CHAPTER 11

Most of the evening, hell most of the last few weeks, Sal had contemplated what, if anything he should do about his obvious growing attraction to Grace. Alex said he’d be okay with it but things would definitely be awkward for the other employees. Then there was the possibility of things not working out. What then? Would he be okay being around her once things were over between them?

He shook his head. The most glaring obstacle now was the fact that she was talking to someone. He’d been tempted more than once to ask Oscar exactly what she’d said and how the subject even came up. But it could only be one of two things. Either he asked her straight out, which he wouldn’t put past Oscar, or she’d brought it up on her own. She’d revealed very little about herself except that her friends were gay, and that was something he sort of forced out of her with his completely out-of-whack accusations.

After setting the alarm, he finished locking up. Grace waited for him just outside. “Are you sure about this, Sal? It’s completely out of the way.”

“Not really. She’s at St. Mary’s.” Sal clicked the car doors open with his keychain. “Don’t worry about it.” He opened the passenger side for her. “I’m taking you home so get in.”

He saw her take a deep breath just before getting in the car. Sal had just turned the car on when he got a text from Sofia.

She just delivered the first one it’s a girl! OMG Good luck! Alex will go gray before he’s thirty! lol

Sal smiled, feeling a little choked up. “She had the first baby.” He turned to Grace. “A girl.”

The doctors had known for months the gender of both babies but Valerie insisted on it being a surprise so they had no idea. But the one thing they did know was the babies were identical. Which meant only one thing: Alex would be the father of two baby girls. Whoa.

Gracie smiled bigger than he’d ever seen her smile and she put her hand over her mouth. “Really? You’re an uncle! How exciting. Congratulations!”

“Thanks. It feels weird.” He texted Sofia back as it sunk in. A new addition to the Moreno clan and there would be another one any minute. “You wanna come with me to the hospital?”

Her smile disappeared and she blinked. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to intrude. It’s just family right?”

Sal backed the car up. “You’re an employee which, if Alex has anything to say about it, means you are family now.”

The apprehension in her face didn’t disappear but Sal headed to the hospital anyway. The next text came about seven minutes later. When he got to a red light, he read it.

Second baby just born and they’re all doing fine. I’m crying! Auntie is SO going to have to come to their rescue when they discover boys!

He laughed. “Second one was just born. Wow, two girls. Damn, my brother is going to have his hands full.”

Grace smiled again, looking almost as excited as he felt. “Oh my Gosh. I had cousins in Mexico that were identical twins. They were boys and loved confusing people; only once they spoke you could tell the difference. One was so much shyer than the other, so no matter how much he tried to act like his brother, he never did quite pull it off.”

“Yeah, well Alex has it coming. I can see it already. They’re gonna drive him crazy.” Sal shook his head. “You have any brothers or sisters?”

“Very. Sometimes…” She looked out the window on her side. “Actually, many times it feels like it’s just me and her against the world.”

That piqued Sal’s interest. It sounded a bit personal but he knew so little about her and she brought it up so he asked, “How so?”

“Ever since my dad died it’s been just her, me and my mother.” She continued to look out the window, a sign to Sal that the subject was not one she was comfortable with yet she continued. “Until my mom remarried that is. But even before then, my mom’s always been… difficult. So we’ve always stuck close together. There’s nothing we can’t get each other through.”

Sal knew it was a risk but again, she’d brought it up not him. “How long ago did your dad die?”

She finally turned away from the window and their eyes met for a moment before she stared straight ahead. “I was eleven. That’s when we moved to the states. My mother didn’t want to be in Mexico anymore. Since she was born in El Paso and was a U.S. citizen, she knew she had a better chance of getting a higher paying job this side of the border.”

They pulled into the hospital parking lot. “You said your grandmother owned a restaurant in Juarez right? Does she still?”

He saw her eyebrows pinch and he knew he’d hit a nerve. Shit.

“She had to sell it when my mom said we were moving to El Paso. She was my dad’s mom and aside from him, we were all she had, so she gave up the restaurant to follow us.”

Sal parked the car and turned to her. “But Juarez is right over the border. Why didn’t she just keep it and visit you guys?”

Grace shook her head and Sal saw that her eyes glistened. “She was getting older. My dad had pretty much been running the restaurant for years. She couldn’t do it without him and my mom wanted nothing to do with the restaurant.” Grace opened the door and got out.

When Sal got out and faced her over the hood of the car, he saw her wipe away a tear. “Hey, I’m sorry if I brought up a sore subject for you.”

“No. I’m sorry. This is supposed to be a happy day. Let’s just not talk about this anymore.” Her forced smile was hardly convincing. “Let’s go see those babies.”

