He slipped his hand in hers and squeezed. “It’s not that I wouldn’t want to now. It’s just that we can’t afford to yet. I don’t wanna have to ask anyone for help once it’s done. I wanna be absolutely sure it’s something I can handle all on my own.”
Nodding and hoping to reassure him that she wasn’t having visions of them moving in together any time soon, she squeezed his hand back. “However long it takes, it’ll be worth the wait.
Of course Rose wasn’t about to freak Grace out by letting her in on how exciting the idea of moving in with Vincent made her seventeen-year-old sister. So she kept that jaw-dropping conversation to herself. This would probably still be a few years away, so why stir the waters now?
Vincent walked into the restaurant’s kitchen, and Rose picked up on his change in mood. They’d been closing things down at the restaurant when he got a call from his dad, and he’d gone out back to take it.
“What’s wrong?”
Vincent shook his head, but his jaw was already working. “Enzo got in another fight.”
This was the third time his dad called Vincent about his brother getting into trouble this summer. The worst part was the last time his dad called a few weeks ago; Vincent told her these were only the incidents his dad knew about. He was sure there were more. Lorenzo was as hot tempered as Vincent, only at least Vince had matured some—seen the error of his ways. He said he was trying to get his brother to see it, too. Blowing up like that got you nothing but trouble.
“Thing is, Rose, you were a huge incentive for me to stay straight and out of trouble. Honest to God, the only reason I felt any kind of remorse for beating Randy’s ass was because of what it cost me. Otherwise I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” He leaned against the counter. “Same goes for going to Alfonso’s party the week before I came down here. Compared to all the trouble I’ve been in the past, I really didn’t do shit. But once you reminded my dumb-ass of what might’ve happened if I’d had gotten in trouble, I did regret it. I regretted it a lot. That’s when change comes—when you start feeling some remorse for the wrongs that you do. Enzo,” he shook his head again frowning and looking away, “he has no incentive, so he doesn’t care. And he’s stubborn as shit.” Vince let out a sarcastic chuckle. “Once you get to know him, you’ll know what I mean. Sometimes I think his fuse is shorter than mine because once he’s lit and his mind is made up, there’s no reasoning with him. He just doesn’t give a shit or think about consequences. At that moment he just doesn’t care. The only time he shows any remorse is when I get pissed at him.”
Rose reached for his hand, and he looked up at her. Now she saw just how troubled he really was. Instinctively her heart sped up. “What is it?”
“My dad’s asking me to hold off moving down here until next summer at least until Enzo gets through his senior year.”
Rose tried not to react, but the news was a huge blow. The only thing that had made up for their summer together being cut so short was that he’d be staying. She fidgeted with her fingers almost afraid to ask, but she had to know. “Are you going to?”
“I think I have to.”
She spun around and started to walk out the kitchen.
“Rosie, please don’t be mad!”
She froze, feeling like the worst girlfriend ever, but she couldn’t help being crushed. Not wanting to turn and let him see the tears already spilling out of her eyes, she spoke without moving. “You should. You really should.”
His arms were around her waist, and in the next instant, his face was against hers. “I’m sorry,” he said kissing the side of her face. “I promise I’ll come as often as I can—every weekend, maybe more; it’s only until next summer. I just…I need to be there.”
She turned around, and his expression fell when he saw the tears, so she brushed them away swiftly. Then she ran her fingers through his hair like she loved doing so much. “You do, and this is why I love you so much. Your devotion to the people you love is admirable.”
“And I love you, too, but—”
“But nothing, Vincent.” She shook her head. “You don’t have to explain. I understand, okay? You need to be there for your brother. I’ll still be here. I’ll miss you like crazy, but I’ll live.”
“And I’ll be down here a lot. I swear to you.” He kissed her, reminding Rose that Sal was still in the office closing things down. “I can’t stand being away from you, Rosie. You know that, right?”
“Yes, I do. I’m sorry about how I reacted. I hate being away from you, too, but I really do understand.” She smiled, her heart still aching, but she fought to hide it. “It’s gonna be okay. We’ll get through this.”
Pushing aside the ridiculous notion that he’d picked his brother over her, she hugged him hard. There was no choice. It was a given. She would’ve done the same thing had she been in his place.
“I love you, Rosie,” he whispered.
She looked up at him and smiled as genuinely as she could. “And I love you.” She kissed him, then glancing around quickly, she announced, “We’re done here. Let’s go enjoy what’s left of this summer.”
They drove back to Sal’s house as they often did after work these past couple of weeks. With the heat wave they were having, it had been hot enough to go night swimming all week. Even though Vincent had said he didn’t want to ever chance what they had in Sal’s house again, and they hadn’t there since that first time, they had done some pretty naughty things in that pool.