She yawned again and he kissed her head. "I could probably fall asleep out here again but if you'd rather go inside, that's fine, too."

"Yeah, lets go." He reached for his boxers on the side of the mattress and handed Grace his t-shirt. She slipped it on then glanced around. Sal stood up. "What are you looking for?"

She grinned. "My underwear."

Sal reached his hand out. "You're not gonna need them. Trust me."

Grace took his hand and stood up. Unfortunately, his t-shirt was long enough to cover everything. They both walked out into the sunlight squinting.

They walked in the house and Grace walked directly to the guest restroom. "I gotta go in here first."

Sal took advantage, speeding up to get to his room. "I'll be in the bedroom."

He went straight to his restroom and closed the door. Before he forgot, he made sure he deleted Melissa's texts. He frowned, pressing the buttons on his phone. He was going to have to figure out how to block her number.

By the time he walked out of the restroom Grace was already in the bed. Sal climbed in next to her ready to go another round... or two. After a few rounds the night before she'd been able to enjoy it more. He kissed her, slipping a hand down her leg, stopping just on the inside of her thigh. "You tired?"

She let her leg fall open, and smiled. "Not that tired."

Sal groaned, taking her mouth in his again, as if he'd never kissed her before.

The Friday morning after Grace's glorious weekend of camping in Sal's backyard she walked out of her room and into the kitchen. For once, she wasn't running late and was looking forward to making herself a nice omelet. She'd been walking on air for weeks now. But this past week had been surreal.

"Grace, I've been meaning to talk to you." Her mother sat at the table, a cup of coffee in front her.

"'Bout what?"

"Frank stopped by the other day and-"

"Mom." Her mom hadn't mentioned him in weeks. "I'm not doing anything with Frank so don't even ask."

"Will you let me finish?"

Grace rolled her eyes, pulling a frying pan out of the cupboard. "Go ahead."

"So he's only had a few slot machines put into the lobby of his hotel. He said he's just getting his feet wet, and already he's seeing a huge return. He's ordering more machines and starting up the remodeling to have the full blown casino up and running, hopefully by this summer."

Her mother p> H seeing a aused and Grace turned to her. "And you're telling me this because..." Grace splashed the pan with cooking oil.

"Well, you know me-always thinking."

Calculating was more like it.

"He happened to mention he'd be looking into investing some of his extra capital soon. He said he's going to need a lot more tax write-offs, if this takes off like he thinks it will. So I mentioned your hopes of opening up your own restaurant someday..."

Grace turned to face her. She didn't like where this was going. Her mother grinned before taking a sip of her coffee. "He said he'd be more than happy to help you out with that. Imagine that, Grace. You can get your restaurant going so much sooner than-"

"Forget about it."

"Why? Graciela, don't be a fool. This man is offering to help you out with your dream. All you have to do is be nice-"

"It's not happening."

"You're being stubborn. There is nothing wrong with being civil to the man."

Grace shook her head as she diced up onions and green peppers.

"Look." Her mother stood up and leaned against the counter. "He mentioned us going out to visit him and enjoying a few days in his hotel again. We could all go as a family. Your boyfriend doesn't even have to know-"

"You're crazy. I'm not doing anything sneaky. Sal would be livid, and to tell the truth, I don't even think I'm ready to run my own restaurant yet. It's a lot of work."

Her mother put down her cup on the counter. "I can help you."

Grace laughed. "Like you helped in Juarez? You hated working in the restaurant."

"I'll work the business end. You can do all the restaurant stuff. Rose can help, too. She mentioned the other day wanting to get a job."

Grace turned to her. "She did?" That bothered her. Was Rose still worrying about Grace leaving her? Grace had ended up sleeping over Sal's on Sunday as well. The only reason she'd come home at all on Monday was because of Rose. Otherwise, she might still be there now. Sal certainly wanted her to stay. She remembered Rose's comment about getting a job and moving in with Joey and Taylor.

"Yes, wouldn't it be nice working side by side with your little sister?"

Grace continued making her omelet. It would be nice but doing anything with Frank was out of the question. "It'll happen someday. But not with Frank. I'll do it when I'm ready... and on my own." She flipped her omelet a couple of times before flipping it onto her plate.

"He'll be here this weekend." Her mother crossed her arms over her chest.

"What?" Grace stopped at the refrigerator where she held the door open, looking back at her mom.

"I think it's a great opportunity, Grace. Aren't you tired of living in this hell hole? This could be our chance to get chs on S out of here. Finally have a real life."

