Fate (44 page)

The contract had actually already been finalized and signed
,
but he needed a good reason to get Rose to the marina without making it sound romantic. The fact that it was the closest restaurant to the firing range helped.

As promised
,
Romero was already there
,
but Vince frowned when he saw his uncles with him and his uncle’s wife Aida. Rose might get suspicious. Then he saw Sofia peek her head out from the back room as Rose took her seat at the table. Alex’s twin girls ran behind the bar squealing
,
and Alex ran after them ducking behind the bar before Rose could see him. Luckily she was too busy saying hi to Romero and his uncles to notice.

Now Eric, Sofia’s husband, was also peeking and giving him the thumbs up from the back room. Vince gave them both a look
,
and they disappeared. The squealing was quickly muffled
,
but Vince could still hear the girls
’
giggling. Vince could just picture his giant cousin Alex hunched behind the bar holding his hands to his daughters
’
mouths. Just as he finished pushing Rose’s chair in
,
he noticed Valerie, Izzy and Grace hiding behind their menus in a corner booth.
Geez
. This family was about as discreet as neon sign.

“So did you guys decide
,
because Angel
’
s already on his way over again
,
” Romero said nudging his
U
ncle Ma
nny
.

“I don’t know. All these house specialty foo
-
foo
drinks
sound good
,
and Angel said they can make any of them non-alcoholic for me.”

“Why don’t you just order a
Diet Coke
? It’s cheaper.”

“Because we’re celebrating,” Ma
nny
said but quickly straightened out wincing and looked at Romero who gave him a murderous look.

Rose looked up from her menu. “Really? What are you celebrating?” They all stared at her including Vince who was at a loss for words. She turned to Vince, eyes wide
–
open then looked down. “Is that your stomach making that noise?”

Vince put his hand over his cramping belly. “Yeah, I’m starving.” Immediately he regretting saying that because as nervous as he was
,
he doubted he could keep anything down.

Angel was at their table just in time. “So did you guys decide?”

They all put in their orders then Manny had to go and make a big production about what damn non
-
alcoholic foo
-
foo drink he should order, reminding Rose about their celebration. “So what was it you’re celebrating tonight?” she asked with a big smile.

Angel looked at Vince
,
and then spun around like a coward rushing off
,
being no help at all.

“The contract,” Romero finally said. “It’s a pretty big deal. Good for both of us.” He winked at Vince. “Once all my guys are certified
,
it’ll open doors in all kinds of new directions
that
I’ve been wanting the firm to go in. Once that happens
,
and word gets out that it was Vince’s new company that certified them all
,
that’ll get him enough exposure to be booked clear into next year. And that’s how it starts.”

Rose leaned into Vince and kissed his cheek. “I am
so
proud of you. So much so I think I’ll have a foo
-
foo drink, too. That
is
reason to celebrate.”

They’d just dodged that bullet
when
Rose’s attention was averted to the front door of the restaurant. “Is that my mom?”

They all turned to see Rose’s mom walking in wearing dark sunglasses and a big sunhat. The second she spotted them
,
she hurried into one of the corners behind one of the large planters where half her body was still sticking out.

“What is she doing?” Rose asked getting up.

Well shit
. Vince knew it. He should’ve just done this the way he had originally planned—somewhere where it was just the two of them. But
no
,
n
ot this family
,
t
hey weren’t having it. After Lorenzo opened his big mouth about it, they just all had to get involved. “You gotta go all out,” they said. “Make it extra special,” they said. “We all have to be there,” they
insisted
.

Now because of them
,
his stomach was a mess
,
and they’d probably all ruin it b
efore he could even get to it.

“Man,” Max laughed as soon as Rose was far enough
,
“
t
alk about being pretty fucking obvious. Her mom’s gonna blow it.”

Vince looked at him just as Aida snorted. “
She’s
gonna blow it?”

“Yeah,” Max laughed
,
“
w
ho wears sunglasses and a sunhat at night?”

Aida snorted even louder just as someone tapped Vince on the shoulder. One of the waiters let him know they were ready for him. Vince got up
,
hoping he wouldn’t be sick and followed him out back.

Lorenzo was waiting for him outside. “How we doing?”
h
e asked with a big smile.

“I’m probably gonna hurl in the middle of it.” Lorenzo walked quickly alongside him. “You just had to tell them
,
didn’t you? This could’ve been so much simpler. She probably already knows something’s up. Her mom
’
s in there hiding behind a fucking plant. It’s just a matter of time before she notices the girls behind their menus or Alex’s girls running around.”

Lorenzo laughed. “Oh man
,
I saw her mom going in. Did you get a load of that ridiculous hat? I couldn’t stop laughing.”

Vince looked at him. “You saw her and didn’t stop her? She could’ve at least come in through the back.” Vince shook his head stepping onto the pier. “Let’s just get this done already. Is everything ready?”

“All set.”

