CHAPTER 25

After making sure Rose was spending the night over a girlfriend’s Grace spent Saturday night at Sal’s. She hadn’t spent the night at his place, since the past Sunday and she was really beginning to hate saying goodbye every night. That wasn’t even the main reason. Fear of him dropping her off and Frank’s car being parked outside of her building had a lot to do with it. The last thing she wanted was for him to get upset over such a non-issue.

Of course, Sal was more than happy to have her stay with him. He’d been saying things all week like, “I got you your own toothbrush and I cleaned out a space for you in the closet.” Leave it to her mother to dampen the euphoria she’d felt all week by laying on the guilt about her being gone so much.

They’d just finished showering, after an incredible morning in bed. Sal walked up behind Grace as she finished combing her hair and wrapped his arms around her. Both had the day off and they were taking a champagne brunch cruise off the marina with Angel, Sarah, Sofia and her fiancé Eric. It was part pleasure and part research. Angel and Sarah were thinking of doing something similar with their restaurant—offer brunch cruises on Sundays. Sal said he’d taken a dinner cruise before, but it was a long time ago and he hadn’t been paying attention to any of the details.

“Almost ready?”

Grace nodded. “You think…” Sal stared at her through the mirror. “You think it would be okay if my sister came with us today?”

His expression wasn’t a good one and she wondered if he’d expected this to be more a romantic thing. “Let me call Angel and see if he can get her in. He booked this earlier in the week. You should’ve said something sooner, babe.” He pulled his phone out of his holster and kissed her on the cheek before dialing. “Your sister’s welcome to tag along with us anytime, Grace.”

After checking with Angel, then waiting for him to call back, Rose was in. Grace hugged him as soon as he was off the phone. “And we’ll have time to pick her up?”

Sal glanced at his watch. “Yeah, there’s plenty of time.”

Grace kissed him then hurried to her phone. She called Rose instead of texting and explained she needed to hurry and get ready. Rose sounded excited when she heard the word cruise. This would be a first for both of them. Grace made sure to text Rose after she’d hung up and asked her if by any chance Frank was still there. To her relief, he’d only been there a short while last night and left.

They arrived at the marina a bit early and had some time to kill so they spent it in Angel’s restaurant. The men went to the back office. Angel wanted to show them specs online about the cruise services he’d looked into. Grace sat at a booth with Sarah, Rose, and Sofia. Sarah had the waiter bring them drinks.

Sofia’s expression changed now that the girls were alone, and she suddenly grinned. “So what have you done to my brother, Grace? I’ve never seen him like this. I even caught him humming the other day in the back room.” She laughed.

“For the better, Grace,” Sofia assured her. “Trust me. He was getting way too uptight. He nitpicked about the smallest things. He’s always been Mr. Do-It-Right-or-Don’t-Do-It-All. Which is fine, especially when you’re running a business. We need at least one person to be that way. But he was a little too much sometimes. Ever since you’ve been around he’s eased up a lot.”

“Most importantly, I think you proved his theory wrong, too,” Sarah added, stretching her neck to see if the guys were on their way back yet. “He was driving Angel crazy—adamant about not hiring any cooks with too little experience. He’s since hired two for us that I don’t think he would’ve ever considered before you came along and they’re doing fine.”

Grace couldn’t help grinning. “I thought one of the guys that was here the day I showed them how to make the new recipes was a little young.”

“We’re all happy about this, Grace.” Sofia reached over and squeezed her arm. “The only one I think is a little jealous is mom. Even though she makes her remarks about Valerie barely being able to put a tuna sandwich together, I think she secretly likes that Alex still comes over so often to eat her food. But with you, she knows you’ll give her a run for her money in the kitchen.”

The cruise was exactly what Grace needed. The food was excellent, and the champagne relaxed Grace when she discovered being out in the ocean made her a little nervous. Most importantly, Rose had a blast and the time they spent together, especially the laughs Rose got at Grace’s expense when she admitted the moving boat made her nervous was priceless. Grace hadn’t had that much fun with her sister in a while. Sal promised they’d do something similar again soon.

After the cruise, Sal invited the gang over to his place to hang out and maybe barbeque. He called Romero and somehow convinced Alex and Valerie too, along with the babies.

