Leo’s dad carefully speared some linguine on his fork and brought it to his mouth. Tessa felt the vibrations from Leo’s knee freaking out next to hers. On the opposite side of the table, her grandmother looked at her and smiled, a small comfort.

Marco set down his fork and chewed the bite slowly. When he finally swallowed, he said, “The seafood is very tender but not mushy. The pasta is al dente. The dish is perfectly warm.”

“So then you like it?” Leo asked.

“It’s just as your mother made it,” he said, his voice cracking a little, “except for the recently swimming seafood.” Marco lifted a glass to his son. Well, make that Tessa, too, because he looked at her as well. “You have my permission to work your magic together. And we’ll see what happens.” Then he drained his wine and set the glass down on the table with a definitive thud. “Eat, everybody. It’s delicious.”

“Marco,” Tessa’s mom said after tasting the dish herself, “our children have done an unbelievable job.”

“I think, Joanna,” Leo’s dad said, “you’re absolutely right.”

“This was totally worth taking a break from my SAT flash cards,” Gia said.

Tessa clapped her hands. Amid everyone’s exclaiming, forks clinking, and everyone digging in, Leo reached over and kissed her. A short, quick, enthusiastic kiss—an impulsive, natural thing to do.

And then he grinned.

She high-fived him.

Which was weird and also something she hadn’t done since she was twelve. But he laughed. And she did, too, because she suddenly felt giddy and shaky. Because their families were actually agreeing on something. And enjoying food together.

“You did it,” she said, sincerely thrilled for him. “Congratulations.”

“We did it, Countess.”

The fraisier was the crown jewel of the meal. Everyone raved and exclaimed over that, too.

Strangely, Tessa hadn’t been worried about it. She knew it would be delicious.

And she felt like this was Leo’s time.

Her mother smiled. “I haven’t seen a fraisier like that since I was at the baker’s convention in Chicago a few years ago. I’m proud of you, Tessa.” She looked at Leo. “And you too, Leo. The meal was superb.”

“Thanks, Joanna,” Leo said.

Tessa’s mom turned to Marco. “Thank you for letting us in on the taste testing.” She turned to Tessa. “I’m too full, and I drank two glasses of wine,” her mother said. “I think I’m going to walk home.”

“I’ll walk with you,” Marco said. “Leo’s got it covered for now. I’ll be back around four, okay?”

Tessa caught Leo’s eye. He shrugged pointedly and took a sip of wine. If anyone else noticed the two notorious enemies walking off together, no one said a thing.