Steve is surprised at how close El Parador restaurant is. He's aware it's on the same street as their hotel but still doesn't grasp how close it is until Aurie instructs him to head east on Broadway and it takes less than five minutes to get there.

Since they're arriving so early, he gets a good parking spot near the entrance. Getting out of his truck, he marvels at the size of the restaurant.

"This is a restaurant?"

"For about fifty years," Aurie answers, coming around to him.

"It's a lot bigger than I imagined," he replies as they head inside and step over to the host station.

"A lot of receptions and parties are held here," she explains. "They're also known for their weekend buffets during lunch and dinner."

"That must mean a lot of business."

"And a lot of tips," she grins before looking around with a frown. "What the hell? It shouldn't take this long to be seated."

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she steps around to the other side of the counter.

"Shouldn't you wait until the host or hostess comes out?"

"There should always be someone here or nearby watching," she distractedly replies while looking at the laminated table chart. "I bet Annabel and Karina are the hostesses tonight. And knowing those two they're probably in the kitchen gossiping about something stupid."

She grabs the wax pencil sitting on top of the laminated chart and makes a mark. Grabbing a couple of menus, she focuses back on Steve.

"C'mon."

"Are you going to get in trouble for this?" he asks in amusement while following her through the nearest dining room.

"Not like they can fire me," she quips. "I'll get us seated then go embarrass the hell out of them."

Steve smirks as she leads him to an even larger dining area. Their steps echo off the polished wood floor to a large wall of windows flanked by a variety of live plants, including very tall rubber tree plants. Votive candles cheerfully light up every table. Wrought iron chandeliers hang from the ceiling and silvery metal sconces decorated in a hand-punched pattern mounted on the walls give the room a warm, romantic glow. It's a very nice room and if the rest of the restaurant is similarly decorated, he can understand why people would book parties and receptions here.

"Enjoy the peace while you can and look over the menu because it's over once Mrs. Rubio spots you," she grins, handing him a menu after he settles into his seat.

"In other words, fasten our seatbelts, it's going to be a bumpy night," he quips, accepting the menu.

"Oooh, great line," she compliments.

"It's a quote from the movie, 'All About Eve.'"

"Never seen it," she admits.

Steve briefly gapes at her in surprise before breaking into a smile.

"Dad is going to love introducing you to all the classic movies."

"Sounds like fun," she agrees. "I'm going to get us waters, but do you want me to put in an order for beer or something else?"

"Aren't you underage to do that?" he asks, arching a brow.

"Not for putting in the order, but I'd have to be eighteen to bring it to the table, so someone else will have to deliver it when it's ready.

"Ah, so it's the same as in California," he nods in understanding. "Well, since we're in a Mexican restaurant, what kind of Mexican beers do you have?"

"Corona, Dos Equis, Sol, and Tecate," she rattles off from memory. "All the tourists love Corona," she rolls her eyes. "I don't recommend Tecate because despite what we charge, it's cheap crap."

"And how would you know?" he asks, giving her a look and an arched brow.

"I've been told it tastes like crap," she cagily answers. "And I've taken a sip." At his disbelieving look, she grudgingly adds, "Okay, so I got dragged to a couple of parties. There was always someone who thought anyone tall enough should have a beer regardless of age and always shoved a bottle or can into my hand." At his more pointed look, she rolls her eyes. "Took getting trashed once not to ever want to do that again. At the next party, I dumped out the bottle they shoved at me and filled it with water so they'd leave me alone."

Before Steve can respond another voice across the room attracts their attention.

"I'm sorry, but you have to wait for the hostess to seat you."

Aurie and Steve turn to look at a young woman approaching them. Aurie places one hand on her hip as she glares back.

"And someone should've been watching the host station, Karina. We waited longer than necessary. Where the hell were you?"

"Auralia!" Karina answers in surprise before looking annoyed. "I was busy in the back."

"I know, gossiping about your plans for tonight," Aurie rolls her eyes. "'Cause you weren't working."

"Whatever," Karina rolls her eyes back. "Not all of us can take nice long vacations to California."

"Sorry I forgot to bring you a souvenir," Aurie retorts insincerely.

"Should've brought me a surfer. Anyways, you're in David's section. Juanita's was up next if you had waited."

