Page 85 of Missed Sunrise
Vinh grasped the doorknob but didn’t turn it, instead looking over his shoulder at me and raising a brow. “There’s always a decision, Liem. But there’s no one I have more faith in than you to make the right ones, especially where it matters.”
We shared a silent heartbeat of a look, just long enough to understand the sincerity of his words but not so long that they overtook me.
Then he opened the door, and we stepped back into madness.
“For Lent this year,I will be giving up masterminding specialty biscuits,” Dad announced to the room at large with a tired but pleased smile on his face.
Mom paused her second wipe down of the ordering counter and narrowed her eyes on him. “I will hold you to that, Monroe. If you ever do that to us again, I will be moving in with your sister and leaving you here to fend for yourself.”
Dad gasped theatrically, somehow finding a second or third wind of energy instead of deflating partially or entirely as therest of us had. “Carebear! You would never. Those old coots can’t love you like I do.”
If Mom were the kind of a person to roll her eyes, she would have. Instead, she threw the wet cloth at him, leaving a damp impression on Dad’s Ari’s T-shirt, and swung through the saloon doors to the kitchen without a backward glance.
Bree was leaning back against Vinh in front of the counter, shaking with silent laughter, and when Dad saw it, his smile turned smug. He was impossible when Bree was around, almost always trying to make her laugh, which was good for them both.
Ari was wandering around the dining room, looking at the photos from her years running this place that still hung in pride of place in the dining room.
“Do you miss it, Ari?” Vinh inquired softly.
She turned toward my brother as she answered, “In a way, Bub. But not really. I’m just glad that you all have taken such good care of it.” She glanced around at all of us, and I noticed Cody had his back to the room and was quietly stacking chairs on top of the tables.
Aunt Ari followed my line of sight and frowned but didn’t hesitate. Bless her penchant for disregarding boundaries, because she walked right up to Cody, put her arm around his shoulders, and guided him back to our loose semicircle, whispering something in his ear that made him flush along the way.
I would put the Open sign back on and serve biscuits for seven more hours to know what she’d said, but sudden inspiration hit me instead. I walked across the room with purpose and pushed open one of the swinging doors. “Mom! Oh—sorry,” I said, backtracking as I realized I was inches from her face. “Could you come out here?”
She gave me an unimpressed look but nodded and reentered the dining room. I clasped my hands together and meteveryone’s gazes one by one, my words briefly leaving me when I made it to Cody. He was twisting his bracelets and smiling so softly, it was nearly imperceptible, his cheeks still flushed.
Bree’s loud laugh drew my gaze to her. She clapped a hand over her mouth, and I fake glared at her as Vinh cleared his throat loudly. “You were saying, Liem?”
I frowned, retracing my mental steps. “Oh! I want to take a picture.” Silence followed my proclamation, and I frowned as everyone just stood there. “To mark the occasion!” I added with slightly less enthusiasm, but they just kept staring, so I pulled out my phone and waved it in the air. “Of us! The team!”
Cody stepped forward and reached for my phone. “I’ve got you, Ti Bet.”
I almost gave it to him before I understood his intention, and I snatched it back, holding it above my head as if he weren’t several inches taller than me. “No.A photo of everyone.”
Bree ambled up beside Cody and poked him in the ribs. “Don’t try to get out of this. Plus, you can put it in your box,” she added with a wink that was actually just a blink and then angled her head toward me slightly. “Or boxes,” she emphasized, poking Cody again.
He cut his eyes at her in warning, but she just smiled innocently. I hadn’t a clue what she was talking about.
Bree looked toward Vinh. “Wanna rig us a little stand so we can all gather behind the counter?”
He nodded and started finagling chairs and tables while I glanced at Dad, once again caught off guard by Bree’s quick thoughtfulness.
There was no way Dad wanted to put his prosthetic on and stand right now. He was doing a good show of seeming in high spirits, but he’d been here since 5:00 a.m. He had to be bone-tired.
A few moments later, Vinh had his phone positioned on a makeshift stand that was high enough and far back enough to capture us all in a photo, and we all shuffled behind the counter as he set a timer. “Ten seconds,” he announced before joining Bree’s side.
Dad sat on the stool with Mom beside him, Ari was next to her, and then it was me, Cody, Bree, and Vinh.
If Uncle Gil had been here, it would’ve been truly perfect, but Ari had mentioned earlier that he was spending the day at the Locc, and I was dying to know what he’d been up to and planned to call him later to find out.
Goose bumps raced up my neck, and my hair stood on end so subtly and suddenly that it took me a moment to realize that it was because Cody’s fingers were flirting with mine. My gaze shot from Vinh’s phone to our hands just as he wrapped his pinky finger around mine and whispered around a smile, “Three seconds, Ti Bet. Better look up.”
I did look up.
After the photo was taken, I had to drop the tether to Cody when Ari pulled me into a hug. “Have you decided if you’re coming back with me on Friday, sweetie?”
Cody looked at us curiously, and I glanced between them before answering, “I’ll let you know.”
