Sal waited for Romero to walk out before turning back to a still very irritated looking Vincent. Sofia had gone into the back room but was on her way out again holding her purse. “I’ll be back to close, Sal. I gotta drop off Eric at the airport.”

“Where’s he going?”

“Conference in New York.” She mussed Vincent’s hair as she walked by him. “You be good you hear?”

Vincent rolled his eyes again but his glower brought on by Romero’s remarks was now replaced with a smirk. “I’m always good.” He looked back at Sal once Sofia had left. “So what other conditions are there?”

“I need a favor,” Sal gave Vincent a very serious stare. “And I don’t want you mentioning any of this to Rose.”

Vincent’s eyebrows pinched and Sal had a feeling his cousin might not be too keen about this. He almost felt bad that he’d have to use Vincent’s obvious longing to see Rose as leverage. But he had no choice. “Have a seat Vince.” He pointed at the barstool. “We need to talk.”

~*~

In a deep fog, Grace felt suddenly unable to breathe and she sat up, realizing she was choking on her own saliva. She hacked uncontrollably, trying to catch her breathe in between, tasting the horrific acidic spew that attacked her throat. This was the second time this week it happened. Waking up because she was choking was decidedly the worst way to wake up ever.

She made it out of her room and into the restroom where she placed her hand under the faucet and brought it to her mouth. After a few drinks she felt slightly better. The coughing subsided slowly as she wiped her face down with a towel. Just as she walked back into her room it dawned on her that Rose wasn’t in bed with her. Starting to panic she remembered she’d fallen asleep in the day. She glanced at the small digital clock on her nightstand and saw it was only seven in the evening.

With her breathing finally back to normal she picked up her phone and saw she had two texts. One from Joey and one from Rose. She read the one from Joey first.

Hey, sweetie. I talked to Rose and she told me you’re taking a nap… in the day...AGAIN. You’re not fooling anyone. You’re still not well. Call me when you wake up!

Graces eyes were still leaking from her cough attack, and her throat burned, but she still had to smile. She clicked over to her next text, from Rose.

Vince is here! =) We’re downstairs in the bbq area and we’re not going anywhere I promise so don’t worry. He could only stay until 7:30 I’ll be up when he leaves. Thanks again sissy! Love you!

Grace frowned. That text was a little too syrupy for someone who was just spending time with a friend. And to think, he’d be here all summer. As if she didn’t have enough on her mind to deal with already. She walked over and peeked out the window. She had a perfect view of them sitting on one of the picnic tables with their feet on the bench, talking. Grace wondered if Rose had done that on purpose—sit in plain view of their bedroom window so that Grace could see they were doing nothing wrong.

She watched them until Vincent laughed, his smile reminding her so much of Sal it nearly choked her. Clearing her throat, she walked away from the window and decided she’d call Joey.

Before she could, there was a soft tap at her door then it opened and her mom stuck her head in. “Oh Good, you’re awake, mija.”

Grace waited as her mother stepped all the way in closing the door behind her without responding. The word mija from her mother’s lips was never a good thing.

“Ever since we got back from Laughlin, unless we’re out looking at real estate, you’ve done nothing but mope around and sleep. You need to get out. It does you no good to be locked up in here.” She sat down next to Grace on the bed and put her hand on her knee. “There is a new place that just opened up, over by the marina. It’s supposed to be really neat. My friend said it’s all Mardi Gras style. What do you say we go there this Friday night? You can invite Joey and Taylor.”

Grace began to shake her head. She just wasn’t ready for going out yet—wasn’t sure she’d ever be. “I don’t really feel like doing anything like that.”

Her mother frowned. “Now Grace I’m not taking no for an answer. Besides.” She cleared her throat. “Frank is going to be here this weekend—”

“No mom.” Grace turned to her with a scowl. She knew it. Her mother’s concern about her wellbeing should’ve been her second clue after the word mija. “I’m not doing anything—”

“Graciela.” Her mom squeezed Grace’s knee. “He is our business partner now. He’s putting a lot of money into this restaurant not to mention our new home. The least we can do is show a little gratitude.” She stood up as if there was nothing more to discuss. “We were his guest when we went out to Laughlin now he’ll be ours.”

“He’s staying here?” Her mother was beyond ridiculous.

“No. Don’t be silly. But he’ll be in town and I agreed we’d entertain him while he was here.” Her mother stopped at the door before walking out. “This really will do you some good, Grace.”

She walked out closing the door. Grace took a deep breath and made that call to Joey. No way was she spending the evening on a double date with her mom, Ruben and Frank. This might actually work to convince Joey she was feeling better, even though she wasn’t. “You don’t have any plans for Friday night do you?”