Chapter 12, December, Chiles in Walnut Sauce Summary

Tita and Chechna are shelling walnuts in preparation for tomorrow's wedding. There will be 80 guests coming for a 20-course banquet, and Tita wants everything to be perfect. Tita wishes Mama Elena were here, because she loved this tedious job of crushing the hard shells to release the meat of the nuts. The rest of the kitchen help had left fatigued. Even John had stayed until the last minute, but left to go home for a little rest before the wedding.

Pedro is not resting, however. Pedro keeps reliving the moments seeing John tend to Tita's every need in the kitchen today. When the stove needed to be relit, he presented Tita with fresh matches and held her hands a little too long when he handed them to her. He wanted to beat John...