Fate (20 page)

Just hearing his voice made her want to cry again
,
and she brought her hand over her face. “A whole month, Vincent?”

“I know, baby. It sucks and I’m so sorry. I’ll make it up to you
.
I promise. After this month we’ll never be apart again
,
n
ot for long anyway. When this whole thing blows over
,
I’ll
talk
to my dad and Sal about
my
going to college out there and working for Sal part time. I’ll pay my uncle to let me stay with them. I’ll work it out. I promise.”

This was
the
first she was hearing of this. When she’d asked him before about his plans post
-
graduation
,
he was always undecided
.
He
said he was thinking of college
,
but he wasn’t sure yet. The thought of him moving out here for good
was
a bit consoling.

“You really think your parents will be okay with that?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Suddenly feeling a lot better
,
she remembered he might get in trouble about using his mom’s minutes. She didn’t want to add even one more day to his sentence
,
so she
told him to text her instead.

They texted for a while longer before Vincent said he had to go wash his dad’s car
,
but he promised again about g
etting his own cell phone line.

Rose lay there in bed chastising herself for that ugly feeling in her stomach. She needed to let go
of the fact
that this had all happened because it ticked Vincent off that the idiot on the bike had bumped Anita. He sounded wholeheartedly remorseful about having reacted the way he had. She’d seen him react before, knew it was in him to just snap without thinking
,
but to chance something like this when they’d been so close
?
It was
all they’d talked about lately.

Enough
. He made a mistake
,
and he was just anguished about this as she was. She wouldn’t hold it against him forever. As a matter of
fact he was already forgiven.

Vince

Having no credit was apparently as bad as having
bad credit. Vince was looking at having to come up with a hefty deposit if he was going to get his own cell phone account. Getting a pay-per-use one where he’d pay to add minutes was also too expensive. He and Rose would blow through those minutes in no time. It would be cheaper if he just stayed on his mom
’
s account and paid her to add more minutes, unlimited nights
,
and weekends to their plan. He told his mom he’d pick up a part
-
time job at the hardware store on the weekends to help with the added expense
.

Thankfully she agreed. Being able to hear Rose’s voice now instead of just texting alleviated the incredible need to be with her
a little
. But he was still mad at himself for not having just walked away from fucking Randy and costing himself a month away from Rose.

The month dragged on
,
and just a few days before he and his parents were scheduled to make the trip out to La Jolla
,
he and Rose had their first spat
.

Since they’d become a couple
,
he rarely went to any parties. Rose hadn’t asked him to cut down
;
he’d started cutting down even before Rose. The parties in his area almost always ended in trouble. Since he’d decided to get his shit straight
,
parties were one of the first things he began avoiding. But not all could be avoided
:
Alfonso’s birthday
party
yesterday for example
.
Alfonso
was one of Vince’s closest friends since they’d been kids. Alfonso even offered to pick him up from work then have someone drive him home when he was ready because Vince told him he wouldn’t be able to hang around long
.

“You went to a party?” Rarely had Vince heard Rose sound irritated
,
but the irritation came through loud and clear. “I thought they grounded you from
everything
.”

“Well, yeah. But my dad doesn’t know my exact schedule at the hardware store. I told him I was off at nine. And I got home just a little after nine. Alfonso said he’d have someone drop me off just as soon as I was ready
,
and Ray-Ray dropped me off ten minutes after nine. My parents didn’t even question it.”

Instead of that calming her, she raised her voice. “Ray-Ray dropped you off?”

“Yeah,” he responded without even thinking then it hit him.
Shit
!

“Isn’t he the one that’s
still doing the drug dealing?”

“Yes, babe
,
b
ut he wasn’t dealing yesterday. We were all just kicking it at Alfonso’s. His parents were there
,
and the only thing we had was beer.”

“You had beer?”

Well, hell
!
“One,” he said standing up and moving away from
where
the guys were sitting on the front stairs with him. Alfonso was already smirking. “I had one.
M
y dad doesn’t have a problem with me having a beer or two here and there
,
as long as I’m not driving.”

“But you’re grounded, Vincent. So you weren’t even supposed to be there
,
a
nd on top of that you were drinking. Then!” she gasped. “Then you go and get in a car with a drug dealer!” She lowered her voice almost to a whisper. “Are you deliberately
trying
to sabotage this summer for us?”

“No! Of course not.”

“Then why would you do that?” She didn’t sound mad anymore. She sounded wounded. “If there’d been a fight or something at that party or if Ray-Ray had gotten pulled over for any reason and they’d found drugs on him
,
you both would’ve been taken in. I don’t understand
why
you would take such a chance.”

