Sarah
It had only been three weeks—three games since the season started—and Alex had been out of commission for two of them. Angel had told Sarah about how increasingly bitter his brother was about it with every practice he wasn’t allowed to participate in. Luckily, it was Alex’s first ankle injury ever. He hadn’t broken it, just fractured it pretty badly, but the docs were giving him the green light to join practices and play in this week’s game against Hawaii.
As bad as Valerie felt for Alex, Sarah knew she would’ve loved for him to be out at least one more week. Now he’d be making the trip to Hawaii, and there was no telling how he’d be celebrating out there now that he was back in shape to play.
Sarah and Angel had only talked about Dana one other time since the day Sarah mentioned the stuff Dana had been blogging about and the countdown. Sarah didn’t want to worry about Dana because she was such a nonissue, but Sarah couldn’t help wonder not if but how stupid Dana would be about this.
With less than an hour left of her shift at the restaurant, Sarah shook any thoughts of Dana away and began to mentally prepare for that night’s first meeting with Leonardo. Angel was picking her up there at the restaurant after his practice, and they’d head to the marina where they’d meet Leonardo. There was a seafood fest going on at the marina, and they’d all agreed it would be a nice casual place to meet and walk around. Leonardo had a friend who lived in San Diego. He’d be staying with him for the night then heading back to Phoenix in the morning.
Sarah was a little nervous but glad now that she’d waited. The many chats they’d had so far made her feel as though she’d already met him. She’d since decided that his calling her beautiful often was just his way. He often referred to his stepsister and his mom in similar sweet ways—even calling his mom his queen. Just as Angel and all his brothers often called Sofie sweetheart, some guys were just like that. She wouldn’t admit it to Angel, but she liked it. Too often she’d felt a little jealous of Sofie and some of her other friends who had siblings they were so close to. Not that she expected to ever be that close to Leonardo, but this was a nice start.
The day they decided to meet, Sarah brought up the possibility of Omar being there as well. Leonardo admitted to having put in a call and a few texts to Omar, all of which had gone unanswered. Then he said something so reminiscent of what Angel would say. “Fuck him. If this is how he’s gonna be, then we don’t need his ass.” He went on to say he wasn’t waiting on him, and they planned their meeting—just the two of them. And Angel of course.
“No!” Sarah turned at the sound of a man’s loud voice a few tables over from the one she was waiting on. “I asked for hot tea, not iced.”
Cindy, the newer waitress waiting on his table, apologized, taking the glass of iced tea he was shoving at her.
“Is the service here always this bad?” he asked loudly as his embarrassed date or wife hid behind her menu. “Read back my order,” he demanded. “I wanna make sure you got it right.”
Cindy started to, and he immediately interrupted her rudely. “On the side!” he said. “How hard is that to get? I said I want the pico on the side, but the guacamole and sour cream I want on the taquitos.”
Writing it down and apologizing again, poor Cindy finally finished taking their order and rushed away.
Sarah finished delivering the plates to her table and asked if there was anything they needed as she glanced in the direction of the back office. Alex was here tonight since his release to be able to practice wasn’t scheduled for another few days.
She hurried toward the kitchen where Cindy was making sure the cooks got the order right. “What an asshole,” Sarah said as she approached, tacking another order slip up for the cooks.
Cindy shook her head, rolling her eyes. “I need those salads on the fly, Raul,” she added loudly.
“Why?” Alex came up from behind Raul in the kitchen taking a closer look at Cindy’s order slip. “How long have they been waiting?”
“Not long at all,” Cindy said. “I have others who’ve been waiting longer. He’s just a real jerk, and I’d rather not piss him off.”
“There’s others who’ve been waiting longer?” Alex’s brows furrowed.
“Well, not that much longer,” she explained.
“They just got here,” Sarah clarified for Cindy. “He’s just one of those loud mouth idiots who like talking down to the waitresses.”
Alex looked out into the dining room. “Table eight?”
“Yeah,” Cindy said as she poured the hot tea into a cup. “And I know he said iced tea not hot, but he let me have it for bringing him the iced one. Maybe he meant hot, but he ordered iced.”
“He can wait,” Alex said, still peering at the guy. “Take care of the slips in the order they came in,” he said to the Raul then turned back to Cindy and Sarah. “Let me know if he gets disrespectful.”
Cindy rushed away with the hot tea, and Sarah walked off behind her. In the little over two years she’d been working at the restaurant, she’d seen a few people thrown out. Each time it’d been Alex who’d done so, but both times it was drunks at the bar who were getting loud and obnoxious. Never had they asked a customer in the restaurant to leave, and they’d had some rude ones. This time Sarah got a bad feeling just by the way Alex had eyed the guy. Papa Moreno was a stickler for the customer always being right, but Alex was a stickler for having his employees’ backs, especially the sweet soft-spoken ones like Cindy.
