CHAPTER 17

 

To say Taylor was livid when Grace told him about the Melissa incident was putting it lightly. He did, however, love that both Alex and Sofia had backed her up the way they did. And he was more than ecstatic about the way things were turning out with her and Sal. “My God, Grace. I don’t know how you ever had a doubt this guy was hot for you.”

“Well, I’m not a mind reader,” she said, texting her sister that they were outside waiting for her.

“You don’t have to be with this guy. He does realize I’m gay right?”

Grace looked at him. “Yeah, he knows all about you and Joey.”

“Did you not see the way his eyes nearly flamed up when I put my arm around you?”

“They did not.”

Taylor opened his mouth wide in amazement. “Grace, I almost jerked my arm back, afraid he was gonna kick my ass. I can’t believe you didn’t notice.”

Grace laughed. “You’re such a liar.”

“Ah, shit. This guy has probably been hot for you since day one and you didn’t even notice.”

Grace thought about Alex’s comment, Oh that, when she reminded him she wanted him to meet Taylor. But it was total nonsense, he knew Taylor was harmless.

“I know now. That’s all that matters.” She smiled, feeling giddy. “He wants me to meet his entire family.”

“Wow. But I’m not surprised. I’m telling you, Grace. This guy’s body language is so obvious it’s ridiculous. You gotta be blind if you don’t see it. Just wait ‘til Joey sees him around you. I’m surprised he hasn’t said he loves you yet.”

That made Grace’s heart pound. “No way. We haven’t known each other long enough.” But she had cried for him already—several times.

“You don’t need to know much more than how he makes you feel.” He reached out and cupped her chin with his thumb and finger. “Brace yourself, Gracie. I saw the way you looked at him when he kissed you. If I hadn’t seen the way he looked at you, I’d be worried.”

They started toward the mall with Rose talking the whole way about the prom. It calmed Grace a little to take her mind off Sal and the enormity of what she’d been thinking all this time but Taylor forced her to confront. She was falling and she was falling hard.

Grace smiled, trying to push aside the memories of her own bittersweet prom night. For the first time, something had actually gone perfectly for her. Her date was wonderful, her dress—spectacular. It was everything a girl that age could dream of, and then just as they were on their way to the after party, she got the devastating call that her grandmother had suffered a heart attack. She swallowed back the lump that had begun to grow in her throat. She wouldn’t ruin this for Rose.

After several hours of shopping, they stood in line to buy tickets to the show. Her phone buzzed and she checked the text, feeling that familiar sputter of her heart that was happening all too often these days.

I miss you.

She smiled allowing herself to feel what she’d been so afraid to until now. Now that she knew Sal was genuinely interested in a relationship with her, she was happier than she could ever remember being. She texted back.

I miss you too. Can hardly wait to see you tomorrow.

After sending it, she glanced up. Both Rose and Taylor were staring at her, smiling. “What?” She felt her face warm.

“Wow,” Taylor said. “Look at you.”

Grace rolled her eyes but knew exactly what he meant. Excited didn’t even begin to explain how she felt about the whole situation with Sal.

“Grace, you’re glowing,” Rose said.

“I am not!” But she felt it.

It finally hit her. She and Sal were an actual couple now, and Sal wanted everyone to know it. As if her heart weren’t already racing her phone buzzed again.

Tomorrow? =( I don’t think I can wait until then. What have you done to me Gracie?

She brought her hands to her mouth, smiling, and took a deep breath. She didn’t care that Taylor and Rose were still staring at her. The movie would be over a little after seven. She just might be able to work something out.

 

~*~

 

This was crazy. He’d just seen her a few hours ago. He spent the whole day with her and here he was waiting impatiently outside the movie theatre. When Grace mentioned that the movie was ending early, Sal jumped on it, asking if he could meet her after somewhere. She agreed to have him pick her up. Taylor would take her sister home and she and Sal could go out to dinner.

“Oh God,” Taylor laughed. “He so would’ve, and he probably would’ve been the loudest one laughing. And crying.”

Both Grace and Rose laughed. “You know he’s gonna be mad we saw it without him,” Grace added.

“I’ll come watch it with him again,” Rose said with a smile.

