CHAPTER 9

 

Sal finished his round of golf with Jason. The entire time he’d thought of Grace. He kept thinking about the expression on her face when he’d asked her about the guys who picked her up. At first blank, then defensive, then downright heated.

He was one to talk about first impressions. He had to wonder what kind of impression he was making on her with his accusatory remarks and insinuations. If she thought he might be an asshole before, he’d just confirmed it this morning.

They reached the parking area. Jason turned to Sal before they went their separate ways. “Thanks for another good one. You sure everything is okay? You were real quiet today.”

“All right, man.” Jason tapped Sal’s fist with his own. “I’ll see you next time.” Then he stopped. “Oh hey, almost forgot. I talked to Spence the other day. He’s thinking Vegas for the bachelor party.”

“Really Vegas? I thought you didn’t want anything big.”

“Eh, Spence can be persuasive. It won’t be anything crazy, just a little gambling, drinking, and hanging out with the guys. You better be there.”

Sal hadn’t taken but two steps when any thoughts of Jason were obliterated and Grace was on his mind again. It was almost annoying.

Alex’s house was, as expected, loud and overflowing with food. Why his mom thought all this noise and company would make Valerie feel better was beyond him. But Valerie had managed to somehow get Alex to let her move from the bedroom to the front room where she lay in the oversized reclining chair.

Sal walked over to greet her as soon as he walked in. “Hey sweetheart, how we doing?” He rubbed her huge belly.

She gave him a half smile. “I just want all their little parts to finish growing already, so they can take these babies out.”

Every time he saw her she was much bigger than the last, but he wouldn’t tell her and make her feel worse. “Almost there, Val.” He kissed her forehead. God, he felt sorry for her, she looked so damn uncomfortable.

Alex doted over her, bringing her another pillow and Sarah stood behind her, massaging her neck.

His mom had made too much food as usual. It was overkill. Sal leaned on the island in the kitchen, trying to decide what he’d try first. Sofia walked in with a tray and the first thing out of his dad’s mouth was, “More food?”

“Actually, this is the bartender Alex hired last week,” Sofia said, setting the tray in front of Sal. “She’s just as good in the kitchen.”

It looked good. Sal put a forkful in his mouth. It was good. Really good. He nodded, not wanting them to see just how excited he was about this. Of course, this was just one dish, but damn one thing was for sure—she could cook. “Pretty good.”

He knew Alex wasn’t buying his nonchalant act. Alex took the fork from him and dug in. After chewing for a second, he spoke with his mouth still partially full. “This is going on the menu.” He turned to where Angel was sitting. “Angel, try this.”

They were all standing around now, digging in and Alex took a plate over to Valerie, when there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Alex yelled.

Isabel, Valerie’s best friend and roommate before she married Alex, walked in. “Oh, honey,” she said, as soon as she saw Valerie and rushed over to her. She obviously hadn’t seen her in a while.

Romero walked in behind her. “Damn, you’re big!”

Alex shot him a look that shut him up before he could say anything else. Sal couldn’t help laugh. Both Romero and Eric had grown up with Sal and his brothers. They lived right up the block from them. Since they were Angel’s age they were closest to him, but they’d always been like extended family.

Romero and Isabel met at Angel and Sarah’s wedding shower. It was almost funny how fast Isabel had brought womanizing Romero to his knees. They were married within months, something Sal hadn’t been able to fathom but was now beginning to understand.

After eating, the girls all huddled around Valerie, chatting, including his mother who hadn’t acted too impressed with Grace’s cooking, but was on her second helping of the casserole.

The guys all stepped outside to the backyard minus his dad who nodded off on the sofa, after overeating, as usual.

They all stood under the patio. Alex had upgraded to a bigger house after he found out Valerie was pregnant with twins. This one was twice the size of his old one and had a pool and Jacuzzi. Since Valerie was an agent and managed her own real estate office, she’d gotten them a good deal.

“It’s one dish,” Sal said. “And Sundays are slow for specialty stuff off the menu. We still have to see what’s she’s like under pressure.”

“Who’s Grace?” Romero asked again.

“Dude, I saw her today. Things picked up after brunch and she handled it beautifully. That jerk-off you hired could barely keep up with her.”

“Who the hell’s Grace?”

“The new bartender at the restaurant.” Eric answered Romero for them. “Sofia said she’s real good. Not just at bartending but cooking, too.”

There were only two male waiters on the payroll and Oscar was the only one scheduled today. Sal exchanged glances with Alex. The smug grin was gone. He was sure they were thinking the same thing. Oscar was a cool dude to hang out with—a guys’ guy. He was funny as shit even, but he didn’t know the first thing about treating women respectfully. He said they were only good for one thing. He openly joked about it. It was all in fun, so long as he didn’t disrespect anyone at the restaurant. So far, he hadn’t.

Sal took that swig of beer he’d held off on. The beer didn’t go down as smooth as his first swig. He’d get things straight with Oscar first thing tomorrow.