Rose offered to keep an eye on them when they got there so that Alex and Valerie could relax. Everyone sat in the patio, enjoying the nice afternoon. They were all still too full from the brunch to start the barbeque yet. But Grace put together a quick avocado salsa and set it out with chips for everyone to munch on. She was busy making a pitcher of margaritas, using the outdoor kitchen when she noticed Sal had disappeared. She couldn’t find the lime squeezer but she knew he had one.

Walking in the sliding back door, she thought she heard the front door close. She waited to see if maybe that was Sal walking back inside from wherever he’d gone but no one walked in. As she dug through the drawers in the kitchen, she heard the front door open and then voices. She looked up to see Romero and Isabel. “Oh, hey you guys.”

Romero held a twelve-pack of beer and gave her a strange look. “Where should I put these?”

Grace pointed to the backyard, feeling a little weird that he’d asked her. “Either the fridge or Sal has an ice chest out there.” She glanced out the window to the backyard. Everyone was out there but him. “I’m not sure where he is.” Remembering she heard the front door earlier, she asked, “Did you guys see him out front?”

They exchanged a glance, before shaking their heads, no. Isabel cleared her throat and then suddenly smiled. “Valerie’s here?” She hurried to the back door. Romero glanced back at Grace, with that strange expression again before following Isabel out back. Odd.

Grace finally found the lime squeezer and headed back toward the patio, when she saw Sofia walk in and Eric rushed behind her toward the front door. He was about to say something but stopped when he saw Grace. Next, Alex walked in and followed them. “Stay here,” he said to Grace as he walked by her.

With a sudden urge to go find Sal, she turned to see Romero standing at the door, almost as if to block her. She took a step then heard Sarah, “Stay here, Grace.”

“Why? You guys are scaring me. What happened?”

No one said anything then finally Romero spoke. “Sal’s got an uninvited guest. Don’t worry about it. They’re taking care of it.”

She froze staring at Romero. “Uninvited guest? Who?”

Romero shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. She’ll be gone soon.”

Grace gripped the lime squeezer, feeling her insides heat. “She?” She took another step toward the door. But Romero didn’t move. “Let me through.”

Grace rushed to the front door, feeling her insides ignite. Was it Melissa or someone else? She put her hand on the knob to the front door and took a deep breath before opening it. The first thing she saw was Eric trying to calm a very angry Sofia, off to the side of Sal’s front lawn. Alex who stood a few feet away from them turned and his eyes met Grace’s. “Where’s Sal?”

“Go back inside, sweetheart. He’ll be right in.”

“No, where is he?” She walked up the front walkway until she got to the end and was able to see around the garage.

He heart jumped to her throat when she saw Sal talking to Melissa who held his arm. Another girl was with her, trying to pull her away. Melissa stopped talking when she saw Grace. Sal turned to see who Melissa was glaring at. He gave Alex the most exasperated look then turned back to Grace. “I’ll be right in, babe.”

For a moment, Grace was speechless. She couldn’t take her eyes off of Melissa’s hand on Sal’s arm. “Why is she here?” she finally asked.

“Why are you here?” Melissa took a step toward her and Sal stopped her.

“She’s his girlfriend, you stupid bitch!” Sofia yelled.

Hit with a bolt of rage fueled by the anger that radiated off Sofia who now stood next to her but was still being held back by Eric, Grace charged at Melissa in a violent craze. Alex grabbed her by the shoulders, stopping her. “C’mon, Gracie. You don’t wanna do this,” Alex reasoned. “She’s drunk and stupid and totally not worth it.”

Between Sal and the other girl with Melissa, they managed to get her across the street to their car. They struggled with her as she yelled and screamed things Grace couldn’t even make out, but she did hear the last thing she said before they finally got her in the car. “Did he tell you about Vegas?”

She may as well have punched Grace in the stomach, because that’s exactly how it felt. The texts that night came back to her in an instant and she could barely breathe. As soon as the car drove away, Sal rushed back across the street. “Let me go, Alex.” He did and she rushed to Sal. “What about Vegas?”

Sal shook his head as he approached her in the driveway and tried to take her hand but she pulled it away. “Was she there?”

“Let’s go inside.”

