Page 68 of Roses, Pearls, and Hot Summer Nights
Kit and Stephen both made faces and Daniel shook his head. “Not sure I know them.”
“You’re lucky.” Kit stretched out his feet reclining on the sofa.Oh right. Their shoes.Then again Rosalind’s bare feet threw me off—what dynamic did bare feet add to a shoe theory? There were things to ponder. Kit added, “No offense, Alatheia, but your uncle is an asshole.”
I smiled, not offended. “I don’t know him. He’s never home.”
“Are you staying for the summer?” Rosalind sipped her drink while Dina rose. “I’ll go find Barrett and Phoenix. The baby being late, yes. Your oldest, no.” She exited the room humming as she went.
I shook my head. “I’m supposed to stay with the Samuels’s for now, but I’m sure they’ll move me on soon. I don’t have any living parents, so I get shuffled from one of my mom’s siblings to the next until I turn eighteen. I think the plan is boarding school after I can no longer live here, so I honestly don’t know how long I am actually here.”
Barrett entered, his hair wet from the shower, and he smiled at me as soon as his gaze hit me. “Sorry, lost track of time. She’s not going to boarding school, by the way. That isn’t happening.”
It was sweet that he thought they could change things, but I was pretty sure my fate was set. He sat down next to Jeremy, reaching behind him to rub the back of my head. I wondered if any of them were bothered to be touching me at the same time? Were we about to cross a line?
“That’s hard.” Rosalind had a kind gaze when I glanced her way. “Where were you before Park Avenue?”
A groan sounded before Phoenix entered followed by his granny, who wore an amused expression. “How many times does poor Alatheia have to go through this? I heard the wholething over text before I even met her. Born in Colorado, Alatheia lived with her mom in North Dakota until her mom died. She then moved to San Francisco.Boom. That was a mess, so they shipped her on to Chicago.Boom. Didn’t work out. So they shipped her here, so she can attend Pullman with the rest of us.”
I pointed at him. “What he said.”
That made everyone laugh, shattering the tension from the second of horror that crossed his family’s faces when they feared I might be offended. He grinned at me, and it felt like we shared a secret. The smile looked really good on him, warming parts of me I didn’t expect. He tapped his foot, moving a lot, but the pill for his ADHD must have helped. He snagged a diet soda before he dropped cross-legged on the floor in front of us.Why is he on the floor?
“You look good.” Daniel sat forward. “Or better than you did a few days ago.”
Phoenix sipped his drink loudly. “I slept for four hours in the limo.” He sipped again. “Maybe the longest stretch in years, on Alatheia’s lap.”
Kit shook his head. “Did you thank her for the use of her lap for four hours?”
“Four and a half,” he said waving the drink before he leaned back against my knee. “I apologized and she told me not to worry about it. So, yes, I’m awake.”
I noticed no one was sharing how he’d also popped a pill. His brothers must have their reasons for keeping quiet about it, and I wasn’t going to say a thing.It isn’t my business. Maybe they kept each other’s secrets because they didn’t quite trust their parents? As far as that went, from my first impressions, I’d seen worse.Much, much worse. But I hadn’t spent enough time with their family to guess at their dynamics yet.
“Well, I’m certainly glad to hear you slept.” Eric smiled at Phoenix. “That’s very good. Hopefully it can become a trend, rather than an anomaly.”
Daniel pointed at Stephen. “Aren’t they the family that sold that house for half its value last summer?”
“That’s them.” Stephen rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Her uncle is a shit businessman. Wins and loses fortunes over and over, like there is endless opportunity to make it back.”
I found his take interesting, trying to compare it to the uncle I only vaguely knew. Rosalind played with the end of her hair before saying, “Your aunt is mean. That sounds unkind, but I can’t think of a better word for her level of petty. I’m sorry you have to live with her.”
Barrett rose, smacking his hands on his legs as if to get our attention. “Let’s eat. I’m hungry. We don’t need to sit and have conversations here that we can have at the table.”
They all stared at him, surprised by his interjection. I wondered if he did it to distract from the topic of me and my aunt, but I couldn’t be sure. One by one, they rose and meandered toward the dining room. I kept my mouth shut, listening to them and trying to learn more about the family. They talked about the upcoming party, which seemed to make everyone tense—even their parents and uncles, who were throwing the affair. Their lack of enthusiasm did make me wonder, though, why even throw the party if none of them enjoyed it?
The rustic theme continued into the dining room. Another tall domed ceiling in light wood hovered over a massive table. They each took seats and then Rosalind gestured to one next to her. When I would have obeyed and sat, Julian slid into it first, forcing me to sit between him and Barrett.
At the end of the table, Phoenix and Jeremy quietly argued about something but I couldn’t quite hear the topic, and I gave up after a minute of trying to guess.
The chef’s daughter served everyone beautifully presented dishes. Julian squeezed my knee under the table. “This is because of you. Otherwise, we all would be eating soy Jell-O right now.”
Rosalind laughed. “It’s real food. Julia Child has aspects in her cookbook.”
“Since when have you ever used a cookbook?” Jeremy asked from the end of the table.
She shook her head, scowling at him. “I cooked for years, Jer.Years. Starting at about eight until I … until things changed for me … I cooked for my whole family. I can cook.”
“Okay,” Phoenix’s foot tapped audibly on the floor. “But you weren’t cooking Julia Child at eight.”
“Fair enough.” She cut into her steak, her tone even.
