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“Superpowers?” I ask, immediately thinking of his manly parts. Did my eyes just flick down to his crotch? Yup, they did, because I’m looking at it.
He lowers his voice. “Not like that, you pervert.”
I stifle a laugh, then say, “Hey, I am not to blame for my mind going there.”
“What’s so funny?” my dad asks.
When I look over at him, my stomach drops. He’s got the same expression he had on his face the time he caught Ian Miller giving me a hickey on the couch in his den. Immediately, I go right back to feeling like a sixteen-year-old girl, and it takes me a second to remember I’m thirty-five and I can do what I want. Not that I have been doing what I want. But I can if I want to. “Nothing, Pop. It’s a long story.”
“We got time,” he says, running his tongue over his teeth and standing up. “I’m Enzo. Allegra’s father.”
If Hudson is intimidated, he doesn’t show it. He walks over and reaches out his hand. “Hudson. Wonderful to meet you, sir. You must be so proud of Allegra here. She’s not only a kind and thoughtful person, but a genius too.”
My dad’s scowl softens a little. “I know that. She’s a very special one.”
“That’s for sure. Here she is at the forefront of the biggest breakthrough in the history of SETI research and yet she took a day off to stay with me at the hospital,” Hudson says, looking around the room. “I just had to find a way to pay her back.”
“Allegra, you didn’t tell us about this big breakthrough,” Zia Fernanda says.
Shrugging, I feel my face warming up even more. “I didn’t want to say anything in case it doesn’t work out.”
“Oh, it’ll work out,” Hudson says, even though he really has no idea if I can actually do what I set out to. “She’s basically the next Frank Drake.”
“Really?” Nonno asks. “Our Allegra?”
“Oh yeah, you’ll all be sitting at the Nobel Prize ceremony one day watching her receive her medal.”
“Nobel prize, pfft,” I say with a chuckle. “I’m not … they don’t give it out for SETI research.”
“Well, they will when you’re done,” Hudson says. “Speaking of which, you’re not getting any closer to changing the world down here. Now, show me how to use that pasta grinder, then you scoot back upstairs and get your work done.”
“I’ll show him!”
This can be heard from every woman in the room, including Camilla, who, at the tender age of ten, is clearly as in love with him as the rest of the world.
I lower my voice. “Can I talk to you in the hall for a second?”
“Of course,” he says, following me as we cross the large room.
As soon as we round the corner, I whisper, “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into. They’re crazy people.”
“They seem fine.”
Shaking my head, I say, “They’re insane. And they’re going to ask you all sorts of embarrassing questions and my dad’s going to assume you’re trying to sleep with me so he’s going to be just awful to you and they’re going to make you eat so much, you’ll feel sick. You should just go, while you still can.”
Placing both hands on my shoulders, he says, “Allie, I’m fine. In fact, I’m going to have a great time. Now, you go get to work.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I’m sure. This whole thing was my idea,” he says. “Now go.”
I stare at him for a second, feeling all kinds of warm, gooey feelings. He’s here to help me. He just showed up exactly when I needed him. “Okay, but only if you’re sure you’re sure.”
“I’m totally sure I’m sure.”
I start toward the stairs, but he stops me. “Wait. I should probably borrow that apron. My stylist will kill me if I get this shirt dirty.”
I tuck my lips between my teeth to stop myself from laughing, and he says, “Yeah, I just heard it myself. Let’s pretend I didn’t say that.”