"I noticed and that was another reason I didn't wait. I wanted someone who'd actually do their job, not run off the floor for long periods of time to check their phone for text messages from their latest boyfriend."

"Okay, I can agree with that," the young woman laughs. "Let me get David for you guys. "I'll bring out some waters, but would you like something else to drink, sir?" she asks an amused Steve.

"I'd like a Dos Equis."

"And you, Auralia?"

"A strawberry Fanta."

"Be right back," Karina nods as Aurie finally sits down.

"I'm surprised you didn't order a Coke." At her questioning look, he adds, "Most of the time when we eat that's what you drank."

"Yeah, but a strawberry soda like Fanta tastes good with Mexican food."

"Really?"

"Especially with enchiladas or tacos. Try it and you'll see what I mean."

"Yeah, I will. So, do you have any recommendations?" Steve asks looking back at the menu.

"Depends. Do you feel like, beef, chicken, or seafood?"

"It should be interesting to see how it's prepared in the desert," he muses thoughtfully. "Seafood."

"There are two I can narrow it down to that you won't typically encounter." Reaching across the table, she points the first one out on the menu for him. "There's the Camarones Rellenos. It's large prawns stuffed with cheese and Hatch chiles, which can have a good kick but nothing stomach melting, then they're wrapped in bacon and baked." She then points to an item under the section marked 'Chef Specialties.' "The other I'd recommend is the Rellenos Mariscos, which is kind of a reverse of the Camarones Rellenos. The chiles are stuffed with shrimp, scallops, Codfish, and cream cheese. And the cilantro chardonnay sauce is really savory."

"You really know the menu," he grins.

"Have to because customers can be obnoxious if you don't know your stuff as a server."

"Yeah, they do that," Steve agrees. "Well, they both sound good," he muses thoughtfully at the menu before looking up at her again. "Do you have any idea what you're getting?"

"Camarones Diablo," she states. "It's shrimp, onions, and bell peppers cooked in a red, spicy sauce."

"More on the hot side of spicy, of course," Steve teases.

"Of course," she smirks. "Some people drive fast; I just risk my taste buds."

Steve chuckles as a young blonde man approaches their table with a tray bearing their drinks, chips, and a wire holder bearing three types of salsa.

"Hi, David," Aurie greets the server with a smile.

"Nice to see you back, Aurie," David smiles back as he sets down the water glasses.

"Thanks. Is Mrs. Rubio around?" she asks as he places her soda in front of her.

"Yep. Went into full cougar mode as soon as Karina came to tell me about you and your guest," he explains, setting a chilled glass in front of Steve and a bottle of Dos Equis next to it.

"She's on the prowl now," Aurie smirks, causing both men to laugh.

"In any kind of weather," David quips, placing the salsa and bowl of tortilla chips between them. "Have you both decided on what you'd like to order?"

At their nods, David pulls out a pen and an order pad and looks at Aurie first.

"I'm going with the Camaron Diablo," she informs him. "And please substitute the Spanish rice with ranchero beans."

"So double ranchero beans," David confirms.

"Yeah."

"And you, sir?" David asks Steve.

"I'd like the Camarones Rellenos."

"And would you guys like an appetizer?"

Steve looks over at Aurie who shakes her head.

"I don't. It's slow right now, so we'll probably get our food fast. It's also going to be a lot of food and we'll end up with leftovers if we have an appetizer."

Steve nods before looking back at David.

"Not this time, thanks."

"Okay, I'll get that in for you," David smiles and leaves.

Grabbing a chip, Steve dips it into the small bowl of chunky salsa on the carrier. Aurie also grabs one and goes for the bowl containing green salsa.

"Since we're waiting for your Mrs. Rubio to pounce, finish telling me about Chuy showing up on Christmas day with a cake that's traditionally served in January and how he finally won you over."

"It would've been hard to keep ignoring Chuy."

"He's his own force of nature," Steve quips, causing Aurie to nod as she eats another chip dipped in the red salsa. "Seems he's never met a person he never liked."

"Actually," Aurie corrects. "He's just as quick in deciding if he dislikes someone as he is to decide if he likes them. And if he doesn't like you, he will be an absolute ass to you. Otherwise, he should hate me because I was so rude to him for the longest time after we met. I just wanted to be left alone, but Chuy took it as a challenge to try harder."

"Did that change when he showed up with the tree and cake?"

