She looked up from her food and met his eyes, but she didn’t cry. “He was murdered.”
Sal tried not to react, in hopes she could get through the story without crying but he was not expecting that at all.
She continued, dry-eyed. “It was no secret that my grandmother’s restaurant was doing well and Saturdays were especially busy. It was getting so busy that like you, he’d begun to talk about expanding when I was old enough to run a restaurant on my own. It would be on a smaller scale but it would be all mine.” Her eyes were excited for the moment. “One Saturday night just as he closed up, three men walked in and robbed him at gunpoint.” Sal squeezed her hand again when he saw the grimace and the tears begin. He was surprised she’d gone this far without crying. But she took a deep breath and continued. “He gave them all the money he had, did everything they asked and they still shot him. My sister and I were already home with my grandmother. My mom is the one that found him. She’d gone out to move the car around front, while he closed everything up. It was the reason why the back door wasn’t locked. Since he was shot at such a close range he was gone before the medics ever arrived.” She wiped a single tear that escaped from the corner of her eye, took a deep breath and went on. “It was all over the local papers for weeks, that’s how I found out we were selling the restaurant. They hadn’t told me yet but my mom had mentioned in an interview that the restaurant would be up for sale and we were going to be moving. It happened during the summer. By Christmas we were living in El Paso.”
Sal leaned over and kissed a tear away that trailed down her cheek. His heart ached for her. “Did they ever catch the guys that shot him?”
She let out a sarcastic laugh. “I doubt they ever even tried.”
Sal pulled her chair to him, suddenly needing her closer, and caressed a few strands of hair away from her forehead. “I’m sorry that happened. I can see it’s something that still hurts a lot.”
Grace tilted her head and her eyebrows furrowed as she cleared her throat. “The funny thing is I only cried when I first got the news. I was in complete shock and denial. I didn’t want to believe it. But after that I refused to cry because I didn’t want Rose to see me cry. She was only five and though she was sad she didn’t quite understand the enormity of it. She didn’t really get that he was never coming back, so it wasn’t as devastating for her as it was for me, and I didn’t want it to be. She caught me crying one time when I thought she wasn’t home and it really scared her. So I vowed it would never happen again. Though sometimes I did where I knew she couldn’t catch me, like in the shower or at night when she was asleep and she’s always been such a sound sleeper I didn’t worry about her waking. But I put up a front for so many years. Then when my grandmother died something changed.” Sal played with her hand and she glanced down at it. “Even though I tried, like with my dad, to hold it in for my sister’s sake. As the years passed, I’ve gotten so much more emotional about it all now and I don’t understand why.”
Sal kissed her hand, wanting more than anything to take her pain away or at the very least lessen it. “Grief is a process, sweetheart. Even though you thought you understood it at the time, you really didn’t.” He was glad now for choosing to take that extra semester of Psychology. “You can’t heal if you don’t allow yourself to grieve and it sounds like you never did. But it’s inevitable and it will happen. I think it’s what’s happening now. You’re finally letting the emotions manifest.” He kissed her forehead. “It’s a good thing.”
One side of her mouth went up slightly but it was hardly a smile. “I’m such a downer.” She sniffed.
“No. I wanted to know. You really think I thought you wouldn’t cry? It’s natural, Gracie. I’m gonna ask you something else and I don’t want you to hold anything back either.” Her eyebrows shot up. “How’d your grandmother die?”
She didn’t give it much thought before answering. “Heart attack.”
Sal cringed. It couldn’t have been anything less sudden? But Grace didn’t cry. Instead she reached for her purse on the other seat and fished out her wallet, then pulled a picture out and handed it to Sal. It was a snapshot of herself in a formal gown with her hair up. She was younger and looked stunning. His jaw involuntarily clenched at the sight of the guy holding her hand in the picture but he pushed the unreasonable jealousy away. He knew this had nothing to do with him. A short older woman with a white braid and a big smile held her other hand.
“This was the last picture I took with her. It was hours before she had the attack. I was actually on my way—” She stopped when her voice betrayed her and she brought her hands to her face.
Sal wrapped his arms around her, feeling a deep ache inside for her. This happened on her prom night? “It’s okay, baby. Let it out. You’ll feel better.”
She didn’t cry long enough, pulling away after only a few moments. Sal frowned, handing her a napkin. She wiped her face and went on with her story, clearing her throat. “We were on our way to an after party when I got the call.” She took a deep breath but no longer cried. “By the time we arrived she was gone.” She gave him a crooked smile as he handed her the picture back and she tapped her finger over the guy in it. “To top it off, we broke up that night.”
“He broke up with you that night?” That pissed him off. How could the idiot do that to her that night?