If her mother only knew she could be out of this place and living in a dream home with Sal. If it were up to him, she'd already be there. The only thing keeping her here now was Rose. "What is he coming for, mom? I told you I'm not doing anything with him anymore."

"You don't have to. Just come home early when you get out of work and talk to him. Throw some ideas around. He knows you're in a relationship now. He's not expecting anything. It's strictly business."

Grace shook her head and picked up her plate and the glass of milk she'd just poured herself. "Nope." She started walking to her bedroom.

"Graciela, think of your sister." Grace slowed down, feeling the guilt grenade her mother just threw at her begin to detonate. "You're hardly ever home now. This would be a great way for you two spend more time together."

The grenade went off sending shards of guilt through Grace's already frail conscience. She stopped, not turning around, just taking in her mother's words. She could almost feel her mother's wicked grin penetrate through her back. She held her head up, shook it, and began walking again. As conniving as her mother had always been, Grace had to hand it to her. She'd succeeded in making her consider it-but only for a second.

CHAPTER 25.

After making sure Rose was spending the night over a girlfriend's Grace spent Saturday night at Sal's. She hadn't spent the night at his place, since the past Sunday and she was really beginning to hate saying goodbye every night. That wasn't even the main reason. Fear of him dropping her off and Frank's car being parked outside of her building had a lot to do with it. The last thing she wanted was for him to get upset over such a non-issue.

Of course, Sal was more than happy to have her stay with him. He'd been saying things all week like, "I got you your own toothbrush and I cleaned out a space for you in the closet." Leave it to her mother to dampen the euphoria she'd felt all week by laying on the guilt about her being gone so much.

They'd just finished showering, after an incredible morning in bed. Sal walked up behind Grace as she finished combing her hair and wrapped his arms around her. Both had the day off and they were taking a champagne brunch cruise off the marina with Angel, Sarah, Sofia and her fiance Eric. It was part pleasure and part research. Angel and Sarah were thinking of doing something similar with their restaurant-offer brunch cruises on Sundays. Sal said he'd taken a dinner cruise before, but it was a long time ago and he hadn't been paying attention to any of the details.

"Almost ready?"

Grace nodded. "You think..." Sal stared at her through the mirror. "You think it would be okay if my sister came with us today?"

His expression wasn't a good one and she wondered if he'd expected this to be more a romantic thing. "Let me call Angel and see if he can get her in. He booked this earlier in the week. You should've said something sooner, babe." He p chs somethinulled his phone out of his holster and kissed her on the cheek before dialing. "Your sister's welcome to tag along with us anytime, Grace."

After checking with Angel, then waiting for him to call back, Rose was in. Grace hugged him as soon as he was off the phone. "And we'll have time to pick her up?"

Sal glanced at his watch. "Yeah, there's plenty of time."

Grace kissed him then hurried to her phone. She called Rose instead of texting and explained she needed to hurry and get ready. Rose sounded excited when she heard the word cruise. This would be a first for both of them. Grace made sure to text Rose after she'd hung up and asked her if by any chance Frank was still there. To her relief, he'd only been there a short while last night and left.

They arrived at the marina a bit early and had some time to kill so they spent it in Angel's restaurant. The men went to the back office. Angel wanted to show them specs online about the cruise services he'd looked into. Grace sat at a booth with Sarah, Rose, and Sofia. Sarah had the waiter bring them drinks.

Sofia's expression changed now that the girls were alone, and she suddenly grinned. "So what have you done to my brother, Grace? I've never seen him like this. I even caught him humming the other day in the back room." She laughed.

Grace smiled, feeling a sudden heat. "I've never been happier myself."

"I'm so happy for you two." Sarah smiled. "This is what Sal needed. Everybody's noticed the change in him."

"But I don't want him to change," Grace said quickly.

"For the better, Grace," Sofia assured her. "Trust me. He was getting way too uptight. He nitpicked about the smallest things. He's always been Mr. Do-It-Right-or-Don't-Do-It-All. Which is fine, especially when you're running a business. We need at least one person to be that way. But he was a little too much sometimes. Ever since you've been around he's eased up a lot."

"Most importantly, I think you proved his theory wrong, too," Sarah added, stretching her neck to see if the guys were on their way back yet. "He was driving Angel crazy-adamant about not hiring any cooks with too little experience. He's since hired two for us that I don't think he would've ever considered before you came along and they're doing fine."

Grace couldn't help grinning. "I thought one of the guys that was here the day I showed them how to make the new recipes was a little young."

"We're all happy about this, Grace." Sofia reached over and squeezed her arm. "The only one I think is a little jealous is mom. Even though she makes her remarks about Valerie barely being able to put a tuna sandwich together, I think she secretly likes that Alex still comes over so often to eat her food. But with you, she knows you'll give her a run for her money in the kitchen."