“Is the guy here?”

“Yep
,
d
on’t worry
,
B
ro. It’s all under control.”

Vince rolled his eyes
,
thinking of just how under control things were inside the restaurant. “I hope so
be
cause I don’t know how much more of this my stomach can take.”

~*~

Rose saw her mom move further behind the plant as she got closer. “Mom?” At first her mother didn’t move or say a word. “What are you doing back there? What are you doing
here
?”

Her mother finally moved and came out from behind the plant, pulling her glasses off
and adjusting
her hat. “I uh
…
I’m meeting someone here
,
”
s
he lifted her chin
,
“
a
man.”

That surprised Rose. “Really?” She casually looked her mom up and down. She’d seen her mother dress up for men in the past. She hardly looked the part now. “So…why were you hiding back there?”

Her mom turned to the plant. “I didn’t want you to see me. I haven’t told you girls about him yet
,
so I was hoping to keep it a secret a little longer. I had no idea you’d be here. I wanted to, you know, see him discreetly for a while before I brought him around.”

“So you decided to meet him at Moreno’s?” Her mother seemed embarrassed or uncomfortable enough
,
so when she didn’t respond, Rose let her off the hook. She turned and looked around the restaurant. “Is he here yet?”

“No, he said he was running late.”

Rose took her mother’s hand. “Well, come sit with us then.”

Her mother tried in vain to protest that she didn’t want to be a bother
,
but Rose insisted she wasn’t.

“Where did Vince go?”
s
he asked after she introduced her mom to Romero’s uncles and Aida.

“He’s in the restroom,” Manny said.

Rose didn’t bother looking at the menu anymore. It was the same as the La Jolla
S
hores restaurant
,
and she practically had it memorized. When Vince wasn’t back after more than a few minutes
,
she began to worry. That noise his stomach had made earlier sounded just awful. Maybe he was coming down with something. Come to think of it
,
he did seem a little tense.

“Maybe I should go check on him,” she said to no one in particular glancing back in the direction of the men
’
s room to see if he was on his way back.

“No, no he’s fine,” Romero said.

“Yeah, maybe he just had to drop a good one before dinner.” Max said. “Sometimes it’s good—”

Rose turned to face Max
,
disgusted
,
just as Romero nudged him. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Romero glared at his uncle then glanced back at Rose and smiled. “I’m sure Vince’s is fine.”

She wouldn’t say what she was thinking
,
but how would Romero know? Vince
had
been gone a while
,
and there was no sign of him anywhere. Turning back to her mom
,
she saw her whispering something to Sarah
,
who Rose hadn’t even noticed was there. She tapped her on the leg. “I’m gonna go see about Vincent.”

Her mother pushed out her own chair. “I’ll go with you. I need you to help me with something in the ladies
’
room.”

Her mom convinced her they should go into the ladies
’
room first before looking for Vincent. After adjusting her mother’s bra strap for like the sixth time
,
Rose asked if it finally felt right. Her mother looked at her watch then smiled. “Yes, that’s perfect.”

Rose stared at her confused. She didn’t even look at it or scrutinize it in the mirror like she had the first five times and always found something wrong. Her mom grabbed her hand. “Let’s go.”

Rose heard it as soon as they walked out of the ladies
’
room—music. A guitar to be exact
,
strumming softly
.
I
t was being played over the sound system. A slow piece
,
soft but pretty
,
and Rose thought she recognized the song but was distracted when they came to the men’s room
,
and she slowed wondering if she should knock.

“He’s over here,” her mom said
,
walking ahead of her into the dining room.

Relieved Rose followed her but stopped when she realized the lights had been dimmed
,
and everyone was gone.

“What’s going on
?
W
here did everyone go?” She glanced around then back at her mom who was on her way toward the front door. “Where did you see Vincent?” Her mother didn’t answer she just kept walking. “Where you going?”

A little spooked and not sure why, Rose hurried after her mom who simply waved at her to follow her. She hadn’t wanted to admit it earlier
,
but this had officially turned into a weird evening. As she stepped outside with her mom onto the boardwalk where everyone stood looking at her with big smiles
,
she was stunned. The entire family was there even the kids. The music she’d heard inside was playing out there
,
t
oo
.
S
he recognized the song just as the crowd opened up and revealed a guy sitting on a stool with a guitar
,
two speakers
,
and a microphone in front of him. He sang a very soulful version of NSync’s
This I promise you
,
but it was still very pretty.

Not exactly sure what was going on yet and already feeling emotional, Rose was sure it had something to do with Vincent. Obviously everyone but Rose had been in on it. Then she saw the boat
:
o
ne of the dinner cruise boats like the ones Angel and Sarah’s restaurant offered brunch cruises on
,
on
Sundays, only right now it was all lit up with what looked like Christmas lights. As it go
t
closer and she realized Vincent was on it
,
she brought her hand to her mouth. “What in the world?”