"Of course. This is so typical of her," Rose said, lying down, putting her hands behind her head.

She had a point. Her mother would stop at nothing short of prostitution and drug dealing to make an easy buck. Even then, Grace didn't completely rule those two out. She'd seen how her mom dressed on a few occasions when she was just going to dinner with a few friends. She was surprised Ruben let her walk out looking like that.

Grace didn't bother with makeup. Aside from some lip gloss and a little mascara sometimes she never wore the stuff. She wasn't starting now. The dress she wore was one her mother had picked out. Grace didn't mind the length, but it was tighter than she was used to and a bit low in the front.

Frank didn't even attempt to hide what he thought of her in the dress. The bulging eyes and goofy smile said it all. Her mother smiled in delight. "You look lovely, Grace. Don't you think, Frank?"

He stood up from the sofa. "Stunning," he said.

Ruben took advantage of the invitation to ogle and eyed her up and down with his own perverted smile. Grace had never felt like such a piece of meat. It was degrading and she glared at her mom. Her mother ignored the glare and gathered her things.

After her mother played the concerned mom in front of Frank, telling Rose not to answer the door for anyone and giving her instructions on what to do in case of an emergency, as if this were the first time Rose had been left alone, they were out the door.

Frank drove them in his brand new Cadillac to a jazz bar on the marina. He said the last time he'd been out here he went there and the music was fabulous. Maybe it was that Grace had had such a long day but the slow music was making her sleepy. Add to a glass of wine to that-forget about it. She caught herself nodding off twice. Thankfully, no one noticed.

When the song ended, the musicians excused themselves for a break. "Your mother tells me you're a culinary student. How's that going?"

Grace nodded. "I'll be done in a few months."

He leaned over to her. The music that played on the sound system was almost as loud as the live music. He paused to take a drink and Grace took the moment to scrutinize him. He wasn't unattractive by any means. He was tall, thin and dressed well. But he was at least ten years older than her. That, however, wasn't reason enough to dismiss him. She knew better than anyone not to judge people by their age. The fact that he was a friend of Ruben's was what made her question him. Anyone who considered Ruimeonsiderben a friend was suspect as far as she was concerned.

He noticed her scrutiny and smiled. "What are your plans once you finish?"

"I'm already working at a restaurant." She glanced at her mom who eyed her, almost as if she was hoping Grace wouldn't say anything wrong. "My hope is to move up once I've completed my courses. Then eventually open up my own restaurant."

She didn't feel the need to go into any more specifics. Luckily, she didn't have to. Her mother immediately started in asking Frank about his casino. Grace endured two and a half hours of Frank telling them about how his uncle had left him the hotel he was now running and every detail about his journey in turning it into a casino. Her mother cackled at anything that even remotely sounded like a joke or quick wit.

By the end of the night, Grace was both physically and mentally exhausted. She could hardly believe her mother invited Frank in at the end of the evening for another drink. Thankfully, he said he had a long drive home in the morning and declined but he did say he'd be back to visit again soon. Wonderful.

Her mother had another think coming if she thought Grace would go through another night like tonight. She plopped in bed with her already snoring sister. With a day like the one she'd had, she was out within minutes.

Sal didn't go into the restaurant on Saturday. Since Alex was hardly there during the week he'd go in on the weekends. Typically, Sal would drop by to check things out even if he wasn't scheduled to be there. Today however, he didn't want to. He checked first with Alex to make sure Valerie was feeling well enough to be left alone. She was. So after the day he had yesterday, Sal thought it better if he took the day off.

In college, Jason had become one of Sal's best buddies. They roomed for four years until Jason got engaged and moved in with his fiance. Even then, they stayed close and often met up for a round of golf or just to throw a few beers back and shoot the breeze.

"So did you meet with the investors yet?"

Sal frowned as they rode in the cart to their next hole. "Yeah,"

"How'd it go?"

"Not good. I'm beginning to think this whole branching out thing may not be such a great idea."

"What?" Jason pulled over as they reached their next hole. "That's all you talked about in school. You can't let one bump derail all your plans."

Sal got out of the cart. There were still a few players finishing up on their next hole so Jason and Sal pulled beers out of the ice chest.

"It's just not what I was expecting." Sal took a swig of his ice-cold beer.

"If you want I can talk to my dad. He knows a bunch of investors always looking to get in on a good deal."

"It's not that," Sal took another drink. "I've got plenty of interested investors, it's just all they're thindthey'reking about is the money."

Jason laughed. "Sorry to break it to you bud, but that's usually all investors think about."

Sal flicked his bottle cap at Jason. "I know that, ass. I'm trying to be flexible but if I leave it up to them Moreno's will be the next El Torito or Acapulco's. That's not what I want."

"Hey, that doesn't sound too bad."

