Sal tried not to frown. He didn’t want her to know that the more he heard about her mother the less he liked the woman. The thought of her asking Grace to go out with men for her own selfish reasons almost made him hate her. But he wouldn’t. She was the only mother Grace had. Grace was already leery, thinking he would judge her. He didn’t want her getting the wrong idea if he expressed himself negatively about her mother.

They got to his place and Sal watched as Grace’s eyes widened with every room they walked through. He hadn’t originally planned on purchasing such a large home, but Valerie talked him into it. She said it was a good investment and she’d worked her magic to get him the best deal possible. He couldn’t pass it up. He only hoped it didn’t intimidate Grace. His neighborhood was a far cry from the area she lived in.

Her conversation had begun to wither as they drove through the winding streets up to his house and she stared at all the homes. The one thing he loved the most about his house was the backyard view. Situated up in the hills of La Jolla, the view was spectacular. “We can eat out back. It’s nice out tonight.”

Grace followed him out the sliding patio door, and he set the food down on a glass patio table which sat twelve. His mother had helped pick it out, making sure there was enough room for everyone, because it was rare for just one of his family members to show up without all the others showing up, too, and that included Romero and Isabel.

He turned to Grace, who had stopped at the door, taking in the view. The ocean was visible off to one side while the cityscape of downtown La Jolla was visible at the other end. Then her eyes went to the outdoor kitchen. The only time he’d ever used it was when his family had come over and his mother and Sofia had made him a birthday dinner. That was the end of last summer, when he’d first bought the place. Even then, he hardly touched it except to figure out how to get it going then his mom took over. Sal had been home less and less since then, especially now that he was helping Alex out with running the restaurant.

“It’s beautiful.” She turned to Sal. “And you get to see this everyday?”

He smiled holding out his hand for her. “You could, too, you know, if you come over every day.”

She took his hand and came over to sit next to him at the table. He wouldn’t tell her just yet, but the thought of having her around all the time was definitely something he’d be suggesting and a lot sooner than he would’ve ever imagined. He was certain what he was feeling, like today when he closed up and could think of nothing else but wanting to be with her was not going away any time soon. In fact, he anticipated the need to be around her only getting worse.

Other than her eyes widening, she didn’t appear to be put off by the suggestion. “I should’ve known your house would be amazing, but I just didn’t expect all this.”

Sal shrugged. “My sister-in-law knows her real estate. She did a good job helping me find this gem.”

“I’m sure you had plenty to say about the details.” She grinned.

He leaned over and kissed her. “You don’t know that.”

They ate quietly at first. She must’ve been as hungry as he was because she dug right in. After a few bites, she wiped her mouth, staring out into the view again. “Before we moved out here, I’d never even seen the beach.” She turned to him with the napkin still over her mouth. “I didn’t even know how to swim.”

“Did you ever learn?”

She held her hand out opened and moved it side to side. “More or less. I still get nervous, though.”

Sal motioned to his pool. “You can come over and practice any time you want. Bring Rose, too.”

He loved seeing her excited smile. It reminded him of how young she was even though she was mature beyond her years. Obviously everything she’d been through had forced her to grow up far before her time. “When I was a little girl we used to go camping every year to a place called Elephant Butte in New Mexico. It was our summer trip. They actually closed down my grandmother’s restaurant for a week so we could go on vacation. It’s the only time I ever got to swim, but I loved it. I just never got very good at it.” She gazed out into the his backyard view again. “I loved camping—those are some of the best childhood memories I have. Swimming all day, then fishing. Dad and I caught a real big one, one time. My grandma gutted and cleaned it and we had it for dinner. And there was nothing like sleeping in a tent, roasting marshmallows… for some reason a simple sandwich or in our case a cold torta tasted so much better when we were camping.” For once, she looked so at peace and actually smiled when speaking of her past.

“Elephant Butte, uh? I heard of it somewhere. What’s up with that name?”

“It’s named after some island in the lake that supposedly looked like an elephant butt, but I didn’t think it did.” She took another bite of her sandwich and stared out into the view again for a moment before turning back to him. “My dad always said he’d take me to the beach someday but…” She took a deep breath. “Rose only got to go camping with us a few times. She probably doesn’t even remember. My mom didn’t like camping so she wouldn’t come on the trips. After a few years she made my dad feel so guilty about leaving her behind, we stopped going.” She stared at her fries, lost in thought.

Sal squeezed her hand. “So how’d your dad die?” Uncomfortable or not, this was obviously a significant aspect of her life. Sal wanted to know everything. What made her smile, what made her laugh, even what made her cry.