Damn it. He knew he should’ve stopped when his gut told him to. “Okay.” He said, refraining from asking or saying anything more.

They walked into the hospital silently. When they reached the waiting room where everyone was, he saw they surrounded a very red-eyed Alex, still in scrubs.

Sofia turned when she saw Sal. Her eyes were all misty as well. The closer he got the more he noticed everyone was teared up. “Everything okay?”

“Yes perfect,” Sofia said, hugging him. “Sienna and Savannah—those are the names of your two beautiful nieces.”

Sal swallowed hard, feeling silly about the lump in his own throat. He walked over to Alex and hugged him hard. “How’s it feel little brother?”

Alex nodded but was clearly still feeling emotional. “I gotta get back in there. They’re gonna be in the NICU for the first forty-eight hours but the doctors said it’s just precautionary. The girls are actually looking very good.”

“How much did they weigh?”

“They were both just shy of five pounds. So as soon as they hit that five pound mark we’re out of here.”

Their mom hugged and kissed Alex. “You’re going to be such a good father, mijo.”

After letting them in on a few more of the details about the birth and how Valerie was doing, Alex went back in.

Sal’s mother finally turned her attention to Grace then looked at Sal. “Mom this is Grace. She’s the one that made the casserole.”

“You’ll have to go through Alex to steal her. He’s very proud of being the one who discovered her.” Sofia smiled at Grace.

The only glimpse they got of the babies was through a window but it was hard to really see them since they were in an incubator. They stuck around and waited for a chance to see them up close but after Alex came out to let them know it wasn’t happening tonight, everyone grudgingly started to make their exits. Sarah and Sal’s mom still insisted on at least seeing Valerie.

Sal and Grace said goodnight to everyone and left. As they exited the hospital, they ran into Romero and his Izzy. Since Isabel and Valerie were so close, Sal actually been surprised that they hadn’t been at the hospital when they got there. “Hey, you out already?”

“Yeah, we’re not going to be able go in to see the babies tonight. We were already in there for a while.” Isabel’s expression fell. “But you can see them through the window and go in to see Valerie. My mom and Sarah are going to.” Isabel smiled and glanced at Grace.

“It’s the Elite Eight!” Romero looked at her like she was the crazy one.

Sal started down the stairs of the front entrance, shaking his head. “Not yet but I’ll get them this week.” He turned to Grace who was a couple of steps behind him and felt the crazy urge to put his hand out for her to take but he didn’t.

She crossed her arms in front of her when they reached the bottom. “Alex looked so happy. Who would’ve thought such a big lug could get so emotional? But I guess seeing your baby for the first time will do that to you. And this was a double whammy for him.”

“Oh yeah.” Sal turned just as the wind blew a wisp of her hair across her face and she used her tongue to move it away from her lips. He nearly lost his train of thought. “That guy’s always been a softie on the inside. As hard as nails as he is on the outside, when it comes to Valerie and his baby girls they’re all gonna have him wrapped around their fingers.”

“That’s sweet.” She smiled, making Sal glad she’d forgotten about the conversation when they arrived at the hospital. “As intimidating as he looked that first day I met him I could tell right away he was a sweetheart.”

Sal pressed his lips together, remembering how he’d immediately noticed how comfortable she’d been around Alex that first day he hired her. Sal had always been far more guarded about showing his true feeling than either of his brothers. Those two wore their hearts on their sleeves whether they were bursting with happiness or enraged. Sal was always too worried about being professional even in his personal life.

They reached his car and he looked over the hood. “So were you surprised we were brothers?”

“No, you look so much alike.”

“I mean because I know you weren’t exactly thinking I was a sweetheart when we first met.” She stared at him from across the car and he opened the door and got in.

“Actually,” she said as she got in and put on her seatbelt. “I meant to apologize for that. I remember you saying something about first impressions and I know I made such a horrible one. I walked in there with this huge chip on my shoulder because I’d been shot down so many times already by other restaurants, you must’ve thought I was such a bitch. And then you find out I lied on my application. I don’t blame you at all for not calling me back.”

Sal drove out of the parking lot taking in what she just said. “I’m glad you came back.” He turned to look at her. “Really glad. What do you say we start over? I’ve already forgotten about that day and I understand why you lied now. If you can forget what an ass I’ve been we can start fresh.”

He was beginning to really love that sweet smile of hers. “Deal.”

The rest of the way they talked about one of her favorite topics—cooking. She told him a little bit about her school but never once mentioned seeing anyone. He hoped for an appropriate moment where he might bring it up, but there never was one. By the time they reached her place, he knew all about how she’d met her best friends Joey and Taylor. He was especially glad that they were in a happy committed relationship because he’d heard of guys that swung both ways and the way she gushed about them he would’ve had his doubts, gay or not.