The hole opened up and Sal gave up trying to explain why he wasn't about to sell out his family name. Halfway through their last hole, Jason brought up an entirely new subject. "I need a favor."

"I knew it." When Jason called him out of the blue Sal had a feeling. The last time he'd asked for a favor things got pretty sour.

"What? You don't even know what I'm gonna ask."

Ten to one Sal knew exactly what it was. Almost a year ago, he'd gone out with Jason's fiancee's cousin Melissa. She was nice enough, in fact she seemed perfect at first. Beautiful, classy, just passed the bar exam, sexy as hell. But she turned into a clinger. Calling and texting him at all hours. Showing up at the restaurant until she finally somehow got in his apartment when he wasn't there. Made dinner and greeted him in her birthday suit. That actually wouldn't have been so bad if his date hadn't been with him when he walked in.

After that, Sal made it clear he wanted nothing to do with her. He couldn't believe someone so smart could stoop to that level. Before that happened, he'd done nothing to encourage that kind of behavior. In fact, he'd been so turned off by her pushiness he stopped taking her calls and returning her texts.

She called and texted him for months after he completely cut her off. The last time he bothered to read one of her texts, was when one woke him in the middle of the night. Apparently, in her inebriated state she decided she'd profess her love for him. They'd only gone out a few times and he slept with her twice before she started to annoy the hell out of him. Love? He remembered laughing, before rolling back to sleep.

"I'm afraid to ask," Sal said, taking a practice swing.

"Hear me out okay?"

Sal peered at him, bracing himself.

"Melissa-"

"Hell, no."

"C'mon, can you at least listen to what it is first?"

Sal shook his head. "No, no, no, no, no." He positioned himself to take a swing at his ball then turned back to Jason. "No."

"Dude, Kat's driving me fucking crazy. All Melissa wants is a chance to apologize to you in person. We'll be there. You won't be alone with her for a minute."

Sal continued to shake his head then stopped only long enough to take a swing. He turned back to Jason and shook his head again. "The girl is a whack job. It took me long enough to get rid of her. You think I wanna start that shit all over again?"

"I to0" 48"> ld Kat you'd say that, but she says Melissa understands you're not interested and she's okay with that. All she wants is a chance to apologize. This has been going on for months, Sal. Melissa's mom has even started calling Kat's mom about it. Then Kat's mom calls her, then who do you think has to hear the crap? I'm begging you, man, just a couple of hours. I'd do it for you."

For a moment, Sal considered it. He took a deep breath and looked up at the sky. The next thing he heard was Jason on the phone. "He said okay."

Sal jerked his attention back to Jason, eyes wide open. "What?"

Jason put his finger over his lips and smirked. Then he put his hand over the receiver. "Is tonight okay?"

"I didn't say I would!" Sal took off his glove and threw it at Jason.

"Tonight's fine," Jason said, laughing.

Sal put his hand on forehead. "Fuck me."

"Alright, honey. You're welcome. Yeah, I'll tell him."

Sal glared at him when he hung up.

"Kat said she loves you," he grinned. "She's my fiancee and you know what? I'm okay with that. Because right now I love you, too."

When Sal didn't say anything Jason added, "I'll buy you lunch." Sal still didn't answer. "C'mon how bad can it be? We'll go to DJ's, play a little pool, have a few beers, she apologizes and everyone's happy. Done. Just like that. You're my hero and my fiancee loves you. Beautiful."

"I want steak and lobster for lunch."

"Steak and lobster it is." Jason patted him on the shoulder as he walked over to take his shot with a grin.

Somehow, Sal was hoping for a less enthusiastic response.

CHAPTER 5.

Sunday morning they were doing their weekly inventory. Somehow, for years his parents had managed everything on paper. Incredibly, they were very accurate but now that therheiae was software for everything, it should've made things easier. Though, times like today things could get really screwed up.

He was already in a bad mood before he even got to the restaurant. The night before with Melissa had gone well. Her behavior was very impressive, but he'd been fooled by that before. She apologized while Jason and Kat played pool. They even had a somewhat intriguing conversation. She was the epitome of the perfect girl he once thought her to be. That is until that morning when he got a call from Jason.

"You're gonna be mad."

"What?"

"She has your sunglasses."

Sal knew what that meant. "Tell her she can have them."

"That's the first thing I said when Kat heard the message she left, but she already said she's going to drop them off today at the restaurant. Kat tried calling her but she's not answering. So I'm just giving you a heads up."

Here we go again. Melissa was notorious for leaving things in Sal's car or his house-her way of forcing another meeting. He should've known. He hadn't even noticed his sunglasses were missing. All he could hope now is that she'd drop them off and he'd be done with her. But Melissa didn't work that way.

Grace arrived at noon, adding to his already growing aggravated mood. He didn't understand why he felt the way he did around her. He was over her lying about her age and she'd passed the drug screening and background with flying colors. Yet, being around her made him feel anxious.