"It helped," Aurie smirks. "He came banging on the door like he always does until I opened it. I hadn't been living there long, maybe four months. So, he shoves the tree at me saying I'm not a good Catholic if I don't have a tree. I said I'm not a good Catholic because I don't go to church every Sunday. He then said don't make it worse by not having a tree. Next, he hands me the cake saying it's an extra he was given, and he doesn't want it to go to waste. Then he makes a lame joke about the Jesus figurine inside saying everyone should have a little Jesus in their lives, so I better start looking for Him inside the cake."

Pausing to give Steve a chance to finish chuckling, she eats another chip before continuing.

"So being the determined dork that he is, he tells me to get dressed and come with him to a family party. I asked why. We barely know each other and his family sure as hell doesn't know me. He explained he needs me to be physical proof that he's got good neighbors because they were badgering him to move back home."

"Overprotective parents?"

"And his grandparents, siblings, his aunts, uncles, and cousins," she explains. "They always supported him and gave him his freedom to grow instead of rejecting him or smothering him too much because of his Down Syndrome, but they didn't want him living and working on his own. So, he wanted me to go since I was the only one in the complex not using or selling drugs who was available to go with him that night."

"I can understand not wanting users there, but how would it matter if someone was selling? Unless they said something, they wouldn't know."

"Um, it turned out a couple of his cousins were mafiosos." She nods at his surprised expression. "So, they might know each other and that could cause some serious problems. Finally, I ended up going. One of Chuy's uncles came to pick us up. On the way over, Chuy warns me to stay away from his mafioso cousins. He didn't like or trust them. But this party was at his grandparents' house in an unincorporated area of Tucson and some of his other relatives pretend not to know about the kind of work the mafiosos do, so they were going to be there."

"Some parents delude themselves into believing their children can do no wrong," Steve agrees with a weary sigh. "Their baby could've been found at a murder scene with a bloody knife in their hand and they will vehemently deny it, claiming their perfect little angel could never do that."

"Come across a lot of that, huh?"

"Far too much to make any sense," he shakes his head with a smile. "So how did the party go? Did you enjoy it?"

"It was fun. Within the first hour, his parents and grandparents practically adopted me as one of their own not only because of my fluency in Spanish but because I'm from Mexico."

"Made you popular in the family?"

"Yeah," she agrees. "But not all in a good way. Remember I said I got trashed once?" At his nod, she continues. "It was at this party. I didn't want to drink, but an uncle shoved a Tecate into my hand. It tasted like crap, but I didn't want to be rude and waste it. I was trying to stay away from Chuy's mafioso cousins because something about them didn't feel right, but they kept wanting to be around me and talk to me. After I finished that beer, Chuy's brother gave me another, Sol. It tasted better, so I drank that one a little faster. Later, one of the mafiosos pushed a tequila shot on me, insisting only true Mexicans like us can handle it. That was a mistake."

Before she can continue, David shows up with their food. He sets their plates in front of them.

"Is there anything else you need?" he asks them.

"I'd like another Dos Equis," Steve replies.

"Sure thing," David nods. "And you Aurie?"

"I'm good for the moment. Probably later on."

"Okay," he smiles before leaving them.

Steve and Aurie fall into a comfortable silence as they start eating.

"This is good," he compliments.

"The cooks are really good, even when they're hung over," she smirks, causing him to laugh.

They continue eating until Steve breaks the silence again.

"Was the tequila drugged?"

Aurie looks at him in confusion, having briefly forgotten about her story. Sighing heavily in remembrance, she finishes the bite of food in her mouth before continuing.

"I think so. I don't remember anything after that. I woke up the next morning in Chuy's little sister's room, crammed in with other female cousins. Apparently, one of Chuy's older brothers and a couple of other cousins caught the mafioso trying to leave the party with me. They got me away from him and stuck me in the sister's room to keep me safe while I slept it off."

David coming over to drop off Steve's beer and another chilled glass interrupts her story again. Pouring the bottle into the glass, Steve looks around, noting most of the tables are now filled. He sips his beer as Aurie eats some more of her food before speaking again.

"I felt so sick the next morning and thought dead people have it so nice, not feeling anything at all," she shakes her head at the memory, causing Steve to twitch in amusement. "Chuy's mom was being sarcastic and mean towards me, thinking I did it to myself, but his brother defended me, explaining what happened. Once he finished telling her, it became the Mexican apocalypse, and the parents and grandparents were the four horsemen with Chuy being the fifth one when he found out."