“Thank you so much for letting me tag along with you to the hospital. I can’t wait until they’re old enough so he can bring them into the restaurant and I can hold them.” She tilted her head to the side. “And thank you for the ride. You really didn’t have to.”

“Get used to it. If you don’t have a ride at night, I’ll make sure someone gets you home. I don’t care what you say. The buses are dangerous, Gracie, especially at night.” He got away with calling her Gracie earlier and he liked it. She smiled again, not correcting him. He might never go back to Grace now.

“If I have to. I will.” She opened the door and got out but leaned her head in the door. “You can’t make it your job to get me home.”

“You wanna bet?”

She shook her head but the smile escaped her. “Goodnight Sal. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Sal sat in his car until he saw her walk all the way into the apartment building. He glanced around the area. A couple of bums were lying out front by the building next to hers and some drunk looking guys walked down the sidewalk arguing. She was nuts if she thought he was going to let her take the bus home. After spending more time with her tonight, his attraction to her was irrepressible now.

~*~

The first thing Grace did when she got to work the next day was corner Oscar in the back room. After spending the evening with Sal, she was certain she felt something from him but she was terrified of getting her hopes up. It didn’t help that Melanie and Julie made him out to be the biggest ladies man they’d ever encountered. “I promise this will be the last time I ask you.”

Oscar turned to face her. She glanced out the door to make sure Sal wasn’t there yet. “He really said I was off limits? Those exact words.”

Oscar seemed a little uncomfortable. “I don’t remember the exact words but he warned me to not even think about trying to you know… get with you or anything. Said you were an employee, but I got what he meant loud and clear.”

Grace took in the new information. That made more sense now. Though she didn’t think he was so bad, Alex and Sofia said he was anal about everything. Maybe employee relationships were frowned upon. Sure, she’d begun to get a vibe from him but for someone who hadn’t made any kind of move, he sure would be taking an awful lot for granted to just blatantly tell another guy she was off limits for any other reason. But then why wouldn’t he take it for granted? Look at him and look at her. She frowned.

She saw Oscar made a face. “Why? Does that make you mad?”

“No. I’m just surprised.” She supposed if it were really what Oscar was thinking it should make her a little mad. Maybe if she wasn’t busy trying to keep from reading too much into it, it would. “Thanks, Oscar. Please don’t tell him I asked you.”

Oscar laughed. “Don’t worry. No way am I bringing that subject up again.”

She still had a few minutes before her shift started. Grabbing her phone, she went outside. She needed to talk this out with someone. Joey was out of class now. Before she could even dial, her phone rang—her mom.

Irritated that she’d probably take up the few minutes left before she started work she answered. “Hello?”

“Hi, mija.”

Her mother only called her that when she wanted something. “Yes?”

“Frank is in town. He wants to get together tonight. Nothing fancy like last time. He said just a stroll on the pier and maybe a few drinks at Finny’s.”

“It’s only until Ruben gets the job.” She heard her mom huff. “Fine, I’ll think of somewhere else. But it’ll be casual so don’t worry about changing when you get home.”

Great, she didn’t have a ride again. Unless Sal insisted on taking her home she probably wouldn’t even be there until almost ten. And she had that final tomorrow morning.

She stalked back into the restaurant already annoyed. Working fast to pull her apron on she rushed into the restaurant. She was shocked at what she felt when she saw Sal near the bar with that same girl he’d been talking to in the parking lot weeks ago. The girl was blonde and wore a pantsuit—the same kind she’d worn the last time only this one was black and hugged her body perfectly.

She was already tall and she wore ridiculously high heels. But most pointedly she was completely flirting with him and he seemed to be enjoying it. She kept touching his arm when she spoke. It killed Grace to admit it but they looked perfect together. She’d seen pictures of Valerie in the back room. She was blonde, too. Maybe Sal was partial to blondes also. God, what was she thinking? Of course, this would be his type—beautiful and sophisticated. She felt so stupid now. She gulped hard, trying to hold it together but the truth was she felt ready to fall apart.

He leaned against one of the bar stools and glanced at Grace as she approached. “I didn’t know they were floor tickets—my friend is gonna go wild. He’s already excited about just going.”

“Oh, it’s going to be awesome. Then after we’re all headed to Brewster’s in Oceanside to crack open some crab legs. Some of the players will be there as well. You have to go, Sal. The whole place is reserved just for our group. It’ll be so much fun. Your friend is welcome to come, too.”

Feeling like a complete idiot for even allowing herself to consider the possibility of her and Sal, she rushed to the ladies’ room before she lost it right there in front of them.