Theresa couldn’t sleep. The next day’s visit from her parents promised nothing but anxiety and stress. So she rolled around in her bed, making a mess of the sheets until she finally gave up and watched TV, tuning in to her favorite show, Marco Cooks!

Marco was middle-aged TV chef who made dishes that set Theresa’s taste buds ablaze. She loved them all, but hated every single thing about Marco. His cocky grin, his sleazy voice, the way he’d yell like he just won the lottery every time he’d cook a good meal. “What an arrogant jerk!” she’d yell at the set – even at two in the morning. But when he shared the recipe for his linguini and clam sauce, Theresa scribbled down every word.

He seemed like the kind of guy her parents would have wanted her to marry. Rich, charming, and most of all, Italian. But as she stared at Marco’s smarmy face and wondered what torture being his wife would be, it only raised another worry about her parents’ visit the next day. She was still single – and nearly thirty years old…