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I walked over to the small table, sat down, and held out my empty glass. Lu grinned and filled me up.
“Cheers,” I said and held my cup out. We clinked the plastic and all drank.
I hadn’t felt so relaxed in a long, long time. I don’t know if it was because Annie was finally safe—at least for the next five to ten years—or because I had reconnected with my siblings in a deeper way.
Talking with Lu and Tess was just like old times...and that they didn’t hold a grudge that I had separated myself from many family events over the last three years made me feel like the decision to step back into the family fold was right.
I didn’t feel guilty for anything. I was right—we should fight for the truth about what happened the day my dad allegedly killed Devin Klein. Why did he confess? There were so many unanswered questions that I didn’t know if I could put it aside. But for the first time in three years, I realized how alone I’d been with my grief and anger.
I may not have faked my death like Virginia Bonetti, but I had shut out my family.
Gabriel Rubio came over, the too-handsome, too-perfect pediatric surgeon who would be marrying my sister whenever they set a date. He smiled warmly at all of us, kissed his fiancée, and said, “I’m so sorry I was late.”
“Everyone knows you were working,” Tess said with a smile.
Tess was the holdout. She had two failed relationships that had almost gotten to the altar, and she feared if she set a date, she’d lose Gabriel as well. She didn’t talk of it, but both Lu and I knew this was the case. Maybe now that we were in a better place, I could push her. I was probably the only one who had the guts to withstand Tess’s wrath when she was angry...or scared. I didn’t sugarcoat the truth, or back down.
“Come with me to talk to your grandparents?” Gabriel said, taking her hand.
Tess rose, waved at Lu and me, then walked off.
Nico came over with his boyfriend. Quincy looked distinctly uncomfortable. I was trying to focus on what we had in common—Nico, our mutual love of guns, and... Hmm, I didn’t think Quincy and I had anything else in common.
“I heard through the grapevine that you were shot by a cop,” Nico said. “What happened?” He was looking me over carefully.
“Not shot. Grazed. Long story.”
“Maybe you’ll finally come over for dinner and tell us?” Nico said pointedly, putting me on the spot.
I looked at Quincy. He stared back, face rigid.
Dinner with me would annoy Quincy, so I agreed. “When and where?”
Nico smiled, leaned back. “Next Friday, Quincy’s place. He’s a great cook.”
Not even neutral turf. Only for Nico, I thought.
“I’ll be there.”
Mom walked over, made chitchat with Nico and Quincy, who soon left to get more food, and then she said, “Luisa, would you round everyone up for the cake-cutting? I’ll be right there to make the toast.”
A not-so-subtle way to get rid of my sister and leave us alone.
Mom sat where Lu had been sitting.
“I wish you had told me about Annie Carillo from the beginning.”
“I take a lot of cases I don’t tell you about. I don’t work for you.”
“No, you don’t. And I don’t want you to work for me. I want you to work with me. And Jack and Tess. Jack has reminded me that Angelhart Investigations had originally been our idea, that we had created it to be a team. That we were strong together. And we are both stubborn.”
I could have made a wry joke, but didn’t. I was stubborn. “I get it from you,” I said simply and she laughed.
“We butted heads a lot when you were growing up. Jack was always the leader, the mediator. He grew from a responsible boy to a wonderful man. And Tess, she is a people pleaser. Always wanting to make sure everyone is happy, that they have what they need. You—you are a contrarian. I don’t think I have ever met anyone who could take any side of any issue and argue effectively. You would have made a great lawyer.”
Now I laughed. “Hardly. Seven years of college?”
“Well, if you could have skipped all that.”