As Steve laughs, she eats more of her food.

"Was the house still standing?"

"Oh yeah, but I'm pretty sure the walls shook," she grins. "Chuy was so upset and apologized like crazy for what happened and swore it wouldn't happen again. He then told his parents and grandparents that he's never going to another family event if the mafiosos are invited. That turned into a huge argument as some relatives tried defending the mafiosos, saying they wouldn't do something like that." She pauses to smirk at Steve rolling his eyes. "But then a couple of the older female relatives said they tried that shit more than once before and when the mafiosos were caught they promised to never do it again. Being the favorite of his abuela and having those female relatives say that, Chuy ended up winning that fight. So, I didn't have to worry about the mafiosos at any other party."

"I thought you'd be hesitant to attend any more parties. What made you decide to go back?"

"Chuy kept badgering the hell out of me until I caved just to shut him up," she rolls her eyes as he laughs again. Fondly smiling, she adds, "He was so protective of me after that. Always checking on me if I was out of his sight for more than five minutes. I never drank again, but if I do, I'm never taking one if I don't see it poured in front of me. I also never leave whatever I'm drinking unattended, even if it's bottled water. I keep it in hand or within sight. If it's out of view too long, I get rid of it. And another cousin gave me the suggestion of pouring water into an empty beer bottle or can because of other relatives who think nearly everyone should be drinking at a party and get upset if you keep saying no. Works pretty good."

"Chuy's overprotectiveness is what finally won you over?"

"Yep. He could've brushed the whole thing off and blamed me, but he didn't. He originally invited me as a gesture of friendship, which is why he was so upset at what happened. He then made it his mission to check on me nearly every day. Then it turned into him hanging out for a bit to share whatever gossip he had for the day, and then I started baking him empanadas."

"After hearing that, I like Chuy even more now," Steve smiles.

"Good, because he's already adopted you. He doesn't go around hugging just anyone, even if he kinda likes them."

"Good to know," Steve chuckles. "And I'm glad you're not going out of your way to drink alcohol, especially since you're underage, but I'll admit I wish your first hangover was your own doing, not because some jerk tried helping you into one. That's a scary situation to be in."

"It was," Aurie sighs in agreement. "Not remembering anything after that tequila shot and then hearing all that, especially the part where they tried leaving with me, made me feel worse on top of that horrible hangover. And since I can't say no to Chuy, because he never hears when you say no, I learned what to do to try to keep that from happening ever again."

"You learned some good ways of handling being at a party like that, but it's better having someone like Chuy keep an eye on you because it's still possible to end up drugged when someone is determined enough."

"Like my mother?" she hesitantly asks.

Meeting her gaze, Steve pauses in sipping his beer before nodding.

"Yeah." Setting down his glass, he adds, "Remember how Spencer said she admitted to drugging him to get pregnant? Obviously, he wasn't the one who got drugged, but I don't have any gaps in my memory during the times I was around Amalia."

"You don't remember sleeping with her at all?" Aurie frowns slightly.

"No," Steve shakes his head. "And believe me, I tried. But I wasn't Spencer Davis and didn't have his money."

"Okay," she sighs heavily. "Now I get why you were so resistant when I asked for the paternity test."

"I'm sorry for being a jerk and not handling that better," he apologizes. "Your mother was very beautiful, and I wanted to go out with her, so I would've easily accepted the possibility I was your father if I remembered sleeping with her." Smirking, he adds, "The blood test certainly proved me wrong."

"It sure as hell shocked me because I was expecting all of them to be negative." Grimacing, she adds, "I was not looking forward to figuring out how to get Taylor to submit a sample and was praying like hell he wouldn't turn out to be my father."

"I'm glad it turned out to be me and not him," he replies, surprising her.

Both fall silent to finish up their food, especially Aurie since she was doing more talking than eating because of her story. She surprises him by breaking the silence minutes later.

"Earlier you said you knew how hard it was to lose everything you own in a fire; did you know someone that happened to?"