Tired of going over numbers, Sal decided to walk out and check on things in the dining room. He saw Grace peeking into the kitchen. He smiled when he realized she appeared to be trying to be sneaky. He took slow, quiet footsteps so she wouldn't hear him. She turned and saw him when he was only a few feet away and flinched. Sal had to stifle a laugh.

"I was just uh..."

"Checking out the kitchen?

"Well, yeah, I wanted to..."

"C'mon I'll show you." He settled for a big smile instead of laughing. She was already blushing. "You haven't had a chance to acquaint yourself with the restaurant. There's a lot you haven't seen."

She followed him through the busy kitchen. Her caught-with-a-hand-in-the-cookie-jar expression, was now replaced with a look of pure awe. Her eyes opened wider with everything he showed her. Seeing how excited she got over something as simple as a kitchen was more than amusing. Sal couldn't wipe the smile off his own face.

The new stockroom had been added the previous year when they bought the place next door and expanded the restaurant. When they got to it, he stopped and his eyes met hers. "You ready for this?"

She nodded, reminding him of his younger brothers when they were kids and he showed them a new card trick or new stunt on his bike. They were always so easily impressed. He slid the door open and motioned for her to go in first.

Sal had a lot henl had ato do with the design. The old stock room was all over the place. To Sal, organization was key, but it also had to look good. Like the rest of the restaurant, it was designed to feel old like the Mexican homes in the old country. The wood used for the shelves was new but painted so that it gave them a weathered look, as were the containers of spices. They had every spice in there needed for Mexican cuisine. Even the floors had been painted with a texture that made if feel as if they were standing on dirt.

He also made sure there were sitting areas and an old collapsible wooden cot like the ones he and his brothers would sleep in when they visited their grandfather's ranch in Mexico as kids. It was really meant to give the room an even more authentic look but Pablo, one of the older cooks that still came in a few times a week, was known to nap on it.

Grace walked around taking it all in-those eyes of hers practically twinkled. Her fingers caressed the antique looking barrels that contained rice, and beans as if she were touching a work of art. She turned back to him. "This is amazing."

It was the strangest thing. Every time he looked at her, he noticed something new he hadn't noticed about her before, like her perfectly manicured nails when she caressed the barrels. Instinctively, his eyes were on her ring finger. No engagement ring, but that didn't mean anything. She could just take it off for fear of it falling off while she worked.

He frowned annoyed at himself that his thoughts would even go there. She caught him frowning which only irritated him further. "This is relatively new. We added this whole side of the restaurant last year.

"The whole restaurant is nice but this..." she glanced around, "this is special because it's like a treat for the employees."

"Everyone was real excited about it when it was unveiled. I wasn't really expecting that. I just wanted something more organized then the one we had before and I don't like employees feeling like this is just a place of work. My parents always made it a point to make the employees feel at home, like they were family. So I wanted even the stockroom to feel homey." He looked around. "Something they'd enjoy every time they came to work."

"I will." She smiled at him, making him squeeze the doorway. "I heard you're planning on opening more restaurants. How many?"

Sal hadn't really thought of an exact number. He just always thought more. "I dunno. Maybe four, five more?"

"Really? Why so many?" She didn't wait for him to respond; she was still taking in the old wooden canisters for the different spices. "Personally, I would want just one. I'd live to perfect it. It would be my baby." She turned to look at him. "But then there are three of you and you have a sister right?"

"Yeah, but she's a writer. She writes for a magazine and she's working on a novel. She' s content with just coming in and working a few days out of the week. She's not looking to run her own restaurant."

Grace tilted her head. "So then three restaurants for three brothers would seem like the perfect number to me." She shrugged. "But that's me. I don't usually think on such a grand scale like a lot of people do. My desires out of life are far more simple than most."

Sal thought about explaining that it wasn't just about the number of restaurants. It was his way of paying homage to his parents a heis parend grandfather. He wanted the Moreno name to be respected and honored for the hard work his father had put in for so many years-pay him back and show him that his extended education had been worth it. But he didn't think it was a good idea to get into all of that now.

"Is that what your plans are? To open your own restaurant?"

Her face tinged slightly with color and she nodded. "Someday. It doesn't have to be all this. I just want my own little restaurant where I can do what I love best-cook like my grandmother taught me."

Grace's dream was to have her own restaurant. She said she'd live to perfect it. The very thing he'd been trying to do with his family's business for years and now he'd be dedicating his life to this. A smile almost escaped him, thinking about the hours he could spend talking to her about just this. But he sensed a change in her mood and thought better of asking any more.

After a full tour of the stock room, he took her upstairs to show her the banquet rooms. Only one was in use today so they skipped it. Her eyes didn't disappoint when he opened the door to the remaining part of the huge room.

"It's one big room with dividers," he said, pointing at the ceiling. "We can break them up into smaller rooms."