Always Been Mine (6 page)

Now here they were both starting new adventures at the same time again. Though she’d call her experience with Bruce a lot of things before she’d call it an adventure.

She hoped Isabel and Romero would hit it off. Then the bittersweet reality hit her like a brick. Yet someone else in her life would be closely involved in Alex’s circle. He’d never be entirely out of her life.

She shook it off. Isabel deserved to be happy. With her cousin marrying his brother, she was doomed to run into him forever anyway. She’d have to make the best of it. Besides it was only one dinner Isabel had with Romero. Chances were she was making way too much out of it.

First thing she noticed when she walked in the door was Isabel dancing along to the radio in the kitchen. Then she noticed how nice she looked. Though she was in jeans and a sweater, she’d really done herself up. She’d curled her hair, done her eyes the way Valerie always said made her look so sexy, and she had her contacts in. But most noticeably she wore her high heeled sling-backs.

“Okay tell me, tell me. I wanna know everything?” She didn’t care if he was Alex’s friend anymore. She’d never seen Isabel this giddy, and she was happy for her.

Isabel pulled a water bottle out of the fridge and opened it. “Well, I mentioned to him at the shower that I get my nails done at the mall every other Friday.” She rolled her eyes. “Don’t ask, I was trying to make a point about the parking at the mall. Anyway, so, yesterday I walk out of my nail place and guess who I run into?”

“There’s a Sears there.” Isabel paused and then giggled. “I totally fell for his story. Then after dinner, he admitted he’d been there the week before and yesterday hanging around waiting to see if he’d see me.”

“Ha!” Valerie covered her mouth when Isabel made a face. “Sorry, go on. Go on.”

“At the shower, I also mentioned what a big Padre’s fan I am. Of course, he argued with me about them, but in the end admitted he was a fan too. Someone gave him tickets to today’s game a few weeks ago, and he thought maybe I’d wanna go.”

Isabel shrugged in an attempt to make it out to be less than it really was, but Valerie knew better.

“I knew I saw something that night between you two.” Valerie remembered her comments about him the morning after. “You weren’t mean where you?”

“No, of course not.” Isabel sipped her water. “I thanked him for thinking of me but told him I had a lot of papers to grade today.”

“What? You turned him down?” Valerie looked at Isabel up and down. “So, why are you all done up?”

“I’m not all done up.” Isabel glanced down at her clothes. “It looks like I’m all done up?”

“Of course, but you look great. So, you
are
going to the game with him, right?”

Isabel seemed worried now. “After closing the place out, he talked me into going to the game. But that’s all it is. Two friends going to a game together.”

Isabel walked into the front room and stopped at the mirror on the wall. “You think he’s going to think I got all done up for him?”

Valerie rolled her eyes. “Really? So, the dancing and all this,” She pointed at Isabel’s curled tresses. “Is something that’s the norm for you?”

Isabel’s eyes were opened wide. “Alright, so, he’s not usually the type of guy I date.”

“Ah ha! You said it. It
is
a date.” Isabel’s expression was warning enough. Valerie attempted to hide the smirk.

“Valerie. I don’t want him to think I’m all into him. I just thought it’d be interesting to try something new.” She dabbed at her eyes trying to remove some of the makeup.

“Stop that. It looks really great.”

There was a knock on the door, and Isabel turned to Valerie with a look of sheer panic. Valerie grinned but couldn’t help feeling guilty that she’d managed to take Isabel’s mood from dancing and smiling giddy to an anxious mess. “Relax. You wanna get that, or shall I?”

“You get it.” Isabel rushed into her bedroom.

Damn
. Why did she have to open her big mouth? Valerie hoped Isabel wasn’t changing. But she hadn’t even finished saying hello to Romero when Isabel was already out of the room. She’d just gone in to grab a jacket and her purse.

Romero’s expression was almost comical. He’d never been discreet about anything. If she thought she saw something in the way Romero looked at Isabel at the party, there was no doubt about it now. Isabel wouldn’t be walking away from this one as easily as she thought.

Romero didn’t look too shabby himself. He wore a Padre t-shirt that hugged him pretty well. He was obviously still working out as much as she remembered he used to. There was no way Isabel could not notice that.

After awkward hellos and goodbyes, they were out the door and Valerie stuck her nose through the curtains. Even with Isabel’s heels, Romero was half a head taller than her. They made a really cute couple and Valerie giggled as she texted Isabel to tell her.

She walked back to her room to get ready for her own date with Luke. Even though things were beginning to look positive, Valerie couldn’t help feeling a dull ache in her heart. She was really counting on Luke to help her get rid of it. She needed to remind herself to stop comparing him to Alex. As much as she hated to admit it, no one would ever live up to him. She may as well, stop hoping someone would, and accept Luke for the man that he was.

*

The restaurant was busy as it always was lately. With renovations done and the construction all cleared out, Alex and his older brother Sal started a campaign on the internet. They even ran a commercial twice a day on the local radio station.

Because Angel and Sarah were already looking for a place to lease to open their restaurant as soon as they got married, Sal had plans of possibly making the restaurant some kind of chain eventually. But he didn’t want it to be too commercial. He wanted to keep the authentic quality his parents had created with the same recipes. Alex had no doubt he could do it.

