CHAPTER 28

Melissa answered on the first ring. Sal pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and parked.

“I had hoped to give you the news first but you left me no choice. You’re not mad are you?”

Sal leaned his elbow against the door and rested his head on his hand, feeling completely drained. “Mad doesn’t even begin to explain what I’m feeling right now, Melissa.”

“Don’t act surprised. You know damn well I’d be stupid to just take your word for it. In fact I question the validity of the pregnancy all together.”

“You really think I would make something like this up?”

“Yes. I really do.” Sal wasn’t about to fall for her feigned hurt act. She’d just cost him the one thing he knew with all certainty he could never replace. There was no room for compassion here—none at all.

He was almost relieved. “Not good enough. Unless you take it in front of me, I wouldn’t put it past you to have had a pregnant friend take it for you. If not, I’m sure anything can be faked these days.”

Her forced laugh was a loud one. “Your arrogance is beyond belief. That I would do such a thing just to land the great Sal Moreno, obviously the most eligible bachelor in La Jolla is ridiculous. Though I wouldn’t mind us havimg a civil relationship for the sake of our child. I’m not asking you to marry me, Sal. But don’t forget what I do for a living okay? I know my rights.”

“Even having my kid, you wouldn’t land me. Besides I’m not an eligible bachelor remember? I have a girlfriend.” He wasn’t about to give the satisfaction of knowing she’d accomplished what she so aggressively set out to do. “And I don’t need to be an attorney to know I have rights, too.” He opened the door to his car. The dull headache he’d begun to feel the moment he got Alex’s phone call alerting him of Melissa’s visit and announcement had now grown into a full blown migraine.

“She’s still clinging to you even though she knows you cheated on her? How pathetic.”

That brought him to an enraged abrupt stop, taking a deep breath he tried to remain as calm as possible. “There’s nothing more pathetic than a girl who jumps in bed with a guy who’s rejected her repeatedly. You knew the only way I’d ever fuck you again was if I was totally wasted. I’m only glad I don’t remember any of it.” He took a deep breath trying to calm himself before he walked in the restaurant. “Just so you know, nothing short of a notarized written note from your doctor will convince me you’re pregnant.”

Sal massaged his temple as he walked in the back door of the restaurant. She was quiet for a moment probably letting his insult simmer.

Silence. And even though that silence brought with it an ounce of hope that maybe she was lying, it still didn’t fix the fact that Grace now knew Sal had betrayed her in the worst way. The torment he’d seen in her eyes today would be forever imprinted in his head. The very torment he now carried in his heart and would probably be carrying for a very long time, if not forever.

“I’ve already made an appointment to see my doctor. I’ll just wait until then and bring you the note. After that we can get on with how we’re going to handle this. I know you’re angry now but I do hope you’re going to want to be part of our lives, Sal.”

“First things first, Melissa. And the note alone is not gonna cut it. Even it were notarized I’d still have to run it by someone to make sure it’s authentic.” Sal hated sounding like such a dick but Melissa may have single handedly ruined any chance of complete happiness he may ever have. The last thing he wanted to discuss was any kind of relationship with her. “I gotta go. Let me know when you get the note.”

He expected the mood from the other employees to be somewhat somber but he didn’t expect the cold shoulder and downright haughtiness from some of Grace’s closer friends. If it were for any other reason he might be irritated by it but he was just as pissed at himself as they were. He’d never forgive himself for the pain he’d caused Grace. If the pain of knowing he’d lost her was this excruciating for him, he could only imagine what she must be feeling, knowing he’d done this.

Sofia was on the phone in the back room when he walked in. “Perfect. Oh, he just walked in. Let me make sure.” She looked at Sal. “You stayed at the Hard Rock Café that night in Vegas right?”

Sal nodded. He knew Sofia was adamant about this but it surprised him that she was already on the phone with someone about it.

“Yeah, it was the Hard Rock. Okay. Thanks.”

She hung up and smiled big at Sal. “Romero said he might be able to get the tapes from the casino that night you were there. He said casinos hold on to their surveillance tapes for months or in some cases, years. Normally we’d need a court order to get a hold of them but,” she winked, “good ole Romero has connections.”

As much as Sal appreciated the effort, it was too hard to get past the hopelessness of the situation. “Sof,” he said, plopping down in the chair, as the memory of Melissa unzipping his pants came flying at him like a slap across the face. “She was in my room that morning. Her damn panties were on the floor. Romero is better off looking into whether or not she’s lying about being pregnant. That’s probably the only thing we can hope for at this point, because even if she’s not, Grace won’t be forgetting and much less forgiving the fact that I cheated on her.” He shook his head disgusted with himself. “And with Melissa of all people.”

Sofia shook her head also. “And you call women naïve? You don’t think that psycho bitch would have it in her to plant her stink ass panties in your hotel room? I put nothing past her.” She opened the cabinet and pulled out her purse. “Now that you’re here I can leave.”

