Chapter One

Georgia would make her signature Wild Mushroom Risotto for his birthday. He'd like that. They all liked it. And for good reason; it was delicious. Her secret was to add just a hint of … well, now, it wouldn't be a secret any more, would it? She grinned wickedly at the thought of how many times she'd said this to patrons asking for the recipe.

She walked through the back door to Bella Donna's and locked it behind her. Not that you had to worry about junkies or whores in the morning, but there was no one else in the restaurant and it was better to be safe than sorry. She liked the solitude of the start of the day. Bella Donna's was open for dinner only, but Georgia often came in before the rest of the staff to make the last minute adjustments to the specials menu. Her philosophy was, "No matter how well you think everything through, it rarely goes as you planned." But despite it, or perhaps because of it, she made a habit of being utterly thorough and having a plan for it all.

This birthday party for Leo was going to be a pain the ass. He was a tyrant of a father when she was growing up and she didn't like him very much. He'd fought constantly with her mother. Georgia didn't have very many memories of her, but she did remember that her mother had had enough one day and left, leaving Leo and Georgia alone. He blamed Georgia for it, even though Georgia knew better. He immediately remarried and had another daughter, Regina. That was his longest relationship; they were married for 8 years. They'd left the girls with a babysitter and went to a 4th of July party. They caught a ride home with the neighbors and were in a bad car accident. The neighbor's blood alcohol content was .13. Leo was the only one who survived. After a string of women that resulted in Georgia heading to college as far away from him as she could get, he married his last wife who also died giving birth to their only daughter, Christina. Georgia was 22 by this time. Although he'd mellowed out, he never remarried.

She was 40 now and still didn't like him. She tolerated him now because she was Head Chef of the restaurant that he owned. She often thought she should be more grateful that he'd given her that position, but couldn't bring herself to feel it. She had put in too many hours washing greasy pots in a sweltering kitchen to feel gratitude. And besides, she'd deserved it. She had a wall full of awards and framed reviews of her dishes from when she was in New York.

The phone rang and interrupted her bitter reminisces. She looked at the display and saw Allen's name. She let it ring three more times, debating on whether to ignore it or not. She and Allen slept in separate bedrooms now and were barely on speaking terms. She picked it up, "Hey."

"I know how much you hate being interrupted in the kitchen, but Leo stopped by and I told him you were at the restaurant. He's headed there now. I thought you should know," he said.

"Is that it?"

He paused briefly, "I talked to Michael last night."

"It doesn't matter what your shrink says. Why aren't you fighting for us? You used to be ambitious; you used to be fiery and passionate. I thought you could rule the world. I don't care if you're having some sort of midlife crisis of conscience. You're not taking me or us seriously and you're being spineless."

He sighed, "You can be really mean sometimes, you know?"

"That's only because I thought you were capable of so much more and I was wrong. I'm disappointed, okay?"

He didn't respond. Georgia huffed and said, "I don't have time for this Allan, especially if Leo is headed over here. Are you coming to the party tonight?"

"Do you want me there?"

Georgia gritted her teeth and said, "Everyone will expect you to be there. And for some ungodly reason, Leo likes you. It would be nice for him if you were there."

He gave a noncommittal response and hung up. Georgia stared at the phone for what seemed like an eternity, wanting to fling it through the wall. Wanting to fling it at him and get him riled up. They used to be quite a power couple. Allan made a lot of money on Wall Street and one day, just quit. He didn't talk to her about it, he didn't ask her what she thought, he just quit. He said he was tired of the ruthless, cutthroat business and wanted to do something to help people. He'd invested well and they wouldn't hurt for money, even with his lack of salary; but that was not the man she married, nor was it the man she wanted. She wanted danger. She wanted excitement. He used to want that too, but now it seemed like he wanted exactly the opposite. Like folk music and community gardens were more his speed. She didn't get it. It was foolish, that's what it was. She snapped the phone closed and shoved it in her pocket.

What was she doing? Wasting time and anxiety over Allan when Leo was on his way, that was what. And it was wasted time. Almost as bad as wasting time dealing with Leo, who probably just wanted to talk about his birthday plans. Sixty-five and no signs of retirement. Georgia wished he would just let her run the restaurant her way and be done with it. And really, with Regina to manage the finances, there was nothing left for Leo to do but get in the way.

The party was in two days and she was sure she had thought everything through. They were holding it in Bella Donna's function room, which held 125 and would be full to capacity. Leo was well known and respected. The staff was booked with a couple extra on call just in case. The guests had all RSVP'd, the band was booked, the mayor had his toast speech prepared (she'd check with his secretary), the staff would decorate in the morning, the food had been bought and Georgia would be supervising the cooking. She'd even arranged for Yellow Taxi to have some cars loop the area in case the guests had too much to drink. Except for the last minute addition of the risotto, every detail was planned. Well, almost. She still had to make one last phone call to the Liquor Store to make sure her special order came in. But she'd do that after Leo left. She didn't want him walking in on that conversation. She might not have liked him very much, but she respected his taste in bourbon and wanted to get him something special: the A. H. Hirsch Reserve 16 Year.

While she was waiting for Leo to get there, she pulled up the menu for the party to add the risotto. She'd run to the wholesale market herself to get what she needed. She saved the menu and clicked out of Word just as she heard the key in the lock. Her solitude never lasted long enough.

"So Kid, everything all set for Saturday?"

Georgia rolled her eyes, "Yes Leo. Why do you even ask me that? I always have everything covered and you know it."

He grinned that irritating grin that said he was trying to get a rise out of her and chuckled. "Hey, do you think that just for Saturday, you might call me 'Dad?' I've got something up my sleeve that I'm going to announce and I want to make sure everyone there knows you three girls are my daughters."

Georgia cringed at the possible change of plans, but tried to keep it from showing on her face. He thrived on causing stress. "Leo, everyone does know you're our father."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he said, "But I just want to make it clear."

"How about we just wear name tags: "Hello, my name is…Leo's First Daughter."

"Nobody likes a smart-ass, Kid."

"Don't I know it better than anyone, Leo." There was a pause in the conversation, so she continued, "Did you come over here for anything other than to torture me?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I was out, so I thought I'd stop and check. I want to run over to Donny's anyway. He says he's got a new kid managing for him and I want to meet him."

"I heard that, but you don't need to waste your time this morning: Donny's bringing him on Saturday. He called me on Tuesday to make sure he could add one to his RSVP."

He turned to walk back out the door and called over his shoulder, "Yeah, well, you know me; I wanna know all the peons in my little kingdom. Make sure they're taking care of business."

Georgia shook her head. Leo never changed.