To his credit, he played along like a champ. He laughed at the right moments, asked for seconds of the marsala and gnocchi. If Angi wasn’t smitten at that point, her mother certainly seemed so.

So much so, that as they cleaned up the plates, Bianca turned to Gabe, grabbed his hand and said, “I have a favor to ask you.”

He looked mildly fearful yet nodded. “What can I do for you?”

“I’d like you to bring up the Christmas tree from the basement.”

“Mom, no.” Angi flipped off the water and turned from the sink.

Gabe’s eyes went wide. “I...if you want... I mean...”

“Vincent carried it up every year the day after Thanksgiving. It was tradition. Cursing and muttering the whole time about what a pain it was. But he loved that tree. Our house is empty without it. Do you have a Christmas tree in your grandmother’s house?”

“Uh, no.”

Angi stepped forward. “Mom, seriously. You and I can bring up the tree.”

“I’m not sure my heart could take the strain of the stairs.” Bianca patted her chest.

“You walked two miles yesterday after your water aerobics class. If you can’t manage it, Andrew will help me.”

“But Gabe is here.” Bianca moved her hand up his arm and squeezed his biceps. “A strapping young man and he doesn’t mind.” She turned to him, literally batted her eyes. “You don’t mind, right?”

“I’ll get the tree.”

“I’ll show you where it is.” Irritation and embarrassment warred inside Angi. She wagged a finger at her mother as she walked by. “This is why Marco and Luca don’t bring their girlfriends home.”

“There are no girls good enough for my boys.”

There were times Angi wished she’d paid more attention to the Italian lessons her grandmother had tried to give her when she was younger. She could have used a rant in another language at the moment. She settled for throwing up her hands and stalking toward the basement, far too aware of Gabe on her heels.

“SHE MEANS WELL.”

Angi rounded on Gabe as she hit the bottom step in her parents’ unfinished basement. “You have got to be joking. That wasn’t a mother with good intentions.” She pointed to the ceiling. “That was out of line.”

“You’re the one who wanted a boyfriend for the holidays.”

“To get her off my case. Not so she could start picking out china patterns.”

“I never understood good china,” Gabe said conversationally, wanting to distract her. He’d had a great time at dinner, better than he’d ever expected. He didn’t think being asked to carry a Christmas tree was the worst thing that could happen to him. “I was in a friend’s wedding last spring, and they got so many plates. A million different sizes of glasses and two gravy boats. What does anyone need with two gravy boats?”

Her mouth formed a small O, and he bit back a smile. At least he’d gotten her mind off the irritation with her mom for a few moments. He took the opportunity to place his hands on her arms and move her to one side so he could get down the last couple of steps. The basement was small but neat, with rows of shelves along two of the walls. A washer and dryer took up space in one corner, and there was an abandoned exercise bike currently being used as a drying rack.