Sal laughed. “I can’t believe you’re surprised.”

“I told her I don’t want all these people around my girls. Do you have any idea how many germs are going to be floating around here today? She’s nuts if she thinks she’s going to pass the babies around for everyone to hold.” Alex slammed the back of the popcorn machine closed and moved on to the cotton candy machine “You better talk to her. Because you know me, I’d never say anything to hurt mom’s feelings, but when it comes to my girls, I’m putting my foot down.”

“Easy.” Sal clapped Alex on the back. He expected nothing less than a lion’s roar when it came to Alex and all three of his girls. “I’ll talk to her. Don’t worry.”

He walked back toward the house. Great. He was bringing Grace around for her first formal meeting with the family and already there was the possibility of a family meltdown.

His mom assured him no one would be passing the babies around. She had plenty of pictures of them to pass around instead. She’d also set up a screen outside that would play the babies’ homecoming video—two hours of goo-gooing and gah-gahing and two beautiful baby girls who slept through the whole thing.

After helping for a few hours, he went back to the restaurant to check on the food that would be delivered to Alex’s house a little later. Alex requested Gracie’s casserole and she’d been incredibly flattered. The huge trays looked as good as the ones Grace had made.

He went home to shower and change then headed to pick up Grace. He worked his jaw when he remembered the man Grace’s mom sent to pick her up last night. At this point, he wasn’t sure he wanted to meet her mom at all. The guy was at least ten years older than Grace. But that wasn’t even the point. At this point, he wasn’t sure he wanted to meet her mom at all. Just the notion that she’d use her own daughter like that infuriated him. Now that Grace was with him, there was no way he would put up with that kind of shit.

As he drove up her street, he pulled his phone out to text her that he was there. He noticed from the very first time he picked her up that she hadn’t wanted him to come up to her apartment. He knew she had it hard. He wouldn’t push anything that would make her uncomfortable.

Pulling up slowly next to a Cadillac that looked just like the guy’s Cadillac from last night, he parked right out front of her apartment building. He couldn’t be certain, but it was the same make and color and looked completely out of place in this neighborhood. He parked behind it and called Grace instead of texting her, taking in the Nevada plates as her phone rang.

As soon as she answered he asked, “Is that guy from last night here?”

“Yes.”

Sal pulled the keys out of the ignition and bolted out of the car. “Why?”

“We’re on our way down. I’ll explain when I get out there. Just give me a second please.” She hung up before he could ask anything else. He wasn’t sure who he was more enraged with, her mom or the f**ker for having the nerve to show up after he’d made it clear Grace was with him now. He certainly wasn’t mad at Grace. He slammed the door to his own car and stalked toward her building. Maybe he hadn’t been clear enough.

CHAPTER 19

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 step-dad 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 like 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.