And now my Melvin is chuckling again. He says Jamie didn’t do it for Elsie—he did it for his beautiful wife. Which, now that I think about it, is rather obvious. It seems she did well to fire our Elsie—but I’m sure her soul has been hurting, probably far more than anyone other than my husband truly understands. And Jamie would have given up far more than spaghetti sauce to fix that.Enjoy whatever delightfulness comes in the morning.Sleep well,Vero~ ~ ~Elsie looked around the kitchen, well aware she should be feeling frantic. The place was a mess of tomato splatters and squished herbs, she’d slept for all of three hours, and it was entirely possible no one was coming.Caro snorted as she marched in the back door, an enormous pot in her hands. “They’re coming, my girl. Floods of them. I’ve brought you my biggest pasta pot—you’re going to need it.”Elsie blinked. “I only invited a few people.”“Ha.” Caro set the pot to filling and started wiping down counters. “A smell like that coming out of your house is invitation enough. Jennie and her husband are just down the block, and there are at least a dozen people behind them.”Now panic hit. “We don’t have enough chairs for that many people!”“Chairs?” Jamie ported into their kitchen, a huge plate of noodles in his hands and laughter in his eyes. “This is going to be a standing-room-only event. Nell’s crew just landed in the back yard. We’ll spread out some blankets back there and over in Caro’s yard, too.”Lizard clomped into the kitchen holding her phone. “Lauren’s coming—she’s just picking up Thea. Apparently Bean can smell the sauce from inside her belly.”“No wonder,”