"Yeah," Steve nods, putting his glass down after having taken another sip of beer. "Me." He smiles at her shocked expression. "I used to have an apartment in Venice Beach, and it turned out the wiring was faulty. It caught fire while I was at work. Ended up gutted, but not as bad as yours. I still had a roof and floors, but everything was charred. And most of anything sentimental to me was at Dad's house. A couple months before the fire, Dad had bought the beach house. So, he invited me to move in and pay him rent and utilities. Of course," his smile widens. "Having a two-bedroom apartment downstairs with separate access and the beach as my backyard was incentive enough to move back in with him."

Aurie is about to seize on the chance to tease Steve about being a 'boomerang' when David returns to the table. Sauntering behind him is an older woman.

Steve guesses she's in her early fifties. She's slightly overweight, but the tightfitting black spandex mini dress is not flattering to her figure and emphasizes all the wrong curves. It makes her look heavier than she really is and gives the impression she's got more than one fat roll around her stomach. Otherwise, she's a fairly attractive woman with long brown hair dusted with golden highlights.

"Ready for dessert?" David asks.

"Of course, they'll have dessert," the woman insists, stepping around him to settle into a chair between Aurie and Steve. Smiling sweetly with her brown eyes locked on Steve's, she adds, "Two sweet people deserve something sweet."

Aurie and David look at each other and roll their eyes.

"Mrs. Rubio, this is my father, Steve Sloan," Aurie informs her.

The older woman's shocked gaze snaps over to Aurie.

"So, one of the paternity tests was positive?"

Aurie nods.

"Hey, congrats, Aurie," David happily states, prompting Aurie to smile shyly.

"Then you've got to celebrate with dessert," Mrs. Rubio insists, looking over her shoulder at David. "Deep-fried ice cream for both of them." Locking her gaze back onto Steve, she practically purrs, "You look like a caramel kind of man."

"It's drizzled over a breaded ball of vanilla ice cream that's briefly fried until the shell is crispy," Aurie quickly elaborates at his confused expression.

"Caramel is fine," he awkwardly replies, not sure what he's agreeing to.

"What flavor would you like, Aurie?" David asks in amusement when it's clear Mrs. Rubio isn't going to ask her what she'd like.

"The same," Aurie smirks back. As David leaves, she tries introducing Mrs. Rubio. "This is…"

"I'm Constantina Rubio," the older woman interrupts, offering Steve her hand. "But you can call me Connie if I can call you Steve."

"Certainly," Steve shakes her hand, clearly amused. "Aurie's told me some very nice things about you and this restaurant, and I must say, both have exceeded expectations."

"Thank you," Connie smiles, reveling in the compliment. "If you don't mind my asking, is there a Mrs. Sloan in your life?"

"We haven't set a date, so my fiancé hasn't transitioned to being a 'Mrs.' yet."

"She must feel like a very lucky woman to have such a handsome, charming man like you."

"Not as lucky as I feel," Steve replies. "She's a very special woman like you that any man would feel honored and privileged to have as their wife."

"You should tell that to my ex-husbands," she grins.

"To lose you means they weren't worthy of you."

"Oh, my," Connie laughs, placing a hand over her heart. Turning to Aurie, she adds, "Your father is quite the charmer."

Aurie doesn't reply and just continues looking on in amusement, silently thinking Mrs. Rubio has met her flirting match.

"Well, in case you haven't figured it out already, Steve, your daughter is very responsible, dependable, and a hard worker."

"I appreciate you telling me that. We're still learning about each other, but it's nice to hear how those who've known her longer feel about her."

"It's because she didn't have any experience serving, she put in a lot of effort to learn what she needed to and become one of my best servers," Connie proudly smiles at Aurie, who looks surprised and uncomfortable at the compliment. Focusing back on Steve, she continues, "Since you live in California and now know she's your daughter, is it correct to assume she's going back with you?"

"Yes," Steve nods. "Aurie's moving in with me and my father."

Connie sighs and then smiles at Aurie.

"We're going to miss you around here, Auralia." She pauses to roll her eyes. "Catalina and Isabella are going to be blubbering messes when I tell them about it. They'll be mad at me, but I'm not going to tell them until tomorrow since they're busy back there."

"That's okay," Aurie shrugs off with a smile. "Goodbyes suck anyways." Focusing on Steve, she explains, "Catalina and Isabella are Mrs. Rubio's cousins and the main chefs I told you about."

Before Steve can respond, David returns bearing a tray with their desserts along with an elderly woman with a cane steadily trailing behind him.

