Recipe 4: Lemon Sherbet
The 56-year-old beer-bellied, balding Trenton police sergeant's heart breaks into zillions and zillions of tiny, bitter pieces as he helplessly watches the pride, the joy, and the meaning of his life, his little princess, his only child, his precious Angelina Maria cry her broken, 15-year-old heart out in her mother's arms. He looks up pleadingly toward the ceiling of his lovely, cozy, two-story house as if praying silently. What have he done to deserve this? Why does God have to torment him like this? Why does Fate have to be such a mean, merciless bitch? After 6 long, anguish years of standing in the darkest corner watching the love of his life and his archenemy build up a happy fairy-tale-like life together, and wishing the three beautiful little boys were his, he has finally, finally found the right woman, the sweet and kind-hearted Lucy Morticia Fowler*, settled down, and started his own perfect, dream family.
And then that fateful, cursed day 10 years ago, at the birthday party of Carl and Tiffany Costanza's youngest daughter Kathy, God had to play such a cruel joke on him: his blue-eyed blonde 5-year-old little Angel met that 7-year-old, midnight-dark-brown-eyed, milk-caramel-skinned youngest Manoso boy, and, unsurprisingly, immediately fell for him. From then on, everywhere he goes, she wants to follow. Whatever he does, she wants to try, too. She sees nothing but him. She wants no one else but him. But, alas, the handsome, smart, polite, and ever so perfect Leonardo Manoso treats her like just another ordinary neighborhood girl. And as if to add insult to injury, of all the girls in the Burg, he has to ask Anastasia Stankovic, Mary Lou and Lenny's green-eyed, wild-haired, not-so-bright trouble maker of a youngest child who, unlike his Angel, can't sing, dance, or play piano, to go to Prom with him.
Silently Joe Morelli wipes a drop of crystal tear away from his tired brown eyes and lets out a frustrated sigh as he thinks of the complicated history between he, Ranger, and Stephanie. Yes, now he finally realizes that pay back can really be such a bitch...
*Oh yes, this chapter is dedicated to you, my dear Margaret .
Author's Note: Dear Readers, please go to my profile page to take a look of Mrs. Joe Morelli.