The plates of carbonara, cacio e pepe, and arrabbiata arrived and, without losing a beat, Chase served the five of them a sampling of each while speaking. It was like he’d been interning with a big Italian family on the weekends. “We have a few announcements here, so if you can hold your questions until the end, as we say in the press room, that would be appreciated. First, our plan is to be married rather quickly and here’s why. And no, you don’t need a shotgun, Alexa.” There was genuine laughter from George, and fake laughter from the MOG and the MOB. “As you know, my current job ends later this year as Mayor Lynch terms out. And at his encouragement, and the encouragement of others, I’ve been asked to consider running for Congress. There’s a district in Queens—Astoria—where an incumbent will be retiring at the end of his term in eighteen months, and the mayor thinks I’m a great fit. Yes, Queens. Big Greek population. I’ll be running as an Independent, like the mayor. I’ll have the full backing of Mayor Lynch and continue to work for him in some capacity even after he leaves office, so I can pay the bills and do my due diligence at the same time. And yes, I will be moving there to establish residency and get to know the place—and Penny will join me in Queens as soon as we’re married. Now, Penny, I think this is your department.”

Penny turned to Alexa. “Mom, we’d like to be married in Montecito around New Year’s Eve. We know getting married on New Year’s Eve would be too expensive, so the Friday night before is the date we’d like. Not a huge wedding, but a special wedding. I can’t wait to plan it with you. I know you don’t do client trips over the holidays anymore, so I thought it would be good, timing-wise. And I get that the family might not be able to come from Athens and Patmos, so we’ll spend our honeymoon in Greece next summer and celebrate with them then. I can show Chase my other home.”

Abigail’s head started to swim. Did Penny just say she was not planning on inviting the Diamandis family to the wedding? Would her family be cut out, too, because Connecticut was too far away from California? As she was considering how she would tell her one remaining aunt and her three cousins that they wouldn’t be invited to a wedding that was sure to get press coverage, the announcement continued.