"Mamá!" Connie addresses the hunched-over woman in exasperation. "You're supposed to be enjoying dinner with Papá."

"And you're supposed to be keeping my restaurant running, not flirting with the customers!" Connie's mother's hand snaps up abruptly in a silencing gesture when her daughter opens her mouth to argue. "Cállate! Get back to work!"

Watching in amusement, Steve notices David and Aurie exchanging amused looks as he sets their plates down in front of them. David then gathers up their empty dinner plates and leaves as Connie huffs in irritation.

"If you'll excuse me," she smiles stiffly at Steve. She looks over at Aurie. "I'll get your final check ready and bring that out as soon as it's okay to check on you," she states, glaring at her mother. "Enjoy your desserts in the meantime."

Rising to her feet, she stalks off. Aurie and Steve are surprised when the old lady moves to sit in the chair vacated by Connie. Steve immediately stands up to help push her chair in for her.

"Thank you, mijo," the old lady tells him.

"Steve, this is Mrs. Ana Moreno, Mrs. Rubio's mother." Turning to the old woman, Aurie introduces her to him. "This is my father, Steve Sloan."

"I knew he was your father as soon as I saw him, mija," she tells Aurie. "You look a lot like him, especially your left eye. It's the same blue as his." She looks back at Steve. "It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," he smiles back.

"I won't interrupt the rest of your meal for too long, but I knew you weren't coming back to Tucson," she tells Aurie. "I knew if you found your father you would move in with him. But even if I was wrong, you wouldn't have a job to come back to." At Aurie's surprised look, Ana leans in closer and lowers her voice. "We're holding a staff meeting on Monday and will be announcing the closure of El Parador. Tomorrow will be our last day of business."

"Why?" Aurie manages, shocked by the news.

"Because the doctors told Connie she's got breast cancer," Ana explains, shocking them further. "They think they caught it early enough, but the treatment is going to make it too hard for her to run the restaurant." With an exasperated sigh, Ana rolls her eyes. "The grandchildren that are old enough I don't trust not to burn the place down. So, we decided to close it down." She reaches over to take Aurie's hand. "Don't be upset, mija. It's time to finish this chapter and start the next one. We're not going to tell everyone why. You know how proud Connie is and she won't tell you. She'll pretend she's okay to the world. But I want you to know since you've been such a good employee for us and won't be here on Monday." She gives Aurie's hand a reassuring squeeze before releasing it to look over at Steve and reaches up to place a withered hand against his cheek. "This is probably unnecessary but take care of your daughter. I can tell you're a good man and she needs you in her life."

"I will," Steve smiles reassuringly as she gives his cheek a gentle pat. He and Aurie stand up to help her when she shifts to stand.

"I better get back before my viejo thinks I ran off with one of the waiters." Once she's stable on her feet, she smiles at them both. "Enjoy your dessert. And don't worry about the bill. I'll battle it out with Connie for you, mija. Be happy and live a good life."

"I'll try," Aurie nods and hugs Ana.

Steve and Aurie settle back into their seats as they watch Ana head back to her table.

"Are you okay?" Steve asks, watching Aurie process the news.

"Yeah," Aurie quietly replies, picking up her spoon. "I wasn't expecting that. It's sad they're going to close this place, but Mrs. Rubio's health is more important."

"She's probably going to get chemotherapy and that takes a lot out of a patient," he reasons. "It sounds like she pretty much runs the restaurant and that would be very hard to do while undergoing treatment."

"She does," Aurie agrees.

Having broken into the outer shell of his ice cream with his spoon, Steve lifts a bite to his mouth.

"Mmm, everything so far has been good, but this is really good!" he proclaims to Aurie. "I wasn't sure how this worked because it's ice cream and to fry it means it's going into hot oil, which sounds crazy, but this turned out better than I imagined."

"Definitely," she agrees, taking another bite. "This was the first place I encountered fried ice cream and, like you, had no idea how they could do that."

"It's not ideal for someone on a diet."

"No dessert is ideal for someone dieting," she snorts in amusement. "But if you're going to be bad, might as well have something really good like this."

Both fall silent as they enjoy their dessert. When they're nearly finished, Connie returns to their table.

