Page 66 of The Good, the Bad, and the Aunties

“Ah,” Second Aunt holds up her index finger. “But Meddy was the one who figure out, Julia Child and Kristofer were children sweeties.”

“Childhood sweethearts,” I correct her.

Color blooms in Kristofer’s cheeks. “I wouldn’t call us—I—”

Julia Child cocks an eyebrow at him. “Didn’t you say that one of the lessons you learned from Marjie is to stop being embarrassed of your own emotions?”

Kristofer’s voice trails off and he adjusts his collar. “Yes, well. Good job putting the pieces together.”

Ma grins so wide her whole face is 80 percent grin. “My Meddy is so smart, ya?” She shamelessly looks at Kristofer, then Julia Child, and repeats herself. “So smart, kan? My daughter. She went to UCLA, you know.”

“Ma,” I groan. “Not the time.”

“Well,” Julia Child says, “your mother is not wrong. It takes a certain amount of acumen to deduct these things, and god knows, no one else around us figured it out.” She gives a rueful laugh. “To be fair, we did spend decades of our lives actively trying to take each other down, so that might have been somewhat misleading.”

“But no more,” Second Aunt chides. “You all working together now. Ya kan?”

“Ya?” Big Aunt says, and suddenly, my mother and aunts are all staring expectantly at Abi, Julia Child, and Kristofer.

Under the assault of their gazes, the three tycoons stand no chance.

“Yes, my love,” Abi says. “Of course. From now on, we will cooperate with one another. A new era.”

“I think it’ll bode well for all of our businesses,” Julia Child says.

Big Aunt narrows her eyes at them. “And what is this business? Hanh? Because we also run our own business, but we don’t have henchmen and war and this kind of thing.”

“It’s all legit, right?” I quickly say. It’s hit me that maybe, at the end of the day, I don’t want to know what these people really do for a living. Maybe it’s for the best that we’re kept in the dark. “I’m sure it’s all aboveboard. Real estate and uh, stuff like that.”

There’s a beat of hesitation, then all three of them burst out into fake laughter, half quailing under Big Aunt’s unforgiving stare.

“Oh yes,” Abi says. “We’re all just businesspeople. We do a bit of everything. Trade, manufacturing, land development.”

The problem with that is my brain immediately goes:

Manufacturing=Creating drugs/firearms/whatever other illegal goods.

Trade=Selling aforementioned goods.

Land development=Pablo Escobar-esque development of forests into hidden drug factories.

As though reading my mind, Julia Child says, “We would be more than happy to give you all a tour of our companies when you’re free.”

I immediately start to refuse, but Nathan beats me to it. “I would love to, actually.”

I gape at him. What the hell is he on? Catching my eye, he shrugs. “I’ve read up on your companies, and they sound incredible. And yeah, very legit. I would love to get a tour.”

“Ah, my son-in-law.” Ma beams up at him and pats his shoulder. “He is very good businessman, I tell you, right? He own very nice hotel in America. You all have to come and stay there, we give you room upgrade, free minibar.”

Of course my mother would invite the three people who have had Nathan and Second Aunt kidnapped to stay at Nathan’s hotel.

“Sounds good,” Kristofer says. He nods at the suitcases near the door. “And I see you’re leaving?”

“Yeah.” I can’t say it fast enough. They may have come to assure us that they’re all lovey-dovey now, and sure, they’ve come bearing a ridiculous amount of gifts, but I’m still keen to get away from them. They’re too rich, too powerful. Nothing they do has any real consequences to them, and I don’t feel safe being around them. Unlike my mother and aunts, who seem entirely comfortable, chattering excitedly about all thestuff they’ve just been given. “We loved our stay here, but I’m tired of traveling.”

“Yes, Meddy,” Fourth Aunt says with a sly sideways glance. “You should stay off your feet. What with all this panicking and running around, you must be exhausted. Don’t overdo it.”

A beat of silence follows, everyone’s attention on us. Say something! My mind yells, but it doesn’t come up with any suggestions. Then, as though the penny’s suddenly dropped, Ma gasps, both hands flying to her mouth. “Meddy!”

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