Sarah picked up her drink orders for the other table she was waiting on and headed to it. “Could you be any slower?” the rude man said to Cindy as she handed him a sugar packet tray.
Smiling at her guests, Sarah began passing out their drinks. “What a jerk that guy is,” one of the younger girls at her table said.
“How much longer are our salads gonna be?” the rude man asked.
“I’ll go check on that,” Cindy said, rushing away.
The woman sitting with the man whispered something to him, and he quickly snapped back. “I don’t care! It’s her job. Doesn’t take much brains to wait tables. If she wants a tip, she better move her ass.”
The older woman at Sarah’s table turned and gave him an unmistakably dirty look. Sarah finished with their drinks and rushed away to check on her other table.
“Hey, green eyes . . .” The guy snapped his fingers at Sarah. “Can you go check on our order? Our waitress is slow as molasses.”
“Yes, sir,” Sarah nodded but headed to her other table first.
“The kitchen is that way.” He snapped his fingers again, motioning to the kitchen.
Sarah nodded but ignored him and continued onto her table. The man continued grumbling something Sarah ignored, and she checked on the patrons she’d served earlier. “You need me to say something to him?” a man at her table asked, glaring at the rude guy.
“No.” Sarah smiled. “That’s fine. I apologize if he’s disturbing your dinner.”
“No, no.” The man quickly waved his hand in the air. “Don’t you apologize for anything. Idiots like that should stay home and eat.”
Smiling nervously, Sarah walked away as Cindy made her way back to the rude man’s table, holding a tea pot. Alex was leaning against the bar now, arms crossed, his eyes fixed in Cindy’s direction just as the man started up again. “Well, how long does it take to make a salad anyway? This is ridiculous. Those cooks must be as slow as you are.”
Cindy said something Sarah couldn’t hear from where she stood, but the man responded even louder. “No, I don’t want anymore! If the food here is as bad as the tea and the service, I ain’t paying for shit.”
Alex straightened out as the buzz from the other customers all talking at once about the scene the man was making grew louder. “Mind your own business, you hag,” the man said to the same woman who’d glared at him earlier. She was now saying something else to him, only she wasn’t quite as loud as the man, so Sarah couldn’t quite make out what it was.
The other man, the one who’d offered to say something earlier, said something now too. Alex started toward the rude animal as his mouth was still going. Sarah came around and stood where Alex had been standing to get a better listen.
“Is there a problem, sir?” Alex asked as he reached him, holding out his hand to stop the man in the other table who’d begun to walk over there. “I’m Alex, the manager.”
“You don’t need his business,” the angry man from Sarah’s table said to Alex. “He says he’s not paying anyway.”
“Not if the food is as shitty as the service and this tea.”
“Cancel his order,” Alex said to Cindy calmly, and she rushed away.
The entire restaurant had hushed and was watching now. Even the cooks in the kitchen had slowed to watch.
“I’m gonna have to ask you to leave,” Alex said with a calm that made Sarah proud of him.
She knew Alex had to be using every bit of restraint to not blow up at the idiot. The man scoffed even as his date began making her way out of their booth. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said. “I’m a customer like any other, and you’ll wait on me—”
“No one is waiting on you in this restaurant,” Alex said, the calm in his tone waning a bit. “Ever, because you’re not welcome back here again.”
“Bridgett.” The man pointed at his date as she was already standing. “Get your fucking ass back in the booth now before—”
Alex grabbed the man by the shirt and pulled him to his feet. “Maybe you talk to her like that in your home but not in my restaurant. You hear me, asshole?”
The man’s face turned nearly purple, and his eyes bugged out as he made a weak attempt to loosen Alex’s death grip from his shirt. Sarah brought her hand to her mouth, wondering if this would escalate any further. Would the cops have to be called? Alex made it seem almost effortless the way he yanked the guy toward the front door. The other customers were already clapping even before they reached the front door. “Don’t come back,” Alex said as he threw him out then held the door for the lady who’d rushed out after him.
He stood at the door, watching as the two walked away. From where Sarah was standing, she saw the man turn and say something else to Alex then grab his wife roughly by the arm. Alex charged out the door.
“Oh my God,” Sarah gasped, hurrying towards the front door.