After explaining to Rose what to tell their mom when she got home, Grace and Sal said goodbye to Rose and Taylor and started toward Sal’s car. The second they reached it, Sal had to stop and kiss her. It was a bit alarming how much he felt for her so fast, but he didn’t care if she noticed.

“You think maybe we can go through a drive-thru and go some place where we can be alone?” Grace squeezed his hand with a hopeful expression. “I’ve had enough crowds for the day.”

She’d read his mind. He wanted nothing more than to be alone with her. “We could take the food back to my place if you’d like. Unless you’d rather not.”

“No. I’d love to check your place out,” She grinned. “I’m nosey like that.”

“All right then, my place it is.”

They picked up the pastramis and headed to his house and Grace told him about everything they bought for her sister, mentioning how she’d have to pay Taylor back since he offered to pay for the dress that just wasn’t in Grace’s budget. “Your mom didn’t pay for any of it?”

Grace rolled her eyes. “My mom hasn’t paid for anything extra for me and Rose in years. The only thing she paid for since I got my first job, was the tuition for me to get my bartending license. And even that wasn’t a selfless act. She did it so that I could get a better paying job to help her pay the bills.”

Sal tried not to frown. He didn’t want her to know that the more he heard about her mother the less he liked the woman. The thought of her asking Grace to go out with men for her own selfish reasons almost made him hate her. But he wouldn’t. She was the only mother Grace had. Grace was already leery, thinking he would judge her. He didn’t want her getting the wrong idea if he expressed himself negatively about her mother.

They got to his place and Sal watched as Grace’s eyes widened with every room they walked through. He hadn’t originally planned on purchasing such a large home, but Valerie talked him into it. She said it was a good investment and she’d worked her magic to get him the best deal possible. He couldn’t pass it up. He only hoped it didn’t intimidate Grace. His neighborhood was a far cry from the area she lived in.

Her conversation had begun to wither as they drove through the winding streets up to his house and she stared at all the homes. The one thing he loved the most about his house was the backyard view. Situated up in the hills of La Jolla, the view was spectacular. “We can eat out back. It’s nice out tonight.”

Grace followed him out the sliding patio door, and he set the food down on a glass patio table which sat twelve. His mother had helped pick it out, making sure there was enough room for everyone, because it was rare for just one of his family members to show up without all the others showing up, too, and that included Romero and Isabel.

He turned to Grace, who had stopped at the door, taking in the view. The ocean was visible off to one side while the cityscape of downtown La Jolla was visible at the other end. Then her eyes went to the outdoor kitchen. The only time he’d ever used it was when his family had come over and his mother and Sofia had made him a birthday dinner. That was the end of last summer, when he’d first bought the place. Even then, he hardly touched it except to figure out how to get it going then his mom took over. Sal had been home less and less since then, especially now that he was helping Alex out with running the restaurant.

“It’s beautiful.” She turned to Sal. “And you get to see this everyday?”

He smiled holding out his hand for her. “You could, too, you know, if you come over every day.”

She took his hand and came over to sit next to him at the table. He wouldn’t tell her just yet, but the thought of having her around all the time was definitely something he’d be suggesting and a lot sooner than he would’ve ever imagined. He was certain what he was feeling, like today when he closed up and could think of nothing else but wanting to be with her was not going away any time soon. In fact, he anticipated the need to be around her only getting worse.

Other than her eyes widening, she didn’t appear to be put off by the suggestion. “I should’ve known your house would be amazing, but I just didn’t expect all this.”

They ate quietly at first. She must’ve been as hungry as he was because she dug right in. After a few bites, she wiped her mouth, staring out into the view again. “Before we moved out here, I’d never even seen the beach.” She turned to him with the napkin still over her mouth. “I didn’t even know how to swim.”

He loved seeing her excited smile. It reminded him of how young she was even though she was mature beyond her years. Obviously everything she’d been through had forced her to grow up far before her time. “When I was a little girl we used to go camping every year to a place called Elephant Butte in New Mexico. It was our summer trip. They actually closed down my grandmother’s restaurant for a week so we could go on vacation. It’s the only time I ever got to swim, but I loved it. I just never got very good at it.” She gazed out into the his backyard view again. “I loved camping—those are some of the best childhood memories I have. Swimming all day, then fishing. Dad and I caught a real big one, one time. My grandma gutted and cleaned it and we had it for dinner. And there was nothing like sleeping in a tent, roasting marshmallows… for some reason a simple sandwich or in our case a cold torta tasted so much better when we were camping.” For once, she looked so at peace and actually smiled when speaking of her past.

