Grace and Rose rushed down the stairs each holding a gift bag. “Just follow my lead, Rosie. I was hoping Frank wouldn’t get here until after I’d left. Sal’s not gonna be happy.” Her only hope was that when Sal saw Rose he’d calm down a little. Although his intensity had almost excited her last night, she didn’t like upsetting him. She heard it in his voice just now. He was already upset.
Sal stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up as if trying to figure out which of the endless identical doors was the one to her apartment. His hardened expression softened a bit when he saw them. She smiled big, hoping he would too, but his expression was hardly forbearing.
He nodded at Rosie then turned to Grace. “Why is he here?”
“My mother invited him over for lunch. I didn’t know anything about it until last night.” She slipped in her hand in his. Even though she felt a little weird about doing it in front of Rose, she leaned in and kissed his tense lips. “I talked to her last night. This whole thing with me entertaining Frank is over. She knows now. She and my stepdad can entertain him all they want. I’m out.”
He still didn’t smile, but he turned to Rose. “I’m sorry, Rose, I didn’t say hi.” Then he glanced at the bags they carried and his expression hardened again. “Grace, you didn’t have to get anything. That’s not why I invited you today.”
“Nonsense, I was going to anyway. It’s nothing extravagant. But I thought they were adorable. You’ll see.”
He frowned, glancing up at the building before turning around, and they walked back to his car, her hand in his the whole way.
By the time they reached Alex’s house, he was in a much better mood. He’d quizzed Rosie about soccer. Grace had told him about Rosie playing soccer since she was a little girl and how she was on her high school team now. She’d stopped playing on her club team a few years ago when her mother announced it just wasn’t something she could afford anymore—as though she was bringing in the money that paid for it. Luckily, it didn’t cost anything to be on her school team, so though she didn’t get to play all year round as she did in club, she at least got to play during soccer season at school. She was also on the volleyball team, but soccer was her first love.
Grace, Joey, and Taylor were regulars at her games while her mother was a regular no-show. Rose didn’t ask her anymore why she didn’t show up. Half the time Rose didn’t even tell her mom she had a game. She told Grace not to either, that it didn’t matter. But Grace got the distinct feeling she did it so there would be a less painful reason why her mother hadn’t shown up—the fact that she didn’t know about it.
Sal had warned Grace about his family’s over-the-top parties. He hadn’t exaggerated. The only thing missing was a petting zoo and the clowns. Rosie’s eyes were as wide as hers felt when they walked into the back and there were as many people there as when they were fully loaded at the restaurant. “Wow,” she said, as they walked through the crowd, holding Sal’s hand. “You weren’t kidding.”
After stopping at about half a dozen different tables full of family members as Sal introduced her and Rosie to them as his girlfriend and her baby sister, Grace’s head spun. There was no way she’d remember all their names.
She saw the resemblance in many of them. The Moreno genes were strong throughout his family. The big smiles from some of the elders were telling of the points she earned when she spoke to them in her perfect Spanish.
Most seemed surprised when they heard the word girlfriend. Some were outright blunt about it. “No lo puedo creer!” one of his aunt’s exclaimed, making Grace cringe. Even his aunt couldn’t believe Sal was capable of committing.
They finally settled at their own table. No sooner had they sat than more family members arrived and sat at the same table with them. Sal introduced them as his aunt and uncle and their sixteen-year-old son Vincent, whom he referred to as Vinnie from La Puente. They’d driven more than two hours to make the shower.
Sal walked away to fetch them all drinks. Rose leaned into her. “They hired waiters for a baby shower?”
“They hire waiters for everything,” Vincent said with a smirk. “My aunt’s known for outdoing everyone in the family with her parties.”
His mom gave him a look and he rolled his eyes.
He had both Grace and Rose’s attention. He resembled Sal and his brothers in many ways, except there was an edge about him. Grace noticed the tattoo of a skull and bones and words she couldn’t quite make out on his forearm, and this boy was only sixteen? “We’ve never attended any of the Moreno’s parties.”
He chuckled. “Well, if you’re with Sal now, get used to it. It’s like this every time.”
“Where is La Puente?” Rose asked.
“About a half hour before Los Angeles. Ever been to the L.A county fair?”
Rose shook her head.
“Oh, well it’s near there.”
Sal arrived with a tray of lemonades for Grace, Rose, and his aunt then handed a beer to his uncle and a soda to Vincent. “Where’s my beer?”
“You’re funny, Vin,” Sal said, sitting down next to Grace.
Vincent continued talking to Rose while Sal pointed out more of his family to Grace, laughing at some of the anecdotes he told her about each one. “We’ll go in and see the babies in a little. Valerie and Sofie were changing them just now.”
“I can hardly wait.” Grace squeezed his hand.
