He shook his head sadly. How in the world could anyone think that stuff was good? “No you don’t. I’m gonna make you a believer just like I had to do with Janet.” At the mention of his wife’s name he began to laugh. It wasn’t just a regular laugh, but a deep, gut-wrenching laugh.
Before Karen could ask what was so comical, he walked over to the kitchen door to make sure Janet wasn’t within hearing distance. “The first time Janet tried to make a pizza pie it was horrible. Tasted like a brick with tomato gravy on it.”
“I heard that old man!” Janet yelled into the kitchen.
Karen and Dominic both cracked up laughing as he continued his lesson.
Dom’s lips curved into a smile. “Yeah?” His dad was very fond of Karen, but giving her a Peretti recipe that dated back to family roots in the old country? Well this meant he was crazy about her. Those who knew him knew he didn’t part too freely with family recipes.
Karen nodded, reminding him so much of Ashley. “Yup.” Tossing the dough in the air like Dominic showed her earlier, she bragged, “He loves me.”
Chuckling, Dom agreed. “I’d say so. He’s not too keen on giving up the family recipes.”
Setting the pie down on the baking sheet, she began forming the crust. Ladling the tomato base gravy, as her soon-to-be father-in-law called it, onto the center, she imitated his smooth movements as she swirled the red sauce until it met the borders of the crust.
“He said this was my initiation into the Peretti clan.”
Scratching the stubble on his jaw, he grinned as he remembered him and Ava learning the secret recipe as pre-teens. “Did he tell you about my mom’s first time?”
Laughter bubbled out of her throat. “He sure did. It was so funny too. He called himself making sure the coast was clear and she heard him anyway.”
“I know she had a fit. That’s a sore subject for her, and my dad just keeps picking at it every chance he gets.”
Karen gingerly lifted the baking sheet and placed it in the pre-heated oven. Wiping her hands on her apron, she said, “I could tell. She rolled her eyes so hard at him when she came in the kitchen I thought they were going to get stuck in the back of her head.”
Seeing she was finished, Dom patted his sturdy, muscular thigh. “Come here, I have to talk to you.”
Uh-oh, this sounds serious. Karen untied the apron, lifted it over her head, and slung it over the back of a chair before taking a seat in Dom’s lap. “What’s up?”
Wrapping his arms around her slender waist, he kissed the spot on her cheek where her dimple popped out. “I need to talk to you about Ashley.”
Concerned, she shifted in his lap so she could look in his face. What could be wrong with her daughter? Had someone done something to her that she was afraid to talk to her about? Her voice was strained with worry when she asked, “Did someone hurt her?”
He pulled her closer and kissed her brow. “No baby, nothing like that,” he promised as he shared with her what Ashley told him at lunch. He knew this was something he couldn’t keep from Karen; he knew this was something she needed to know.
Covering her face, she moaned. “Oh my God. I didn’t mean for her to hear any of that.” Karen wanted to kick herself. How many times had she and Starr snooped and listened to what their mother thought was a private conversation with one of her girlfriends about their father running off again? This was something kids did. Nevertheless, she remembered what she now knows was the shame of having a deadbeat for a father. She’d always been careful not to say anything negative in front of the children about Gregory. So she thought.
Removing her hands, Dom kissed each one of them. “Hey, don’t beat yourself up.”
“I’m not. It’s just that I know she doesn’t have any memories of Gregory and I don’t want her to think badly of him.” She tilted her head to the side to gauge if he understood where she was coming from. “Know what I mean?”
No. The twitching in his jaw was a dead giveaway.
Dom selected his words carefully. “I suppose because he was her father you don’t want her to have any ill feelings. But babe, sooner or later she was going to find out about how things really were between you and Gregory.”
Karen took a deep breath. He was right. Just like she and Starr had found out about all of their father’s dirt, Kyle and Ashley were bound to find out about Gregory’s many secrets. “Yeah, you’re right. I guess I just wanted to keep her protected as long as possible.”