She stopped when her eyes met Sal’s. He must have looked as miserable as he felt because her hard expression changed immediately to commiseration. Sal let his head hang back and closed his eyes. He opened his eyes when he felt her lips on his forehead. “It’s gonna be okay, Sal. Something tells me Grace will somehow find it in her heart to forgive you.” Before he could retort she added. “If, in fact, there is anything to forgive.” She straightened up and pulled her purse over her shoulder. “And if it does turn out Melissa made this whole thing up, that sorry bitch is gonna have a lot answer to.”

If it wasn’t for his heart feeling the weight of the world crushing it, Sal might’ve laughed. His brothers and sister were always so ready to kick some ass. If only that could fix everything, his siblings would rule the world.

Once left alone, the dread really sunk in. He leaned his face into his clasped hands like a man praying for a miracle as visions of Gracie’s anguished expression assaulted him. He’d done that to her. And if he could never forgive himself, how could he ever expect her to? It was over.

~*~

It took a few minutes after opening her eyes for Grace to realize she was in Joey and Taylor’s bed. But it took less than a few seconds to remember why. She closed her eyes again, wishing to God she hadn’t remembered.

Joey lay next to her fully clothed. He hadn’t even taken off his shoes. The poor guy must’ve fallen asleep trying to console her. He’d cried almost as much as she had. She scooted off the bed slowly, careful not to wake him. It was still light out. She remembered Taylor giving her a pill to take to calm her. He said it was harmless but might make her drowsy. Well, it sure had knocked her out. She wondered now if he’d slipped Joey one, too.

She’d just stepped out of the restroom when Taylor and Rose walked in the front door. As soon as Rose saw her she rushed to Grace and hugged her hard. The emotion overtook Grace and once again she was crying. “I’ll stop talking to Vincent if you want. Once you’re over Sal I don’t want anything to remind you of him and make you sad.”

Grace took a deep breath, shaking her head and struggled to get the words out. She cleared her throat. “No, you don’t have to.” She tried pulling away but Rose wouldn’t let go.

“Grace.” It was only then that Grace realized Rose was crying, too. “I hate that you’re so sad. When Taylor told me how much you were hurting it ripped my heart out.”

Immediately Grace went into big sister mode. She smoothed Rose’s hair and sucked it up. “I’m gonna be fine, Rose. I promise.”

Up until that moment she had no idea how she’d get through this. She’d felt like her entire world had come crashing down on her. Now she realized, just like in the past she had to get through this. Not just for herself but for Rose. She couldn’t let even this get in the way of her dream of moving her and Rose out.

“I hate him for doing this to you. I’d never seen you so happy and now…”

Grace fought the knot that began to form in her throat now that she refused to cry. “He’s not the only man in the world.” It hurt to even say the words, because she knew without a doubt she’d never love another man like she did Sal. “I’ll get over him.”

She glanced up at Taylor whose smile didn’t even begin to hide the sorrow in his eyes. Though he hadn’t wept for her like Joey did, she’d felt the emotion in his touch when she’d sobbed so hopelessly in his arms. She took another long and determined breath. Just like she had when she was younger she’d save her sobbing from here on for the shower or when she knew none of them were around. Just because Sal had shredded her heart didn’t mean they all had to suffer with her.

“That’s enough, Rose.” She pulled away gently then wiped the tears from Rose’s face. “This is just another turning point in my life. One I wanna move on from as quickly as possible. We’re not going to stand around and cry about this for weeks or even days. Okay?” She gulped hard, trying to focus on something—anything else. “I need to find a job.” She turned to Taylor. “That’s what I’ll pour my energy into from here on.”

He nodded just as Joey walked in the front room from the hallway still looking very somber. “We’re moving on, Joey,” Taylor informed him with a look. “Gracie is gonna focus on getting a job.”

Joey seemed confused at first but when Taylor gave him another warning look he nodded. Grace could see he couldn’t even muster up a smile but silently agreed.

“Rose brought you a change of clothes, Grace,” Taylor said, pulling out a frying pan from the cabinet. “In case you wanna shower and get out of those clothes. I’m gonna make us dinner.” He turned to Joey. “I bought stuff so you could make something for desert. I think we can all use a good dose of chocolate tonight.”

Rose handed Grace the small bag of clothes. None of them mentioned it but it had just dawned on Grace that she was still wearing the polo with the restaurant’s logo on it. She gulped, trying not to think about how she’d never step foot in that restaurant again. In fact if she hadn’t just promised she was moving on, she’d suggest they all take a drive to the beach and burn the damn polo in a bonfire.

Grace smiled but hurried to the restroom, locking the door and turning on the shower as quickly as possible. She was only in there for a minute before she buried her face in one of the towels, praying it would muffle her crying. How in the world would she ever survive this? The deafening pain she felt when Sal confirmed he had slept with Melissa was back and she could barely catch her breath again.