Both Sal and Grace turned when she noticed Rose and Vincent stand up. “Vincent is gonna show me the koi pond on the other side of the house.”
Sal eyed his cousin. “Best behavior, Vin. I mean it.”
“You know me.”
“Yeah, that’s why I’m worried.” Sal frowned as they walked away. He turned to his aunt and uncle who were engaged in conversation with the people in the next table and spoke softly. “Every family has a bad seed. He’s ours. That boy’s nothing but trouble. Always has been. Keep an eye on your sister.”
Grace watched as Vincent and Rose walked away talking. Unlike Grace, Rose had always made friends easily. It didn’t surprise her that she’d already made a friend here. She turned in their direction again. “He’s not that bad is he?”
“I wouldn’t have let them walk away if I thought he’d be stupid enough to do anything wrong here. No need to worry.” He leaned and kissed her. “She’ll be fine here. It’s just that I hate to say it because he’s family, but he’s definitely not someone you want your sister associating with too much.”
Feeling a little relieved that her sister wasn’t in any immediate danger, she smiled. “I’m glad he’ll keep her busy at least for a little bit. I was afraid she might get bored.”
Sal stood up. “Just keep your eye out. C’mon let’s go see my nieces.” He looked her over as they walked toward the house. “By the way, you look beautiful.”
Grace chewed her lip. “Thank you.” She wondered how long it would be before she stopped getting that tingly feeling around him.
Alex’s house was just as big as Sal’s, only not quite as perfectly kept. But she figured having two newborns in the house must make it hard to keep up with everything else. Alex walked out of one of the hallways and smiled when he saw Grace. “Hey, Grace. You look nice.”
Grace felt her face warm. She’d obsessed about what to wear all morning. Since she and Rose wore roughly the same size, she borrowed one of Rose’s pale pink baby doll tanks and a white denim skirt. The skirt was also Rose’s and a bit shorter than what she normally liked, but Rose assured her she looked fine. She also straightened her hair. Since it’s so damn thick, it usually took her forever, but Rose helped her with it this morning, and they got through it in half the time. “Thank you. I can’t wait to see your babies.”
“Come on. Not too many people are going to get past this hallway today, but you’re one of the few I’ll make an exception for.”
As they walked through the hallway, Grace took in some of the pictures on the wall. Alex must’ve met his wife way back in high school because there were a few of them together where they looked so young. Even back then, he was huge.
She and Sal followed him into the last room at the end of the hall with the double door entryway. His wife Valerie, a very attractive petite blonde woman with big brown eyes, smiled as she looked up. She sat on the huge bed, holding one of the babies while Sofia sat across from her on a rocking chair, holding the other one.
Grace brought her hand to her mouth as she approached. “Valerie this is my star employee, Grace. Grace this is my wife, Valerie.”
Valerie smiled. “Finally I get to meet what all the fuss is about. Alex has been going on and on about you ever since he hired you. I was beginning to get a little jealous.” She glanced down at the hand that Sal held firmly in his and smiled. “I guess I don’t have anything to worry about.”
“No, you don’t,” Sal said before Grace could answer.
Alex took the baby Sofia held. “Like any of my girls have anything to worry about. Ever.” He leaned in and kissed the baby on the nose then walked over to Grace with her. “This is my beautiful Sienna.”
Grace put out her hands, feeling a little nervous about holding something so fragile. “Oh my God, Alex. She isbeautiful.” She had all of Alex’s features, from the dark hair to the fair skin. Her eyes were closed so she couldn’t see the color, but she had the trademark full Moreno lashes.
Alex beamed. “And that other beautiful little thing over there,” he gestured toward Valerie, “is Savannah.”
Sal walked over and took Savannah from Valerie’s arms. “Hey, baby girl. She’s awake.” Sal smiled, walking back to Grace.
“Yeah, she stays up a little longer than this sleepy head,” Alex said as Sal approached Grace so she could see her.
“Her eyes are huge!” Grace said, amazed at the sight.
They were in there for a while, completely in awe of the two beautiful little creatures. Alex doted over them, until their mother walked in to ask Alex and Sal if they could come out and help bring in the food that had just arrived. Sal handed the baby back to Valerie, and Valerie asked Grace to take a seat on the bed.
The baby felt so tiny in her arms. She had that wonderful baby scent. “I see Sal’s staked his claim,” Valerie said, smiling. “Alex wasn’t surprised. He said he noticed something when Sal first told him about the interview he had with you. It’s normal for Sal to over think things, but Alex said this interview really struck a nerve with Sal and he’d gone on and on about it.”
Sofia laughed. “I didn’t notice until the day she walked in with her hair down. You should’ve seen the look on his face. It was classic, and he tried so hard to play it off.”