"I'm sorry about my mother," Connie apologizes to Steve as she settles back into the chair between them. "She's been retired from the restaurant for nearly twenty years and still thinks she's in charge," she huffs in exasperation. Relaxing a little, she hands Aurie a check. "There's your check. Since you're only part-time, you don't earn sick or paid time off, but I did make sure I included every hour you worked before you left."

"Thanks," Aurie smiles.

"And I wish we had the mariachis playing tonight so I could've heard you sing 'Y Andale' one more time with them, but they were booked for a wedding tonight."

"You sing?" Steve asks Aurie in surprise.

"Like an accomplished diva," Connie grins at him, ignoring Aurie's murderous glare. "Some of our regulars love it when we can convince her to sing when we've got mariachis playing. And she's versatile enough to handle other styles of music as well."

"I'm disappointed I didn't get the chance to hear you," Steve smiles at Aurie who's looking anything but pleased.

"It nearly takes an army to get her to sing, but it's worth it when she does," Connie smirks at the irritated teen. Focusing on Steve, she asks, "How was dessert?"

"Very good," Steve answers. "My compliments on the food and the service. You run a great restaurant."

Connie smiles radiantly at the accolades.

"Then let me make your night even better by gifting your entire bill as a parting gift for Auralia being such a great employee and for you being such a wonderful guest."

"It's easy being a wonderful guest with such a wonderful hostess," Steve smiles at her.

"You've got a very lucky fiancé," Connie gushes, causing Aurie to playfully roll her eyes behind her back. "We'll I've got to get back to work."

Steve and Aurie rise to their feet with her.

"Good luck to you and take care," she tells Aurie while hugging her.

"You too," Aurie replies.

Releasing her, Connie turns to Steve and offers her hand.

"You make sure to take care of yourself," she smiles as he takes her hand.

"Thank you. You as well," he smiles back.

As Connie walks away, Steve pulls out his wallet and turns to Aurie.

"Are you finished?"

"Yeah, I'm done."

"Me too. Let's head back to the hotel," he suggests, leaving David's tip on the table.

"Sure, you're done out flirting Mrs. Rubio?" she asks, causing him to laugh.

"I've got to save some for Ellen if I get to talk to her again tonight," he replies, guiding her out of the busy restaurant. "I didn't get a chance to tell you last night that she said 'hi' back to you."

"Thanks," Aurie smiles as they walk over to the truck.

Within moments they're settled back in the truck and Steve is driving back to the hotel. Aurie quietly gazes out into the dark until they arrive at the hotel minutes later. Stepping inside their room, Steve looks over at Aurie.

"What time are we meeting Mrs. Novak's mom tomorrow?"

"Ten."

"Is the cemetery far?" he asks, stepping over to the sofa to sit down.

"No," Aurie shakes her head, moving to sit in the armchair. "It's probably about ten to fifteen minutes from here."

"We should plan to be out of here by nine-thirty," Steve reasons. "Check-out isn't until one, so we can come back and pick up our things and hit the road since we've taken care of everything here."

"Can we leave by nine-fifteen? I want to stop by the grocery store and pick up flowers for their graves."

"Sure," Steve nods.

"Thanks," Aurie replies. "I'm going to go clean up and probably come out and watch TV since it's still early."

"Then I'll give Dad a call and join you later."

Aurie nods and heads into her room. Steve disappears into his room to change then gets comfortable on the bed and calls his father. He spends over an hour updating Mark on their eventful day.

Mark is understandably dismayed to hear about Aurie's apartment and how it impacted her. He's certainly relieved that she wasn't staying at her place when the fire happened and is glad Aurie allowed Steve to take her shopping. Although not the way he would've wanted it to happen, he feels these events are helpful towards the development of her and Steve's relationship.

Steve can't help but agree. He doesn't want Aurie to go through this turmoil, but it's giving him flickers of opportunity to start being a father to her despite her overall reluctance.

Mark was upset to hear about Aurie being drugged at her friend's family party but is happy so much good came out of it from having Chuy become a close friend to her learning how to protect herself in the future. Just the fact she's sharing a story like this with Steve is another sign their relationship is heading in the right direction. He's also amused to hear about Steve's interactions with Connie but is also sad to hear the reasons the restaurant will be closing. He confirms to Steve that it's unlikely Connie would be able to helm the restaurant while undergoing cancer treatment.

By the time they hang up, both men feel confident about Aurie's future with them, and that things will start improving considerably.