 

~*~

 

This was the first time Grace had a job where she didn’t look forward to her day off. To most people that would be a good thing. That meant they liked their job so much they loved being there, but Grace knew it was more than just the job.

She had to tell someone about this already. She needed someone else’s perspective on it, someone who would tell her to snap out of it. The very notion that she could somehow interest Sal in any way, was ridiculous and someone needed to put her in her place. Two people who came from different worlds hitting it off was not unheard of. But when one of them was clearly uninterested and had much to keep him preoccupied in the way of feminine companionship, the other should accept it. It just wasn’t happening. She needed to stop before she fell even deeper, especially since she was sure her experience with men in no way measured up to any of the women he was used to dating.

Still, Grace was falling fast. She could feel herself becoming delusional. The whole night before she thought of what Sal had said to her yesterday morning. At one point, she came to the conclusion that maybe Sal had asked about her personal life because he wanted to know what her status was. She nearly woke her sister up when the absurdity of it kicked in and she laughed.

After her first class, she met Joey at their usual Monday morning watering hole—the school’s coffee shop. She’d already called him the night before, to tell him how it had gone with her time in the kitchen but she left out everything else that happened. They had exactly twenty minutes before their next class. Joey was so good at reading her, as soon as they sat down he said, “Okay, spill it.”

“Really? It’s that obvious?”

“Yes, tell me everything.”

She ran her fingertips up and down the sides of her cup. She didn’t even know where to begin. The stupid girls in her class, even Joey, Taylor and George had gone on and on about how good looking the Moreno brothers were. How could she let herself get sucked in? He wasn’t even nice to her. She’d never been so shallow as to get taken in purely by a man’s looks.

“Grace, I’m waiting.”

“I feel so stupid.” Oh, no. There it was. She was getting choked up again. She stared at her cup, willing the tears to go away.

Joey reached out and touched her hand. “Why, what’s wrong?”

She gulped hard and for the moment, the tears seemed to subside. “I think I’m falling… ” And there they were again. Shit. She looked up at Joey who was staring at her. “Promise me you won’t laugh, Joey.”

“Laugh? Honey, you’re crying. Why would I laugh?”

“Promise.”

He squeezed her hand. “I promise.”

She couldn’t look at him when she said it, so she stared at her coffee cup again. “I think I’m falling for Sal. My freakin’ boss.”

“So why does that make you sad?”

She looked up at him and felt guilty now for making him promise not to laugh. His expression was nothing more than complete concern and compassion. “Because he doesn’t even like me as a person, much less a …love interest. Every time I see him, he does or says something that’s even more telling of the kind of person he thinks I am.”

“Like what?”

“Like yesterday.” She told him about how he behaved when she arrived in the morning so excited to show off for him. When she finished telling him about Sal’s comments on him and Taylor, his reaction surprised her.

Grace drank some of her coffee, feeling much more in control of her emotions now and so happy she’d told Joey. But she was confused. “How so?”

“For some reason it bothered him right? But it’s none of his business. It might have been fun to lay it on extra thick every time one of us picked you up.”

Grace rolled her eyes. “No, I wouldn’t play those kinds of games. The point is he doesn’t think very highly of me. Obviously. And here I am falling for him? How dumb am I?” She shook her head. “Tell me to get over it, Joey. Tell me what an idiot I am.”

“No because you’re not. Okay, lets think about this. What about him, besides his looks, has you falling?”

“Nothing! I’m telling you. He’s been a total jerk to me, twice now. And the worst thing is while I’m sitting here on my day off talking about him and daydreaming about him every other moment of the day, he’s out meeting girl after girl enjoying a life outside of the restaurant and all I can do is think about getting back there. It’s pathetic.”

Grace shrugged. “He’s like that. Even Alex and his sister said he’s too much. Nitpicky almost to a fault. Maybe he found it offensive somehow?”

“Offensive to who? Him?” Joey lifted his eyebrow even higher. “You know, that could only mean one thing.”

Grace shook her head. “Oh, please let’s not even go there. I already went over that possibility and it’s too preposterous to even consider.”

“Why?”

Joey couldn’t be serious. “What possible interest can he have in me?” She saw that look on Joey’s face, he was about to let her have it. Before he could, she continued. “He’s twenty-five, Joey.”

“And?”

“He’s been around town and back. The man hasn’t even lived at home for years. He’s into women, not girls. Did you not see that woman he was talking to in the parking lot the other day?”

“The blonde in a foo-foo suit?”

“Exactly. That’s what he’s used to, and apparently into.”

Joey shook his head. “You weren’t there when he first stepped out to talk to her. If I had to make an observation, I’d say the ditz was getting on his nerves.”

“Didn’t look like it to me and neither did the one in the restaurant that same day. It was the same thing, she looked sophisticated and experienced in dealing with men.”

“You have experience.”

Grace gave him a look and sipped her coffee. Joey knew all about her experience or lack thereof. She just hadn’t filled him in on all the detail of why but he knew she was still a prissy virgin.

“Okay, but what planet are you from that you think a virgin wouldn’t appeal to man?”