“Alfonso is my best buddy
,
and it was his birthday.”

“So
he’s
important to you?”

“
You’re
more important,” he said firmly and a little annoyed that she’d imply she wasn’t
.

“I gotta go.”

“Rosie, wait.”

“No. I can’t even talk to you right now.”

“Really? You’re
that
mad about this?”

“Vincent, I’m more hurt than mad. You know I’m dying to see you again.”

Now he was so mad at himself he wanted to spit. Not for telling her
,
but because she was absolutely right
,
and she had every reason to be hurt. He’d already fucked things up once. He just hadn’t thought it was a big deal. He was certain it would go as smooth
ly
as it had
,
but it was still a risk
.

“I’m dying to see you too, Rosie. I’m sorry. And you’re right. I wasn’t thinking. I swear to you I will from now on. It’s just that in the past
,
I’ve done so much worse
,
so this didn’t seem like a big deal at all. But listen to me, babe,”
h
is dumb
-
ass needed to get one thing clear “
d
on’t you
ever
think it’s because I’m trying to sabotage my going to La Jolla. There’s nothing I want more than to be there with you. I’m counting the days—the hours. I miss you
so
much.”

She was quiet for a moment
,
and he squeezed his phone. Finally he heard her exhale. “Don’t take any more chances.
Please
. I don’t know what I’d do if they took the entire summer away from us.”

From that moment
on
, he swore,
no more chances. It wasn’t even about his parents anymore. He still had Sal and Grace to think about. If he fucked up
,
enough they could forbid him to come around all together. “I promise, Rose. For you—for
us
,
I’ll st
ay out of trouble for good.”

***

As
much as Vince was looking forward to spending time with Rose this summer
,
especially now that he had to make up for lost time
,
he also knew he had to put in extra hours at the restaurant
.

Sal would let him use the restaurant car during the summer
,
but he couldn’t count on that forever. He needed his own wheels. Not only that, he knew Rose was ready to take their relationship further
,
and she just wasn’t a backseat girl
,
n
ot to him. She deserved better. He already had enough saved up for a few times at a hotel
,
but based on how crazy it made him to just kiss her, a few times with Rose would never do
.

Vince thought he had their first time all planned out. They’d go to dinner then maybe a walk on the beach and then get a room at one of the fancy hotels on the beach for the rest of the evening. He hadn’t anticipated
how
their extended time apart would contribute to the intensity of their urges. He’d only been in town three days when he’d gone over to Sal’s place to help Rose babysit Sal and Grace
’
s baby boy. Sal had agreed to let Vince hang out with Rose that evening as long as he
behaved
.

Of course Vince had every intention of behaving. He wasn’t about to get his ass thrown out of La Jolla after he’d already blown the first month. After watching TV in the front room with Rose as she cradled the baby to sleep
,
he walked with her into the nursery to put him down in his crib. They stared at the sleeping baby for a few minutes. His mom was right
;
sleeping babies
did
look like angels
.

“Isn’t he perfect?” Rose whispered.

“Yeah,” Vince nodded in agreement
,
taking her hand in his.

They tiptoed out of the room quietly
,
and Rose closed the door all the way, taking the monitor with her
,
so
in case he woke
,
they’d hear him.

“He’s probably out for the night. He’s real good that way. Sal and Grace lucked out. I’ve babysat other kids before
,
and most babi
es are not this easy.”

Vince stopped to kiss her in the hallway. He couldn’t wait anymore. Even while she’d cradled the baby to sleep
,
he kept slipping in a few kisses
,
but he had her all to himself now. Before things got too heavy
,
there was something he wanted to do
.

Pulling a few inche
s
away from her
,
he stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a silver bracelet. Her eyes grew wide at the sight.

“It’s nothing extravagant, Rosie, but it’s a promise.” Her eyes pinched in confusion. “A promise,” he said as he placed it nervously on her wrist
,
“
t
hat no matter how far you are from me, you’re always in my thoughts…my heart.”

She looked up at him
,
her eyes full of emotion and filling with tears
.

“I thought of you every day, every night this past month, Rosie. And I know now that’ll never change. I just wanted you to know that. I love you.”

Rose shook her head wiping her tears away. “You’re
too good to be true, Vincent.”

Vince had to laugh. “
I
am?’

“Yes
,
you
are.” She lifted her hand up to admire the delicate silver bracelet on her equally delicate wrist then turned back to him
,
throwing her arms around his neck. “Not a moment goes by that I don’t think of you either. Thanks for making
me
see I’m not the only cra
zy person. I love you, too!”