When Steve finally emerges from his room, he finds Aurie slouched down on the sofa watching some reality game show he doesn't recognize. Easing onto the sofa next to her, he realizes it's in Spanish.

"Is this a game show?"

"Kinda," she replies. "It's called Sábado Gigante. They'll do interviews and have performances from famous stars, but they also have amateur performance competitions like singing and dancing. They have audience members play games for prizes and even have stupid crap like beauty pageants. I think it's whatever they feel like doing and it's a little of everything." Looking over at Steve, she adds, "I can change it to something else if you don't want to watch this."

"I don't mind. I haven't seen anything like this since the Ed Sullivan Show was on."

"Was that also a variety show?"

Steve looks at her in surprise before smiling.

"Yeah. Way before your time. I think it went off the air in the early seventies. Anyway, this show looks like fun and it's a great way to brush up on my Spanish. Have I missed much?"

"Only about an hour of the show," Aurie shrugs. "There are two hours left." Glancing over at Steve's surprised expression, she adds, "They cram a lot in."

"At three hours I would think so," Steve shakes his head in amazement. "How long has this show been broadcast?"

Aurie thinks about it before answering.

"Over forty years. I think it's the longest-running show like this in history."

"That's amazing," Steve comments, focusing his attention back on the TV.

A half-hour later they have an entertaining singing competition that reminds Steve of the Gong Show. A couple of the contestants barely start singing the first word when they're kicked off by a guy dressed like a goofy executioner blowing a trumpet who Aurie said is called El Chacal, or the Jackal in English. During a commercial break following the first round of singers, he looks over at Aurie.

"Why did you look like you wanted to jump Connie when she mentioned you sing?"

With a confused frown, Aurie looks over at him before remembering what he's referring to. Sighing heavily, she looks back at the TV.

"So, one afternoon before the dinner rush another girl and I were getting the dining rooms ready. Volver, Volver by Vicente Fernandez was playing on the sound system, and we started goofing around and singing along to it. Mrs. Rubio heard me and liked what she heard. That night she had a Mariachi band playing the floor and insisted I had to sing a song with them. Since then, she was an absolute pain in the ass bugging me to sing every chance she got, claiming some of our regulars really wanted to hear me."

"Do you hate singing?"

"No, I like it," she surprises him. "The nuns taught me. I learned singing hymns, and trust me, nuns are very particular, so I got really good at it."

"Then why'd you react like she revealed one of your deepest, darkest secrets?"

"I'm not comfortable performing," she reluctantly admits. "It's fine when people enjoy it, but I seem to always attract the wrong kind of attention. Like the kind from Chuy's mafioso cousins. I don't know if it's because my mismatched eyes are so unusual or what, but being the center of attention tends to get the creeps focused on me. I'd rather stay in the background and watch others."

"And singing puts the spotlight on you."

"Yeah."

"You should enjoy doing the things you're good at without worrying about anyone being creepy. You can't control how others think or react, but unless it's constructive criticism you can learn and grow from, you shouldn't let that affect the things you enjoy doing."

Aurie looks over at him. He's not bothered when she focuses back on the show because he can see she's thinking about what he said. Even if she continues being reluctant, his father won't leave her alone about singing now that he's aware she's good at it.

For the next hour and a half, they continued watching the show. Steve finds it silly at times then realizes it's aimed at the entire family. He enjoys the show despite Aurie having to explain a joke or what's going on a couple of times, such as when they had a segment subjecting people to lie detector tests to check for infidelity in their relationship. As the closing credits roll, Steve looks back over at Aurie.

"That was fun to watch," he states. "Is there anything else you'd like to watch?"

Aurie shakes her head.

"I'm tired. I'm going to head off to bed. See you in the morning."

"Goodnight," Steve replies, watching her head out of the room.

He then changes the channel to the local news. When the half-hour newscast is over, he decides to call it a night too.

Cállate- shut up. Pronounced kai-ya-teh

Mijo- same as 'mija', but for males.

Viejo- old man. Pronounced vee-yeh-ho

Y Andale (Get on with it) and Volver, Volver (To go back, to go back) are both Mexican Ranchero songs. My favorite version of Y Andale was sung by Linda Rondstadt and Volver, Volver is singer Vicente Fernandez' signature song. Many singers have done versions of these songs and are easy to find on YouTube.