Though their comments made her feel good, they also made her feel a little dumb. She hadn’t noticed a thing until his “Oh, I’m impressed” comment, and even then she hadn’t been totally sure. Taylor was right again, damn it. But she supposed it was easy to be blind to these kinds of things, especially when it seemed just too good to be true.
“You’re the first girl he brought home to the family, you know? Everyone is a little surprised, including my parents.”
Grace had to ask. “Why is it so hard to believe?”
Valerie and Sofia exchanged a glance that made Grace nervous. “Honestly, I was beginning to think he’d never find a girl that he thought good enough,” Sofia said, then added quickly, “not that he thinks he’s all that. But my God, that guy is so picky about everything.”
“Tell me about it,” Valerie said. “I nearly gave up looking for a house for him. He drove me nuts. Alex had even told me at one point to just forget about it and let him find another agent because there was always something that wasn’t exactly perfect about every house I showed him. It took over a year.” She leaned over to make sure no one was coming down the hallway. “I was so sick of him.” Then she giggled. “Even after he finally settled on the house he bought, it was months before he remodeled and changed things to his liking.”
“Yeah,” Sofia said. “Don’t let him do that to you.”
“Do what?”
“Try to change you to his liking.”
So far, Sal hadn’t suggested changing anything about her. The closest thing was when he asked her why she tried to conceal her accent. I love it. You wouldn’t be Grace without it were his exact words.
“I don’t think he would,” Grace said, cooing at the baby who finally opened a huge pair of eyes and yawned.
“No.” Valerie agreed. “I think Sal finally found someone who’s completely intrigued him. Alex had talked about the way Sal is around you, and I saw the way he looked at you. Grace, I think he finally found a keeper—that is—if you’ll keep him.”
Both Valerie and Sofia laughed. Grace’s insides went wild. But she didn’t want them to know just how much that excited her. “I’m pretty intrigued too.” Was she ever.
Sofia sat the edge of her seat. “Growing up, I used to think I’d be the way my brothers were with me when it came to their girlfriends. No one was good enough for their little sister. But so far I’ve been blessed with two wonderful sister-in-laws. I couldn’t be happier that you and Sal have hooked up. I think you’re perfect for him.” Her eyes opened in excitement. “So since you’re here today, it must be getting serious, huh?”
Sister-in-law? Grace gulped. “I don’t know. It’s only been a week.”
Sal walked in, followed by Alex, Romero, and Isabel.
“Isabel,” Alex said. “You can hold my babies, but I don’t know about Romero.”
“I’m not sure I want to,” Romero said. Alex gave him a look. “I’m scared!”
“Of what?” Isabel asked. “Don’t be ridiculous. You’re going to hold them.”
Romero raised his eyebrows at Grace to acknowledge her but looked genuinely nervous. “All right, but only if I’m sitting.”
Isabel smiled at Grace. “Hi again.” She leaned over, looking as mesmerized as everyone was with the baby. “Oh my gosh. Look at those eyes!”
Grace lifted the baby, offering her to Isabel. Isabel took her, gushing. Romero sat on the bed. Grace giggled at the way he prepared himself: backing far up so he was further away from the edge. He cradled his empty arms a couple of times.
Alex’s brows pinched. “What are you doing?”
“I’m practicing!”
Valerie laughed, standing to hand him the baby. She placed it gently in his arms, and Romero’s eyes widened as she began to pull her own arms away. “Hold on. Hold on!”
“You got it,” she laughed.
Grace had never seen anyone hold a baby so awkwardly, and everyone laughed at how stiffly he sat. “Relax, dude,” Sal said.
Isabel sat down next to him, and he looked absolutely panicked. “Don’t move me!”
“You’ve never held a baby before?” Isabel asked.
“How can you tell?” He inched a little further back into the bed.
“You better not drop her,” Alex teased.
Romero’s eyes opened even wider at the comment then looked back down at the baby. “She’s beautiful, man.”
Sal leaned over to Grace. “You wanna go check on your sister?”
Grace stood up. “Oh yeah, she’s probably looking for me.”
They excused themselves and walked out. She walked in front of Sal through the hallway and felt him lean into her ear. “Just so you know. I’m very serious about us. I hope you are too.”
Grace didn’t think she could get more excited than what Sofia and Valerie had said made her. She turned to him just as they walked out of the hallway together. She’d wondered when he walked in if he’d heard Sofia’s question. “I am. She just caught me off guard. I wasn’t sure what—”
He kissed her softly before she could finish. “All I needed to hear were those first two words. Don’t worry about anything else.”
She felt her heart inflating a million times over as he stared in her eyes. What she felt for him this soon was utterly illogical. She hadn’t been scared before, but now she was. Completely. She wasn’t just falling in love with just him. She was falling in love with his entire family.