“Elephant Butte, uh? I heard of it somewhere. What’s up with that name?”

“It’s named after some island in the lake that supposedly looked like an elephant butt, but I didn’t think it did.” She took another bite of her sandwich and stared out into the view again for a moment before turning back to him. “My dad always said he’d take me to the beach someday but…” She took a deep breath. “Rose only got to go camping with us a few times. She probably doesn’t even remember. My mom didn’t like camping so she wouldn’t come on the trips. After a few years she made my dad feel so guilty about leaving her behind, we stopped going.” She stared at her fries, lost in thought.

Sal squeezed her hand. “So how’d your dad die?” Uncomfortable or not, this was obviously a significant aspect of her life. Sal wanted to know everything. What made her smile, what made her laugh, even what made her cry.

She looked up from her food and met his eyes, but she didn’t cry. “He was murdered.”

Sal tried not to react, in hopes she could get through the story without crying but he was not expecting that at all.

She continued, dry-eyed. “It was no secret that my grandmother’s restaurant was doing well and Saturdays were especially busy. It was getting so busy that like you, he’d begun to talk about expanding when I was old enough to run a restaurant on my own. It would be on a smaller scale but it would be all mine.” Her eyes were excited for the moment. “One Saturday night just as he closed up, three men walked in and robbed him at gunpoint.” Sal squeezed her hand again when he saw the grimace and the tears begin. He was surprised she’d gone this far without crying. But she took a deep breath and continued. “He gave them all the money he had, did everything they asked and they still shot him. My sister and I were already home with my grandmother. My mom is the one that found him. She’d gone out to move the car around front, while he closed everything up. It was the reason why the back door wasn’t locked. Since he was shot at such a close range he was gone before the medics ever arrived.” She wiped a single tear that escaped from the corner of her eye, took a deep breath and went on. “It was all over the local papers for weeks, that’s how I found out we were selling the restaurant. They hadn’t told me yet but my mom had mentioned in an interview that the restaurant would be up for sale and we were going to be moving. It happened during the summer. By Christmas we were living in El Paso.”

Sal leaned over and kissed a tear away that trailed down her cheek. His heart ached for her. “Did they ever catch the guys that shot him?”

She let out a sarcastic laugh. “I doubt they ever even tried.”

Sal pulled her chair to him, suddenly needing her closer, and caressed a few strands of hair away from her forehead. “I’m sorry that happened. I can see it’s something that still hurts a lot.”

Grace tilted her head and her eyebrows furrowed as she cleared her throat. “The funny thing is I only cried when I first got the news. I was in complete shock and denial. I didn’t want to believe it. But after that I refused to cry because I didn’t want Rose to see me cry. She was only five and though she was sad she didn’t quite understand the enormity of it. She didn’t really get that he was never coming back, so it wasn’t as devastating for her as it was for me, and I didn’t want it to be. She caught me crying one time when I thought she wasn’t home and it really scared her. So I vowed it would never happen again. Though sometimes I did where I knew she couldn’t catch me, like in the shower or at night when she was asleep and she’s always been such a sound sleeper I didn’t worry about her waking. But I put up a front for so many years. Then when my grandmother died something changed.” Sal played with her hand and she glanced down at it. “Even though I tried, like with my dad, to hold it in for my sister’s sake. As the years passed, I’ve gotten so much more emotional about it all now and I don’t understand why.”

Sal kissed her hand, wanting more than anything to take her pain away or at the very least lessen it. “Grief is a process, sweetheart. Even though you thought you understood it at the time, you really didn’t.” He was glad now for choosing to take that extra semester of Psychology. “You can’t heal if you don’t allow yourself to grieve and it sounds like you never did. But it’s inevitable and it will happen. I think it’s what’s happening now. You’re finally letting the emotions manifest.” He kissed her forehead. “It’s a good thing.”

One side of her mouth went up slightly but it was hardly a smile. “I’m such a downer.” She sniffed.

“No. I wanted to know. You really think I thought you wouldn’t cry? It’s natural, Gracie. I’m gonna ask you something else and I don’t want you to hold anything back either.” Her eyebrows shot up. “How’d your grandmother die?”

