Sal had already decided he was just going to have to make the best of this. He stood up and shook his hand. “Welcome aboard.”

Sofia walked in behind him. “I already set him straight on the ride over here. He’s gonna behave. Although,” she turned and gave Vincent a look. “I don’t know how much he heard of it, since his attention was mostly on his phone the whole time. That’s gotta be a girl right? Your girlfriend?”

“Not yet,” Vincent smirked.

Sal remembered Grace telling him about her sister and Vincent texting all the time now. He had a sudden suspicion about Vince’s motivation to come stay with his parents. Sal eyed him. “What does that mean?”

“Means not yet, but I’m working on it.”

Sofia pulled two aprons out of the cabinet and tossed one at Vincent. “That’s gonna be a little hard now that you’ll be here all summer, won’t it?”

Another sly smirk swept across Vincent’s lips. “Not really. She lives out this way.”

Sal stared at him now. “You’re not talking about Rose are you?” His tone was a reflection of how he’d felt all week.

“Relax,” Vincent laughed. “She won’t even be around for a while.” He worked on getting the apron on then rolled his eyes. “Just when I finally get the okay to come out here, her mother and sister decide to take a trip to Laughlin and take her with them.”

Sal had stopped looking at him for a second to check his phone that buzzed on his desk but just the mention of Rose’s sister and then Laughlin made him freeze. He brought his attention back to Vincent. “Laughlin?”

“Yeah, and she doesn’t even know how long they’re going to be out there.”

Trying not to be too obvious, Sal sat down slowly on the chair and glanced back down at his phone nonchalantly, his racing heart didn’t make easy. “Is it a vacation?”

He gulped, picking up a pen on the desk, trying to rid the image of the guy with the roses outside of the restaurant and the disappointment on his face when Sal informed him he couldn’t see Grace anymore.

“I think she said it was kind of a spur of the moment thing.” Vincent paused before adding, “I heard about you and Grace breaking up. I’m sorry to hear it, man.”

Nothing could hide the pain Sal felt just hearing her name. He couldn’t even think of any other way to respond to that other than nodding. Sofia must’ve sensed the need to change the subject because she jumped in. “All right, Vinnie. Ready to be trained?”

Vincent smiled. “Ready when you are.”

“Let’s go then.” She gestured to the door and Vincent walked out.

Sofia turned, giving Sal a small smile before walking out. He could only hope this was the worst pain he’d ever had to endure in his life because he couldn’t think of anything more excruciating. Somehow he thought time would make things better, but it only seemed to get worse with each passing day. Knowing she’d gone to Laughlin, no doubt her mother’s idea, now topped that agony with a blinding rage.

CHAPTER 29

After fighting the grief for days it began to take a physical toll on Grace. Days of nonstop job searching on little to no sleep and even less food finally did her in. The few times Joey and Rose persuaded her to eat she’d been violently ill. Then her body let her know it was done trying to keep up on so little rest and nourishment. She crashed down with the worst flu she could remember having.

She cried for days beside herself, assuring Rose and her two best friends that it had nothing to do with Sal. It was the frustration of not being able to fend off the illness that rendered her completely exhausted and helpless. She was dehydrated from throwing up and her fever raged because of it. It was a vicious cycle the more she tried to eat and take liquids in to hydrate herself the more she threw up.

Without insurance she couldn’t even see a doctor, unless she was willing to pay through the nose. Technically her insurance from Moreno’s was still active and she was sure Alex wouldn’t have a problem with her using it but she refused to have any kind of connection with that family ever again.

Finally an entire miserable week later of being so sick, Rose mentioned to Joey and Taylor about her mom’s insistence of taking a vacation to Laughlin. She even told them how it would be free.

Joey who was convinced that her illness had been brought on by the heartache over Sal and was also terribly worried about her, said a vacation was exactly what Grace needed. Rose and Taylor agreed. Her mother needed nothing more than for Rose to point this out and she got the ball rolling.

Even though her mom had been disappointed when she heard about Grace and Sal’s breakup it was almost as if she expected it. For once Grace had seen in her mom what only a lifetime of experience could teach you. Everyone else had been so sure she and Sal were right for each other. Even Grace had finally began to believe it with every ounce of her being. Yet her mom had shrugged it off as it she’d known all along it was only a matter of time. Grace had no place in a man like Sal’s life.

“Mija,” she’d said as she cheerfully helped Grace pack. “This is going to be good for you. We’ll go out there, eat at nice restaurants, gamble a little, do some swimming. Frank even said he’ll take us to the river and we could rent some jet skis. You and Rose will have a blast. By the time we get back you’ll be ready to move on.” Then she winked. “And if we play our cards right, maybe ready to start looking for a place to lease for your new restaurant. Frank is very interested in investing in something out here in California. This is gonna be perfect. You’ll see.”