fell to one knee and produced a small velvet box from his pocket. He opened it to reveal his grandmother’s engagement ring.
As he placed the ring on the third finger of Anna’s left hand, she delivered a line he would remember for the rest of his life.
“I must be the only girl who’s ever been proposed to in a cemetery.”
* * *
“How do you like the new menus?” asked Alex.
“Classy, like your mother,” said Lawrence. “Did she design them?”
“No, Anna did, in her spare time.”
“I can’t wait to meet this girl. Perhaps I should invite her up to Boston for the
weekend to see my art collection.”
Alex laughed. “And I can tell you she’d accept, because Anna can’t wait to meet you and view the collection. So, Lawrence, as I suspect you didn’t fly down to New York just to flatter me, I can only hope you don’t want your money back, because I’ve already spent it.”
“But are you ready for me to invest even more?”
“Why would you do that?”
“Because if Elena’s is going to expand, the only thing Todd was right about, you’ll need an injection of capital.”
“And you’d be willing to supply it?”
“You bet. It’s in my interest to do so, as I own fifty percent of the business.”
“Only until I pay you back.”
“Which could take you some considerable time if you agree to my proposal.”
Alex laughed. “Your godfather wouldn’t approve.”
“I can’t imagine why. One of his first investments was in McDonald’s, despite his never having eaten a hamburger in his life. But we do have a problem.”
“And what’s that?” said Alex, as Paolo returned with the day’s special.
“I think I may have found the perfect site for Elena Three in Boston, but how do we duplicate your mother?”
“It will always be her recipes on the menu,” said Alex. “And God help any chef who falls below her high standards.”
“How do you think she’d feel about spending the first month in whichever city we choose whenever we open a new Elena’s?”
“If she was convinced it was your idea,” said Alex, “she might just go along with it.”
“How are you enjoying today’s specials?” asked a familiar voice.
Lawrence stood to greet Elena. “Superb,” he said, two fingers touching his lips. Alex recognized the special smile his mother reserved for her favorite customers. “And I wondered, Elena, if you and I could have a private word later, preferably when Alex is not around?”
* * *