She didn’t give it much thought before answering. “Heart attack.”

Sal cringed. It couldn’t have been anything less sudden? But Grace didn’t cry. Instead she reached for her purse on the other seat and fished out her wallet, then pulled a picture out and handed it to Sal. It was a snapshot of herself in a formal gown with her hair up. She was younger and looked stunning. His jaw involuntarily clenched at the sight of the guy holding her hand in the picture but he pushed the unreasonable jealousy away. He knew this had nothing to do with him. A short older woman with a white braid and a big smile held her other hand.

“This was the last picture I took with her. It was hours before she had the attack. I was actually on my way—” She stopped when her voice betrayed her and she brought her hands to her face.

Sal wrapped his arms around her, feeling a deep ache inside for her. This happened on her prom night? “It’s okay, baby. Let it out. You’ll feel better.”

She didn’t cry long enough, pulling away after only a few moments. Sal frowned, handing her a napkin. She wiped her face and went on with her story, clearing her throat. “We were on our way to an after party when I got the call.” She took a deep breath but no longer cried. “By the time we arrived she was gone.” She gave him a crooked smile as he handed her the picture back and she tapped her finger over the guy in it. “To top it off, we broke up that night.”

“He broke up with you that night?” That pissed him off. How could the idiot do that to her that night?

“No. I broke up with him. We had talked about that night being our… first time.” She glanced away from him and he took a very deep breath. The conversation had taken an unexpected turn but he wanted to continue to be supportive, so he worked on keeping his expression the same. “I never quite agreed to it, because I wasn’t completely sure I was ready. Then after everything that happened with my grandma, of course it wasn’t happening. I guess because when I saw my sister at the hospital so broken up, I tried my hardest to be strong. I cried, but not as much as I wanted to. I put up a front again. I needed to be strong for her. Well, my boyfriend who wasn’t close to any of his grandparents took it as a sign that it wasn’t that big a deal and when we got back to his car he told me about the room he’d already paid for and was planning on surprising me with. He actually suggested we still go there.”

Wow, and here Sal thought the guy was an idiot before she explained it.

“I was so unbelievably disgusted there was no way I could continue a relationship with him.” She pulled away from Sal’s embrace and sat up straight. “Anyway, I’m glad you asked. Those two instances in my life are probably the most painful of all, but there have been a lot of good times, too.”

Grace insisted on hearing more about his family. Sal told her more about how close they’d always been and she laughed when he told her about how poor Sofia had to deal with all of them including Eric and Romero watching over her so closely when they were all growing up. “We were all bad, but Alex has always been the worst. You’ll probably notice he’ll get that way with you eventually. He’s very protective over his family and friends.”

“Alex told me what you said and about you pulling off your earrings.” Grace’s face flushed. “Don’t be embarrassed.” He hugged her again, chuckling. “You’re gonna fit right in with the rest of my family and friends. Don’t even get me started on Romero.”

They moved to the lounging sofa that faced the pool with the overstuffed pillows. Sal sat back, pulling her to him and she leaned against him. “It’s so beautiful out here. If I lived here… ” She stopped.

“If you lived here what?” Sal liked where this was going.

She turned to face him. “I’m just saying hypothetically. I don’t want you to think that—”

“Oh, I’m thinking it, Grace. If I have it my way, you will.” He kissed her. “So go on.”

Her eyes were glued to his for a moment, taking in what he just said. “All I meant was if I lived some place like this, I’d be out here every night. I’d probably never cook inside. Except maybe when it was too cold.” He saw her glance at the outdoor fireplace. “Even then I’m sure I’d figure out how to stay warm.”

“I’ll tell you what,” Sal said, leaning further back, bringing her with him so they were practically lying down. “I’d like nothing more than to have you here every night, so if you’re game we can come back here every night and hang out from now on.”

Her eyes brightened and it drove him crazy. Unable to hold back any longer he kissed her long and deep. They made out for the longest time since he’d first kissed her and though there were moments he thought of trying for more than just kissing and enjoying her soft delicious neck, he didn’t. He remembered her mentioning she’d never. If that meant what he thought it meant, as torturous as it was to hold back, he had to take things real slow. She was absolutely worth waiting for.