Get over him? Move on? Impossible.

~*~

A week later Sal dropped by his parent’s house for lunch. His dad said he wanted to talk to him. He hadn’t heard a thing from Melissa since the day he called her and he was still numb from the damage she’d caused to his life. He’d hardly slept or eaten that entire week and he wondered if maybe Alex had told his parents. Just the other day Alex sympathetically let Sal know he looked like shit.

To his surprise Alex was at his parent’s when he got there, looking just as unaware as Sal was about why they’d been asked to come over. Then his dad dropped an unexpected and unpleasant surprise on them both. Their uncle had asked him for a favor and he had agreed. Their cousin Vincent would be staying with his parents over the summer and he’d be working at the restaurant.

Both Sal and Alex had protested that Vincent couldn’t be trusted, to which their dad informed them he’d already warned their uncle. “First sign of trouble, he’s gone.”

That conversation had been a few days ago. Now Sal sat in the back office, adding Vincent to the payroll and the schedule. He’d be there today and even though Sal wasn’t looking forward to it, they could use the extra help. Alex was still only coming in part-time. He had school and the babies were a handful.

Something this simple Sal usually got done within minutes but he’d been at it for over a half hour now. His mind constantly wanderrf off into thoughts of Grace and how his heart ached to be with her. A few days ago he’d lost the ability to even listen to her voicemail message once she changed her number. She’d completely cut him off now.

He’d tried once again out of sheer desperation stopping by Joey and Taylor’s to beg Grace for forgiveness but she hadn’t even come to the door. Taylor had stepped outside to let him know it was best if he just stayed away. Grace had made her decision and it was final. He said if Sal really cared about her he’d make it easier on her by not coming around anymore.

As an adult, Sal couldn’t even remember going through motions of crying but the pain he’d been feeling all week and hearing Taylor so grimly inform him of Grace’s decision, had finally done him in. Of course he’d waited until he was home alone, and ever since he’d been dead inside.

The knocking pulled him out of his painful thoughts. He’d spaced out again. Vincent stood by the door. “Hey, Sal. Here I am. Reporting for duty.”

Sal had already decided he was just going to have to make the best of this. He stood up and shook his hand. “Welcome aboard.”

Sofia walked in behind him. “I already set him straight on the ride over here. He’s gonna behave. Although,” she turned and gave Vincent a look. “I don’t know how much he heard of it, since his attention was mostly on his phone the whole time. That’s gotta be a girl right? Your girlfriend?”

“Not yet,” Vincent smirked.

Sal remembered Grace telling him about her sister and Vincent texting all the time now. He had a sudden suspicion about Vince’s motivation to come stay with his parents. Sal eyed him. “What does that mean?”

“Means not yet, but I’m working on it.”

Sofia pulled two aprons out of the cabinet and tossed one at Vincent. “That’s gonna be a little hard now that you’ll be here all summer, won’t it?”

Another sly smirk swept across Vincent’s lips. “Not really. She lives out this way.”

Sal stared at him now. “You’re not talking about Rose are you?” His tone was a reflection of how he’d felt all week.

“Relax,” Vincent laughed. “She won’t even be around for a while.” He worked on getting the apron on then rolled his eyes. “Just when I finally get the okay to come out here, her mother and sister decide to take a trip to Laughlin and take her with them.”

Sal had stopped looking at him for a second to check his phone that buzzed on his desk but just the mention of Rose’s sister and then Laughlin made him freeze. He brought his attention back to Vincent. “Laughlin?”

“Yeah, and she doesn’t even know how long they’re going to be out there.”

Trying not to be too obvious, Sal sat down slowly on the chair and glanced back down at his phone nonchalantly, his racing heart didn’t make easy. “Is it a vacation?”

He gulped, picking up a pen on the desk, trying to rid the image of the guy with the roses outside of the restaurant and the disappointment on his face when Sal informed him he couldn’t see Grace anymore.

“I think she said it was kind of a spur of the moment thing.” Vincent paused before adding, “I heard about you and Grace breaking up. I’m sorry to hear it, man.”

Nothing could hide the pain Sal felt just hearing her name. He couldn’t even think of any other way to respond to that other than nodding. Sofia must’ve sensed the need to change the subject because she jumped in. “All right, Vinnie. Ready to be trained?”

Vincent smiled. “Ready when you are.”

“Let’s go then.” She gestured to the door and Vincent walked out.

Sofia turned, giving Sal a small smile before walking out. He could only hope this was the worst pain he’d ever had to endure in his life because he couldn’t think of anything more excruciating. Somehow he thought time would make things better, but it only seemed to get worse with each passing day. Knowing she’d gone to Laughlin, no doubt her mother’s idea, now topped that agony with a blinding rage.