Christmas Family Style in Savannah: A Garlucci Family Saga Novel (Made in Savannah Mystery Series Bo by Hope Callaghan (summer reading list txt) 📕

The door slammed, and Elvira, a thunderous expression on her face, stormed past.

“Hey!” Carlita cupped her hands to her mouth. “Everything okay?”

Elvira abruptly stopped and slowly made her way over. “Yeah. How’s it going? The rest of your family show up yet?”

“Vinnie and Brittney got here last night. Paulie and his tribe should be here anytime now.”

“Better you than me,” Elvira said. “I’m heading over to the prison to visit with Zulilly. I gotta get going. Visiting hours end soon. I’ll see you later tonight.”

Before Carlita could ask her what she meant, she was gone, hurrying to the end of the alley where she climbed into one of her EC Security Services vans and drove off.

“What did that mean?” Mercedes asked.

“I don’t know,” Carlita shrugged. “Who knows with Elvira. I wonder how she and Zulilly are doing.”

Elvira’s daughter, who was recently incarcerated, had nearly disowned her mother after some family issues surfaced. Although the majority were not Elvira’s fault, her daughter had placed the blame squarely on her mother’s shoulders.

Carlita turned to head back inside when she caught a glimpse of Paulie’s van driving into the alley. “They’re here,” she excitedly said as she grabbed Mercedes’ hand and dragged her daughter through the living room. She didn’t let go until they were down the stairs and out of the building.

She could barely contain her excitement as her youngest son exited the van, and she greeted him with a hug. “Paulie. Oh, my gosh.” Carlita pulled back. “I can’t believe you’re finally here.”

“Hey, Ma.” Gina rounded the van and gave Carlita a hug. “You’re lookin’ good. That boyfriend of yours must be treatin’ you right,” she teased.

“He is.” Carlita grinned. Yes, life had been good. Pete was spoiling her with breakfast dates, flowers for no reason, calls and texts to let her know he was thinking about her.

The van’s side door flew open. The triplets scrambled out and flung themselves at her. “Nonna!”

She did her best to hug them all at the same time as they chattered excitedly.

“We saw a dinosaur on the road,” Gracie announced.

“And a hippopotamus,” Noel lifted her hand over her head. “He was this big.”

“Maybe someone asked for a hippopotamus for Christmas,” Carlita held her granddaughter at arm’s length. “You’re getting so big. You’re almost as tall as me.”

“We’re hungry,” PJ, her son’s namesake, announced.

“I have some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with your names on them.” Carlita ruffled his hair and turned to Paulie. “You grab the stuff while I take the kids upstairs.”

“Thanks, Ma.” Paulie leaned in and gave his mother a quick peck on the cheek. “We’ve missed you.”

“You have no idea how much I’ve missed all of you.”

Mercedes stayed behind to help Paulie and Gina unload the van and carry their bags across the alley to Tony and Shelby’s place while Carlita led her grandchildren inside.

First up was feeding the hungry trio. She filled three plates with sandwiches, along with a handful of chips and apple slices. Carlita had finished pouring juice when her cell phone chimed. It was a message from Pete:

“Meet me at Merry Bay Park on the other side of the Talmadge Memorial Bridge at six sharp. There will be dinner, drinks and entertainment courtesy of me and the motley crew of The Flying Gunner.”

Carlita had heard the name before. “Isn’t that in South Carolina?” she texted back.

“It is.” Pete included a smiley face and then added, “No more questions.”

“We’ll be there. The whole crew, I hope you’re ready for all of us.”

Mercedes appeared in the doorway. “The van was jam-packed. I thought Brittney and Vinnie had a lot of luggage.”

“Speaking of them, they should be back anytime now.” Oddly enough, Brittney’s two bodyguards hadn’t made an appearance, although Carlita knew they were in the vicinity.

One of them, Ricco DeGrassi, had accompanied her son and daughter-in-law to Savannah several times. She hadn’t met the other one, Roxy Ciccone, yet. Roxy also happened to be her tenant, Luigi’s, replacement – a woman who Luigi referred to as a “real tool.”

“Nonna, I’m still thirsty.” Gracie slid out of her chair and held up her empty juice cup.

“I got it.” Mercedes grabbed the glass. “Any update on Pete’s surprise?”

“As a matter of fact, he just sent me a text, telling us to meet him at Merry Bay Park just over the bridge at six.”

“Merry Bay Park,” Mercedes repeated. “We’re meeting him in South Carolina?”

“It would appear so.”

There was a loud banging in the hall and then the sharp tap of high heels on the wooden steps.

“Brittney is back,” Mercedes mumbled under her breath as Carlita’s daughter-in-law breezed in. Following closely behind was her eldest son, Vinnie. Shopping bags lined both arms as he struggled to squeeze through the door.

“Downtown Savannah is a madhouse,” Brittney said breathlessly. “I had no idea there were so many people in Savannah. It felt like New York City.”

“There are a lot of out of towners here for the holidays,” Carlita reached for several of the packages. “Let me help.”

“Roxy and Ricco have the rest.”

Ricco followed Vinnie in, juggling a towering stack of boxes. “Hey, Mrs. G.”

“Hello, Ricco.” Carlita offered him a warm smile. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Same here. Where do you want these, Boss?”

“Put them in the bedroom,” Brittney motioned to him. “As soon as you’re done, I’m going to run next door to get baby Vinnie. It’s time for his nap.”

Ricco dropped them off and backtracked to the doorway. “Hustle up, zips. We ain’t got all day.”

A woman with jet-black hair appeared. She glared at Ricco. “If you call me zips one more time, we’re gonna take it outside.”

Carlita did a double-take at the husky voice,