“I didn’t say that. All I’m saying is he has all these beautiful, sophisticated women throwing themselves at him. Why on earth would he be interested in the little bus riding, wannabe cook from Chula Vista?”

Joey put his hand on his waist. Grace was in for it now. “Oh no you didn’t. No you didn’t just put yourself down, because of this guy.” He shook his head. “Grace, I won’t have this.”

“But—”

“No! I won’t let you turn into this little wimpy hoo-haw, over some guy you just met. I’ve stood there all year and watched you cook the living shit out of every recipe those instructors have thrown at you. You’ve blown them all away time and time again. Are you actually gonna start questioning your talent, your worth because of some guy?” He pointed a finger at her. “You may be riding a bus now. But this.” His finger went up and down in front of her. “This is where it all starts. You’re gonna be great. More than great and why? Because you worked your ass off to get there, unlike Mr. Perfect over there. What did he do besides take over daddy’s already successful restaurant? Wow, he should feel real proud of himself. What a man—”

“All right, all right.” Grace was fine listening to Joey’s little rant until he started putting Sal down. “I am aware that I can cook. I was just being melodramatic. And, for the record he went to school and got a master’s in business management. He’s incredibly smart and meticulously organized. It’s amazing the way he’s able to run not just one very busy restaurant but also help with the other one and be in charge of meeting with all these investors. Everybody at the restaurant seems to love him and although it’s a lot of work to run the place and deal with the meeting he handles it all brilliantly. He’s also planning on opening a lot more restaurants, so he didn’t just take over his father’s business.”

Grace was done trying to figure it out. There was only one thing short of quitting her job, which was out of the question, that she needed to do—get over it. She knew it was much easier said than done, but at this point, she had no other option.

 

~*~

 

Sal had a few stops he had to make before going into the restaurant Monday morning. He’d finally had a chance to go over the proposal in its entirety. For the most part everything seemed okay. Except for a few minor details like the possibility of television commercials, in which, neither Sal nor any of the Morenos would have a say.

Another detail was Sal’s original vision was to keep all the restaurants relatively close by, preferably in San Diego county. The proposal stated they wanted to leave the possibility of branching out into other big cities, like Los Angeles, which wasn’t too far, but there was even a mention of Vegas and New York. It was already a pain having to go back and forth from the two restaurants and they were only a half hour away from each other.

Granted it was all dependent on how well the local restaurants did first, but leaving it out there as a possibility was a bit nerve-racking. His brothers would all have to be in agreement before he signed anything. Just because the restaurants were out of town, or state even, didn’t mean Sal would be okay with someone else making the decisions. As long as the Moreno name was on the line, he and his brothers would have final say on everything. That would mean a lot of traveling.

His mother had a huge breakfast waiting for him when he arrived at their house. “Ma, I told you, I was just gonna be in and out.”

“Oh, you can eat just a little,” she said, planting an overflowing plate of eggs, chilaquiles and the ever present beans and rice on the table. “Sit.”

His dad was already eating. He also motioned for him to have a seat. Sal sat and started going over the proposal with his dad. All the while, his mother kept adding things to the table, tortillas, red salsa, green salsa, fresh Mexican cheese. Sal knew better than to argue. He’d just smile back at his mother, who seemed so happy to be serving him. In a way, he felt guilty for not letting her indulge him more often, lately. It’s what the woman lived for.

Sal explained all the need-to-know stuff to his dad, about what the investors were asking. All his dad really cared about was the food and how things were run in general. Everything else wasn’t worth trying to explain. His dad was anti-technology, so any explanation of the marketing and Internet use for the catering part of the business would be a waste of time. It amazed Sal he’d gone the years he did without any type of computers until he and his brothers were old enough to insist he get with the times, but he did mention New York and Vegas. “What? You plan on never having a family?”

Sal stopped mid chew, raising his eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

“Your mother and I are too old to be going back and forth to New York or even Vegas. This is gonna be all you and your brothers. You see how Alex is now about leaving Valerie and he’s only fifteen minutes away.” He shook a tortilla at him. “You don’t think you’re going to have a pregnant wife someday?”

Sal frowned and kept chewing. He’d managed to keep Grace out of his mind all morning and now his dad went and mentioned a pregnant wife. As ridiculous as the thought was, the first thing that popped in his head was Grace. “That’s a big if, Pop.”

“But you do want kids.”

“Yes, mom, I want kids.” Normally, Sal would’ve laughed at the turn the conversation had taken, but his parents had inadvertently shoved Grace back into the spotlight of his thoughts. Something he’d worked all morning to shut out.

After about another twenty minutes of going over things with his dad, and his mother casually slapping more food on his plate a few times, he finally got out of there. Between last night’s dinner and today’s breakfast Sal was really going to need to get in the gym more often this week.

With his mind on his parents, the proposal and working out, he was finally clear of any thoughts of her. Then he got a text from Oscar.

Hey Chief not sure who’s the boss today. Just letting you know I’ll be a little late. I’ll explain when I get there.

Even this brought on thoughts of Grace.