Sal was by far the most driven of the three brothers. Alex and Angel had gone to college because it was expected of them. Their dad hadn’t given them a choice. But Sal loved it. Even though he was the oldest, he was still in school.

He went to school in Los Angeles, so, he stayed out there and only came home on the weekends. But lately he’d been coming home less and less. His schedule was heavier. He was really trying to finish up school faster, so he’d taken on a full load the past couple of semesters. That’s why Alex had been surprised to see him at the restaurant that morning.

He supervised all day and put in his two cents on everything. Alex didn’t mind. Sal knew what he was talking about. He’d helped his dad run the place for years, so Alex welcomed the help. Alex made in the excel sheets for payroll and scheduling. He’d expected Sal to be pleased but hadn’t expected just how impressed he’d been.

Alex and Sal exchanged knowing glances. They’d been waiting for this for years. If they bought the place, they could expand the restaurant further out to allow for a bigger bar area. Already the place had gained so much popularity. The weekend evening crowd had outgrown it.

“He owns the place right? He’s not leasing?” Alex knew what Sal was getting at because it was exactly what he was thinking. They’d make him an offer before it even went on the market.

“I’m one step ahead of you brother.” Angel grinned. “They already signed the papers with the listing agent. So, it’s scheduled to go on the market this week.”

Alex sat up. “It’s not gonna last. That’s prime location.” He could kick himself for being so damn distracted. He should’ve known about this sooner. If he’d just gone over there more like he used to, he might’ve gotten the inside scoop sooner.

Angel turned back to him. “Why not? She’s handling finding a place for the new restaurant. Plus she’s good.” He pulled out a file and waved it at him. “Matter of fact, we’re meeting with her tomorrow to walk through a few properties. Dad’s coming with us. She’ll bring the paperwork for the offer dad needs to sign.”

Sal gave Angel a high five. “Way to handle it.”

“That fast?” Alex asked. “Doesn’t it have to actually be on the market for us to make an offer?”

“Nope, Sarah said Valerie told her it wouldn’t be a problem. She’d take care of everything.” Angel winked at him. “Told you she’s good.”

Angel grabbed his keys from the desk. “I’m gotta go pick up Sarah. We’re going to drive by some of these properties first.” He waved the file at Alex and Sal again. “No sense in having Valerie walk us through something if we don’t even like the location.”

Both Angel and Alex made an exit. He needed to work off some tension. Just thinking about being around Valerie again tensed his muscles to no end.

After working out Alex was tempted to go back to the restaurant. He wanted to avoid sitting around his place brooding. But he knew Sal had things covered. The one thing he couldn’t get out of his mind tonight was what Valerie had said. She’d only been involved with someone else for a few weeks. Maybe it wasn’t too late to change her mind. Maybe, if he’d finally just come clean about why he’d always been so elusive all those years.

He had to really think this through. Is that really what he wanted? A relationship with her? All those years he could have had one but they both chose not to.

He knew one of the main reasons was time. Or was it? Now that he’d cut down on school so drastically, and football was out, things could definitely be different between them. If only she’d answer her phone or at least return his calls. He stopped leaving messages long ago. He was pretty sure she didn’t bother listening to them. All the messages he left always came out wrong anyway.

When he got home, he busied himself. He had a ton of laundry to catch up on and he got right on it. He was hardly ever home, so, there wasn’t much else to clean in between loads.

He made himself a protein drink and sat down to watch T.V. After flipping the through the channels and finding nothing that interested him, he turned it off and let his head fall back. He stared at the ceiling for a while, trying to put his feelings into prospective.

Was seeing Valerie at the shower really that caustic? Or had he been in denial all this time? This was insane. He was fine with the way things were until that damn shower.

He checked his watch. It was still early. He considered going back to the restaurant again, and then it hit him. He’d hardly been home alone since Valerie stopped coming around. The only time he was ever home was when he had to study or sleep. The rest of the time he kept himself busy elsewhere.

Between the therapy for his ankle and trying to prove he could not only run the restaurant, he could do it well, the past year had been a blur of going back and forth, spending little to no time at home. Hell, he’d even opted to spend the night at his parents more than a few times rather than come back to his empty house. He could hardly stand to be here now.

Alex sat up. Could that be it? He held off pursuing Valerie because he’d known it was just a matter of time before all the wedding hoopla would come around. She’d have no choice but to show up, and he’d get his chance to win her back in his life. That
would
explain the unreasonable nerves the morning of shower.

In hindsight, what he had with Valerie before
was
a relationship. Just because they’d never called it that didn’t mean it wasn’t. During the time they were supposedly just hanging out, if he’d found out she was seeing someone else he would’ve been absolutely livid. Unlike her, he wouldn’t have had any qualms about telling her either.

He knew what she thought when he’d avoided her for days. She thought that he was with other women. But she never asked outright, so, he never had to actually deny it. Though, he never really confirmed what he
had
been doing either.

If only he could leave her a message that didn’t sound so stupid. Every time he tried, it came out all wrong. So, he gave up. He stared at the pad of paper and pen on his coffee table for a moment before finally grabbing it. He began jotting some things he could say.

After a while of scribbling a few sentences down and scratching things off, he had something he could live with. He read it back a few times and decided there was no getting around sounding robotic, so, he tried memorizing it. That was even worse. Frustrated, he threw the pad back down on his coffee table. He was getting a headache.