Thankfully, by the time Sarah reached the front of the restaurant, Alex was already on his way back. “You okay?” she asked as he walked back in. He nodded, but she could see the movement in his tightened jaw. “You did good, Alex,” she offered with a smile. “You didn’t even punch him or anything.”
“Yeah, well, I sure as hell felt like it, let me tell you.” Cindy walked up to them and Alex turned to her. “Never put up with a customer like that, okay? I don’t give a shit about the customer always being right. I’ll kick them out on their asses before I let them treat my employees like that.”
Cindy nodded, smiling. “Thank you, Alex.”
The front door swung open, and a frightened older lady rushed in. “There are two men fighting in the parking lot.”
Sarah rushed out behind Alex as he practically sprinted into the parking lot. All Sarah could think as her heart pounded nearly through her chest was that Angel would be getting there soon. She wondered if maybe he’d arrived early and it might be him fighting the idiot Alex had just thrown out. To her relief, it wasn’t Angel, and the rude jerk was pinned against a car. The much bigger guy fighting him or rather subduing him had his elbow lodged against his throat. The woman who’d been at the restaurant with the guy stood off to the side, crying.
“I want him arrested!” The rude animal gasped, spitting out blood.
It was only when the guy holding him against the car laughed that Sarah made the connection.
Leonardo.
“For what?” Leonardo asked. “For not letting you beat your girl?” Leonardo pulled his arm away from the guy’s throat, picked him up away from the car a few inches, and then slammed him back down. “You fucking pussy!”
“The only one who’s gonna get arrested is you, asshole,” Alex said, pointing at the guy on the car. “For trespassing on my property after I told your ass to leave. Let ’im go,” Alex said to Leonardo.
Leonardo picked him up and then shoved him away. The man stumbled a bit, wiping the blood off his face. Alex lifted his wrist and looked down at his watch. “You have two minutes to get off my property.”
The guy took his time walking to his car. He and his date got in, and he revved it up then skidded out of there like a mad man.
Leonardo, who was nearly as big as Alex, turned back to Alex. “Sorry, man, I didn’t mean to cause any trouble. I’d just driven up when I saw him pushing his girl around. I got out of my car and asked him nicely to stop. He didn’t, so . . .” He shrugged with a smirk. “I went easy on him and just popped his lip open.”
Leonardo flexed his fingers with a grimace.
“Nah,” Alex said. “No worries. I’m glad you did. That’s what dicks like him deserve.” Alex held out a hand and Leonardo shook it. “Thanks for not letting him do that in my parking lot. That’s the last thing I want customers seeing when they drive up.”
Alex explained that the man had just been kicked out for being a rude asshole then talking to his girl the way he had. Sarah was still staring at Leonardo—her brother. Her heart thumped a mile a minute.
Nodding and smiling, Leonardo brought his eyes from Alex’s to Sarah’s. “Sarah, you’re even more beautiful in person.”
“What?” Alex stopped mid-stride, making Sarah look away from Leonardo.
She’d seen that hardened glare on Alex all too many times, so she explained quickly. “This is Leonardo,” she said, “my brother. Angel said he told you about him.”
Alex’s eyes went wide and that glare softened. “Yeah.” He turned back to Leonardo with an understanding smile. “Yeah, he did. So you’re her long lost brother, huh?”
Leonardo smiled a strange little smile and nodded.
“I was meeting with him after my shift,” Sarah explained. She turned to Leonardo, a little confused. “I thought we were meeting later? Did I miss a text or something?”
“No,” he said, looking a little embarrassed suddenly. “I just got here a lot earlier than I thought. My friend, the one I’m staying with tonight, is still at work.” He lifted a shoulder. “I knew you were working, so I figured I’d stop by and check out the restaurant you talk so much about.”
“C’mon in,” Alex said, starting back toward the entrance then turning to Sarah. “Sarah you can take off now if you want.”
As tempted as she was, she knew better. “Angel is meeting me here, actually. He’s coming with us.”
“Ah.” Alex nodded. “Well, then come in and grab a bite or a beer while you wait for Angel. Go ahead and wrap it up Sarah so you can sit and wait with him until Angel gets here.”
Clearly, Angel hadn’t shared the doubts he so obviously had about Leonardo still with Alex; otherwise, she was certain he wouldn’t be so willing to give them time alone. He probably hadn’t told Alex that she hadn’t met Leonardo in person yet either. She knew Alex would have been suspicious or at the very least cautious, yet he’d practically encouraged her to leave with Leonardo—alone.
Sarah had Leonardo sit at the bar while she finished up her last two tables then went to put her apron away and grab her stuff from the back. Alex had the kitchen staff put out a mini dessert buffet on the house to make up for the disturbance they’d been witness to.
