Free The Santinis: Vicente, Book 4 by Melissa Schroeder

nodded.
    “ I think now if I hadn’t met Stewart and he wasn’t so hard headed, I wouldn’t have had the most wonderful life. All my boys.” She smiled. “I can’t think of what life would be without them.”
    Jules smiled. “How did Mr. Santini snag you?”
    Joey shook her head. “That’s a story for another time. Just remember to have more faith in yourself.”
    “ I do. To a point. It’s hard.”
    The narrowed look Joey gave her was enough to scare her. “I love my boys. But believe me, I know what a pain in the ass each of them can be. Vince is so like his father it is scary. They get their head set on some task and they won’t let it go. I know my baby boy and know he loves you. I know you love him. It’s written all over your face. Still, don’t put up with any of his crap. Swear to God every one of them think they know best. Also remember, whatever Vince does, he does out of love for you.”
    Jules blinked against the tears burning the backs of her eyes. “Thank you, Joey.”
    Joey gave her a blinding smile. She had seen it before. Whenever Joey flashed it at Mr. Santini, he melted like butter for her.
    “ Now, I like those little purple leaf things you put in Vince’s backyard. I want some.”
    “ You know you can just break off some of them from Vince’s?”
    Joey shook her head. “First, that’s not good business. Second, he isn’t answering my phone calls.”
    “ Oh, but he and I…” then she trailed off realizing that Vince had been avoiding his mother but spending his time talking to Jules on the phone.
    “ That’s fine, Jules. As long as he’s talking to someone, I’m fine with that. For now. Well, for another day or two. After that, I’ll send Stewart. Let’s get some purple thingies.”
    She nodded pushing her concerns aside for the moment, but Joey had definitely given her a lot to think about.
    * * * *
    “ So, you’ve decided to hide out here,” his father said walking into his garage. Vince looked over his shoulder and stifled the sigh. He should have known his mother would send his father over to check on him.
    “ I’ve been busy the last few days.”
    He grabbed a cloth and rose, wiping the grease from his hands. He’d done just about anything to keep himself busy the last two days. He’d given Jules space, but they had talked the last couple nights. It had been almost as if they were in high school on the phone for hours at a time with nothing much to say. Hell, they had watched an episode of NCIS together on the phone.
    “ She’s worried you and Jules had a fight.”
    Vince shook his head. “We had a difference of opinion, not a fight.”
    His father chuckled. “Yeah, your mother and I have those. She’s a little more…expressive in her irritation than I think Jules would be.”
    His father had settled on the workbench, so Vince figured he was stuck talking to him. He was still a little too raw, but he knew better than tell his father to leave him alone. Instead, Vince opened the small refrigerator he kept in the garage and grabbed a couple of beers.
    “ Thanks,” his father said, twisting off the top and taking a long drink. All the while he kept his gaze on Vince.
    “ You need to talk about it, son, or it’s going to tear you up.”
    “ Jules told me some pretty horrible things.”
    His father nodded. “About Mike I take it?”
    “ You knew?”
    He shook his head. “No. Both your mother and I suspected and when her mother Margerie called your mother out of the blue and asked her to check on Jules, we knew something went on. When Jules first moved back, she was wounded. It was easy to see. All we knew was that they were getting divorced then he was dead. Plus, she said things that were odd.”
    “ Like what?”
    “ Your mother asked her how she liked living here and she said it was wonderful and she felt safe.”
    “ So?”
    “ Safe isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when talking about moving back. It was just an odd way of phrasing