“No! Was she in Vegas with you? Is that who you were with that night?” She had to fight the urge to slap him. She’d let him answer first.

“No.” He spoke calmly. “She was there. She’s part of the wedding party. I didn’t know she was going to be there.” He reached for her hand but she pulled it away again.

Grace took a step back and he stepped forward. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“’Cause I knew you’d be mad. I didn’t wanna upset you for nothing.” He turned and gave Alex a hard look as if he wanted privacy but they all stood there staring as if they were watching a catastrophic train wreck.

Grace felt the tears coming and it enraged her, she stepped back again but he followed. “Did you spend time with her?”

“No. I was with the guys the whole time and she was with the girls. They sent over drinks one time but we never hung out. She was just trying to get in your head, baby. She probably figured I wouldn’t mention it. I should’ve.” He reached for her hand again and this time she let him. She needed to feel his touch—his reassurance. “I’m sorry.”

“Why was she here today?”

“She’s drunk. Her friend said if she hadn’t driven her here, she was gonna drive herself. She’s stupid that way.” He squeezed her hand. “Gracie, she means nothing to me.”

She stared at him, wanting desperately to believe him. He took another step forward and hugged her, kissing the side of her face. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.

She finally lifted her arm and hugged him back. “I hate her.”

“I do, too.”

~*~

A week later Sal still couldn’t get over Melissa showing up at his place. He treasured every moment he got with Grace but he lived with constant fear of the possibility of it all being ripped away by something Melissa might say or do. He considered just confessing and praying Grace would forgive him, but he knew she’d be crushed—he saw the trepidation in her eyes the day Melissa showed up.

The memory of her kissing him that night had gotten longer since then. He now remembered her telling him how much she missed him, but he had no recollection of what his response was only that she kissed him again. He’d tossed and turned even on the nights Grace was lying right there next to him. A few times he even lay there, staring at her wondering what he’d do if he lost her. One thing was for sure he wouldn’t go down without a fight. If he had to get down on his knees and beg, he would.

It was early and Grace wouldn’t be in until a few more hours. He sat in the back online looking up cars for sale. He hadn’t told her yet but he was looking into getting her a car. Joey was dropping her off today, but she’d told him that before, then he found out later that she’d actually taken the bus, because at the last minute Joey’s car wouldn’t start and she didn’t want to call Sal to pick her up. He hated her taking the bus. She was one of, if not the most important person in his life now. He wasn’t about to keep risking something happening to her.

Sal frowned. “Well, most of the time I make sure she doesn’t. But she’s stubborn. She says it’s not my job to chauffer her everywhere.”

Alex’s face immediately went hard. “Are you insane?”

“Don’t you think it’s just a matter of time, before Melissa does? Wouldn’t it soften the blow if she heard it from me and not her? Fuck!” He dropped his head back. “I’ve tried so hard to remember how I could possibly let that happen. I don’t remember shit!”

“Why don’t you file a restraining order on her ass? You can keep her away that way.”

Sal covered his face with both hands then slid them down slowly. “If she wants Grace to find out, she’ll get the message to her one way or another. I’m literally losing sleep over this, Alex. Seriously, what would you do?”

Alex started to auto-answer then stopped and seemed to ponder it a little longer. “I’d play the odds. Melissa already made an ass out of herself. She probably didn’t count on all of us being there either. My guess is once she sobered up she felt pretty stupid. She’s an attorney, Sal. She can’t be doing shit like that. Maybe you can warn her that you’ll slap her with a restraining order if she keeps it up. That can’t look too good for her and I’m sure that kind of shit shows up if someone ever runs a background check on her. That might make her think twice before doing anything like that again.”

Sal thought about it. He hadn’t heard a thing from her ever since she showed up. Not even a text. Before that she’d been texting him at least once a day, so the theory about her feeling stupid made sense. Maybe she finally got it. Nothing was happening between the two of them ever again. If he filed a restraining order now he might piss her off. “You’re right, she can’t be doing that shit anymore. If she texts me again I’ll tell her I’m filing a restraining order, because I’m not calling her.”

“And you’re not telling Grace.”

Sal nodded in agreement. “No I’m not.” He couldn’t even imagine having that conversation. “Thanks, man.” He turned around and went back to searching for cars.