~*~

“All right, I’ll give Joey this one. Your boss is smokin’ hot.”

Grace was getting tired of hearing this now. First from the girls in class, then Joey, then the girls at work, and now Taylor. It wasn’t like she needed to be reminded of the obvious. She only wished it didn’t bother her. Why should it? She nodded but said nothing to further that topic.

Taylor pulled up to the front of her apartment building where there were two homeless men arguing outside. “You want me to walk you in?”

“No, I’m okay. Those two are always going at it.” She smiled as she watched Randy and The Snake shake their fists at each other. “They’re harmless.”

Taylor stared at them, taken aback. “Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

She turned back, leaning in to give him a kiss on the cheek. He turned his head and she stopped just before their lips met. She frowned—same old trick—Taylor smiled. “One of these days you’ll fall for it.”

Grace nudged him before opening the door. “I’ll make sure it happens when Joey’s around. You’ll be walking crooked for a week.”

Taylor squeezed his legs together and winced. “Why do you always have to go there?”

Gracie laughed then thanked him for the ride. Taylor always did things like that. Even in front of Joey. Joey played the part of being jealous, but if anyone was the jealous one, it was Taylor. She’d seen it once and it hadn’t been pretty.

Yet, for as much as Taylor flirted, she’d never seen so much as a spark of real jealousy from Joey. He knew Taylor would never actually do anything.

As was the norm at her place, Ruben lay sprawled out on the sofa—beer cans and a bag of chips on the floor. Her mom peeked in from the hallway. “Pssst!”

Grace lifted her hand in the air and mouthed, “What?”

Her mom motioned for her to come over and put her finger over her lips.

Grace closed the door as quietly as possible. Ruben continued to snore like a bear. She held her keys tight in her hands so they wouldn’t jingle. They made it to her room and her mom closed the door behind her. “Frank wants to see you again.”

“What?” Grace felt sick to her stomach.

Rose was on her bed with the laptop on her legs. She glanced at Grace giving her that ‘I feel for you’ look.

“He called earlier today and said he really enjoyed the time he spent with you and he’d like to do it again. I was just thinking—”

“No!” Grace was done doing these things for her mom.

“If Ruben gets the job he’ll be gone most of the week.”

Grace and Rose’s eyes locked. One of the things that gnawed at her most of the day was wondering how much time Rose had to spent locked in her room for fear of walking out into the kitchen or living room and being harassed by Ruben.

“What does me seeing Frank again have to do with Ruben getting the job?”

Her mother frowned. “It’s not a done deal yet. Spending another evening with him just might seal the deal.” A calculating smile spread across her face and she turned to Rose. “Won’t it be nice when Ruben starts working and he’s only home late in the evening and gone before we’re all up?”

Another glance at her sister and she knew what Rose was thinking. If guilt was a facial expression, Rose wore it on her lips like a tight rope wire. As much as she hated it the idea of going on a fixed date with this man, it was totally worth it, if it meant getting Ruben out of the house. She turned back to her mother who didn’t even try to hide her anticipation and sighed. “When?”

Her mother nearly jumped. “Sometime next week.”

“Remember I have work and school.”

“Yes, yes.” Her mom reached out and held her by the shoulders. “We’ll work something out.” She crushed Grace into a hug. “Ay, mija, thank you so much. You won’t regret this!”

Grace closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She already did.

CHAPTER 7

Saturday morning Sal went through the online applications for employment at Angel’s restaurant. Angel had given him the go-ahead to take over the hiring. Like Alex, he didn’t care much for scheduling or conducting interviews. Sal called back the few he’d consider. To his surprise they were all available for an interview that very afternoon. He scheduled the interviews at Angel’s location and was out before Grace’s shift started.

The menu at Angel’s restaurant was almost identical to Alex’s but the one difference was that they were on the marina competing with a bunch of seafood restaurants. Therefore they boasted a lot more seafood specials. And no restaurant on the marina was complete without the lobster-filled aquarium at the entrance.

Sal stopped as he walked in to assess the lobsters in the aquarium.

“Hey, Sal.” Sarah, his sister-in-law walked over and hugged him. “You look all spiffy.” She tugged his tie, smiling.

Sal kissed her forehead. “Interviewing today—how’s everything here? Where’s Angel?”

Sarah gave him a look. “You didn’t see him out there?”

“No.” Sal turned back to the door.

“Some of the other restaurants are offering dinner cruises. There are a lot of sight-seeing and touring reps that have been coming around leaving their brochures. But it sounds complicated to me. Angel thinks it’s a good idea for the summer.”

Sal thought about it. In theory, it was a good idea, but getting one of those boats to meet code regulations with the health department would be a bitch. “Maybe appetizers and drinks. I don’t know about a full blown dinner.”