Sarah laughed. "I'm not much of a cook either. Thank God we own a restaurant or Angel wouldn't be eating very well either."

They all turned when they heard the laughter and the guys coming from the back office. "You girls ready?" Angel asked.

idth="0">height="0"> They slid out of the booth and made their way out of the restaurant.

The cruise was exactly what Grace needed. The food was excellent, and the champagne relaxed Grace when she discovered being out in the ocean made her a little nervous. Most importantly, Rose had a blast and the time they spent together, especially the laughs Rose got at Grace's expense when she admitted the moving boat made her nervous was priceless. Grace hadn't had that much fun with her sister in a while. Sal promised they'd do something similar again soon.

After the cruise, Sal invited the gang over to his place to hang out and maybe barbeque. He called Romero and somehow convinced Alex and Valerie too, along with the babies.

Rose offered to keep an eye on them when they got there so that Alex and Valerie could relax. Everyone sat in the patio, enjoying the nice afternoon. They were all still too full from the brunch to start the barbeque yet. But Grace put together a quick avocado salsa and set it out with chips for everyone to munch on. She was busy making a pitcher of margaritas, using the outdoor kitchen when she noticed Sal had disappeared. She couldn't find the lime squeezer but she knew he had one.

Walking in the sliding back door, she thought she heard the front door close. She waited to see if maybe that was Sal walking back inside from wherever he'd gone but no one walked in. As she dug through the drawers in the kitchen, she heard the front door open and then voices. She looked up to see Romero and Isabel. "Oh, hey you guys."

Romero held a twelve-pack of beer and gave her a strange look. "Where should I put these?"

Grace pointed to the backyard, feeling a little weird that he'd asked her. "Either the fridge or Sal has an ice chest out there." She glanced out the window to the backyard. Everyone was out there but him. "I'm not sure where he is." Remembering she heard the front door earlier, she asked, "Did you guys see him out front?"

They exchanged a glance, before shaking their heads, no. Isabel cleared her throat and then suddenly smiled. "Valerie's here?" She hurried to the back door. Romero glanced back at Grace, with that strange expression again before following Isabel out back. Odd.

Grace finally found the lime squeezer and headed back toward the patio, when she saw Sofia walk in and Eric rushed behind her toward the front door. He was about to say something but stopped when he saw Grace. Next, Alex walked in and followed them. "Stay here," he said to Grace as he walked by her.

Romero walked in and Alex turned to him, lifting an eyebrow. Romero didn't follow him instead he stood there watching her.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"C'mon out here, Grace," Angel said from the patio.

She walked out. A very bad vibe suddenly chilled her. "Where did everyone go? Where's Sal?"

"I think he's on the phone," Angel said. Sarah and Valerie wouldn't even look at her. "How 'bout them margaritas?"

With a sudden urge to go find Sal, she turned to see Romero standinRomk ag at the door, almost as if to block her. She took a step then heard Sarah, "Stay here, Grace."

"Why? You guys are scaring me. What happened?"

No one said anything then finally Romero spoke. "Sal's got an uninvited guest. Don't worry about it. They're taking care of it."

She froze staring at Romero. "Uninvited guest? Who?"

Romero shook his head. "Doesn't matter. She'll be gone soon."

Grace gripped the lime squeezer, feeling her insides heat. "She?" She took another step toward the door. But Romero didn't move. "Let me through."

"Stay here, Grace," he insisted.

"Let me through!"

"Let her go." She heard Angel say.

Romero frowned but moved. "Go with her, Angel," Sarah urged.

Grace rushed to the front door, feeling her insides ignite. Was it Melissa or someone else? She put her hand on the knob to the front door and took a deep breath before opening it. The first thing she saw was Eric trying to calm a very angry Sofia, off to the side of Sal's front lawn. Alex who stood a few feet away from them turned and his eyes met Grace's. "Where's Sal?"

"Go back inside, sweetheart. He'll be right in."

"No, where is he?" She walked up the front walkway until she got to the end and was able to see around the garage.

He heart jumped to her throat when she saw Sal talking to Melissa who held his arm. Another girl was with her, trying to pull her away. Melissa stopped talking when she saw Grace. Sal turned to see who Melissa was glaring at. He gave Alex the most exasperated look then turned back to Grace. "I'll be right in, babe."

For a moment, Grace was speechless. She couldn't take her eyes off of Melissa's hand on Sal's arm. "Why is she here?" she finally asked.