Before heading to the bar to sit with Leonardo, Sarah stopped and grabbed a few warm churros from the dessert bar. Cindy and Lilly, another one of the waitresses on duty, stopped by.
“I didn’t know you had a brother,” Cindy said with a big smile.
“What she really means,” Lilly said, smiling even bigger, “is we had no idea you had a brother who looked like him.” Her mouth fell open incredulously. “Oh. My. God. How come this is the first we’ve heard of him?”
Sarah smiled. “It’s a long story. I’ll have to tell you about it another time.”
She walked away before they could ask the millions of questions she could already see dancing in their eyes. Leonardo’s eyes swept up and down her casually as she approached him, and he smiled when they met hers.
“Done?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said, taking the stool next to him at the bar. “Now we just wait for Angel. He should be here real soon. His practice was over about twenty minutes ago. He’s coming straight here.”
Leonardo stared at her for a moment without saying anything then smiled. “I still can’t get over how much your and Omar’s eyes are alike. Of course, his are not nearly as amazing as yours, but, still, you definitely got his eyes.”
Smiling nervously, she turned to Jaime, the bartender who approached them from the other side. Leonardo had a nearly full beer in front of him, so Jaime pointed at Sarah. “Can I get you anything?”
“Just water, Jaime. Thank you,” she said then turned to Leonardo, who was still looking at her. “As many times as I’ve seen you online, it’s weird to actually be with you here in person.”
The conversation felt a little awkward at first, but within minutes, she was feeling more relaxed, and he even had her laughing a few times. Glancing out the window, she caught a glimpse of Angel’s car pulling into the parking lot, and she knew he’d be coming in through the back. Thinking it might be weird to have him come up to them without being able to explain why Leonardo had shown up early first, she excused herself for a moment. She met Angel at the back door just as he walked in. He was holding a single rose, and he handed it to her then brought his hand around her neck and kissed her.
She let the kiss run a little deeper than she normally would at the restaurant during business hours when everyone was there. But she figured they were way in the back. When she finally pulled away, she smiled then brought the rose to her nose and smelled it. “What’s this for?”
“Some guy was selling them on a street corner.” He kissed the tip of her nose sweetly and smiled; her eyes took in the deep dimples that formed on his cheeks, and she sighed. After all these years she’d never get enough of them. “I figured I haven’t brought my sweetheart flowers in a while. Why not?”
Smiling big, she pecked him again, thanking him for being so sweet then remembered, and her stomach got a little tense. Slipping her hand in his, she turned around and started back towards the restaurant. “We’ve had some excitement here today,” she said, turning back to look at his curious face. “So much so your brother saw fit to set up free dessert for all the customers.”
“What?” he asked, tugging her hand so she stopped just outside the office.
“Some jerk was giving Cindy a hard time. He got really loud and obnoxious, so Alex asked him to leave. The guy refused then started cussing at his girlfriend, and Alex had to physically throw him out.”
“You’re kidding me,” Angel asked with a too amused smile.
He walked into the office, pulling Sarah along with him. “You threw someone out?” Angel asked Alex, who was sitting at the desk.
Alex spun around and smirked. “I’m surprised no one texted you to tell you about it sooner.”
Sarah laughed. “I’ve been busy,” she said. “Otherwise I probably would’ve.”
“That’s right,” Alex said, standing up. “You’ve been entertaining your company. Where’d he go?”
Angel turned to Sarah, his smile not nearly as amused as it’d been just moments ago. “Who are you entertaining?”
“Leonardo is here,” she said nonchalantly.
Angel tilted his head, his forehead furrowing, but said nothing. Then there was the inevitable lift of that very telling annoyed brow. “Why?”
“He roughed up that idiot I kicked out,” Alex informed him as he walked past Sarah and Angel.
Suddenly Angel’s annoyed expression went a bit murderous. “What?” He turned back to Sarah. “Why? Did that guy do something to you?”
“No,” she assured him quickly. “He was rude to Cindy. It was her table.”
“The guy was one of them assholes who like slapping women around.” Alex stopped at the door and explained. “It’s why I had to get physical with his ass. I didn’t like the way he talked to his girl. I guess when Sarah’s brother drove up in the parking lot the guy was being more than disrespectful with his girl, pushing her around or something, so her brother let him have it.” Alex chuckled as he began to walk away. “Popped the guy’s lip good.”
Angel turned back to Sarah again who nodded in confirmation, but she saw that look in his eye—the one she knew all too well. “So how long has he been here?” he asked. “I thought he’d agreed we’d meet with him later?”